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Darrell Waltrip was well into his five-plus-year tenure with DiGard Racing by the time the 1979 season arrived. The campaign was a critical one for NASCAR’s explosion onto the national sports scene, and Waltrip was rounding into a contender for the Grand National (now Cup Series) championship.

By that same year, Dolly Parton was well established as the Queen of Country, with nine No. 1 hits on those charts — a figure that would grow to 25 as her musical catalogue and mainstream influence spread. Her career was about to diversify, too — Parton’s new sound was almost disco-adjacent in a nod to the times, and she was about to make her big-screen debut the following year as a scene-stealing actress in “9 to 5.”

Both Parton and Waltrip shared Tennessee roots, but that year, their paths crossed in a different way. Both the up-and-coming driver and his No. 88 DiGard team had a habit for giving their cars names, and their short-track special paid tribute to one of the biggest personalities their home state has ever known.

Dolly Parton’s death Tuesday at age 80 created an outpouring of love, reflections and appreciation for the multi-talented star, whose reach extended beyond her musical importance through her boundless generosity for good causes. Her influence was global, but its epicenter was eastern Tennessee and her beloved Smoky Mountain home.

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On a smaller scale, another star was in the making in the Volunteer State as the 1970s drew to a close. The 1979 Daytona 500 had thrust stock-car racing into the national sports headlines; by midseason, Waltrip was the sport’s top money winner, having improved his rank in the Cup Series standings each year to that point.

His success was no secret, mainly because nearly every car that carried him to such lofty performances had a name. One of the most famous was called “Dolly.”

Newspaper reports from the era noted how Waltrip walked into the shop and greeted the short-track Chevrolet Caprice with “Hello, Dolly!” upon first sight. He later made the reference more specific to the country-music star, saying his No. 88 entry “was made to run up front.”

“Dolly’s a hot lady,” Waltrip said after winning the pole position at Dover that May, then just 32 years old but quickly developing into the brash height of his swagger and his “Jaws” nickname.

Dolly wasn’t the only race car with a feminine name that gave Waltrip speed. His gift of gab also gave names and life to Maybellene, a superspeedway Oldsmobile with a nod to Chuck Berry’s hot-rod classic; Wicked Wanda, a Chevrolet Monte Carlo with intermediate-track pedigree; and Virginia, a Chevy Nova for the Late Model Sportsman circuit. Those all came after Bertha, a 1977 Monte Carlo that had propelled Waltrip to a breakout six-win season and more in the years that followed.

That marked Waltrip’s biggest success until Dolly entered the picture. Waltrip won seven times that year with a variety of cars and finished a then-career-best second in the Cup Series standings, ending up just 11 points short to Richard Petty after a seesaw battle for that year’s title. The biggest success for the “Dolly” Caprice? Not surprisingly, it came in the Music City at Nashville with a nearly wire-to-wire Waltrip victory from the pole.

The two Tennesseans had another full-circle moment 40 years later. When Waltrip decided in April 2019 that his 19th year in the FOX Sports broadcast booth would be his last, the announcement came at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Tennessee hills. That same weekend, Tyler Reddick drove a bright pink Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet sponsored by Parton — the No. 2 Camaro showing her image on the hood with Dolly Records, Dollywood and her Imagination Library initiative on board. Reddick, who was then on the way to his second title in what’s now called the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, called Parton “an icon” and wore a curly, blond wig during pre-race ceremonies.

Three years later, Parton gave her voice to NBC Sports’ coverage-opening feature of the Nashville Superspeedway event in 2022. Her song “Run,” off her 48th studio album, also played during the broadcast.

It was never just about the music. One of her most memorable philanthropic efforts came close to home. After wildfires ravaged East Tennessee in 2016, Parton created the My People’s Fund through her Dollywood Foundation, giving roughly 900 families affected by the disaster $1,000 each month for a six-month span.

