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Fastport eQuad, Flagship Product from New Honda Business Venture, Wins “Red Dot: Best of the Best 2025” Award in Red Dot Award: Design Concept

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TOKYO, Japan, August 6, 2025 – (JCN Newswire) – Honda today announced that the Fastport eQuad, an all-electric micromobility vehicle for last-mile delivery, has won the Red Dot: Best of the Best 2025 award in the Design Concept competition of the Red Dot Design Award*1. Moreover, two electric motorcycle concept models, the EV Fun Concept and the EV Urban Concept, were each named a Red Dot winner in the same competition, and the concept movie for the Honda V3 motorcycle engine, titled “New V3 Engine Concept Teaser,” was named the Red Dot winner in the Brand & Communication Design competition.

About the Honda award-winning models and concept movie

Fastport eQuad

The Fastport eQuad is a single-rider micromobility delivery vehicle that supplements the rider’s pedaling power with electric motor assistance. The Fastport eQuad realizes a powerful, smooth, quiet and zero-emission ride by combining a pedal-by-wire system, which electronically transmits the rider’s pedaling input to the driving force, with a pedal-assist powertrain, which boosts the rider’s pedaling with electric power. Honda designed the Fastport eQuad as a micromobility vehicle for use in bicycle lanes*2, enabling companies to improve the speed and efficiency of logistics in urban areas with complex traffic environments and heavy traffic congestion. Full-scale mass production of the Fastport eQuad is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2026 at a U.S. Honda facility.

Key design features

The Fastport eQuad not only features a sleek design, but it is also thoughtfully engineered to ensure harmony with the real-world environments where it will be used. While using a bicycle as a motif, the design effectively incorporates transparent materials to enable the rider to intuitively recognize pedestrians and other road conditions in the surrounding area. The clear windshield ensures excellent visibility for the rider while also providing a view of the rider from the outside. A translucent cargo container was adopted to reduce the visual volume of the Fastport eQuad.

EV Fun Concept

The EV Fun Concept is Honda’s first electric sports model and is being developed as a next-generation electric motorcycle that offers a new sensation of quiet riding and an emotional feeling unique to electric motorcycles. In addition to the high level of “riding, turning, and stopping” created by long-developed Honda motorcycle technologies, the new quiet, vibration-free ride that is only possible with electric power and the slim, easy-to-manage chassis package realized by its fixed battery will provide a new emotional experience that is very different to internal combustion engine (ICE) motorcycles. The production model based on this concept model will be a naked sports model equivalent to a mid-sized (ICE) motorcycle and is scheduled to go on sale before the end of the current fiscal year (ending March 31, 2026) as the first Honda electric sports model equipped with a fixed battery.

Key design features

The EV Fun Concept features a slim and seamless design that expresses its quiet yet overwhelming acceleration and sporty riding performance. By reducing the volume of the area where a gas tank would have been for an ICE model, a dynamic and horizontally-oriented silhouette was realized. The EV Fun Concept was designed as a bike that is not bound by existing motorcycle categories. The functional beauty was highlighted through the combination of a sleek body and mechanical functional parts.

EV Urban Concept

The EV Urban Concept reconstructs from scratch the Honda vision of what urban electric mobility should be. Featuring an intuitive human-machine interface (HMI) and the fusion of software and hardware, the EV Urban Concept offers a new experience for riders. The goal of Honda is to offer the freedom of mobility to as many customers as possible and to expand possibilities in each customer’s life through enhanced mobility.

Key design features

Based on the design direction for Honda electric motorcycles — the Precision of Intrinsic Design — the design team strived to create an essential and exquisite styling design realized by refining the functionality. Featuring minimalist and sophisticated styling that blends in with the urban landscape, the EV Urban Concept offers a new UX through the fusion of software and hardware, embodying the Honda vision of near-future mobility that cooperates and resonates with people and society.

Honda V3 motorcycle engine with an electrical compressor

In order to create attractive motorcycle products that go beyond customer expectations, Honda is developing the world’s first*3 V3 motorcycle engine with an electrical compressor. By controlling compression of the intake air irrespective of engine rpm, high-response torque can be delivered even from lower rpm. In addition, the adoption of the engineering design that does not require an intercooler for the cooling of the compressors allows a high degree of freedom for component layout within the limited space available on a motorcycle, which can be leveraged to achieve a concentration of the mass and reduction of the vehicle weight.

Key features of the concept movie, “New V3 Engine Concept Teaser”

This concept movie showcases the journey of technological innovation Honda has pursued through continuous challenges in the field of motorcycle technologies, as well as the development process for the world’s first V3 motorcycle engine with an electrical compressor. With a rhythmically structured narrative, the movie deliberately incorporates glitch effects that momentarily disrupt the image to stimulate the viewer’s curiosity and anticipation. In the final scene of the movie, the actual sound of the electric compressor is used to convey a sense of excitement and momentum of the development toward the practical application to products and evoke high expectations for the future riding experiences this engine will offer. To powerfully express the “genuine commitment of Honda to carve out the future,” all individuals featured in this movie are real Honda engineers. Through the use of authentic footage showing countless discussions and repeated prototyping that took place at the site of the development, the movie production team strived to convey the passion and ambition Honda put into the development.

Concept movie, “New V3 Engine Concept Teaser”

Comments by Toshinobu Minami, Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer, Design Center, Honda R&D Co., Ltd.

“We are deeply honored to receive the award not only in the Design Concept competition, following last year’s recognition for the Honda 0 Series, but also in the Brand & Communication competition of the globally recognized Red Dot Design Award. We believe this recognition reflects the high regard for the ongoing initiatives of Honda Design that continues to create new value while striving to gain deep insights into changes happening in our business environment, the times and diverse lifestyles of people. Honda will pursue designs as well as a wide range of new value creation to continue to offer mobility products that bring surprise and inspiration to people’s daily lives.”

Honda Design award history
https://global.honda/jp/design/work/#award (Japanese)
https://global.honda/en/design/work/#award (English)

*1 The Red Dot Award was founded in 1955 and has become one of the most respected design awards worldwide. The award is administered by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany. For the Product Design competition, 51 categories of industrial products are judged on 9 criteria including the degree of innovation, functionality, durability and ergonomics.
*2 The definition and standards for “bicycle lanes” vary by country. The Fastport eQuad is designed for bicycle lanes as defined by U.S. and European traffic systems, which may differ from the definition in the Japanese traffic system.
*3 Honda internal research

Finding Your Groove: The Emotional Journey of Driving

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SM
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Photo by depositphotos at https://depositphotos.com/

Remember the first time you sat behind the wheel? The mix of excitement and fear coursing through your veins as you gripped the steering wheel, your heart pounding with anticipation? That moment represents more than just a rite of passage—it’s the beginning of a deeply personal relationship with one of humanity’s most transformative inventions. Driving goes beyond simple transportation; it’s an intricate dance between human emotion, mechanical precision, and split-second decision-making that can evoke everything from pure joy to life-saving awareness.

Let’s embark on an emotional journey of driving, exploring the exhilarating art of cornering that makes racing drivers’ hearts soar, demystifying your vehicle’s complex dynamics in ways that connect to your everyday experiences, and examining the critical importance of safety measures that protect what matters most. Whether you’re a seasoned driver looking to rediscover your passion for the road or someone just beginning to understand the profound connection between human and machine, you’ll gain valuable insights into the artistry of driving, develop a deeper appreciation for your vehicle’s sophisticated engineering, and understand how simple safety measures can mean the difference between life and death.

The Art of Cornering

There’s something almost mystical about the perfect corner—that moment when physics, skill, and intuition converge into automotive poetry. Professional racing drivers often describe cornering as a transcendent experience, where time seems to slow down and every input becomes magnified. This art represents the pinnacle of driving technique, combining precise throttle control, strategic braking, and an intimate understanding of weight transfer that separates good drivers from great ones.

The foundation of masterful cornering lies in understanding the racing line—the optimal path through a curve that maximizes speed while maintaining control. This invisible line typically involves entering wide, hitting the apex (the innermost point of the turn), and exiting wide, creating the largest possible radius for the corner. Professional drivers spend years perfecting this technique, learning to read the road like a musician reads sheet music, anticipating each curve’s unique personality and demands.

What makes cornering truly emotional is the delicate balance between confidence and respect for the limits of physics. Too aggressive, and you’ll find yourself sliding helplessly toward the outside of the turn; too conservative, and you’ll never experience the pure joy of a perfectly executed corner. This balance requires what racing instructors call “progressive learning”—gradually building speed and confidence while developing the muscle memory and spatial awareness that become second nature to accomplished drivers.

The technique involves a systematic approach: smooth braking before the turn (never during), gradual steering input to avoid unsettling the car’s balance, and progressive acceleration as you unwind the steering wheel through the exit. To master the thrill and technique of cornering, consider taking professional driving lessons that often emphasize these fundamentals, teaching students that cornering isn’t about speed alone—it’s about smoothness, precision, and the deeply satisfying feeling of working in harmony with your vehicle’s capabilities.

