TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
Richmond Raceway
August 15-16, 2025

Playoff stakes are heightened for the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series this weekend as the pair will head to Richmond Raceway for a doubleheader event under the lights.

For the Truck Series, Friday’s eero 250 will bring the regular season to a close and set the 10-driver playoff field that will compete for the 2025 championship title. The current rankings see four Team Chevy drivers above the cutline including season winners Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum and Rajah Caruth, as well as series veteran, Grant Enfinger, who holds the top provisional points position. The weekend will conclude with the Cup Series in Saturday’s Cook Out 400 – marking the second-to-last stop in the series’ 26-race regular season. Reigning Richmond winner, Austin Dillon, will look to go back-to-back to punch his ticket into the title hunt.

 
Chevrolet at Richmond Raceway:

“The Action Track” hosted its first NASCAR Cup Series event in April 1953, with Saturday’s 400-lap race marking the series’ 137th appearance at the .75-mile Virginia venue. One year ago, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon powered his No. 3 Chevrolet to victory lane to deliver the manufacturer its series-leading 41st all-time victory at the track. Dillon rounds out a group of four active Team Chevy drivers that are past Richmond winners – joining the likes of Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman with one win each, as well as the track’s winningest driver, Kyle Busch, with six victories on his resume.

BYRON BOOSTS POINTS LEAD

William Byron followed up his Iowa victory with yet another top-five finish at Watkins Glen to double his points lead to now 42-markers over teammate, Chase Elliott, with just two races left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season. While he’s still looking for a trip to victory lane at Richmond Raceway, short-tracks have fared well for the 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native this season – earning top-six results in three of the four events on tracks measuring less than one-mile, including his win at Iowa Speedway and a pair of sixth-place results at Bristol Motor Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway. There’s no sweeter place for Byron to collect his first regular season title than Daytona International Speedway, where the Team Chevy driver will return as the back-to-back Daytona 500 champion.

LARSON LOOKING FOR A REBOUND

While a brake line failure resulted in a dismal day at Watkins Glen International for Kyle Larson, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team is still in the fight for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship. The 33-year-old Elk Grove, California, native is a two-time winner in the division at Richmond Raceway. From the bigger picture, Larson’s statistics boosts top-20 results in 19 of his 20 career starts at “The Action Track”, including top-seven finishes in five of his eight races behind the wheel of a Hendrick Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet. Larson has also scored one of his three wins on the season at a short-track, which came at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier this season when the former champion drove his No. 5 Chevrolet to a dominating 411-laps led en route to the victory.

Busch, Dillon Looking to Capitalize on Richmond Success:

The Richard Childress Racing duo of Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon sit in a ‘must-win’ situation to earn a playoff berth, but they head to a track where challenge presents opportunity for both teams.

Busch stands as the series’ winningest driver at “The Action Track” – a resume that boasts six trips to victory lane in 39 career starts. The 40-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada, native also leads the series in runner-up finishes (seven) and top-10 finishes (28) at the Virginia venue. Busch’s storied history at the track has featured a few strong streak of results including 10-consecutive top-nine finishes (Sept. 2017 – Aug. 2022), as well as top-five finishes in his first-five career starts at the track (May 2005 – May 2007).

Dillon has earned seven top-10 finishes at Richmond Raceway – most recently one year ago when the 35-year-old Welcome, North Carolina, native made the trip to victory lane. Dillon and the No. 3 Chevrolet team showcased speed throughout the 2024 event weekend – topping the overall speed chart in practice en route to a sixth-place qualifying effort. Dillon went on to earn top-seven results in each stage; collected a 50-point day (second-most in the field); and tallied 35 laps led to cap-off a strong outing at the .75-mile Virginia short-track. In 2025, the No. 3 Chevrolet team has earned a pair of top-10 results on tracks measuring under one-mile – one of which came at Iowa Speedway just two weeks ago.

 
ONE LAST SHOT AT NCTS PLAYOFFS

In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, four playoff positions hang in the balance for drivers to either win or point their way into a spot in the race for the 2025 championship title. Among the six drivers that have solidified their postseason positions with a win are three from the Chevrolet camp including Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum and Rajah Caruth. While still looking for his first trip to victory lane this season, series veteran, Grant Enfinger, will head into the regular season finale in the top provisional points position with a strong 91-point cushion over the cutline. Richmond could very well be the track to break the winless streak for the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet team. Enfinger has yet to finish outside of the top-nine in each of his five career starts at the .75-mile Virginia venue – highlighted by a win in his first-ever appearance at the short-track in Sept. 2020.

 
Eckes Set for NCTS Return:

Christian Eckes will spend his NASCAR Xfinity Series off-weekend back behind the wheel of a familiar seat. The 24-year-old Middletown, New York, native will rejoin McAnally-Hilgemann Racing to pilot the No. 16 Chevrolet entry in Friday’s 250-lap event. The start will mark Eckes’ return to the Truck Series for the first time since making the move up into the Xfinity Series for his rookie campaign this season. In 2024, Eckes was a force to be reckoned with for the Truck Series championship title – putting together a season that consisted of four wins and 22 top-10 finishes in 23 races, including a streak of 21-straight. Eckes is a nine-time Truck Series winner, with eight of those triumphs coming behind the wheel of a McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet.

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 24 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:

Wins: 11

Poles: 10

Laps Led: 2,938

Top-Fives: 48

Top-10s: 103

Stage Wins: 20

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 23 NASCAR Xfinity Series races complete:

Wins: 20

Poles: 14

Laps Led: 2,804

Top-Fives: 77

Top-10s: 147

Stage Wins: 33

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 17 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races complete:

Wins: 6

Poles: 2

Laps Led: 856

Top-Fives: 39

Top-10s: 82

Stage Wins: 7

 
BOWTIE BULLETS:

· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Richmond Raceway:

Kyle Busch: six wins (2018 sweep, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009)

Kyle Larson: two wins (2023, 2017)

Austin Dillon: one win (2024)

Alex Bowman: one win (2021)

· In 136 NASCAR Cup Series races at Richmond Raceway, Chevrolet has amassed a series-leading 41 victories and 48 pole wins.

· Chevrolet recorded six consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victories at Richmond Raceway from 2006 to 2008 – a record for the longest streak of consecutive wins by a single manufacturer at the .75-mile Virginia oval.

· Chevrolet has earned at least half of the top-10 finishing results in 12 of the 24 points-paying races thus far this season, including a season-high seven top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

· In 132 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 63 victories – a winning percentage of 47.7%.