The donations grew so big, that figure increased to $5,000 each for the final month. Bristol Motor Speedway followed suit, joining longtime sponsor Food City for relief and food drives, then partnering with Dollywood to provide free race tickets for the hundreds of families that felt the fires’ heaviest impact.

Parton called the instinct to help her home region part of her “Smoky Mountain DNA.” It’s a legacy that includes a sense of community, a reputation for welcoming others and even a namesake race car.

Let’s go racing … but let’s start with some rulemaking.

That’s been the clarion call for NASCAR superspeedways since the moment that Bobby Allison’s Stavola Brothers Racing Buick lost an engine, blew a tire and spun backward at 210 mph on the Talladega Superspeedway frontstretch. The car went airborne, peeled off a 120-foot section of the catchfence and left nine fans injured.

The crash stopped the May 3, 1987 race for two hours, but its reverberations never ended.

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The two longest and fastest high-banked tracks in NASCAR have been enveloped by a long history of tinkering on myriad components – roof rails, wicker bills and fuel cells, just to name a few – in a quest to balance safety with competition.

It’s an endlessly moving target to find the right combination of compelling action while still keeping cars on the asphalt and out of the grandstands.

On a throughline now approaching 40 years, Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway will bring the latest round of rules package adjustments.

NASCAR has lowered the spoiler by 3 inches and decreased the tapered spacer by 0.05 inches for a reduction of 45 horsepower.

After complaints about a lack of momentum and an emphasis on fuel conservation, the move is expected to increase speeds outside the pack by 3 mph in hopes of enhancing passing (despite an expected decrease in handling).

It’s the most significant superspeedway change for the Next Gen car – and the first step toward replicating the frenzy of Echo Park Speedway, which became a fan and driver favorite as the newest addition to the Cup drafting track lineup in 2022.

“The fuel-mileage (racing) really doesn’t happen because you have to be on offense constantly,” Denny Hamlin said. “There is no saving (fuel). Guys are dicing it up the entire race. So this is what we’re aspiring to get to at some point.”

But will the racing unfold that way Saturday night at Daytona?

“That’s a great question, and it’s something that every driver, every crew chief, even every spotter is currently debating,” Austin Cindric said this week.

It’s a familiar refrain across nearly 40 years of tweaking superspeedway rules packages.

Surprise outcomes, unintended consequences and on-the-fly adaptation have formed the narrative since Allison’s momentous crash in ’87.

Smaller carburetors were immediately mandated for the ensuing July 4 race at Daytona, and a 10 mph drop in speeds produced perhaps the wackiest ending of the season. Allison overcame a one-lap deficit and won by passing 12 cars in the final five laps.

The competition (and track officials) literally never saw him coming. Allison wasn’t listed in the top five on the Daytona scoring pylon until credited as the winner after the race ended.

The safe and highly intriguing event charted the course toward dynamic rules packages. Restrictor plates, which reduced speeds by reducing carburetor airflow, made their debut in the 1988 Daytona 500 the following February.

“Everybody’s got more questions than answers going in,” said Bill Elliott, who proved quickest on the uptake by winning.

The plates underwent five design changes from 1988-97 – by which time drivers were heavily lobbying for changes to help escape the massive crashes that are a byproduct of running inches apart at 200 mph for three hours at a time.

At the 2000 Daytona 500, a move to standardized shocks and springs left Dale Earnhardt incensed after a lackluster qualifying race. “Mr. Bill France Sr. probably would have rolled over in his grave if he’d seen that deal,” he said. “That’s the worst racing I’ve seen at Daytona in a long, long time.”

NASCAR responded seven months later with new plate regulations that increased horsepower and throttle response. In the package’s debut at Talladega, Earnhardt went from 18th to first in the final five laps of his 76th and final victory.

A year later in the Oct. 21, 2001 race, Talladega ended with a 16-car wreck on the last lap and a parade of irate drivers marching into the Cup Series hauler. They loudly expressed their misgivings about a package heavily scrutinized since Earnhardt’s fatal crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.