Modern racing drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen describe cornering as an almost meditative state where conscious thought gives way to pure instinct. They speak of feeling the car’s weight shift through their bodies, sensing the exact moment when the tires reach their grip limit, and experiencing an almost telepathic connection with their machines. This emotional dimension of cornering—the rush of adrenaline combined with the zen-like focus required for precision—is what transforms driving from mere transportation into an art form that captivates millions of enthusiasts worldwide.

Understanding Your Vehicle’s Dynamics

Beneath the hood of every car lies a complex symphony of mechanical systems working in perfect harmony, yet understanding vehicle dynamics doesn’t require an engineering degree—it simply needs relatable comparisons to experiences you already know. Think of your car as an extension of your own body, responding to inputs and environmental changes much like you do when walking, running, or riding a bicycle.

Vehicle dynamics fundamentally revolve around four key forces: acceleration, braking, cornering, and the constant battle against gravity and inertia. When you press the accelerator, you’re not just making the car go faster—you’re shifting weight toward the rear axle, potentially reducing traction at the front wheels. This weight transfer is similar to how you naturally lean backward when someone pulls you forward quickly. Understanding this concept helps explain why front-wheel-drive cars sometimes experience understeer (pushing wide in corners) when accelerating aggressively through turns.

Braking dynamics work in reverse, transferring weight forward and potentially causing the rear wheels to lose traction if you’re too aggressive. It’s like trying to stop suddenly while running down a hill—your body wants to keep moving forward, and your car experiences the same physics. This forward weight transfer is why many performance cars have larger brake discs in the front and why anti-lock braking systems (ABS) are so crucial for maintaining control during emergency stops.

The suspension system acts as your car’s nervous system, constantly communicating road conditions to the chassis while managing weight transfer and maintaining tire contact with the pavement. Think of it like the shock-absorbing qualities of your knees and ankles when walking over uneven terrain—your suspension smooths out road imperfections while keeping your tires planted for optimal grip.

Steering dynamics involve complex interactions between your input, the front wheels’ response, and how the entire vehicle reacts to directional changes. Modern cars employ various systems—from electronic stability control to torque vectoring—that act like a skilled dance partner, subtly adjusting to help you maintain control even when you make imperfect inputs. A quality driving school will help you understand these systems not as electronic nannies, but as sophisticated tools that enhance your natural driving abilities.

Perhaps most importantly, understanding vehicle dynamics helps you recognize your car’s limits before reaching them. Just as you intuitively know when you’re walking too fast for icy conditions, developing a feel for your vehicle’s capabilities allows you to drive confidently within safe parameters while still enjoying the engaging aspects of performance driving.

Safety First: The Importance of Seatbelts

The simple click of a seatbelt buckle represents one of the most profound safety innovations in automotive history, yet many drivers fail to grasp the life-and-death physics occurring in those crucial milliseconds during a collision. Understanding seatbelt science isn’t just about following laws—it’s about appreciating how a simple piece of fabric and metal can mean the difference between walking away from an accident and becoming a tragic statistic.

When your vehicle suddenly stops due to impact, your body continues moving at the original speed due to Newton’s first law of motion—an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an external force. Without a seatbelt, that external force becomes your steering wheel, dashboard, or windshield, creating devastating injuries. The seatbelt serves as a controlled external force, distributing impact energy across your strongest body parts—your chest and pelvis—while allowing for some controlled forward movement that reduces peak forces.

Modern seatbelt systems incorporate sophisticated engineering that goes far beyond simple restraint. Pre-tensioners detect crash conditions and instantly tighten the belt, eliminating slack before your body begins moving forward. Load limiters then allow controlled belt extension once forces reach dangerous levels, preventing the seatbelt itself from causing injury. This two-stage process mimics how a professional boxer rolls with a punch—first establishing contact, then managing energy dissipation.

Real-world accident data provides compelling evidence of seatbelt effectiveness. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seatbelts reduce the risk of death by 45% for front-seat passengers and serious injury by 50%. These aren’t just statistics—they represent thousands of families who avoided tragedy because someone took two seconds to buckle up.

The emotional impact of seatbelt stories resonates deeply with emergency responders who’ve witnessed the dramatic difference between belted and unbelted occupants in similar crashes. Paramedics and firefighters consistently report that seatbelt use is often the primary factor determining whether they’re responding to a rescue or a fatality. These first responders become passionate advocates for seatbelt use because they’ve seen too many preventable tragedies.

Professional driving schools emphasize that seatbelt use must become as automatic as checking mirrors or signaling turns. They teach students that safety isn’t about fear—it’s about responsibility to yourself, your passengers, and other road users. The emotional weight of this responsibility becomes clear when you consider that your driving decisions affect not just your own life, but the lives of everyone who loves and depends on you.

Embracing the Journey Ahead

The emotional journey of driving encompasses far more than the mechanical act of operating a vehicle—it’s a profound exploration of human capability, technological marvel, and personal responsibility that touches every aspect of our mobile lives. From the artistic precision required to master cornering techniques that connect us intimately with our vehicles, to understanding the sophisticated dynamics that make modern cars responsive extensions of our intentions, to embracing safety measures that protect our most precious cargo, driving represents one of humanity’s most complex and rewarding skills.

This journey never truly ends. Every time you slide behind the wheel, you have the opportunity to refine your technique, deepen your understanding, and recommit to the safety practices that keep you and others protected. The thrill of a perfectly executed corner, the satisfaction of smoothly managing your vehicle’s dynamics, and the peace of mind that comes from proper safety habits combine to create an experience that’s simultaneously exhilarating and responsible.

We invite you to share your own driving experiences and the lessons that have shaped your relationship with the road. What moments have defined your emotional journey behind the wheel? What techniques or insights have transformed your driving? Join the conversation in the comments below or share your stories on social media—because every driver’s journey is unique, and we can all learn from each other’s experiences on the road to automotive mastery.

Unlocking Exclusive Rewards Through Online Casino Loyalty Program Promotions

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SM
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Photo by depositphotos at https://depositphotos.com/

Online casinos have changed the way people play games by not only offering a wide range of games but also by creating interesting loyalty schemes. These promos reward regular players with extra benefits that go beyond just playing the games. Gamblers can earn valuable benefits from regular play by using loyalty bonuses like those from shal777 when they follow smart tactics. Knowing how these systems run can greatly improve your session, whether you’re a new or skilled player. 

Basics of Loyalty Promotions

Special deals are offered to reward players who return. These offers provide participants with scores, rewards, or status levels based on their level of engagement. You can get more deals as you play more.

  • You get points based on how much you bet.
  • Get cash rewards, free spins, or unique prizes by using your points.
  • Unlock higher membership levels to get more benefits and faster withdrawals.

Types of Rewards Available for Loyal Players

Players who join loyalty programs receive a variety of valuable perks. These offers aren’t just game bonuses; they can improve the overall experience. To keep moving up the rewards ranking, you need to continue playing constantly.

  • Cashback deals can help you lose less during slow sessions.
  • Higher-level members get exclusive invitations to games.
  • Surprising presents and bonuses for reaching important goals.

Maximize Loyalty Program Benefits

Tactic is quite important if you want to optimize your rewards. Knowing when to gamble, how much to play, and where to spend your time will help you get the most out of loyalty offers.

  • Stick to games that provide you with more points for your bets.
  • Check your account often to see if there are any limited-time offers.
  • Avoid wasting your loyalty points by using them before they expire.

Most of the time, gamers find that loyalty levels in the middle are the best value for their time. These mid-tiers offer the best perks, letting you earn more rewards without needing to play a lot more.

Benefits of Climbing the Loyalty Ladder

Every level of a loyalty program comes with its own set of benefits. The rewards get more exclusive as you move up. This growth allows players to keep playing and gives them a clear goal to reach.

  • Better support and faster withdrawals.
  • Invitations to tournaments and other special events.
  • Elite members get personalized account management.

You get more value when you’re at a higher level, which turns normal play into an elite experience. Many players are motivated to move up the ranks, particularly when each rank gives them new benefits.

Why Consistency Pays Off

Sometimes playing might be exciting, but to get the most out of a loyalty program, you need to be consistent. Gamblers who stay on one platform and play repeatedly often unlock the best reward benefits.

  • Playing regularly helps you earn loyalty points.
  • Long-term dedication increases the possibilities of getting free offers.
  • Players who stay with a game often get early access to new features.

Consistently playing games helps you build a good profile on the platform, leading to better point exchange rates, early notifications, and exclusive rewards not advertised to the public.

Promotions like those offered by shal777 are more than simple deals; they’re real opportunities for loyal gamblers to get big profits. You can earn unique offers that make the game more interesting and probably raise your winnings by understanding how these systems work and playing tactically. Staying reliable and updated is a great way to get the most out of every playing session, no matter where you are in the loyalty ranking.

LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL RACE PREVIEW

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Official Release
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LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: Go Bowling at the Glen
DATE: August 10, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 24 of 36
TRACK: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International | 7-Turn, 2.45-Mile Road Course

CLUB MINUTES:

JJ AT THE GLEN: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson has 18 Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. He earned a best finish of third twice in his career at The Glen – August 2007 and August 2012. In total, Johnson earned four top-fives, eight top-10s, and led 18 laps on the road course in New York. He has an additional four starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen where he earned a best finish of second in his final start there in August 2011. Johnson started sixth and finished just .974 of a second behind race winner Kurt Busch.

