NASCAR will return to San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado next year, with plans to shift the ‘race on a base’ concept to other military locations in 2028 and beyond.

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Austin Hill is quick to tell people that he can’t fill the late Kyle Busch’s shoes, but he’s looking to do Richard Childress Racing proud as the new custodian of the No.33 NASCAR Cup Series entry.

The post After getting the opportunity of a lifetime under the worst possible circumstances, Austin Hill’s carving his own path at RCR appeared first on Mr PitBox.

Austin Hill will remain in the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in 2027.“I’m extremely thankful to Richard and everyone at RCR for believing in me and giving me this opportunity,” Hill said. “Every race car driver dreams of competing full time in the NASCAR Cup Series, and to…

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When the 2027 NASCAR schedule was released, it carried some tough news for Rockingham Speedway.
The Rock, which had hosted both the NASCAR O’Reilly and Truck Series in each of the past two seasons, will not be home to either series next year.
It was the latest blow to what has been a rocky few years for Rockingham Speedway, and it sounds like the track could be changing hands some time soon …Keep reading

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Katherine Legge has raced just about everything – Champ Cars, IndyCars, prototypes, sports cars, Formula E, NASCAR, and even a Formula 1 car. On this episode of Racers Unchained, she sits down with Paul Tracy for a wide-ranging conversation about the highs, lows and hard lessons from a career that…

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Front Row Motorsports has been involved in plenty of NASCAR news this summer, signing drivers Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson to contract extensions through the 2027 season. With the three-car Cup Series team for next year determined, general manager Jerry Freeze recently provided some perspective on what influenced some of the moves and how the organization is approaching its future.

On last week’s episode of The Gluckcast, Freeze told Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Freeze shared that Gragson is the team’s best-performing driver when it comes to merchandise stales and support from sponsors. That helped influenced the decision to re-sign him and the team has been rewarded for it with his improved on-track performance as of late.

Related: What Noah Gragson’s New Contract Could Mean for Future of Front Row Motorsports

To Freeze’s point, Gragson has 151,000 followers on his Instagram account and 163,000 followers on X. Compare that to the likes of Chris Buescher (70,000 Instagram followers) and Christopher Bell (140,000 followers) and it offers a glimpse of Gragson’s popularity. The 28-year-old’s personality has also landed him on the podcast circuit, appearing as a guest on Door, Bumper, Clear and The Dale Jr. Download.

Gragson’s contract extension with FRM was annonced on Aug. 14 and he’s rewarded the organization for its vote of confidence in him ever since. He earned a 10th-place finish this past Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his third consecutive top-20 finish and his second top-10 of the regular season.

The contract extensions for Gilliland and Gragson, paired with Zane Smith’s multiyear deal signed last summer, have clouded the future of Truck Series driver Layne Riggs. Widely viewed as one of the best NASCAR prospects right now, Riggs won the regular-season title in the Truck Series and earned more wins (six) than the entire field of full-time Craftsman Truck Series drivers combined.

Related: Insider Reveals When Layne Riggs Could Make Cup Series Debut

Unfortunately for the 24-year-old, that leaves no viable path to a full-time Cup ride in 2027. While there’s still technically an open seat with Richard Childress Racing for next season, that ride is expected to be Austin Hill‘s unless the recent holdup in contract talks opens the door for the team to bring in Josh Berry. So, with no other alternatives, Riggs will likely have to stay in the Truck Series for another year.

Freeze said that they’ve had discussions with Riggs about how he can eventually reach the Cup Series, but the plan for now is to have him drive the No. 34 truck again next season for Front Row Motorsports. Notably, the North Carolina native does have a very good chance to deliver a championship for the team just two years after he won the NASCAR Truck Series Rookie of the Year.

Previous reporting has indicated that neither Gilliland nor Gragson is guaranteed a Cup ride with FRM in 2028. If either of them underperforms, or Smith gets poached by another team, it stands to reason that Riggs will have a seat open for him at the Cup level two years from now.

More must-reads:

• NASCAR Rumors: Austin Hill’s Full-Time Cup Ride with Richard Childress Racing in 2027 Hits a Snag
• NASCAR The Chase Clinch Scenarios: 5 Drivers Competing for 3 Spots at Daytona This Weekend
• NASCAR Weekend Schedule at Daytona: Qualifying and Race Time, Daytona Track Info

The post NASCAR News: Front Row Motorsports GM Sheds Light on Team’s Future, Noah Gragson and Layne Riggs appeared first on Mr PitBox.