NASCAR made two changes to the spoiler alone during Speedweeks 2002 in a sign of the increasingly fluid superspeedway rules. Talladega plates were altered between practice and the race in multiple seasons. In the last major overhaul for the Gen 6 car in 2021, speeds were reduced by 7-10 mph after a spate of airborne crashes.

There have also been detours outside of the aerodynamic widgets and plates (phased out in 2019 after electronic fuel injection had replaced carburetors). The Oct. 6, 2002 race at Talladega marked the debut of 12.5-gallon fuel cells (down from normal 22-gallon units). The objective was breaking up packs by lopping 20 laps off the pit window and requiring more stops. It resulted in a caution-free race but was a one-time experiment.

Not so for Saturday night’s race at Daytona

“This is our first bite of the apple,” Hamlin said. “It’s going to be roughly a 33% gain in the right direction.”

More changes could be coming as soon as the 2027 Daytona 500.

By rule, nothing stays static at the superspeedways.

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Some NASCAR.com reads to check out from the past week:

• Neil Paine explains why the late-race chaos that has been missing lately in the Cup Series should return Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

• Pat DeCola talks to Tyler Reddick about how the 23XI Racing star overcame a sleep disorder during the offseason, resulting in a positive impact on his personal and professional life.

• On the 30th anniversary of Jayski’s Silly Season Site, reflecting on the improbable rise of what became an indispensable source of NASCAR information (and head over to Jayski.com for Dustin Albino’s story on how today’s Cup drivers grew up reading the site).

• Nathan Solomon on why the regular-season finale at Daytona will retain some of its unpredictable qualities with the return of the Chase.

• Dustin Albino explores the long journey for Andrew Overstreet to become the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series crew chief for Justin Allgaier at JR Motorsports.

Pit lane at New Hampshire was filled with chaos with a mix of two- and four-tire stops and crew members having to react quickly to fix errors. I sat down with Kaitlyn Vincie to discuss some of those issues like the loose wheel for the No. 12 and No. 24 crew on Substack Live earlier this week.

Some of those issues have now resulted in penalties including two-week suspensions for No. 24 jackman Allen Holman and rear changer Orane Ossowski. Hendrick Motorsports has decided to pull jackman Dax Hollifield and rear changer Rod Cox from the No. 48 pit crew of Alex Bowman in order to fill in.

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Hendrick Motorsports leases pit crews to Spire Motorsports so Bowman will get jackman Brandon Johnson and rear changer Ty Boeck from the No. 71 pit crew of Michael McDowell and that pit crew will be backfilled by jackman Ian Schulz and rear-tire changer Ty Bowman. Schulz has pitted the Nos. 44 and 78 Cup cars this year while Bowman has filled in on the No. 77 of Carson Hocevar recently.

Those are not the only changes this week as Trackhouse Racing has decided to swap the pit crews of the No. 97 of Shane van Gisbergen and the No. 16 of AJ Allmendinger. The No. 16 pit crew is leased by Kaulig Racing from Trackhouse, which is why they are able to make the swap. They have ranked fairly closely this season but the No. 16 crew is currently slightly ahead which likely made them enticing for a switch to the No. 97 of SVG as he contends for the Chase. The Trackhouse crew members were shuffled to start the season so this switch means that SVG will see some of his crew members from last year return.

Front changer Ryan Mulder, rear changer JP Kealey, and tire carrier Drew Morgan are all former crew members of the No. 97. Jackman Jorden Paige was a new addition to the Trackhouse pit department over the winter who will also now join them on the No. 97. Paige came over from 23XI Racing and has played a large role in the speed of that pit crew this year. Fuelers Evan Marchal and Michael Duski are the only ones not swapping roles.

Front changer Austin Holland, rear changer Jerick Newsome, jackman Marshall McFadden, and tire carrier Brendan Foley will now be pitting the No. 16 of AJ Allmendinger after the swap.

Digging into some of the stats, we see that the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew dominated once again by coming away with the fastest average of the race at Loudon along with the fastest pit stop.