KENSETH GLEN STATS: LEGACY MC competition advisor Matt Kenseth has a total of 19 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen. In his career, he earned two top-fives, eight top-10s, and led three laps at The Glen. His best finish of second came in August 2017 when he started 15th. He ended up finishing .414 of a second behind race winner Martin Truex Jr. Kenseth has an additional six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at The Glen. He earned two top-fives and three top-10s with a best finish of third in August 2008 after starting 16th.

THE KING AT THE GLEN: Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion and LEGACY MC ambassador Richard Petty owns eight Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen. He earned a best finish of ninth in August 1991 at the track after starting 31st for the 90-lap race.

NEVER SETTLE: Join ESPN’s Marty Smith and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s co-owner Jimmie Johnson for their weekly podcast, “Never Settle”. The podcast airs live on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 at 2 p.m. ET every Wednesday and can be downloaded wherever fans source their podcasts. This week’s episode was recorded at the Wyndham Championship and includes guests Brandt Snedeker, Jackson Koivun, and Mike Brown.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 MOBIL 1 TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN AT WATKINS GLEN: John Hunter Nemechek had his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Watkins Glen last August where he finished 21st after starting 35th. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he has two career starts at the road course, with his best finish of sixth coming in the August 2023 race. Nemechek also has one start at The Glen in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series where he started sixth and finished second under caution.

T-MACK GLEN STATS: Sunday’s race will be crew chief Travis Mack’s fourth NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. His first outing came with Daniel Suarez in 2021, and the duo competed there together for three years in a row, earning a highest finish of fifth in August 2022. Last year at The Glen, he earned the pole and a second-place finish with Shane Van Gisbergen. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mack has two starts at Watkins Glen with Michael Annett, earning a 17th-place finish in 2018 and an eighth-place finish in 2019.

FINGER LAKES DISTILLING: John Hunter Nemechek will take part in a special single barrel cask release at Finger Lakes Distilling Company (FLD) – #3142 – to commemorate his car number – 42 – in advance of this weekend’s Go Bowling at the Glen NASCAR race. Visitors to FLD can buy the special bottle, priced at a reduced cost of $42 at the event.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“I’m looking forward to going back to Watkins Glen. It’s probably one of my favorite road courses that we go to on the NASCAR schedule. It should be a good weekend for us. I feel like we’ve been able to find speed in our road course cars here from LEGACY MOTOR CLUB over the last few months. I’m looking forward to hopefully a really solid weekend and trying to be there at the end for a win.”

TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“We’ve been putting a lot of work into our road course package, so we’re confident heading into Watkins Glen. Tire wear might be more of a factor with the softer compound and warmer temperatures, but we’ve seen lots of progress in our road course cars this season, so I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

ERIK JONES
NO. 43 FAMILY DOLLAR TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JONES GLEN STATS: Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen will mark Erik Jones’ eighth NASCAR Cup Series start at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. In his prior seven starts at the track, Jones earned two top-fives and four top-10s. His best finish came in August 2019 when Jones started 14th and earned a solid fourth-place result. Jones has an additional four starts outside of the Cup Series at The Glen – three in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. In his three Xfinity Series starts, Jones earned a best finish of eighth in August 2017 after starting sixth. In his only NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start at the track, Jones started 25th and finished 19th after leading seven laps in the August 2018 race.

BESHORE AT THE GLEN: Crew chief Ben Beshore owns three NASCAR Cup Series starts on top of the box at Watkins Glen. His best result came in his first start there in August 2021 with Kyle Busch who started 20th and finished fourth. In last year’s August race, Beshore was the crew chief for John Hunter Nemechek. The team started 35th before driving their way up to a 21st-place finish. He has an additional two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at The Glen. In August 2019, he started on the pole with Kyle Busch before a suspension issue took them out of contention for the win on Lap 35. Then in August 2023, Beshore returned with Nemechek to earn a sixth-place finish.

EJ GOES LATE MODEL RACING: Prior to heading to New York for this Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen, Jones rolled into Kaukauna, Wisconsin on Tuesday, August 5 for the 2025 ASA Midwest Tour late model race at Wisconsin International Raceway, LLC. He joined fellow Michigan-native and NASCAR Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar in the lineup for Tuesday night’s main event. Jones has won one of his five previous Midwest Tour starts in 2014 at the Milwaukee Mile.

THE OSCAR PLUSH: Jones announced the launch of his latest project two weekends ago at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the Oscar Jones collectible plush. Modeled after his eight-year-old German Shepherd, the Oscar plush started to be sold at Indianapolis after a collaboration with Ultimate Canine, LLC. A portion of the sale of the plush will go back to the Erik Jones Foundation to support the funding of grants for its animal welfare pillar of giving. Since its launch in 2021, the Erik Jones Foundation has gifted more than $40,000 in grants to organizations promoting animal welfare and supporting the training of working animals. Fans can still purchase their own Oscar plush at ErikJonesRacing.com or at the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise hauler at the racetrack.

ERIK JONES QUOTE
“Watkins Glen is always kind of a wild card. I’ve run well there in the Cup Series in the past, but we haven’t quite been able to get those top-10 finishes the past two years. With the speed we’ve had on road courses this summer though, I think you could see us up there competing for a strong finish this weekend. We were fast in Mexico and Chicago, and then dropped off a little at Sonoma. We’ve been working hard on our road course program, so I’m excited to see what the teams can bring to the track this weekend.”

BEN BESHORE QUOTE
“I feel like as a team we’ve been 50/50 on road courses this year. Mexico and Chicago performance-wise went okay. We had some issues during the races, but we had some speed. Then we really struggled at COTA and Sonoma. I think Watkins Glen is a little bit different style of road course from the others though. It’s a more high-speed road course over the very technical ones like Sonoma or Chicago. There’s a little bit more emphasis on aerodynamics rather than straight up forward drive. It’s a little bit different from that standpoint. Strategy-wise – you can do it a couple different ways at Watkins Glen. I think you’ll see most guys try to short pit both stages and then pit sometime early in the fuel window that final stage. You may even have some guys who try to do it on a two-stop strategy where you pit at the end of Stage 1 and then run it out to your fuel window at Lap 55 or so. Tires do fall of a little bit more than they have in the past there due to the softer tire. It’s kind of a coin flip on what’s going to be the best strategy there. It just kind of depends on how the cautions fall. Sometimes I wish we had a crystal ball so we could see how it would play out, but you have to anticipate what to do in every situation. It’ll also be key to see how the tires fall off during practice since it’ll be on the warmer side this weekend. Tires might be a bigger deal than they have been in the past.”

CLUB APPEARANCES:
Nemechek will be at the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, Aug. 9.

TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Sunday, August 10 at 2 p.m. ET on USA, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: (LEGACY MC) is a premier auto racing organization co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmie Johnson and Knighthead Capital Management, LLC. Drawing from a rich tradition of success, LEGACY MC is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of motorsport and setting new standards of excellence. The CLUB competes under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner in the NASCAR Cup Series with the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE piloted by Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE driven by John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson also races on a limited basis in the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE. With NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Richard Petty, “The King”, serving as CLUB Ambassador, LEGACY MC blends timeless racing traditions with a new forward-thinking vision. As an inclusive community for motorsport enthusiasts, LEGACY MC honors both its storied past and the promising future of its members, always striving for victory and championship glory at the pinnacle of NASCAR competition.

Spire Motorsports Go Bowling at The Glen Race Advance

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Official Release
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  • In 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Spire Motorsports has logged two top-five and three top-10 finishes. Carson Hocevar earned a team-best third-place result in last season’s Go Bowling at The Glen. He led the charge in what marked the first triple top-10 day for the team, as teammates Zane Smith and Corey LaJoie crossed the line in fifth and eighth, respectively. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet ZL1s in the Cup Series for Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Hocevar, respectively.
  • The Go Bowling at The Glen will be televised live on USA Sunday, Aug. 10 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 23rd of 36 points-paying races on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series calendar will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.

Justin Haley – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

  • Justin Haley will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.
  • Haley has made four NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen, earning a venue-best 18th-place finish in August 2022. He’s logged an average starting position of 24.8 and an average finish of 25.0.
  • Watkins Glen marks the fifth of six road-course events on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Haley finished 16th at Circuit of the Americas, 17th at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, 22nd at the Chicago Street Race and 15th at Sonoma Raceway.
  • Last weekend at Iowa Speedway, Haley qualified 10th and raced inside the top 10 for much of the race, including a 10th-place finish in Stage 1. However, tire wear proved to be the team’s nemesis in the late goings, leaving the No. 7 team with a 23rd-place finish.
  • Founded in 2018, Gainbridge® is an insurtech subsidiary of Group 1001 that empowers consumers to take control of their financial future with solutions that are accessible to everyone, no matter their budget or financial knowledge. Its platform provides access to financial products that are simple, intuitive, and backed by smart technology with no complexity or hidden fees. Gainbridge® is headquartered in Zionsville, Ind. For more information, visit www.gainbridge.io or follow and connect with Gainbridge on X and LinkedIn.
  • In NASCAR Xfinity Series competition, the 26-year-old driver has three starts, including one top-10 and one top-15 finish.
  • Haley has a pair of ARCA Menards Series East starts at “The Glen,” with a pair of top fives to show for his efforts. He finished second in 2016 and third in 2015.
  • Haley is one of 41 drivers to have won races in all three of NASCAR’s National Touring Series. The driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevy has collected one win in the NASCAR Cup Series, four in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and three in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
  • The Indiana native is a veteran of 167 Cup Series starts and has notched one win, five top fives, 16 top 10s and led 118 laps in NASCAR’s premier division.
  • In total, Haley has made 67 Cup Series starts for Spire Motorsports, including his first start in NASCAR’s premier division at Talladega Superspeedway on his 20th birthday.