· With its 43 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 877 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

 
TUNE-IN:

NASCAR Cup Series

Cook Out 400

Saturday, August 16, at 7:30 p.m. ET

(USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

eero 250 (regular season finale)

Friday, August 15, at 7:30 p.m. ET

(FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

 
QUOTABLE QUOTES:

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

You finished fifth last year at Richmond. How much confidence does that give you for this weekend? Have the cars changed so much that it doesn’t give you an advantage anymore?

“I feel like we can go anywhere and compete, we just need to execute. We have the pieces, people and the resources, but actually executing on that during the weekend is where we have failed. If we can go and get our balance and grip right in practice and qualifying, that sets us up for a good race day. We have won the Richmond 125 a couple of times, but getting all 400 laps has been tough. We’ve done it a couple of times before and I know we have the ability to do it.”

How significant is it to you to be starting next year as the longest tenured driver at Trackhouse? Is there a different responsibility?

“Nothing drastically changing for next year, but it will be different. Obviously, I’ll have different teammates and no one will have been there longer than me.”

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

You and your teammate, Kyle Busch, had fast cars at Richmond Raceway last year. What do you think you have for them going back to Richmond?

“I’m pumped to get to Richmond Raceway in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Deer XP Chevrolet. I’ve been excited about that one all year. I just want to get there and see if we can be as successful as last year. We had a two second lead with however many laps remaining in the race, drove past Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, and the car was just really solid. Unfortunately, an untimely caution put us in a difficult position. We worked a little bit this week in the SIM just to see how it correlated, and I thought it correlated very well. We will go there and give it our best shot. We feel like it could be a good opportunity to put us into the NASCAR Playoffs with just two races remaining until the cutoff.”

Is there a damper when you look back at Richmond Raceway knowing that you were penalized?

“It was still a big day and I’ll always remember it as one of my favorite wins. We got the trophy, just not the NASCAR Playoffs spot. That part was a struggle, and I hate it for RCR, but this year going back I definitely want to go out there and try to win again, but this time lock ourselves into the Playoffs. We had a dominate car last year and really came on strong at the end. We had a multiple-second lead and passed two of the best to do it, so that’s pretty cool.”

Have some of your recent performances, particularly strong runs at Iowa Speedway and Watkins Glen International, given you confidence heading back into the site of your most recent win?

“I’m really excited about Richmond Raceway. That is a good track for the No. 3 team. Iowa Speedway was a good chance for us to get to run around some of the guys at the front, and make decisions, and have a pit crew making competitive stops around the front because when we get to Richmond I feel like we should be able to compete in the top five and have another shot to win.”

What contributed to your strong finish at Iowa Speedway, a track that shares similar characteristics to Richmond Raceway, that you can translate to Richmond this fall?

“As a team, we did a really good job prepping for that race from a simulation standpoint. I think when we have really good SIM weeks, we run better at the track. Some days I can tell you ‘oh I don’t know,’ because it didn’t feel good at the SIM – it just didn’t feel realistic, or the things we were doing don’t correlate to at-track so you have to go back to history. That was probably the biggest thing – a good SIM session. We were good there the year before as well, we just didn’t get to show it. We were the first car out and it was super hard to pass. We actually ran the second or third-fastest lap of the race last year, so we had a base line that we could work off of, just like we have for Richmond Raceway this year.”

You’ve won at both of the last two races left in the regular season. What would it mean for the way the season has gone to get a victory and lock yourself into the NASCAR Playoffs?

“It’s nice that Richmond Raceway and Daytona International Speedway are the two tracks that we have left. I’m pretty confident at both of them. We’re going to give it our all and try to build momentum and keep building it. Truthfully, we want to win to get into the NASCAR Playoffs, but also we need to move ourselves into a better place in the point standings because we’ve had a lot of unfortunate events go on that kept moving us down in the point standings. We want to be a top-20 team no matter what, so we have to work our way to the front with the remaining races.”

Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

What is your outlook heading into Richmond this weekend?

“I really enjoy competing at Richmond. It’s always been one of my favorite tracks. The lack of grip from the old asphalt and short track feel makes the cars slide around and a lot of fun to drive. I feel confident we can execute a solid weekend in the Gainbridge Super League Chevy.”

Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Overall, how do you feel about these next two weeks and your chances of making it into the NASCAR Playoffs?

“Richmond’s one of my best tracks, statistically, so I would like to think that we could be good there in the No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet. My teammate Austin Dillon had a great race there last year, and I think we can use some of that success on the No. 8 team as well. Daytona has always been great for us at RCR and ECR with the speed that we typically carry there.”

Does Austin Dillon’s speed at Richmond Raceway last year give you confidence for this weekend?

“That’s definitely something to look at, with as good as Austin Dillon and the No. 3 team were at Richmond Raceway last year. The No. 8 team has had some good speed there, both last year and in the year prior, but in the fall race last year Austin was much better than we ever were. We’ve got a couple of third-place finishes out of Richmond Raceway the past few years, but Austin, being as good as he was and driving to the front and being deserving of that victory, gives us a lot to look forward to and try to replicate.”

Richard Childress said over the radio a couple of weeks ago that he has to start giving you winning cars. You have to have cars that match your talent. Have you seen any changes in the quality of the equipment that you are driving?

“I think every week there is a chance of being able to go out there and be better, or go out there and be different than you were before. It’s not due to lack of effort, that’s for sure, so I appreciate everyone’s hard work and what’s going on and what we are able to do behind the scenes. I would say the cars are probably better than some of our results have indicated just due to issues we’ve had, the battles that you get into towards the later stages of the race and getting taken out or whatever. We’re trying to put those results to the racetrack and get some checkered flags from it.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

“Richmond’s a difficult racetrack where we typically have a lot of long runs, tires wear out really quick. The track changes a lot throughout the course of the race so you’re always trying to keep up with it. We have lacked speed there in the past, but we’ve made a lot of improvements on our short track program; our group is ready for the challenge. Track position is critical, so we’ll look to qualify up front and have the speed to consistently run in the top-15 all day.”

Jesse Love, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Richmond is your last Cup Series start of the year. What have you learned in the four Cup races you have done?

“I have learned how to be more aggressive with the No. 33 C4 Ultimate Energy Chevrolet. I am working on improving my restarts, learning about the grip pickup in qualifying, and what kind of balance I need in the car. That’s what I’ve really picked up on, what kind of balance I need as a driver to go fast. I feel like I’ve been able to narrow in on that and for me that is to be a little bit tighter. For someone else that might be different, but for me it is to have that heavy wheel feel.”