The top-five pit crews were all really almost even with their averages coming within a couple of tenths of each other. One notable pit crew that stoodbout once again this week was the No. 16 Kaulig Racing pit crew of AJ Allmendinger which likely played a role in them being moved to the No. 97 to start The Chase.

Consistency will become even more important as The Chase kicks off and looking at the charts we can see that the Joe Gibbs Racing pit crews are positioned quite well alongside the No. 22 pit crew of Joey Logano and the No. 24 pit crew of William Byron. We might see some crew member or pit crew swaps as The Chase gets started depending on where drivers like Austin Cindric and Shane van Gisbergen end up.

Daytona will see the return of Ernest Holden as the tire carrier for the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club pit crew of John Hunter Nemechek, who has been out multiple weeks after a leg injury in pit crew practice. We will also see Dwayne Moore step in as the fueler for Rick Rozier on that car.

A lot of part-time and development pit crew members will also get a chance to show their skills this week with five additional entires on the list for Daytona. Corey Heim will have the PDG crew that he has won with multiple times this year on that No. 67. Casey Mears will have his No. 62 crew staffed by the RCR pit department while Daniel Dye and Joey Gase will have HMS development crew members on the No. 78 and No. 44. Gray Gaulding will have a mix of independents who typically crew the Niece Motorsports trucks on his No. 66.

Daytona won’t be a tire-heavy race so there will be a lot of focus on the fuelers this week and who quickly they can engage and move with the car out of the pit stall. The Penske fuelers have had the advantage so far this year, which should bode well for someone like Austin Cindric who is on the cutline for The Chase.

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Connor Zilisch looks ready for a gap year.

The 20-year-old has the sort of cherubic visage that could easily be mistaken for a politely ambitious and intellectually curious college student rather than the racing prodigy he is.

Locked in on a potential track to NASCAR superstardom, Zilisch won’t be taking a year to find himself by backpacking across Europe before starting the rest of his career in the corporate world.

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But he will be embarking on a de-facto gap year in the Cup Series.

This week, Zilisch signed with Hendrick Motorsports and then spent Tuesday on a media and promotional blitz about joining the most successful team in NASCAR history.

The next day, he was back at Trackhouse Racing, where he will spend the rest of his rookie year in 2026 and the 2027 season before replacing the retiring Alex Bowman in Hendrick’s No. 48 Chevrolet for 2028.

If that sounds like a complicated proposition best navigated by a team that has already overcome massive challenges over 42 years in NASCAR, the braintrust of Hendrick Motorsports would likely agree with you.

When pressed multiple times by reporters this week on how this arrangement would work, the details were mostly opaque and scant.

The primary takeaway was that signing Zilisch now was the only sensible option.

“Who knows where he would have landed had we not been able to put this together,” Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon said. “He’s a guy that is sought after in the garage area, and we knew that we had to jump on that opportunity.

Said team owner Rick Hendrick: “When you have an opportunity for a guy like this, if you have to wait a year, that’s OK. It means so much to be able to have him in the organization in the future. If you have to wait a year, it’s OK. Those opportunities don’t come along. If we waited until next year, he wouldn’t be available.”

It’s a reasonable tradeoff, but there still are many unknowns and possible downsides to the gambit of a gap year, starting with the track record.

Signing a driver more than a year ahead is certainly unusual, but it isn’t unprecedented – and history shows it comes with some risk, because things usually don’t go according to plan.

In July 2005, Roush Racing seemed to have scored a coup by signing Jamie McMurray away from Chip Ganassi Racing starting with the 2007 season. A few weeks later, defending champion Kurt Busch agreed to leave Roush in 2007 for Team Penske.

An ordeal that dragged on for months – and generated mammoth legal bills to hammer out reworked deals between three teams, two drivers and myriad sponsors – ended with Busch and McMurray leaving a year early in 2006. Neither meshed well within the new organizations despite their highly anticipated arrivals, and both were gone by 2012.