Justin Haley Quote
This will be your fifth road-course of the season. How do you feel about going into Watkins Glen?
“I feel like our Chevy has had speed at road-courses this year, we had two top-20s and a top-15 finish. Watkins Glen is always packed with campers and race fans and that makes it so much more exciting as a driver! I’ve always enjoyed how the track flows and am looking forward to this weekend.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Ryan Sparks

  • Ryan Sparks serves in a dual role as both Spire Motorsports Competition Director and crew chief for driver Justin Haley and the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet ZL1. He was first paired with Haley at Bristol Motor Speedway in September 2024.
  • The Winston Salem, N.C., native has called 189 NASCAR Cup Series races where he’s earned three top-five and nine top-10 finishes.
  • In total, Sparks has called four Watkins Glen races and calls a 10th-place finish a venue best after leading Corey LaJoie to a 10th-place showing in August 2023.

Michael McDowell – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

  • Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Go Bowling Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.
  • In last season’s NASCAR Cup Series event at “The Glen,” McDowell scored a seventh-place result in his 15th start at the venue.
  • The father-of-five has earned top-10 finishes in two of his last three Cup Series races at Watkins Glen. He paced the field for 38 laps over the span.
  • The Glendale, Ariz., native tallied five Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series starts at the famed upstate New York race course, collecting two top fives and three top 10s, highlighted by an average starting position of 3.8 while earning back-to-back fourth-place finishes in 2004 and 2005.
  • The two-time Cup Series winner will make his first Xfinity Series start in almost a decade and drive the No. 11 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing in Saturday’s Mission 200 at The Glen.
  • In his last Xfinity Series start in 2016, McDowell qualified Richard Childress Racing’s No. 2 Chevrolet second at Road America, led 24 of 48 laps en route to his lone win on NASCAR’s junior circuit.
  • McDowell has made three Xfinity Series starts at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile circuit, picking up a 10th-place finish in 2010.
  • Go Bowling will return as the primary partner for the No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1, the organization’s first primary since the Daytona 500.
  • Saturday, August 8 will mark National Bowling Day as Watkins Glen celebrates with a host of at-track activations across the weekend.
  • GoBowling.com is the destination for bowling consumers and enthusiasts seeking news and information about one of America’s favorite pastimes and the nation’s number one participatory sport. Consumers visit GoBowling.com every day to find bowling centers in their communities, learn new tips and techniques to improve their game, and to access bowling promotions available at more than 1,700+ family-friendly bowling centers across the country.
  • The 2021 Daytona 500 Champion will have a familiar voice on the spotter stand this week where McDowell’s cousin, Jason Noll, will assist primary spotter Michael Fisher during the Cup Series’ visit to the newly repaved road course.
  • The No. 71 team earned a $100,000 payday and a trip to Victory Lane after winning the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge during May’s NASCAR All-Star Weekend at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. The crew’s blazing 12.587-second stop topped all entries for both the NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race, earning the title of the fastest team on pit road.
  • The 40-year-old has claimed three Xfinity Fastest Lap awards this season, clocking the fastest lap in the Daytona 500, Phoenix Raceway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The team is one of three in the series to tally three or more bonus points via the program.
  • The No. 71 team secured Spire Motorsports’ first Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. The 28.833-second lap marks the fastest lap in NASCAR’s seventh-generation Cup Series car (2022-present) at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval. Three weekends ago, the team also earned the first stage win in team history during the Grant Park 165 on the streets of downtown Chicago.

Michael McDowell Quote
How does Watkins Glen compare to the other road courses on the Cup Series schedule?
“Watkins Glen is a momentum track. It’s long, has a lot of lateral loading, and it flows very differently. It’s different than Sonoma. You have quick switchbacks when you think about Mexico City or Chicago, and it’s just so different. Obviously, it’s higher speeds and higher loading. The easiest way to describe it is like racing on a mile-and-a-half oval, but on a road course.

Chicago is similar to Martinsville, and Sonoma is probably like Bristol. It’s just that different of a feel when it comes to those tracks. Your fundamentals are still the same, but the way you attack Watkins Glen is different than how you attack Sonoma. There’s no doubt about it. It fits my style well. From an overall speed standpoint, it’s probably my best track. We don’t really have the results to show for it, but in qualifying the last few years, we’ve started in the top five or close to it.

I’ve won a few stages and led a bunch of laps, but it just hasn’t come together, whether it was an engine failure two years ago, or whatever happened last year. We’ve just had some missed opportunities there. But overall, from a speed perspective, Watkins Glen is probably one of my best tracks. I’m excited to have the Go Bowling at The Glen race outside the playoffs this year, just because I feel like it’s another opportunity and another shot for us to try to get a win.”

Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson

  • On Sunday, crew chief Travis Peterson will surpass 100 NASCAR Cup Series races from atop the pitbox. He celebrated 100 starts last weekend at Iowa Speedway.
  • Peterson has two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile course, earning one top-five and two top-10 finishes while working as a race engineer at JR Motorsports.
  • The 34-year-old has been part of two NASCAR Cup Series top 10s the track—first as a race engineer for Chris Buescher and RFK Racing in 2022, then as a crew chief for Michael McDowell in 2024.

Carson Hocevar – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

  • Carson Hocevar will be behind the wheel of the No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet ZL1 for his second NASCAR Cup Series start at Watkins Glen International. In his first trip to the 2.45-mile race course in upstate New York in NASCAR’s premier series last season, the 22-year-old earned a then career-best third-place finish
  • Hocevar made his first and only NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at The Glen in 2021. He started ninth, finished Stage 2 in seventh and claimed a 10th-place effort in the regular-season finale.
  • One day prior, Hocevar competed in the ARCA Menards Series race at Watkins Glen, starting and finishing in the fourth position.
  • The Delaware Life team is coming off an eighth-place showing in last Sunday’s race at Iowa Speedway. Hocevar qualified sixth and earned stage points in Stage 1 before a spin midway through Stage 2 sent him to the back of the pack. The Portage, Mich., native rallied for his best finish in two appearances at the 0.875-mile D-shaped oval and his second top-10 finish in as many races.
  • With 23 races complete in the 2025 season, Hocevar has two top-five results and has led 80 laps – an improvement in both categories over his total from the entire 2024 campaign. With his finish of eighth at Iowa, he matched his top-10 total from 2024.

Carson Hocevar Quote
At Watkins Glen last year, we saw you battle for a win and ultimately earn your first top-five finish in the Cup Series. Was that the race that set the No. 77 on the path its on now, and how do you feel heading back to that track?
“I think it was probably the first time that people really got to see Spire cars running up front and holding our own. Since then it’s only been improvement for the whole organization. We have up and down weeks, but that’s part of building a consistently successful program. Every weekend we have at least two cars running in the top 10, if not all three right there together. I just think Watkins Glen last year was a race where people started to pay attention. That’s definitely continued this season and I feel like the last two races are a really good example of that. At Indy we had two cars finish within the first 11 spots and Iowa we had a car in the top-10 all day and probably would’ve had similar results without the way the cautions fell in the middle of the race. I’m excited to get back to The Glen. We’ve got a lot of momentum heading into this race and we’ve done a really good job of continuing to improve at tracks where we’ve done well in the past.”

Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Luke Lambert

  • Luke Lambert will call his 12 NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen on Sunday. Hocevar’s third-place finish in last year’s event was the first top five for the veteran crew chief at the venue.
  • The Mount Airy, N.C., native has also called two NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Watkins Glen with his best result coming in his most recent. Lambert led Noah Gragson to a fourth-place finish in 2022.

About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 30, 2025, when Rajah Caruth took the checkered flag in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.

In 2025, Spire Motorsports campaigns the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team also fields the Nos. 07, 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and an ARCA Menards Series Chevrolet in select events.

Front Row Motorsports: Watkins Glen International Competition Notes – Zane Smith

By
Official Release
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Zane Smith and the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Team
Watkins Glen International Competition Notes
Go Bowling at The Glen

Date: Sunday, August 10, 2025
Event: Race 26 of 38
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Watkins Glen International (2.45-miles)
#of Laps: 90
Time/TV/Radio: 2:00 PM ET on USA/MRN/SiriusXM channel 90

Zane Smith Notes

The NASCAR Cup Series is back to road course racing this weekend with Zane Smith and the No. 38 facing Watkins Glen International. Smith has proven to be a strong competitor on road courses throughout his NASCAR career, earning back-to-back Truck Series wins at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in 2022 and 2023. In his Cup Series rookie season in 2024, Smith finished fifth at the New York track.