Is there any other track that we race that is like Richmond?

“It is a short, flat oval, so Martinsville, Phoenix, Iowa, all racetracks that I am pretty good at. But Richmond is its own beast because it is a D-shaped oval. It is shorter and flatter than most. It is low grip, a lot of tire fall off.”

What are you expecting from the Cup car in Richmond?

“To not be able to pass, for everyone to be the same speed which will make restarts and qualifying important. You have to be smart and manage a good race.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

“We had a pretty solid weekend at Watkins Glen and that gives us some good momentum heading into Richmond this week. My team’s been working hard all week, and I’m excited to get out there and see what we can do this weekend.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

What are your thoughts heading into Richmond?

“Running Richmond on a Saturday night should be a fun race. The track temps are going to be different than what we see in practice on Friday afternoon, but I think our Spire Motorsports group has been in the game with our short-track package. We had the speed at Iowa, but those long green flag runs put us behind with some old tires and didn’t get the finish we deserved. I think we have a lot to show this weekend in Richmond, and I’m looking forward to getting to the track. I have been watching a lot of film and us, as a group, have put a big emphasis our simulator sessions, so I feel confident heading into this weekend and expect to have a good run.”

Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

The No. 77 team’s short track performances have been strong this year. What is your outlook for Richmond this weekend?

“I enjoy racing at Richmond a lot. Last year I was able to move around and find different lines that worked for me based on how our tires were wearing. It was a lot of fun to move around and try something different. I feel like those are the types of tracks where I do well and can find something that works for me that may not work for someone else. I know we had the option tire there last year, and maybe that was what made the difference, but I still feel like I learned enough about how the track races to be able to put together a good run.”

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Watkins Glen was your fourth Cup win of the year and is the most ever by a rookie. What does that mean to you personally?

“Yeah, it means everything. The prep that we go through, not just for these road courses, but we do it every week. As I’ve said many times over the last few weeks, I feel like we’ve gotten a lot better, especially on the ovals. It’s been cool working with a great bunch of people. To share four wins with everyone and to see how much it meant to everyone when you’re high fiving during the burnout, you can see how into it they are. It’s so cool.”

Do you feel like the other drivers have improved and gotten closer to you in terms of road racing ability?

“I just think they’re good anyway. I think the difference has been that I’m with the team full-time this year and I’ve been able to develop a setup and fine tune it to the way I want. Last year I kind of just jumped in and ran with the Kaulig guys, whereas this year I’m all involved in the setup, trying to learn every week. I really feel like as a team we’ve been able to tailor the car to my needs. I think we turn up to the track, we know what our tuning tools are. I know what I want the car to feel like. I think it’s just us as a team getting better.”

Are you looking forward to making your first Cup Series start at Richmond?

”We only went there once in Xfinity, so it’s still a really fresh track for me. I had a fun race there and it was early in the season. I enjoyed it, how you can move around and try and make the car work. It was very line sensitive. You could change the line and see what worked best for you. The track allows you to have a bit more driver input on what works to get the best result out of the car. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish there this weekend.”

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

On your performance in recent weeks:

“There’s a lot of tracks that have been good to me in the past coming up. Lately, we’ve just had a lot of accidents and things happen that were out of our control. Hopefully we can carry this momentum from a good run at Watkins Glen into the next couple of races and contend for a win. I really want to get a win for everyone at Trackhouse Racing and all of our sponsors.”

What are the challenges of transitioning from practice to qualifying at Richmond?

“In practice you are more in a rhythm and you are looking to get your car in a rhythm and have a good read in your race car to be able to make it better. In qualifying you have to be as present as possible because you have what you have and you must maximize every single ounce of the car. And it is very, very important to be present on the car, you know, to understand the car. Even before you take the green flag you have to know if the car going to be tight, loose, or what it’s going to do.”

 
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturers Championships:

Total (1949-2024): 43

First title for Chevrolet: 1958

Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Most recent: 2024

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Drivers Championships:

Total (1949-2024): 33

First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)

Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Most recent: Kyle Larson (2021)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021

Event Victories:

Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2025 STATISTICS:

Wins: 11

Poles: 10

Laps Led: 2,938

Top-Fives: 48

Top-10s: 103

Stage Wins: 20

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:

Total Chevrolet race wins: 877 (1949 to date)

Poles won to date: 763

Laps led to date: 255,649

Top-fives to date: 4,417

Top-10s to date: 9,110

Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:

       General Motors: 1,211

       Chevrolet: 877

       Pontiac: 154

       Oldsmobile: 115

       Buick: 65



       Ford: 844                                                                               

       Ford: 744

       Mercury: 96

       Lincoln: 4



       Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467

       Dodge: 217

       Plymouth: 191

       Chrysler: 59



       Toyota: 198

 

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Richmond Media Availability
Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske, will be one of 16 drivers competing for the NASCAR Cup Series championship when the playoffs start in two weeks at Darlington Raceway. He spoke about his team’s preparations not only for that, but for this weekend’s race in Richmond, VA, as part of a Ford media call.

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW MUCH DOES HAVING A WIN ALREADY CHANGE YOUR PREPARATION FOR A RACE LIKE THIS WEEKEND? “I think in a lot of ways you can almost call it you have the opportunity to get into playoff mode, if you will, earlier from a team mentality standpoint, just as far as executing. The first two rounds of the playoffs are so much about execution and it’s something that I feel like the early part of the summer we were really struggling to lock down as a team, so that’s kind of where our minds have been, but as far as how it relates to the years past, I think every year has been different, but at the end of the day it does give you freedom to put pressure on other things as we move about the summer, but we are getting into that range of we have to hunker down and absolutely execute and understand where our performance is at and what our strengths and weaknesses are, so when it does start up in Darlington we’re ready to go.”