The endgame has worked out better for Tyler Reddick, who signed with 23XI Racing in July 2022 despite having another full season left on a deal with Richard Childress Racing. It was an arduous process as team owner Richard Childress openly expressed his displeasure about the situation even after Reddick won twice more that season. Busch’s career-ending crash at Pocono Raceway that summer opened a slot for Reddick to slide into 23XI a season early, quelling the drama.

Childress had already endured a gap year in 2013 with Kevin Harvick, who signed at Stewart-Haas Racing before the end of the 2012 season. Ahead of winning the 2014 championship for SHR, Harvick won four times and finished third in the points during his last season at RCR.

It didn’t go nearly so well for Clint Bowyer, who spent 2016 at HScott Motorsports while waiting to replace Tony Stewart. After a miserable gap year of three top 10s and a 27th-place ranking in the points, Bowyer joined Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017 and won twice over his final four years before retiring.

The only other notable case of a driver spending a full season with one team while knowingly headed to another involves Hendrick, which signed Kasey Kahne midway through 2010 to replace Mark Martin in 2012.

Kahne spent 2011 at Red Bull Racing and won late in the season for a Toyota team that announced its impending closure months earlier. His eventual move to Hendrick never quite caught fire, producing six wins in six mostly star-crossed seasons.

Zilisch’s situation will be different.

Hendrick and Trackhouse are both Chevrolet teams, and Gordon says their weekly working relationships have never been closer.

In meeting with Trackhouse owner Justin Marks about Zilisch’s signing, Hendrick “offered to help in any way we could. We’re all one big team with Chevrolet. When we ride together, we all get better. We’ve got the door open to help in any way we can. I think we’ve got a great relationship with Justin. We respect the fact that Connor races for him the rest of this and next year. It’s our advantage to help Trackhouse do as well as they can.”

But yet …

• What if Zilisch endures a confidence-sapping second season in Cup that’s even worse than an already miserable rookie campaign?

• What if Hendrick prospect Corey Day wins an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship, raising questions about whether the team bet on the right driver?

• Or what if Trackhouse emerges from a three-year slump with renewed ferocity, and Zilisch actually outperforms the Hendrick cars in his final season there?

No matter what happens in 2027, Zilisch, Marks and Hendrick executives are in for months of endless scrutiny about how their arrangement is working out.

When asked how communication and support would work with Zilisch in making for a seamless transition in 2028, Gordon deflected to Hendrick’s leadership.

“He knows how to keep the glue together,” Gordon said. “He knows how to read people. He knows how to bring them together and to pull together at the most critical time.”

A gap year generally is about change, growth and independence.

But in NASCAR, it’s just about ensuring the gap doesn’t become larger and longer than it naturally is.

Full throttle linkage

Some NASCAR.com reads to check out from the past week:

• Neil Paine explores if Joey Logano is truly a Chase championship contender after being on the bubble two months ago.

• Zach Sturniolo explains how Hendrick Motorsports has gone back to the future with its signing of Connor Zilisch.

• Pat DeCola on how solid results at Richmond Raceway set up a possible New Hampshire breakthrough for Hendrick.

• Zack Albert looks back at the September 2005 win at California Speedway that launched Kyle Busch, the first of his 63 Cup Series victories.

• Albert recalls Mark Martin’s final New Hampshire win, which helped cap a dream season in 2009 and also the focus of a new documentary series.

  Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to keep up with all things NASCAR.

Behind every successful NASCAR Cup Series team is an experienced group of road-crew mechanics who keep everything buttoned up from the shop forward. Jesse Saunders, car chief for the No. 5 team at Hendrick Motorsports, has mastered the details and split-second problem solving required to keep a race team competitive. From winning championships with both Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson to playing a key role in some of the sport’s most memorable moments, Saunders has solidified himself as one of the most versatile mechanics in Cup Series competition.

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KAITLYN VINCIE: You grew up in New Glarus, Wisconsin, and you were a driver yourself. How did your path to getting behind the wheel first begin?