“These last few races have definitely been frustrating, but there’s no quit in this No. 38 team,” said Smith. “We’ve shown we have the speed to compete — it’s just about putting together a complete race and avoiding trouble. I had a solid run at Watkins Glen last year, and with the speed in our car and my confidence on road courses, I believe we have a real shot to turn things around this weekend.”

Road Crew

Driver: Zane Smith

Hometown: Huntington Beach, California

Crew Chief: Ryan Bergenty

Hometown: Plainville, Connecticut

Car Chief: Will Norris

Hometown: Bells, Tennessee

Engineer: Jacob Clamme

Hometown: Hartford City, Indiana

Engineer: Chris Yerges

Hometown: Green Bay, Wisconsin

Mechanic: Steve Godfrey

Hometown: West Haven, Connecticut

Mechanic / Engine Tuner: Tyler Podlaski

Hometown: Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania

Interior Specialist: Matt Fowler

Hometown: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Spotter: Ryan Blanchard

Hometown: Bethlehem, Connecticut

Transport Co-Driver: Ernest Mullins

Hometown: Fayetteville, North Carolina

Transport Co-Driver: Rick Grissom

Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Pit Crew

Front Tire Changer: Ryan Flores

Hometown: Manasquan, New Jersey

Rear Tire Changer: Austin Chrismon

Hometown: China Grove, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Drew Baum

Hometown: Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Jackman: Ryan Selig

Hometown: Lindenhurst, Illinois

Fueler: Chris Webb

Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

ABOUT LONG JOHN SILVER’S

Long John Silver’s was founded in 1969 and is on a mission to create treasured moments through high-quality food and bell-ringing service. With restaurants from sea to mouth-watering sea, Long John Silver’s continues building on a belief that the unique seafood experience from the coasts should be accessible to all. Learn more at ljsilvers.com or join the conversation via social media on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 Craftsman Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 4, No. 34, and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 34 and No. 38 Craftsman Truck Series teams from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @teamfrm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

GRAND OLE OPRY MEMBER CHRIS JANSON TO PERFORM PRE-RACE CONCERT AT BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE

By
Barry Albert
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BRISTOL, Tenn. (Aug. 5, 2025) – Award-winning and multi-platinum selling artist and songwriter Chris Janson will perform the pre-race concert for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, it was announced today by track officials.

Janson is in the middle of his 2025 nationwide tour and his latest studio album, Wild Horses, dropped on August 1. The first release from the album and current radio single, “Me & A Beer,” has become a hit summertime anthem which is climbing the charts.

Janson, known for his five No. 1 hits, which include “Buy Me a Boat,” “Fix a Drink,” “Good Vibes,” “All I Need is You,” and “Done,” has been called one of the most electrifying live performers in Country music and is sure to have the crowd on their feet all night.

Janson will take the big stage in the BMS infield at 5 p.m. during the Crav’n Flavor Pre-Race Infield Experience presented by Food City, and his tunes will lead directly into the popular Bass Pro Shops Night Race Cup Series driver introductions, where each driver enters The Last Great Colosseum to their own selected music.

Fans who purchase the Crav’n Flavor Pre-Race Infield Experience presented by Food City ticket upgrade will receive a front-row seat to the Janson concert and the driver intros.

Crav’n Flavor and Food City were recently named sponsors of Bristol’s popular Pre-Race Infield Experience.

“We can’t wait to hear Chris Janson rock the Crav’n Flavor Pre-Race Infield, and we know the fans will love it too,” said Steve Smith, Food City President and CEO, who carries the Crav’n Flavor brand. “Fans at Bristol Motor Speedway have big cravings for events like this, and this is a great way to showcase the brand’s partnership with such an exciting talent.”

It will be the third NASCAR pre-race performance for the Grand Ole Opry member. Janson previously played at Nashville Superspeedway in 2021 and prior to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2022.

“Looking forward to a rowdy good time at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Night Race pre-race concert brought to you by my friends at Crav’n Flavor,” Janson said. “It’s going to be an awesome night of fast driving and some good Country music. The energy is going to be off the charts and can’t wait to see y’all there!”

Janson is the latest country star to perform at Bristol Motor Speedway. The roster of past performances includes Tim McGraw, Jake Owen, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Hank Williams Jr., Brooks & Dunn, Jelly Roll, Jason Aldean, Cody Johnson, HARDY, Megan Moroney, Baily Zimmerman, Midland, Randy Houser, Travis Tritt, Joe Nichols, The Band Perry, Old Dominion, Rodney Foster, Trace Adkins, Lonestar, Cody Jinks, Larry Fleet and ERNEST, among others.

“We are thrilled to have Grand Ole Opry member Chris Janson to rev up our fans in the pre-race concert before the Bass Pro Shops Night Race,” said Jerry Caldwell, president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway. “Chris is a crown jewel performer in the country music industry so it makes perfect sense to have him at The Last Great Colosseum to perform at one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events, America’s Night Race. He has so many memorable hits, and most of them have soared up the charts to number one. We are looking forward to enjoying plenty of good vibes when he takes the stage that Saturday evening in the Crav’n Flavor Pre-Race Infield Experience presented by Food City.”

Some of the most memorable moments in NASCAR history have taken place during the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on the super-challenging .533-mile high-banked concrete oval. NASCAR’s best drivers will go doorhandle to doorhandle – NASCAR Playoff style – and only the strongest will survive 500 laps of mayhem and chaos on the iconic short track.

In the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m. USA Network and PRN Radio), you’ll get to see all of your favorite drivers racing hard to advance in the Playoffs, including recent Night Race winners Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, fan-favorites Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, as well as top contenders William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain, and veteran drivers Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.

Sparks are sure to fly in the Food City 300, as NASCAR Xfinity Series favorites Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed will be trying to get off to a great start in the Round of 12 Playoffs (Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m., The CW and PRN Radio).

In the Craftsman Truck Series, Daniel Hemric, Corey Heim, Rajah Caruth, defending winner Layne Riggs, spring Bristol winner Chandler Smith and veteran challengers Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger will be among the talented drivers battling for the victory Thursday night in the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics. The race is round two in the Round of 10 Playoffs (Sept. 11, 8 p.m., FS1 and PRN Radio). ARCA Menard Series rising stars, including fan-favorite Cleetus McFarland, also will take on the challenging half-mile bullring in the Bush’s Beans 200 as part of a Thursday night doubleheader (Sept. 11, 5:30 p.m., FS1).

To purchase tickets please visit the Bristol Motor Speedway website ticket page, or call the BMS Ticket Sales Center at (866) 415-4158. Tickets are also available for purchase at your local neighborhood Food City store through September 5.

About Chris Janson
Chris Janson is the real deal. An accomplished, award-winning artist, producer, and songwriter. Janson’s live shows and songwriting set him on a path of great success. The Grand Ole Opry Member has amassed billions of global streams, Gold and Multi-Platinum awards, more than 10M in sales as a solo artist, and excess of 15M in sales combined with hits recorded by other notable artists such as Tim McGraw “Truck Yeah”, LoCash “How I’ll Always Be”, Hank Williams Jr. “Love This Life”, and more. Janson is best Known for his true-to-self anthems, five of which are Number 1 hits including “Buy Me A Boat” (5xPlatinum), “Fix A Drink” (Platinum), “Good Vibes” (Platinum), “All I Need Is You” and “Done” (Gold). Additional certifications include “Drunk Girl” (Platinum), “Holdin’ Her” (Gold), and his Buy Me a Boat album (Gold). Janson has been awarded twice with the prestigious NSAI “Top 10 Songs I Wish I’d Written” award, received an ACM Award, iHeart Radio Country Song of The Year award, among numerous nominations from the ACM and CMA. He is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, mastering more than 10 instruments. Aside from his music, Janson is a happily married husband and father. He is involved in many notable Conservation and Philanthropy efforts, alongside his long-time partnership with Bass Pro Shops and his official partnership with nationally branded, Crav’n Flavor. Chris Janson was a small-town kid who dreamed big, won big, and proudly lives the American Dream.

About Bristol Motor Speedway
Forged amid the scenic mountains of Northeast Tennessee near the Virginia state line, Bristol Motor Speedway is The Last Great Colosseum, a versatile multi-use venue that hosts major auto races, football games, concerts and many other captivating events. The facility features a 0.533-mile concrete oval race track with 28-degree corner banking and 650-feet straightaways that offers racing in several NASCAR touring series, highlighted by two major Cup Series weekends each year. The venue recently transformed into a world class baseball stadium to host the MLB Speedway Classic where the Atlanta Braves defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 in front of an MLB regular season game record crowd of 91,032. In 2020, the track served as host of the prestigious NASCAR All-Star Race, and from 2021-2023 the track converted to a temporary dirt track each spring to take the Cup Series back to its racing roots. While at the track, fans are offered a unique viewing experience courtesy of Colossus TV, the world’s largest outdoor center-hung four-sided video screen with a 540,000-watt audio system. The adjacent quarter-mile dragstrip, Bristol Dragway, offers more than 50 events annually, including the marquee NHRA Super Grip Thunder Valley Nationals. The Thunder Valley Amphitheatre presented by Ballad Health transforms Bristol Dragway into a premier outdoor concert venue for the world’s greatest music performers. Three football games have kicked-off inside the oval, most notably the 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol, where border rivals the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech met before an NCAA-record crowd of 156,990. In existence since 1961, Bristol Motor Speedway was purchased in 1996 by Speedway Motorsports, a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. For more information, please visit www.bristolmotorspeedway.com.