NASCAR IS RELATIVELY NEW FOR TEAMS AS FAR AS GETTING DATA TO WHERE THEY CAN CALCULATE FUEL AND TELL HOW MUCH A DRIVER NEEDS TO SAVE. WHERE DOES NASCAR COMPARE TO OTHER SERIES YOU’VE RACED IN AS FAR AS THAT GOES? “I wouldn’t say it’s fair to say that fuel calculations in NASCAR or as a race engineer, or a crew chief, or as a driver, are not very sophisticated, but it’s due to the lack of actual data. Now, we do have some data and we have to make estimates based off of the data that we do have. None of that really happens necessarily in real time or as in real time as much as you’d like it to be and as accurate as you’d like it to be, so there’s a lot more guessing that goes on in a fuel save situation in the NASCAR Cup Series than really anything else I’ve ever driven or been a part of. For example, if I was racing any other series really, I’d now what my capacity is. I have it on my dash. I know how much fuel I just used on the last lap, so I can make real time adjustments as the driver without even getting feedback from my team. The only feedback I really need from my team is how much fuel do you want me to use a lap, and then do we have a code word that defines that, whereas, for us, you can come up with codes and come up with an understanding, but even pace and lap time aren’t necessarily the greatest gauges of what that is, so you can spend time on the simulator driving in different ways to get reads on what uses what and what’s more efficient than what, but as far as fuel used in real time, it is a lot of estimating based off of data. The guys that are tasked with that challenge on top of the pit box and back in the shop have a lot to overcome. When you hear guys just making it on fuel or running out of fuel at the line, or running out just before, it honestly is so impressive that we’re able to get it that close with the resources that I feel like all the teams lack due to the lack of information and data.”

HOW IMPRESSIVE IS THAT LEVEL OF PRECISION AND HAVE YOU SEEN IT IMPROVE OVER YOUR FOUR SEASONS IN CUP? CAN YOU ESTIMATE HOW MANY HOURS ARE SPENT ON CALCULATING THAT KIND OF THING? “It’s constant as far as tracking mileage throughout the race, but other races are more important than others. Richmond is not gonna be a fuel mileage race at all because you’re gonna pit before you need gas at all times, but Daytona obviously that could come into play at some of the bigger racetracks. That definitely comes up and shows up, but I feel like it’s one of those things that, if anything, it’s gotten more difficult in the last couple of years because there was basically a change in the NASCAR rulebook that eliminated a second pump, or at least where a second pump could be located or used, to where my first year in Cup and even the race that I did in 2021, you kind of had a reserve pump that you knew had like two laps worth of gas in it or something, that you could turn on and now that’s been eliminated, so there is no safety net anymore than there used to be, so now it’s even more terrifying if you’re a crew chief or an engineer trying to make those calls because that safety net doesn’t really exist. There’s no real reference point anymore of how close I actually am.”

ARE YOU GOING TO RACE ANY DIFFERENT THIS WEEK WITH SOME OF THE GUYS STILL TRYING TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? “I think Richmond is one of those racetracks that you have nowhere to hide as far as your performance. Every week I’m trying to win the race. That’s gonna benefit my playoffs and that’s what I’m paid to do. That’s what I want to do, so as far as that goes that doesn’t really change. That’s a constant. As far as how aggressive we might be on strategy throughout the race, there are definitely some opportunities to change things up depending on if you want to do one stop in the second or third stage, or two stops in the second and third stage. There isn’t an opening because there’s usually a lot of green flag runs, but because there are a lot of green flag runs and it’s such a tricky racetrack, there’s not really anywhere to hide if you’re not any good. It’s a tough racetrack if you’re really struggling for performance.”

YOU’VE DRIVEN THE XFINITY, GEN-6 AND NOW THIS NEXT GEN CAR. CAN YOU GIVE US INSIGHT AS TO HOW BIG THE DIFFERENCE IS IN TERMS OF DIRTY AIR THESE DAYS? “Yeah. It’s definitely a conversation and I hate to inform everyone that it’s not going away, and by that I mean that every racing series that you watch in the world, even if you watch a sprint car race on the dirt track, they’re dealing with dirty air. I’ll drive my go kart and lose the nose because of aero wash, so that’s racing. There are definitely certain levels of turbulent air and what the effect is. I think there are two main things and differences as far as watching a race on Saturday and watching a race on Sunday and that’s how you affect the cars around you. I feel like in the Xfinity car with the longer rear quarterpanels you could definitely affect the car in front of you by your proximity a lot more than you can in our cars. On the flip side, taking air off each other’s doors in the Truck and Xfinity car also affects the racing and has actually led to having more side-by-side for longer in our cars, whether that’s good, bad, better or indifferent. But I think to my second point would be that we are all so similar and so competitive with one another that it’s difficult to differentiate yourself. That’s the nature of having a highly competitive series. If I’m half-a-tenth to a tenth faster than you in any series, am I gonna realistically expect to pass you? That’s gonna be a hard pass to actually make. I’m gonna have to go off line, have a big enough run, so I think there are a lot of details other than just the air. Like I said, that ain’t going away. We’re driving cars through air. We’re gonna move the air, but the magnitude of it and the variance throughout the field, I think that’s what creates racing and passing, whether that’s through tire wear or carrying runs. Being able to differentiate yourself is how you create variance, which is why I feel you see on tracks that we have multiple lanes to use, our races are great. I just got done watching the Richmond race from last fall and in the heat of the day we were all over the racetrack, running two or three lanes on the track. It was honestly a really great race, no different than watching a progressive banked track on the mile-and-a-half stuff. There’s pros and cons to all of it, but that’s what’s gonna change it is giving me somewhere to make myself different than the guy in front of me.”

DO YOU THINK THE UPTICK IN AGGRESSION IS A DIRECT PRODUCT OF HOW SIMILAR YOU GUYS ARE? “I think you’re gonna get close to the end of the race in any series and you’re gonna have an uptick in aggression. I mean, you watched Watkins Glen in the Xfinity and the Truck Series and we wrecked a bunch of stuff just because it was the end of the race, so I feel like that is just racing. I think the urgency is definitely high anytime you have a chance to gain multiple positions or if you have multiple positions in front of you. It was interesting to me because at the same time I had to pit from the lead and go back to 30th and I was able to drive through the field because I was able to run different lanes, so it was pretty interesting to see all of that. If you’re locked down and you can’t, then you’re stuck, for sure. It’s very interesting, but, otherwise, wrecking at the end of the race is just because we’re competitive.”

THE TIRE USED THIS WEEKEND IS THE SAME ONE FROM BOWMAN GRAY, MARTINSVILLE, WILKESBORO, AND THIS IS ALSO THE FIRST TIME WE’VE RUN THAT TIRE AT A TRACK LIKE RICHMOND. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THE TIRE GIVEN THE TRACK SHAPE AND HOW IT MIGHT INFLUENCE THINGS IN TRAFFIC? “We’ve run that short track tire throughout the year this year and it’s been a big change on paper. It’s been pretty racy, so I don’t have any big question marks heading into the weekend other than just adjusting for it. It’s very similar to the red tire that we ran in the option tire race last year, so I expect a lot of similarities in fall off and balance characteristics to that. That’s kind of what we’ve been working on as a team to look at, but I don’t know if I have a favorite or not, but I feel like although it’s on paper it’s a pretty big change, it’s been able to be pretty racy at a multitude of different styles of short tracks.”