JESSE SAUNDERS: My mom’s dad raced when I was younger, so the racing bug actually came from my mom’s side. My uncles all raced something, too. One raced late models and the other drag raced. I grew up going to the races with my parents, so it was something we did as a family. My earliest memories of going to races were on Friday and Saturday nights in Wisconsin. Eventually, my dad met some people and started helping guys at the track. Then, when I got to the age of racing go-karts, we purchased one, and it kind of kept going from there.

KAITLYN VINCIE: I need to see footage of you racing. You worked in the Craftsman Truck Series for some time and eventually made your way to Hendrick Motorsports in 2013, and you have been there ever since. The job of a car chief is a critical one. What all does your job entail during the week and at the track?

JESSE SAUNDERS: The role of a car chief has changed a lot, and it’s different for different teams. The way we operate on the No. 5 team is by ensuring all the cars are built the way (crew chief) Cliff Daniels and the engineers want. We have to make sure all of that gets carried out and that communication happens among the departments. I take more of an overview approach and make sure everyone is within bounds. The more nuanced things include making sure the car is good for tech inspection and makes it through inspection. I have various operations and processes throughout the weekend to make sure all of that happens and is carried out, so Cliff and the engineers can just worry about making the car go fast. I need to ensure everything is bolted and operating properly so they can keep that focus.

KAITLYN VINCIE: From my experience in the garage watching the road crews, from the moment you unload, everyone knows their role and knows their job. It’s a well-choreographed operation. How important is that chemistry of the road crew as a whole to a race team’s success? You spend so much time together, from the shop to 10 months on the road.

JESSE SAUNDERS: The chemistry is super important, and it’s important enough that every year, before the season starts, we practice unloading and determine which road crew member is where, what they do when we get in the garage, and who does which job. It’s a full mock day of that entire process to make sure any new members understand the flow. If we have any new processes, we can implement those at that point. This gives everybody the ability to understand why we do certain things and what to be looking out for.

Every generation of racer has their thing. If you talk to some of the veteran guys, they used to have to change motors in hotel parking lots. Maybe our weekends on paper look easier than that, but I almost think it’s a tick harder because there is really no room for error as opposed to the pre-COVID era or generations past. We just like to have all our guys be aware that things happen quickly and you’re only at the track for a short amount of time. You can’t afford to make a mistake and get yourself out of it. You have to do it right the first time.

KAITLYN VINCIE: Speaking of not getting yourself out of it—I think back to the Charlotte Roval in 2021. This was one of the most impressive repairs I’ve ever seen. The No. 5 had an alternator belt fail. You were a big part of the repair that kept the team in the hunt, and you all actually won that race. It was a pivotal moment for the championship run. What do you remember about that sequence of events?

JESSE SAUNDERS: That right there is a nod to having really good people, and it was a lot of work in the moment. But the whole team had to be a part of that because it was a pit stop, it was fixing the car, it was doing everything you could to not lose a lap and keep ourselves in it. At the end of the day, that’s probably going to go down as one of the coolest things I’ve done on pit road, and it was a pivotal moment.

It comes down to the people and knowing the task at hand and having the awareness to know how to fix something and move on. When you look at the No. 5 team’s history, we have had a lot of success, but we have also had wrecks and DVP repairs. So we try not to chase the highs and not get low in the low moments. That was a perfect example of, “Let’s just fix this and move on.”

KAITLYN VINCIE: I remember watching it in real time, and I thought to myself, “I cannot believe they just did that.” Another person who was a car chief and was one of the best our sport has ever seen was Ron Malec. You two had a close relationship. What are some lessons you learned from Ron about how to do the job and do it the right way?

JESSE SAUNDERS: I have a huge amount of respect for Ron. He didn’t really give advice, but you just had to watch and see how he operated. When he came off the road and I got the nod to replace him, there was no speech, no “good luck,” there was nothing. I think if I had gone and asked him something, he would have always helped. When it came to Ron, I had been able to watch him do his job for years, and I hoped that I could fulfill that role the best that I could. Just being in the same context as him, as good friends, I’ll take that, because I think he should be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

KAITLYN VINCIE: I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always thought that, too. You yourself have been a part of Cup Series championships with Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson, two of the sport’s greats. Not many people can say that. What has it been like to be a part of their success?