About Crav’n Flavor®
Crav’n Flavor is a brand with a wide variety of craveable meal and snack solutions for on-the-go shoppers.
With more than 450 quality and convenient meal and snack solutions ranging from cookies, crackers, salty snacks, and snacks nuts and trail mixes to frozen appetizers, breakfasts, desserts, entrees, ice cream and pizza as well as refrigerated cookie dough and beef jerky, Crav’n Flavor has something to satisfy every craving. The brand – procured by Topco Associates, LLC to support member-owners – has products currently available to purchase in thousands of Topco member stores across the country. For more information on Crav’n Flavor or to see where Crav’n Flavor products are available for purchase, visit www.cravnflavor.com.

It’s Go Time for Tony Schumacher at RWR

By
Official Release
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10-Time U.S. Nationals Winner To Make NHRA Top Fuel Return at ‘Big Go’ in Indianapolis

Winningest Top Fuel Driver in NHRA History To Run Final Seven Events of 2025

American Communications Construction To Serve as Primary Partner

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 5, 2025) – Tony Schumacher, the winningest Top Fuel driver in the history of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, will make his return to the driver’s seat when he debuts the No. 15 American Communications Construction Top Fuel dragster for Rick Ware Racing (RWR) in the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Schumacher, a 10-time winner of the U.S. Nationals, holds the class record for victories in the “Big Go.” An 11th win would tie the all-time event mark held by Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Frank Manzo.

“The U.S. Nationals has always been special to me, and I’m grateful for the chance to return to Indy with Rick Ware Racing and American Communications Construction,” Schumacher said. “I’ve been fortunate to experience some incredible moments at this event over the years, and getting back behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster at the ‘Big Go’ in front of the most passionate fans in all of motorsports means a lot. It’s the biggest race of the season, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

American Communications Construction will serve as the primary partner for Schumacher and RWR’s No. 15 Top Fuel dragster. The Texas-based telecommunications company will debut with Schumacher at the U.S. Nationals and remain with the eight-time Top Fuel champion through the NHRA season finale Nov. 13-16 at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in California.

“The NHRA is a natural fit for American Communications Construction because it reflects the fast-moving, high-performance environment we operate in every day,” said Aven McBride, president, American Communications Construction. “We build the infrastructure that keeps people and businesses connected, and doing that well requires focus, teamwork and a commitment to excellence – qualities that Tony Schumacher and Rick Ware Racing embody. Launching our partnership at the U.S. Nationals is a proud moment for our company, and we’re excited to grow our presence with Tony and RWR.”

The final seven races of the 2025 NHRA season sets the stage for a full-season, Top Fuel assault in 2026. Schumacher will be paired with veteran tuner Rob Flynn, and together with American Communications Construction, they will be a mainstay in the NHRA paddock, teaming with RWR Top Fuel driver Clay Millican and his crew chief, Jim Oberhofer.

“These last seven races are a great opportunity for us to build something strong for 2026,” said Schumacher, winner of 88 Top Fuel events. “It’s about getting everyone dialed in – learning, improving and laying the foundation for next year. I’m proud to have American Communications Construction on board as we take these next steps together.”

Schumacher’s two most recent Top Fuel wins came last year in the Thunder Valley Nationals June 9 at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway and the Midwest Nationals Sept. 29 at Worldwide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. The Chicago native and resident of Austin, Texas, made it to last year’s Countdown to the Championship for the 15th time since its inception in 2007. He finished eighth in the final standings.

“The U.S. Nationals is the biggest race on the NHRA calendar, and we’re going into it with two of the best Top Fuel drivers in Clay Millican and Tony Schumacher,” said Rick Ware, RWR team owner. “Last year, Clay delivered RWR its first Indy win, and to come back as the defending winner with a lineup that now includes Tony Schumacher – who’s had more success at this event than anyone in Top Fuel history – is huge. We’ve got a lot of weight on our shoulders to deliver for Clay and Tony and all of our partners, but that’s how we like it.”

Millican delivered RWR its first U.S. Nationals win when he defeated four-time Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence in the 70th edition of the “Big Go.” It was Millican’s seventh NHRA Top Fuel event win, and the driver of the No. 51 machine nabbed his eighth career victory earlier this season at Pomona when he defeated Tony Stewart with an impressive .038 of-a-second reaction time.

“Winning the U.S. Nationals last year was one of the proudest moments of my career,” said Millican, the winningest driver in IHRA history and a six-time IHRA champion. “It’s the race every driver wants to win, and to go back to Indy as the defending champ is really special.

“Having Tony Schumacher join the team makes it even better. He’s a part of NHRA history, and to have someone with his knowledge and experience is a huge asset. Two sets of inputs, two perspectives – it makes RWR stronger, and I’m excited for what we can accomplish together.”

Before turning his attention to Indianapolis, Millican competes in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Aug. 15-17 at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway. Following Brainerd, NHRA competitors enjoy a weekend off before arriving in Indianapolis for the 71st U.S. Nationals.

About Rick Ware Racing:

Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver’s seat and into full-time team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with his wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that competes full-time in the elite NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Progressive American Flat Track, FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) and zMAX CARS Tour.

Spire Motorsports Mission 176 at The Glen Race Advance

By
Official Release
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  • Spire Motorsports will field four entries in the team’s first CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Connor Zilisch owns the team’s best finish on a road course, when he won the pole and finished fourth in his series debut last March at Circuit of the Americas. The Mooresville, N.C., organization fields the Nos. 07, 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets full time in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The Nos. 07 and 7 entries will see a rotating roster of all-star caliber drivers throughout the season, while Rajah Caruth and Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Andres Perez de Lara will pilot the Nos. 71 and 77, respectively, for the full slate of races.
  • The Mission 176 at The Glen will be televised live on FS1 Friday, Aug. 8 beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 17th of 25 races on the 2025 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series calendar will be broadcast live on the NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.

Kyle Busch – Driver, No. 07 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

  • Kyle Busch will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 07 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado in Friday’s Mission 176 at Watkins Glen International.
  • While the 40-year-old has yet to make a CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at the famed circuit, he has made three series appearances on road courses, tallying one win, three top fives, 88 laps led in 163 laps contested (53.98 percent), while earning a 2.0 average finish. Aside from snagging third- and second-place finishes at Circuit of the Americas in 2022 and 2023, respectively, Busch secured the win in the division’s 2022 visit to Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. Busch led 45 of the event’s 75 laps en route to the win. He took over the top spot for the final time on Lap 65 and survived multiple late race restarts to clinch his antepenultimate victory at Kyle Busch Motorsports.
  • One of the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ all-time winningest driver’s 102 checkered flags came at “The Glen.” Busch bested an all-star of 10 current full-time Cup Series drivers to win the 2017 event at Watkins Glen, leading 43 laps in the process. In addition to the victory, the 2010 Xfinity Series champion collected six top fives, seven top 10s, 155 laps led and an average starting position of 5.3 in 12 series appearances at the venue.
  • The two-time Cup Series champion owns a pair of Watkins Glen wins in NASCAR’s premier series. In both 2008 and 2013, Busch staved off road course aces Marcos Ambrose and Juan Pablo Montoya to reach Victory Lane. In 19 Cup appearances at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile course, he has accrued two poles, two wins, seven top fives, 13 top 10s, 249 laps led and an 11.7 average finish.
  • Busch has won across all three of NASCAR’s national series at 17 different tracks and looks to add Watkins Glen to the list with a win on Friday. He is one of three drivers to accomplish the feat at four or more venues, including Kevin Harvick (seven) and 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Mark Martin (four).
  • The Las Vegas native holds the record for most CRAFTSMAN Truck Series wins (67) and lowest average finish in series history (6.5), while ranking second on the series’ all-time laps led list (8,130).
  • In his past 15 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series appearances, Busch has finished first or second nine times, six of which resulted in trips to Victory Lane.
  • Founded in 2018, Gainbridge® is an insurtech subsidiary of Group 1001 that empowers consumers to take control of their financial future with solutions that are accessible to everyone, no matter their budget or financial knowledge. Its platform provides access to financial products that are simple, intuitive, and backed by smart technology with no complexity or hidden fees. Gainbridge® is headquartered in Zionsville, Ind. For more information, visit www.gainbridge.io or follow and connect with Gainbridge on X and LinkedIn.
  • Earlier this season, Busch defended his 2024 victory in the Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, spending all 135 laps in the top 15, leading a race-high 80 laps and recording both a field-leading average running position (3.2) and driver rating (124.6).
  • Busch has made nine CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts for Spire Motorsports over the past two seasons and collected three wins, five top fives and six top 10s while pacing the field for 343 circuits.
  • “Rowdy” will race Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-076 this weekend. The truck saw action last month at Lime Rock Park with Thomas Annunziata at the wheel. Chase Purdy owns the prior three starts in the truck, including a chassis-best 13th-place result a Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2023.