CAN YOU GIVE US AN INSIDE LOOK OF WHAT MAKES YOU SO GOOD AT DRAFTING TRACKS LIKE DAYTONA? “Fast cars, man. I’d like to say it’s that simple and in a lot of ways it really is. Obviously, I feel like anybody who is driving a Ford Mustang has a great advantage when we go to these drafting style racetracks. Roush Yates and everybody does an awesome job at providing us a complete package for those races. Past that, it’s just study and observe and apply. I give a lot of credit to my team as well as my spotter on the roof, Doug Campbell. We’ve been able to do a good job at executing those races and putting ourselves in position. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been crashed a multitude of times out of the lead, but that wouldn’t make me any special because there’s been a lot of people who have had that, too. I’m proud of the performance there, but it’s never a guaranteed result, that’s for sure.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT GATEWAY AND WHAT IT TAKES TO GET AROUND THERE? “It’s a really unique track, just because the straightaways are so long in comparison to the corner radius. You actually have quite a bit of straight line braking into turn one and double downshifts, double upshifts on exit. Two and three are much more of a sweeper. The one surprising thing to me has been how much the track has actually moved around each time we’ve gone there to where you can run the bottom, you can run the top or the middle as the track rubbers up, so the track has taken rubber really well over the last couple years, so I’m interested to see with the tire that we’re bringing this year how much that happens, if not more. It’s been a great track for our company. For whatever reason it’s one of those that we don’t have any shining stars on why it’s been so good for our team. Obviously, the Ford has been quick. I think it really does complement our engine package, so we’ll see. It’s a good one to have in the playoffs for us and a good opportunity.”

HAVE YOU HAD ANY CLOSE CALLS CELEBRATING ON CARS OR SLIPPING LIKE CONNOR ZILISCH LAST WEEKEND? “Those close to me probably wouldn’t say that I’m the most graceful individual, but I appreciate the praise. I guess I hide it well. I think about what happened to Connor often because the saying goes, big tree fall hard. That’s a long way for a big, tall guy to fall from, so I guess the rookie mistake there was not putting the window net inside the race car. I do that because it covers up the door numbers and the pictures look bad. It’s a scary sight, honestly. It’s kind of an upsetting thing to sit there and watch and feel helpless about. I’m sure many felt the same, but I think his dad put out a tweet making fun of him, and I think that definitely calmed a lot of the nerves. It’s something probably very similar that my dad would have done, so I can sympathize with that as well. It’s just a shame, but it’s probably not gonna stop me from being overly excited when I get out of the race car. If you’re going up on top, I guess the moral of the story there is you might as well just stand on the roof.”

WOULD IT BE JUST AS EASY TO HAVE THE WINDOW NET ON THE INSIDE? “It naturally goes on the outside of the car if I was to get out. If you want to go a step further, because at that point in time you would have put your window net down, go celebrate on the front straightaway, go grab the flag and all of that. If you want to go do burnouts again, the window net on the inside of the car – the way the window net works is it’s obviously got the fabric but then it’s got a steel bar at the top that latches to the side of the car. If you put that window net on the inside of the car, that steel bar is just kind of swinging around on the inside, so it’s not a comfortable thing to drive or a very safe thing to drive with this long bar just swinging around. It could hit you in the arm or the head or whatever else, so it’s not something you want to put on the inside of your car while you’re driving it, otherwise that’s why it ends up on the outside.”

YOU HAVEN’T HAD A TOP 10 IN SEVEN STARTS AT RICHMOND. CAN THAT CHANGE THIS WEEKEND? “I feel like I’ve had everything happen at Richmond other than finish in the top 10, so I think my last two times there I lost a cylinder and then I lost power-steering the last event, so I can 250 laps at Richmond without power-steering. I didn’t know I could do that, but here we are, and I don’t look to do it again. It’s actually one of my favorite racetracks. It’s a fun place. You kind of get that short track feel there that I haven’t had at too many places, and I hope we have a great weekend.”

WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE GOTTEN BETTER AT THIS YEAR? “It’s a great question and I don’t think finishing races where we should is not in that category. I could probably tell you a lot more about the things that I need to get better than the things that I have, but I think there’s been a lot of gain in having one year under our belt as a race team working together. You work on so many fine details that it is really about the fine details and communication and all these small things and all of that getting very normal. With all of that becoming normal working with my team it’s what becomes normal on the racetrack too. What do you expect out of yourself? I guess you call that experience, but I do feel like I’ve been able to approach each weekend with a much clearer mindset on what’s going to happen in the race. What I can impact. How I can impact it, so I’d say along those lines. Road course racing has not been a strength of mine this year. That’s been frustrating to not be able to get that, so I think that our team has been operating at a pretty high level in a lot of areas and I’d like to think I’m a large part of that.”

HOW ARE YOU AND THE TEAM BALANCING AGGRESSION WITH THE NEED TO SCORE MORE PLAYOFF POINTS? “I think any opportunity, especially the last couple months where we’ve had to try and get playoff points, they’ve definitely been on the radar. I guess past Atlanta we haven’t done that, but I think in the next couple of weeks, the best opportunity is to win races. We’ve been gunning for that on a lot of events and feel like we’ve had cars that have been able to contend for wins in the last couple of weeks as well. I think there’s been a lot of positive momentum for the team and ramping up at the right time.”

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST AREA OF IMPROVEMENT FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM THIS YEAR? “I think just starting off on the right foot really helped us out to start the year and build our notebook. I believe that’s gonna help us even further in the playoffs.”

Josh Berry, driver of the No. 21 eero Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Racing, has clinched a spot in the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. With two races remaining in the regular season, Berry talked about this weekend’s race at Richmond Raceway and what lies ahead in the postseason as part of a NASCAR media call this morning.

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 eero Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU VIEW THIS WEEKEND AT RICHMOND? “I’m excited. I think we’ve had some good runs there in the past in the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series. I feel like it should be a good opportunity for us to run well and definitely a place that we’ve had circles for a while. The biggest thing we’re looking at right now is the qualifying draw and how that worked out. It’s unfortunate, but we’re just gonna have to make the most out of that and probably get creative in the race to get some track position. I feel like if we have a good car, we should be up front.”