JESSE SAUNDERS: Working with Jimmie and Kyle has been surreal. You don’t get to pick who your drivers are, but I think, in the same token, when you show up, pull your weight and bring something to the team, that is what allows you to stay there. I think back to when I first got on Jimmie’s team. There were a lot of good mechanics there that I was able to learn from. Then, when I got into a leadership role, the guys who trusted me gave me that opportunity to lead them. None of it would have happened if I wasn’t fortunate enough to be placed with good people along the way.

KAITLYN VINCIE: What Kyle Larson did over the weekend was pretty cool. We heard Cliff giving the team direction on the radio that they had a plan in place for him to go to Knoxville. What has it been like watching him achieve these remarkable feats?

JESSE SAUNDERS: I don’t get too surprised anymore when Kyle [Larson] pulls off these feats. You just think to yourself, “Yes, he can do that.” He’s more than capable. This weekend really did impress me. When I woke up Sunday morning and saw that he had won, I was like, “Wow, that happened.” I think it’s really cool to see. It’s a huge part of what makes Kyle, Kyle. I want to see him do things like that for the sake of motorsports, both in dirt racing and Cup racing. It’s good for the sport, it gets more eyes on it, and that’s a big part of what we need.

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Hello, and welcome to the NASCAR Fine Dining Experience. We are an exclusive, multi-course meal where diners will enjoy only the finest cuisine the race track has to offer.

No reservations are required – all you have to do is win the race at the following tracks. If so, you will be served each course individually in Victory Lane. Culinary artistry and timeless charm will converge with a confetti-coated race car for an unforgettable, high-end feast!

And the dress code is casual – each course is prepared with the finest ingredients with elegant service, but we’re aware you just perspired eight pounds of water weight and possibly urinated in your fire suit – we understand your circumstances.

Now bring your checkered flag and your appetite – because we’re going to take you through each delicious course. Green flag on flavor!

Bristol Motor Speedway

Tame “The Last Great Colosseum” because you will need the finest silverware to slice into the many delectable dishes headed your way! Therefore, this giant steak knife gifted to the winner at Bristol Motor Speedway will be absolutely necessary. It’s hand-forged and made of stainless steel, and you will thoroughly enjoy chopping the forthcoming meat courses with gladiatorial intensity! The rest of the silverware will be provided, as based on our research, gladiators in Ancient Rome did not go to battle with 30-inch stainless steel forks and spoons.

Sonoma Raceway

Next up, the refreshments. You’ll need to uncork a bottle of DOMINANCE on your competitors, winding your way through the picturesque hills of Sonoma Raceway and California wine country, en route to Victory Lane. There, you’ll be served a rare, smoky, air-kissed, aromatic and robust goblet of our finest red wine. Sip and savor its complexities. It pairs well with victory! (NOTE: Image above does not show proper wine-tasting technique. During the experience, we ask that you behave in a courteous manner and not sip the varietal like a viking).

Iowa Speedway

With the table set and the wine poured, next up, we offer the appetizer, straight from the the great state of Iowa, which is known for its corn, as well as its corn. Harvest a win at Iowa Speedway, and freshly shucked corn on the cob is served to whet your appetite for the main course! Logrunner-style, typewriter-style, it doesn’t matter – eat the corn in whichever style you wish, you’ve earned this privilege. Enjoy it, because the main course is up next, and you have a bunch of TV Victory Lane interviews to do with bits of corn stuck in your teeth.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

The main course is a delicious surf-and-turf offering which requires a win at two different tracks. Served first is the surf – a giant, 20-lb. Maine lobster, and the deep-sea spoils of a victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. You will get to familiarize with the prize crustacean first, posing for photos with it, and in the case of Ryan Blaney, holding it aloft like Simba on Pride Rock. Afterwards, it’s a feast from big, meaty claw to tail. Please try to ignore the fact that during the pictures, the lobster will think it’s being adopted into its happy forever home. It will make the meal sad.