Kyle Busch Quote
What are your thoughts heading into your final CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race of the season?
“Appreciate everyone at Spire allowing me to compete in the Truck Series again this year and looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the Gainbridge Chevy for the final time this weekend. I’ve only raced on a road course in trucks a few times and this will be my first time in a truck at Watkins Glen. You never know how the schedule falls each year with the trucks and which races I’m able to compete in and even which tracks are on the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series schedule, so it’d be cool to go out and add another track to the list where I’ve won in all three series across my career while I have the chance.”

Atop the No. 07 Box – Crew Chief Allen Hart

  • Allen Hart leads Spire Motorsports’ No. 07 team, an entry that has seen a rotating roster of drivers throughout the 2025 campaign.
  • As a race engineer at JR Motorsports, Hart played a key role in Justin Allgaier’s four consecutive (2017-2021) NASCAR Xfinity Series top fives at Watkins Glen.
  • Last time out at Indianapolis Raceway Park, the team and driver Brenden “Butterbean” Queen finished 16th.
  • The 43-year-old earned his first career win in a crew chief role in March’s Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. After a spin midway through the Final Stage, Kyle Larson made an impressive run through the field over the event’s final 40 circuits, chasing down the leaders with two laps remaining to make the winning move.
  • Through 16 races, No. 07 team sits 10th in the division’s owner’s championship point standings on the strength of one win, four top-five and five top-10 finishes.

Sammy Smith – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

  • Sammy Smith will drive Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 TMC Transportation Chevrolet Silverado in Friday’s Mission 176 at Watkins Glen International.
  • Smith will pull double duty this weekend, also piloting JR Motorsports’ No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Mission 200 at The Glen on Saturday.
  • Last time out with the No. 7 team at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, Smith battled day-long handling woes to secure a 10th-place finish in the No. 7 Silverado, his fourth such result in the series.
  • The 21-year-old has made six CRAFTSMAN Truck Series appearances for Spire Motorsports, registering one top five and four top 10s while recording a 10.3 average finishing position.
  • The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion competed in the 2022 ARCA event at the Finger Lakes region circuit. He qualified on the pole by 0.361 seconds and dominated the event, leading 39 of 41 laps, in what had the makings of a winning day. Unfortunately, contact initiated by a competitor on a late-race restart shuffled him to fifth in the final rundown.
  • One day after the heartbreaking finish to the ARCA Menards Series race, Smith returned to the course for his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series start. He capitalized on several late-race incidents to secure, at the time, a series-best third-place finish.
  • In total, Smith has tallied three top fives in three ARCA Menards Series road course appearances. He has earned three top fives and nine top 10s in 20 road and street course races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
  • In 96 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Smith has earned three wins, 17 top fives and 45 top 10s. He secured wins at Phoenix Raceway (March 2023), Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (Oct. 2024) and Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway (April 2025).
  • TMC Transportation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022 and is the nation’s largest employee-owned open deck transportation company. TMC provides expert transportation services and supply-chain management solutions throughout the 48 contiguous states. Founded in 1972, TMC is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, and is known for its integrity, innovation, superior safety record, and dedication to quality and customer service. The company’s claim-free, on-time delivery record is the best in the business and is consistently recognized by its customers. Visit tmctrans.com.
  • Smith will race Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-071 Friday afternoon. While the truck was last on track in June at Lime Rock Park, it had previously seen action at Circuit of the Americas last March with Connor Zilisch at the controls. In his CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut, Zilisch set a track record while claiming the pole position by 0.714 seconds. Despite a pair of early-race miscues, Zilisch battled through the field twice to earn a spirited fourth-place finish.
  • Before it was property of Spire Motorsports, chassis SMT-071 saw continued success as the primary road course truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Busch drove it to victory at Sonoma Raceway in June 2022, leading 45 of the event’s 75 laps en route to the team’s 95th win in the series.
  • In eight appearances, SMT-071 has tallied two poles, one win and five top fives while maintaining a 3.6 average starting position and an 11.1 average finish. The truck has paced the field for 93 circuits and led laps in five of its eight starts.

Sammy Smith Quote
You have had speed at Watkins Glen in both the Xfinity and ARCA cars in the past. How will you parlay that experience with your preparation in order to run up front this weekend?
“These Silverados handle much different than the Xfinity car. The trucks have way more grip and on-throttle time, whereas you have to peddle the Xfinity car and you slide around quite a bit. I’ve been in the simulator a bunch with the team, and I’m really looking forward to hitting the track on Friday. I know Brian (Pattie) and the No. 7 team will bring a fast TMC Transportation Chevy Silverado, and believe we will be able to compete up front.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Brian Pattie

  • Brian Pattie stands atop of the No. 7 pit box, an entry that has seen an abundance of all-star caliber drivers behind the wheel throughout the 2025 season.
  • The Zephyrhills, Fla., native has called 17 NASCAR Cup Series races at Watkins Glen. He led seven-time Formula One winner and two-time Indianapolis 500 champion, Juan Pablo Montoya, to his second and final victory in NASCAR’s premier series at Watkins Glen in 2010. He dominated the event, leading 74 of 90 laps and crossing the line 4.735 seconds ahead of the runner up.
  • During his time at NEMCO Motorsports, Pattie worked with Canadian road course ace Ron Fellows, and the duo saw unmatched success at Watkins Glen. In the 50-year-old’s first and only prior CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race atop the box at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile circuit, Fellows qualified on the pole and secured the victory in 1999.
  • The day after securing the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory, the Pattie-Fellows duo sat on the pole and led 52 of the 82 laps in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event. Despite taking the white flag in the top spot, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., slipped by Fellows in Turn 1, forcing Pattie and Fellows to settle for second. The pairing returned to the course in 2000 and 2001 where they earned back-to-back Xfinity Series victories.
  • Last time out at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Corey Day started 16th and drove the No. 7 HENDRICKCARS.COM Silverado to a career-best runner-up finish. It marked his second top five in his last two series appearances.
  • Through 16 races, the No. 7 team sits sixth in the division’s owner points standings on the strength of two wins, six top-five and seven top-10 finishes.
  • In May, the team and driver Carson Hocevar claimed victory in the Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas Speedway. Hocevar led 75 of the event’s 134 laps and survived last-lap contact en route to his fifth victory in the series and first aboard a Spire Motorsports prepared Silverado.
  • The No. 7 team defended its 2024 victory in the Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February with Kyle Busch behind the wheel. The Las Vegas driver spent all 135 laps in the top 15 while leading a race-high 80 laps and recording a field-leading average running position (3.2) and driver rating (124.6).
  • The 24-year industry veteran spent 14 seasons in NASCAR’s premier division. As a crew chief, he has amassed six wins in Cup Series competition, 11 in the Xfinity Series and seven in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. He stands as one of 11 crew chiefs to win races across all three of NASCAR’s national touring series.

Rajah Caruth – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

  • Rajah Caruth will handle the driving chores for Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Silverado in Friday’s Mission 176 at Watkins Glen International.
  • The third-year CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver owns four series starts on road courses, highlighted by a 13th-place finish in 2023 at Circuit of the Americas. He includes two ARCA Menards Series road course races on his resume, including a 2022 Watkins Glen start, and a lone Xfinity Series appearance at the Charlotte ROVAL.
  • Last time out at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Caruth spent a majority of the day in the top 10, and after sustaining nose damage around the race’s halfway point, held on for the remainder of the evening to finish 10th.
  • In May’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, Caruth held off hard-charging Corey Heim and Layne Riggs to earn his second-career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory and lock himself into the playoffs for the second-consecutive season. After hitting pit road for the final time in the third position, the No. 71 pit crew nailed the stop, putting their driver out front to start the Final Stage. He led the final 51 laps en route to the win.
  • Through the first 16 events on the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series calendar, the Washington, D.C., native has earned one win, three top fives and nine top 10s, while pacing the field for 189 circuits – tripling his 57 laps led entering the year.
  • HENDRICKCARS.COM is the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group. Visitors can shop more than 30,000 new or pre-owned vehicles, locate centers for service and collision repair, receive a value to sell or trade their car, chat online with customer service, discover career opportunities, learn more about vehicle protection programs, and explore how the company gives back to the community.
  • The 2024 season marked a career year for Caruth, tallying one win, a pair of Cometic Gasket Pole Awards and five top-five finishes, all of which were the first of his young career. The 12 top-10 finishes on the season tripled Caruth’s total of four in 2023, while his average starting position of 10.7 was four positions higher than 2023 and his 11.6 average finish was an impressive seven positions higher.
  • With his first career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last season, Caruth became the third African-American driver to win a NASCAR National Touring Series race, joining 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Wendell Scott and current Cup Series star Bubba Wallace.
  • Caruth and the No. 71 team qualified for the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series playoffs in 2024, the first such appearance for the recent Winston-Salem (N.C.) State University graduate. Despite reaching the Round of 8, mechanical issues stalled his championship bid in the season’s penultimate event at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
  • The blue and white HENDRICKCARS.COM colors will wrap Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-072. Last on track at Lime Rock Park, the truck owns two top fives and five top 10s in its eight appearances.