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THERE HAS TO BE AN ELEMENT WHERE FANS GET MAD AT CERTAIN GUYS AND IT CREATES STORIES, BUT HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT AS A DRIVER? “There’s always going to be lots of different personalities and everybody seems to go about things a little bit differently. I’m not sure I have an answer to your question, but I think it’s good having a personality like that. You’ve got to always have guys for the fans to hate, so that’s just gonna be part of it.”

WOULD YOU RATHER FLY UNDER THE RADAR AND NOT BE A GUY LIKE THAT? “Yeah, I guess. I think we’re all brought up differently. I’m molded to how I race from being around everybody at JR Motorsports for so long and Dale Jr., and I know that those are the guys that taught me how to race and how to act. I choose to try to stay out of all the controversy as much as I can.”

DO ANY OF THE FIRST THREE PLAYOFF TRACKS STAND OUT TO YOU AS ONE YOU CAN CAPITALIZE ON? “Yeah, I think all of them. Darlington, we were really solid in the spring. We unfortunately got in the incident with the 45, but ran good there last year too in the 4. Gateway, we had a good race going in the 4 car last year and blew a tire, but I really haven’t raced there a lot, but I still feel like that should be a good place for us, and obviously the Penske cars were really strong there. And then at Bristol we had a solid race there in the spring. I feel like we can make our cars better off of what we had there. Obviously, there was a lot of debate on if the tires were gonna wear and how they were gonna wear going into that race, and I feel like we can maximize everything going back. I feel like those are three good opportunities for us, it’s just gonna come down to unloading well and executing our weekend, and I think we’ll be in the hunt.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE SIM WORK FOR PLACES LIKE GATEWAY? “I think we just all use it differently. For us, we’re not gonna prepare any more than we have necessarily that we do in our weekly prep, but we work through that stuff and just get acclimated to the track the best you can with different setup changes. I just try to come up with a plan when we get there.”

DOES IT MATTER THAT YOU GUYS HAVE ONLY ONE RACE AT RICHMOND THIS YEAR? “I think it will be pretty similar to what we’ve seen in years past, but obviously everybody on our teams and a lot of the industry has a lot of experience there, so it’s a little unique only racing there once, but I feel like it will be the same old Richmond. I don’t think it will be too different.”

CARSON HOCEVAR SAID HE DOESN’T THINK THERE WOULD BE A WAY TO REPLICATE WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAST LAP THERE LAST YEAR WITH DILLON AND LOGANO AND HAMLIN. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT AND GIVEN THAT IT HAPPENED, THERE WERE ONLY THREE CAUTIONS IN THAT RACE. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE FACT IT WAS SO TAME AND THEN HAD SUCH A DRAMATIC ENDING? “It’s just a place that the race seems to string out and kind of happen naturally. I think we’re all excited to go back with the option tire, or close to the option tire it seems like. I think tire wear is gonna be more. I think the strategy is gonna be really important. Looking at things, I think we’re gonna be right on the allotment of tires. If we do have a few cautions, I don’t know that it’s gonna be guaranteed that you’re gonna be able to pit for every one of them and put tires on, so I think there’s gonna be a lot to look through there. Hopefully, when we get there and the tires fall off more like we’ve seen with that option tire, it opens up more passing and more strategy. I think in looking at it on paper at least, I feel like that’s gonna be a good change going into this weekend.”

WHAT IS IT LIKE AS A DRIVER HAVING TO SAVE FUEL? HOW OFTEN DO YOU START PLANNING AHEAD ON THAT KIND OF THING? IS IT PART OF THE WEEKLY MEETING LEADING UP TO A RACE? “We talk about a lot of different scenarios going into the races, but I really think it comes down to – you can talk all you want about different scenarios, but until you get in the race and once you know when cautions come and what opportunities present themselves, it’s really a lot on the crew chief and the engineers and everybody back at the shop to try and come up with a plan the best they can. We’ve seen that track position is so important with this car and it just opens up a lot more strategy that can get us into a situation where we have to save fuel or this or that. I don’t think we’ll see that this weekend. The tires are not gonna last as long as the fuel, which I think should be a good thing.”

WITH THE MISFORTUNATE AT WATKINS GLEN LAST WEEK, YOU HAVE AN EARLY QUALIFYING DRAW FOR RICHMOND. WHAT BECOMES THE GOAL AND FOCUS IN PRACTICE? “Obviously, it’s unfortunate how that all works out, but all you can do is just focus on practice and get your car as good as you can for the race. I think top 20 or top 25, I think we would probably take it. The track rubbers up so much and then cold tires peel rubber off the track and Richmond is one of the worst for that. I think Richmond, Darlington, Kansas, some of those places where we see higher tire wear and the track rubbering up more is worse for that, so it’s just unfortunate, but you just have to do your best to battle out of it. We’re kind of planning, honestly, that we’re not gonna qualify like we want and be prepared strategy-wise to do what we need to do to hopefully try to get up front.”

SO DOES THAT MEAN IN PRACTICE THERE IS MORE FOCUS ON A LONG RUN OR ON RACE SETUP AND NOT WORRYING ABOUT MAKING A ONE-LAP QUALIFYING RUN? “Richmond is kind of a place like that anyway, so you probably put a little less focus on the first couple of laps. A lot of places we go, especially the intermediates, when the track is new it’s a great opportunity to push the car early in the run and get a feel for what it’s gonna drive like in qualifying, but Richmond, with how many long runs we have, I think the majority of us all just try to train the focus on long runs anyway. For us, that will definitely be the case. I’m not really too worried about the fire off speed and just make sure it drives good and hopefully has good long run pace.”

THE POST-RACE INCIDENT WITH CONNOR ZILISCH LAST WEEK. DOES THAT MAKE YOU THINK TWICE ABOUT HOW YOU WILL CELEBRATE AFTER YOUR NEXT WIN? “I think we all will. That was so frightening to see. You take for granted how things can go, so I think we’ll all think about it more. When you see something like that, I think you’re gonna think about it, whether you watch how the window net winds up on the door – and sometimes it’s hard too. I mean, we’ve been strapped in the car for three hours or four hours. You get out and it’s no different than being on a plane and standing up for the first time. Your legs are a little shaky. Sometimes I think we take for granted some of that stuff, so I think we’ll all look at it a little differently. Obviously, you don’t want to ruin the celebration element of it, but you’ve got to watch something like that and learn from it. It was a scary deal, but I’m glad he is relatively OK. He’s obviously banged up a little bit, but I’m glad it was not worse than it was and I hope to never see that again because it was hard to watch.”