On Sunday, the ARCA Menard’s Series was racing at the Springfield Mile, a dirt track in Illinois. Toyota development driver Max Reaves had dominated the event, leading 98 of 100 laps.
However, while navigating slower traffic, the 16-year-old had to check up and suddenly Gavan Boschele had an opportunity. He sliced up the middle and took the lead with three laps to go. 
Entering the next …Keep reading

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The NASCAR rumors have been swirling for months that Austin Hill would race full-time in the Cup Series next season for Richard Childress Racing, staying in the No. 33 car that he’s driven since the tragic passing of Kyle Busch. However, Hill’s path to that Cup ride has reportedly hit a bump.

On Sunday night’s episode of The Teardown, NASCAR insider Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic shared that contract negotiations between Hill and Richard Childress racing “may have hit a snag” recently. While a deal is still expected to get done, recent on-track developments have created an alternative option for RCR.

“From what I’ve been told, those contract negotiations may have hit a snag a little bit. Ultimately, I think Austin Hill is going to be in the 33 car.”

Jordan Bianchi on Austin Hill’s contract talks with Richard Childress Racing

Related: Insight Into Potential Richard Childress Racing Plans for 2027

Hill, age 32, was the obvious choice to drive RCR’s second car following Busch’s passing. It’s required him to pull double-duty in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Cup level throughout the summer, all at a time when he’s trying to earn his first-ever O’Reilly Series championship.

Jesse Love, an RCR development driver, was once viewed as a potential option. However, Wood Brothers Racing signed him to drive the No. 21 car next season. With the overwhelming majority of NASCAR teams re-signing their Cup Series drivers to new deals through 2027, that left Richard Childress with minimal options until recently.

Why Austin Hill’s Timing for Contract Issue is Poor

Hill, who heads to Daytona with 30 career Cup Series races, has driven in 15 this season for RCR. It’s a sizable sample size to evaluate the veteran driver, especially for a comparison to RCR’s likely alternative option.

Related: Another Driver Emerging as Cup Option for Richard Childress Racing

Austin Hill vs Josh Berry stats comparison

Berry, who is being replaced by Love in the No. 21 car next season, has delivered a career-best stretch as of late. He’s earned four consecutive top-10 finishes, earning 30-plus points in every race.

What hurts Berry, however, is the fact that he doesn’t have the strong ties to RCR. Hill’s strong relationship with Childress and his familiarity with the No. 33 team has made it seem like a foregone conclusion that he’ll race full-time at the Cup level next year.

While that clearly remains the expectation right now, Berry’s on-track performance over the last month coincides right with the timing of RCR’s contract talks with Hill reportedly hitting a snag. Given Austin Dillon’s future as the leader of the team, it’s at least within the realm of possibility that he prioritizes bringing in the better-performing driver over making a decision based on a pre-existing relationship with Hill.

More must-reads:

• NASCAR News: Front Row Motorsports GM Sheds Light on Team’s Future, Noah Gragson and Layne Riggs
• NASCAR The Chase Clinch Scenarios: 5 Drivers Competing for 3 Spots at Daytona This Weekend
• NASCAR Weekend Schedule at Daytona: Qualifying and Race Time, Daytona Track Info

The post NASCAR Rumors: Austin Hill’s Full-Time Cup Ride with Richard Childress Racing in 2027 Hits a Snag appeared first on Mr PitBox.

The regular-season finale for the NASCAR Cup Series is this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 under the lights on NBC will determine which drivers earn the final spots in The Chase.

We’ve already seen 13 spots locked up through 25 races. It’s also worth noting that Denny Hamlin has clinched the regular-season title, while Ryan Blaney (second place), Ty Gibbs (third place) and Tyler Reddick (fourth place) are effectively locked into their positions. As for fifth place, teammates Christopher Bell (11-point advantage) and Chase Briscoe (727 points) will be battling for two pivotal spots in the 10-race Chase.

Ahead of this weekend’s race at Daytona, here are the drivers still eligivle to earn a spot in The Chase and the clinching scenarios that would get them in. We’ve also included predictions.