Rajah Caruth Quotes
The 2022 ARCA Menards Series race was your only prior visit to Watkins Glen. From your understanding, how has the track changed in the three years since you last raced there?
“The track has only aged since I was last there in 2022. They have also done some work on various parts of the course. They updated the bus stop with less harsh curbing on entry, and added ripples to the exit of Turn 1 and ‘The Carousel.’ I feel extremely prepared to get up there. I have been spending a lot of time in the simulator with my crew chief (Kevin “Bono” Manion) and engineer (Aaron Volf), and have been utilizing all my resources through the Wise GM Driver Development Program.”

You will make your fifth road course start in a truck this weekend. How do you think you have grown as a road racer in that time?
“I feel like I have grown into a respectable road racer in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series field since my first road course race in 2023. Through my training, oversight and driver coaching over the years, I have developed the skills necessary to perform well at these kinds of tracks. I still have heights I want to reach, but considering I started from scratch, I feel like I am doing a good job. I expect to run further in the top 10 this weekend than we did last time out at Lime Rock.”

Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion

  • Veteran crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion has called 14 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series road course events, collecting three top 10 finishes. Zane Smith’s 2021 sixth-place result at Watkins Glen marked his best finish in CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competiton.
  • The Boylston, Mass., native stood atop the ‘war wagon’ in Martin Truex, Jr.’s victory in the inaugural Xfinity Series event at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The win marked the first of six in the 2005 campaign for the Truex/Manion pairing. Just nine months later, the potent duo secured their second Xfinity Series title in as many seasons at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
  • Manion, a 31-year veteran of the sport, founded Spire Motorsports’ CRAFTSMAN Truck Series program alongside industry veteran Mike Greci in 2022. The team claimed its first victory in their second outing with William Byron behind the wheel at Martinsville Speedway.
  • The 53-year-old has racked up six Cup Series victories – including the 2010 Daytona 500 – 17 NASCAR Xfinity Series triumphs and 12 CRAFTSMAN Truck series wins. Manion is also one of 11 crew chiefs to have called wins across all three of NASCAR’s national touring series.
  • In 2023, Manion became one of few to call a race in all three of NASCAR’s national series in a single season, all of which came under the Spire Motorsports umbrella. He led the part-time effort on the No. 7 Silverado in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, helped in limited starts for Carson Hocevar in the Xfinity Series and took the reigns during the second half of the Cup Series season for Ty Dillon and the No. 77 team.

Andres Perez de Lara – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

  • Andres Perez de Lara will pilot the No. 77 Telcel Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports in the Mission 176 at Watkins Glen International.
  • The Mexico City native will be making his second-career NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series road course start at Watkins Glen. In four road-course appearances in the ARCA Menards Series, Perez de Lara registered one top five and two top 10s, including a fourth-place finish in last September’s General Tire 100 at The Glen.
  • Perez de Lara cut his teeth on road courses in his home country, Mexico. During the 2020 North and Central American Formula 4 Championship, Perez de Lara tallied four wins, 15 top fives, and 20 top 10s in 20 starts to secure Rookie of the Year honors.
  • In six road course starts in the NASCAR Mexico Series, the 2023 series Rookie of the Year tallied one top five and four top 10s. He picked up two wins at Autodromo de Queretaro, a nine-turn 1.42-mile circuit in the FB-Bohn Mikel’s Truck Series, a feeder series for NASCAR Mexico.
  • Telcel is Mexico’s leading telecommunications company, providing nationwide coverage, cutting-edge mobile connectivity, and high-speed internet services to millions of users. With over 30 years of experience, Telcel continues to innovate in digital communication, offering solutions that keep people connected anytime, anywhere.
  • Beyond technology, Telcel is committed to supporting excellence in sports, particularly in motorsports. As a proud and long-time sponsor of Perez de Lara, Telcel fuels the passion for speed, precision and performance, driving success both on and off the track. Telcel will be a season-long partner with Perez de Lara and the No. 77 team.
  • The 20-year-old has made 18 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts, 17 of which were behind the wheel of a Spire Motorsports Chevy Silverado. He earned his first-career top 10 in his CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut last June at World Wide Technology Raceway via a ninth-place result. His career-best seventh-place finish at Martinsville Speedway in March marked his second top 10 in the series.
  • The 2024 ARCA Menards Series champion juggled his duties while also competing full time in the NASCAR Mexico Series. In 2023, he earned the Rookie of the Year award while finishing fourth in the division’s championship point standings and reaching the series’ version of the NASCAR playoffs.
  • Perez de Lara will pilot Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-061 on Friday. The chassis was last on track at Lime Rock Park, which was its’ first start since Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2022 with John Hunter Nemechek at the controls. In seven starts, the chassis has picked two runner-up finishes with Alex Tagliani (Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, 2022) and John Hunter Nemechek (Circuit of the Americas, 2022).
  • Andres Perez de Lara Quotes
  • The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series has not visited Watkins Glen in a few years. How do you think the race will play out?
  • “Watkins Glen is the road course on the schedule with the most passing opportunities. There will be a lot of chances to gain spots and work your way to the front. Restarts will be chaotic, especially heading into Turn 1, comparable to what we saw on the final restart at Lime Rock. My goal is to be patiently aggressive and take my chances when available, but not press the issue. I do not want to put myself in a spot where I can hurt my chances at a good finish.”

How will your ARCA experience at Watkins Glen help you heading into the weekend?
“It will help a ton going into my first truck start there. I feel like I have a good handle on the track. I ran fairly well there the past two years in ARCA, so I am excited to get back. Watkins Glen is one of my favorite road courses I have ran. The team and I have put a lot of time in at the simulator to improve the road course program. We have found some things to get better for this weekend, and are focused on bringing home a good finish.”

Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Chad Walter

  • Chad Walter has called eight CRAFTSMAN Truck Series road course events. Driver Tyler Ankrum earned Walter’s best result on a road course, a sixth-place result Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway’s road course configuration in 2020.
  • Walter is a mechanical engineering graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, located 30 miles from Watkins Glen. During his studies, he played defensive end for the Big Red football team. He hails from Albion, N.Y., positioned just west of Rochester.
  • In 19 road course events atop the NASCAR Xfinity Series box, the 54-year-old has tallied five top fives and seven top 10s. As a crew chief for the JR Motorsports’ No. 5 team, Walter reached Victory Lane at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with Ron Fellows in 2008. The duo elected to run long during a pit cycle as storms were approaching the circuit. When heavy rain descended upon the track on Lap 48, the race was deemed complete and Fellows was declared the winner.
  • During his time as a shop engineer at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Walter was part of Steve Park’s 2000 triumph at Watkins Glen. Park led 53 laps en route to his maiden Cup Series victory.
  • Between NASCAR’s Xfinity Series and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Walter has racked up six wins, 52 top fives and 131 top 10s.

About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 30, 2025, when Rajah Caruth took the checkered flag in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.

In 2025, Spire Motorsports campaigns the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team also fields the Nos. 07, 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and an ARCA Menards Series Chevrolet in select events.

Kaden Honeycutt named driver of Halmar Friesen Racing Truck Series entry

By
Official Release
-

STATESVILLE, NC. (August 5, 2025) – Kaden Honeycutt will fill in for Stewart Friesen for the balance of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season in the No. 52 Halmar International Toyota Tundra TRD Pro starting with next weekend’s race at Richmond Raceway.

Friesen was injured while competing in a Super DIRTcar Series race at Canada’s Autrodrome Drummond on Monday, July 28. He was later transferred to a hospital in New York where he continues to make progress after undergoing several surgeries.

“While I continue to recover, it was important for us to put someone in our truck that can help us compete at the highest level,” said Friesen. “I know Kaden will deliver strong performance in our truck and allow us to continue to run for the owner’s championship.”

Honeycutt comes to Halmar Friesen Racing after achieving at a high level all season in his first full-time year in the NASCAR Truck Series. In 16 starts, the Texas-native has finished in the top-10 nine times, including two third-place finishes at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and Pocono Raceway in June. He comes into the race at Watkins Glen sixth in the standings with a 73-point buffer on the cutline for a NASCAR Playoff berth, which will potentially allow the No. 52 Toyota team to compete for both a driver and owner’s title this year.

“It’s an honor to be able to fill in for Stewart for the rest of the season and help give his team a chance at the owner’s championship, which they earned. I’m excited to compete in contending, race-winning equipment as I pursue a title this season,” said Honeycutt. “We are going to work hard to have a solid final eight races of the season and continue to deliver great results for Stewart, his family and this organization.”

2017 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Christopher Bell will drive the No. 52 Halmar International Toyota Tundra this weekend at Watkins Glen International before Honeycutt takes over. Honeycutt’s run with Halmar Friesen Racing will begin next Friday, August 15 at Richmond Raceway with television coverage on FS1 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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