Todd Gilliland and the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Team
Richmond Raceway Competition Notes
Cook Out 400

Date: Saturday, August 16, 2025
Event: Race 27 of 38
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Richmond Raceway (0.75-miles)
#of Laps: 400
Time/TV/Radio: 7:30 PM ET on USA/MRN/SiriusXM channel 90

Todd Gilliland Notes

Todd Gilliland returns to the state of Virginia this weekend for a 400-lap, Saturday night race at the Richmond Raceway. This weekend’s race will mark Gilliland’s seventh Cup Series start at the 0.75-mile short track with a best finish of 15th in 2023. In his two starts at Richmond in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Gilliland has a best finish of 6th in 2021.

Love’s Travel Stops returns to Gilliland’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse this weekend. Fans are encouraged to download the Love’s Connect App to unlock exclusive benefits and savings. This Summer, users can save 10¢ per gallon on gas and up to 25¢ per gallon on auto diesel, along with access to great mobile-only deals. Fans can download the app from Google Play and the Apple App Store.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks, but our heads are still high,” said Gilliland. “This weekend, we’re putting a big focus on qualifying so we’re not fighting from the back right out of the gate. We’ve only got a couple more chances to make the playoffs, and it’s going to take a win to get in. Hopefully, we can make it happen this weekend.”

Road Crew

Driver: Todd Gilliland

Hometown: Sherrills Ford, North Carolina

Crew Chief: Chris Lawson

Hometown: Medway, Ohio

Car Chief: Joe Marra

Hometown: Somers, New York

Engineer: Marc Rullo

Hometown: Ringwood, New Jersey

Engineer: Kevyn Rebolledo

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Spotter: Brit Andersen

Hometown: Branford, Connecticut

Underneath Mechanic: Michael Brookes

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio

Interior Mechanic: Chance Burke

Hometown: Siler City, North Carolina

Tire Specialist: Billy John

Hometown: Pitman, New Jersey

Engine Tuner: Tim Meyer

Hometown: Beatrice, Nebraska

Transporter Driver: Randy Bernier

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Pit Crew

Front Tire Changer: Danny Olszowy

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky

Rear Tire Changer: Justin Fox

Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Paul Steele

Hometown: Wichita, Kansas

Jackman: Landon Honeycutt

Hometown: Mount Pleasant, North Carolina

Fueler: Zeke Nance

Hometown: Calhoun, Georgia

ABOUT LOVE’S TRAVEL STOPS

Love’s has been fueling customers’ journeys since 1964. Innovation and perseverance continue to lead the way for the family-owned and -operated business headquartered in Oklahoma City with more than 40,000 team members in North America and Europe. The company’s core business is travel stops and convenience stores with 640 locations in 42 states. Love’s continues its commitment to offer products and services that provide value for professional drivers, fleets, four-wheel customers, RVers, alternative fuel and wholesale fuel customers. Giving back to communities Love’s serves and maintaining an inclusive and diverse workplace are hallmarks of the company’s award-winning culture.

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.

Zane Smith and the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Team
Richmond Raceway Competition Notes
Cook Out 400

Date: Saturday, August 16, 2025
Event: Race 27 of 38
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Richmond Raceway (0.75-miles)
#of Laps: 400
Time/TV/Radio: 7:30 PM ET on USA/MRN/SiriusXM channel 90

Zane Smith Notes

Zane Smith and the No. 38 team will face the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virgina this Saturday night. While this will only be Smith’s third NASCAR Cup Series start at the 0.75-mile short track, Smith has an extensive resume at the D-shaped oval in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, earning one top-five and two top-10 finishes in four Truck Series starts.

“We’ve only got two more chances to lock ourselves into the Playoffs,” said Smith. “The results haven’t been what we’ve wanted lately, but the speed is there. Qualifying is where we need to improve, and if we can get that right, I know Ryan (Bergenty) and the team will execute.”

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.

Team Owner Matt Kaulig Named to 2025 Cleveland 500

The Cleveland 500, published annually by the Cleveland Magazine, honors 500 individuals for their leadership and drive within the Northeast Ohio community. Matt Kaulig, Executive Chairman & Founder of Kaulig Companies, was honored Monday, August 11, with being named to this exclusive list in the business category.

PitCChin Foundation Baseball Procamp

On Wednesday, August 13, Matt Kaulig joined former professional baseball pitcher, CC Sabathia, for the third consecutive year at his foundation’s baseball procamp. The PitCChin Foundation welcomed 200 kids to Luke Easter Park in Cleveland, Ohio, to participate in the camp which included drills, scrimmages and the opportunity to learn and receive feedback from Sabathia.

AJ Allmendinger’s 100th start with Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series

AJ Allmendinger will make his 100th start with Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend at Richmond Raceway, making him the first Kaulig Racing driver to reach this milestone. Allmendinger has an average finish of 18.78 in the NASCAR Cup Series with Kaulig Racing. In his previous 371 NASCAR Cup Series starts, Allmendinger had an average finish of 21.12.

Black’s Tire Service – Charity Golf Tournament

• This weekend, the No. 16 Black’s Tire Chevrolet will have the addition of the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina logo on the deck lid. An initiative that extends Black’s Tire Services (BTS) belief in families supporting families, BTS is using their partnership with Kaulig Racing to continue raising awareness for the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina and to promote the upcoming BTS Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina Charity Golf Tournament on September 18, 2025, at the Myrtle Beach National Golf Course.
• Donations and registration information for the event can be found at: https://www.blackstire.com/charity.
• For more information on the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina, visit: https://boysandgirlshomes.org/.

10 Team Info

Crew Chief: Andrew Dickeson

Partner: Sea Best/Roma

Ty Dillon, No. 10 Sea Best/Roma Camaro ZL1
Sea Best: Sea Best will serve as the primary partner of the No. 10 Chevrolet this weekend at Richmond Raceway with Ty Dillon and Kaulig Racing. Sea Best proudly serves as the flagship brand of Beaver Street Fisheries, a family-owned and operated company based in Jacksonville, Florida. As one of the nation’s largest importers, manufacturers, and distributors of seafood and meat, the Sea Best brand is synonymous with premium-quality seafood. Its product lineup includes a wide range of frozen fish fillets—such as ahi tuna, mahi-mahi, cod, and catfish—along with shrimp, scallops, and lobster.