Bubba Wallace: 2 Point to Clinch, Seeding Opportunities

Clinching a spot in The Chase on Saturday night will be pretty easy for Bubba Wallace. As long as he starts the race and earns a point, he’s probably in The Chase barring an unexpected tiebreaker scenario and 2 points guarantees him a spot. The No. 23 team could play it safe at Daytona, but they do have something to race for this weekend. Wallace is just 8 points behind Daniel Suárez (13th place) and 14 points behind William Byron (12th place). Moving up a spot would be an additional 5 playoff points, and overtaking Byron would give him 12 additional points for The Chase. Daytona is unpredictable, especially with no practice and the changes NASCAR made this season, but it’s worth noting Byron (14.6 average finishing position) has outperformed Wallace (17.0 average finishing position), which is slightly ahead of Suárez (18.4) in the last seven races here.

• Prediction: Finishes 13th, overtaking Daniel Suarez

Related: NASCAR Schedule This Weekend at Daytona, Qualifying and Race Time

Austin Cindric: 44 Point Above Cutline

Austin Cindric isn’t guaranteed a spot in The Chase, but there’s a high probability of making it in. Given that he’s 31 points behind Bubba Wallace, with Wallace holding the tiebreaker, it would effectively take a DNF from the No. 23 team for Cindric to move up to 14th. What this comes down to is Cindric versus Shane van Gisbergen (13 points behind Cindric) and Ryan Preece. Cindric has not performed well here as of late, with a 25.9 average finishing position (fourth-worst) in the last seven races, but he has finished 2nd in a stage (9 points each) three times in his last five trips to Daytona and fourth (7 stage points) at the summer race in 2024. A top-five stage finish would effectively require SVG or Preece to win at Daytona in order to bump Cindric out.

Shane van Gisbergen: 31 Points Above Cutline

Sitting 13 points behind Austin Cindric, the likeliest scenario is that Shane van Gisbergen enters The Chase in 16th place. The good news is that the odds are still in his favor of making it in. Daytona hasn’t been particularly good to him since he made his Cup Series debut, and Trackhouse Racing’s setups have been an issue throughout the year. We don’t expect SVG to qualify well at Daytona, and that will at least open the door for Preece to overtake him. However, just avoiding The Big One and picking up a handful of stage points (6-plus) would effectively put Preece into a spot where he needs to win the race or get a top-five with a stage win.

Ryan Preece: 31 Points Below The Chase Cutline

The battle for the final spot in The Chase would be very compelling if NASCAR hadn’t penalized Ryan Preece 25 points for saying on the radio at Texas Motor Speedway that he was going to intentionally hit Ty Gibbs. Saying it out loud, rather than doing it intentionally without announcing it, would’ve meant that Preece is just 6 points back of SVG (as he is in the owner standings). Preece is 31 points behind SVG, or 32 if you factor in that van Gisbergen holds the tiebreaker. Overcoming that at Daytona is possible, especially if Preece performs well in the stages. Unfortunately for the No. 60 team, Preece has the second-worst average finishing position (28.6) among full-time drivers in the last seven starts at Daytona, and while SVG (28.5) hasn’t fared any better in four races, so much would need to be executed right for Preece to sneak in.

• Prediction: Finishes 15 Points Shy

Related: NASCAR Standings Entering Daytona

Brad Keselowski: Must-Win and Get Stage Points

The probability of Brad Keselowski making it into The Chase this season is probably around 1 percent. Not only would the No. 6 car need to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (55 points), but he would also need to get at least 11 stage points with SVG wrecking out in the first stage. Keselowski won at Daytona a decade ago, but we’re also in an era where the driver who makes it to victory lane doesn’t often perform really well on the stages at Daytona. Barring a miracle scenario, Keselowski is out.

• Prediction: Brad Keselowski prioritizes pushing Ryan Preece, both miss The Chase

More must-reads:

• NASCAR News: Front Row Motorsports GM Sheds Light on Team’s Future, Noah Gragson and Layne Riggs
• NASCAR Rumors: Austin Hill’s Full-Time Cup Ride with Richard Childress Racing in 2027 Hits a Snag
• NASCAR Weekend Schedule at Daytona: Qualifying and Race Time, Daytona Track Info

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NASCAR didn’t put out the green flag when it first sent the Cup Series on-track at a wet New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, but that didn’t stop the race from seeing its first spin.Two years after the sanctioning body’s first use of wet weather oval tires around the one-mile…

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