Roma: This week the Sea Best Chevrolet will feature Italian brand Roma, who is celebrating its 70th anniversary. A Performance Foodservice brand, Roma has thousands of options to choose from and 70 years of experience perfecting the craft, setting the standard for Italian ingredients. Driven by the motto “Quality and Service,” the Roma mission is to support local restaurants in every way possible.

Meet Ty Dillon:

Saturday, August 16

Ty Dillon will be at the NASCAR Experience Stage at 3:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 16, for a fan Q&A.
Following his Q&A, Dillon will be at to the Chevrolet Merchandise Hauler at 4:15 p.m. ET to meet fans and sign autographs on Saturday, August 16.

At Richmond:

• Ty Dillon has made 25 starts at Richmond Raceway across all three NASCAR National Series with a career-best finish of second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2016.
• In his previous 25 starts at the track, Dillon has 13 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, 11 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Among those starts, he has two top-five finishes, eight top-10 finishes and 14 top-20 finishes.

“Richmond is a place I’ve always enjoyed and ran well at in the past. It’s a very tough place to pass and you need to start your weekend fast and up front. We’re working hard each week, especially this week with our simulator time, to have our car fast from the start of the weekend so we can qualify up front and have a strong race.” – Ty Dillon on Richmond Raceway  

16 Team Info

Crew Chief: Trent Owens

Partner: Black’s Tire Service

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Black’s Tire Service Camaro ZL1
Black’s Tire Service: Black’s Tire Service (BTS) will serve as the primary partner on the No. 16 Chevrolet this weekend at Richmond Raceway with driver AJ Allmendinger. BTS has more than 70 locations in North and South Carolina and remains a local, family owned and operated tire seller and wholesaler.

This weekend, the No. 16 Black’s Tire Chevrolet will have the addition of the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina logo on the deck lid. An initiative that extends BTS belief in families supporting families, BTS is using their partnership with Kaulig Racing to continue raising awareness for the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina and to promote the upcoming BTS Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina Charity Golf Tournament on September 18, 2025, at the Myrtle Beach National Golf Course. Donations and registration information for the event can be found at: https://www.blackstire.com/charity. For more information on the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina, visit: https://boysandgirlshomes.org/.

At Richmond:

AJ Allmendinger will make his 100th start Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend at Richmond Raceway, making him the first Kaulig Racing driver to reach this milestone.
Allmendinger heads to Richmond following an 11th-place finish at Watkins Glen International last weekend.
Allmendinger has made 26 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond Raceway, earning three top-10 finishes.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Allmendinger earned one top-five finish in his three starts with Kaulig Racing.
 
“Richmond is a difficult racetrack where we typically have a lot of long runs and tires wear out really quick. The track changes a lot throughout the course of the race so you’re always trying to keep up with it. We have lacked speed there in the past, but we’ve made a lot of improvements on our short track program; our group is ready for the challenge. Track position is critical, so we’ll look to qualify up front and have the speed to consistently run in the top 15 all day.” – AJ Allmendinger on Richmond Raceway  
 
About Kaulig Racing

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 27 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

This Week in Motorsports: August 11 – 17, 2025

· NCS/NCTS: Richmond Raceway – Aug. 15-16

· ARCA: Illinois State Fairgrounds – Aug. 17

· NHRA: Brainerd International Raceway – Aug. 15-17

· GR CUP: Road America – Aug. 14-17

PLANO, Texas (Aug. 13, 2025) – NASCAR’s Cup and Truck Series are off to Richmond Raceway this weekend with the Trucks regular season concluding Friday night, followed by the penultimate race of the Cup Series regular season Saturday evening. ARCA heads to the Illinois State Fairgrounds for race 14 of the national series’ season. NHRA is back in action at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota for the penultimate race of its regular season. Finally, the GR Cup Series heads to famed Road America for the fifth event weekend of the year.

NASCAR National Series – NCS/NCTS

Heim back in No. 67 Camry XSE … Toyota Development Driver Corey Heim will once again pilot the No. 67 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing in this weekend’s Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. The Georgia native makes his third start of the season in NASCAR’s top series and sixth of his career this Saturday night as he continues his development with 23XI Racing. Heim will also balance this Cup start with his full-time duties in the Truck Series this weekend, coming off a victory at Watkins Glen last weekend with his No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro team.

Wallace continuing hot streak … Last weekend’s eighth-place result at Watkins Glen extended Bubba Wallace’s top-10 streak to four consecutive races, dating back to Dover Motor Speedway in July. The 23XI Racing driver now has 10 top-10s in total on the season, with four top-fives and his Brickyard 400 win. Saturday night’s race will mark Wallace’s 280th career Cup Series start.

Honeycutt debuts in No. 52 Tundra TRD Pro … Willow Park, Texas, native Kaden Honeycutt makes his first start with Halmar Friesen Racing in the No. 52 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro this weekend in Richmond, as he fills in for the injured Stewart Friesen. Honeycutt has made 51 career starts in the Truck Series, with a career-best finish of third at both at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway earlier this season. He currently sits eighth in the Truck Series driver points standings, entering Friday night’s regular season finale.

NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA Menards Series National

Reaves back in No. 18 Camry … For the third time in the national ARCA Menards Series this season, Max Reaves will pilot the No. 18 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. The 15-year-old has had a sensational rookie year in ARCA competition, earning four wins across the national and East series, including his most recent start at Elko Speedway in June.

NHRA – Top Fuel/Funny Car

Langdon leads Top Fuel points with end of regular season nears … With just two races remaining in the regular season, Shawn Langdon leads the NHRA Top Fuel points standings by 48 points as he chases to be the inaugural Top Fuel regular season champion. The Kalitta Motorsports driver has had a terrific season to date with three race victories and a 26-9 round record through 12 races. Justin Ashley sits third in the category points with 2023 Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta in fourth and reigning world champion Antron Brown in fifth.

Billy Torrence makes first start of season … Billy Torrence is back behind the wheel of the CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster this weekend at Brainerd International Raceway, his first race since the 2024 NHRA season finale at Pomona. The Texan and father of multi-time world champion Steve Torrence has made 102 career starts to-date with eight career race victories and five career No. 1 qualifiers to his resumé.

GR Cup

Workman holds points lead entering Road America … Now past halfway in the 2025 GR Cup Series season, Westin Workman finds himself atop the driver points standings entering this weekend’s event at Road America. The Toyota Development Driver leads second-place Lucas Weisenberg by 39 points and Jaxon Bell (third) by 46 points. All three and their fellow competitors are set for tightly-contested action across two races this weekend around the famed 4.048-mile Wisconsin road course.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.