Kansas Speedway

With the delicious surf now in your belly, the turf comes courtesy of a win at Kansas Speedway. In a town synonymous with BBQ, you’re then served some classic Kansas City-style, slow-smoked pork ribs right there in Victory Lane. Hot, delicious, and falling right off the bone. No need for formality at this point – eat these meat treats with your bare hands. Wipe them off on your bright white fire suit. You won the race and earned the right to dine like an absolute caveman.

EchoPark Speedway

We hope you left room for dessert – and another trophy! With a win at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta, you’ll be served a delicious peach cobbler, made from peaches from the great state of Georgia. (NOTE: You are responsible for providing your own cobbler, as Victory Lane only has the peaches apparently.)

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Richmond was an extremely busy night for pit crews with some doing as many as ten pit stops during the race. The extra tire set provided crew chiefs with some strategy options but also resulted in pit crew seeing as much as pit lane action as those competing in endurance races like the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Just about every crew stepped up and the competition was so close that the top-10 pit crews were all within a half a second of each other. It’s notable just how consistent the competition has become that they’re able to stay that close with every crew completing eight to ten pit stops during the race.

The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew of Chase Briscoe kept him in contention all night and walked away with the best average four-tire change time of the race. The No. 24 pit crew of William Byron continues their hot streak and comes in just half a tenth behind them on average time as they continue to be the consistency leader out of the Hendrick Motorsports camp over the last few weeks.

That No. 24 pit crew came within a hundredth of a second of setting the fastest pit stop at Richmond but were beaten by their teammates on the No. 5 pit crew of Kyle Larson as they were able to complete a four tire change in just 8.18 seconds.

Race winner Joey Logano was able to stay out front and collect the win with the contribution of fast pit stops from his No. 22 pit crew which has been the best ranked pit crew out of the Team Penske facility this season. The recent hot streak from their driver has surely encouraged to step up their game as well.

Everyone started the first half of the race on a similar strategy and pitted for four tires whenever a yellow came out but as green-flag pit stops became a necessity we saw six different strategies emerge among the front of the field with the race-winning car of Logano leading the primary strategy, which had a roughly 40-50 lap cadence for tire changes.

Drivers like Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson pitted in shorter windows with hopes to take advantage of the fresher tires later in the run while Bell and Reddick tried to stretch their tires out to the end unsuccessfully. The only front-running car to attempt a two-tire stop was the No. 12 of Ryan Blaney on the penultimate stop and that ultimately did not end up working out for them as they ended up outside of the top 10 to finish the race.

Looking forward to New Hampshire, we see once again that pit-stall openings make a significant difference in performance but just as we noted for Richmond, the first pit stall isn’t the one with the best record even though it has all the best attributes. Once again, the pit stall with the opening out towards the middle of pit lane has the best average finish and in this case, it is pit stall 19 with an average finish of 5.75. There are quite a few good performers and New Hampshire with multiple stalls have a single-digit average finish.

The win that helped launch Kyle Busch’s next step to stardom was the coming-out party that most expected, a welcome into the realm of NASCAR Cup Series winners and a grand-stage moment under the bright lights in Southern California. His older brother, Kurt, had already gone through all those experiences by the time Kyle reached his rookie season in 2005, but the stock-car world was still getting to know the 20-year-old prodigy as a driver and a person.

Labor Day weekend that season made quite the introductory statement.

Nearly 21 years ago, Kyle Busch scored the first of his 63 victories in NASCAR’s top division, driving Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevrolet and outrunning a stellar field to win the Sony HD 500 -- back in an era when high-definition televisions were relatively new and marketable, and when the 2-mile Fontana race track was still called California Speedway and not Auto Club. It was also before Busch became Rowdy, KFB or the face of the M&M’s No. 18 -- one of the sport’s most recognizable car designs.

The path to get to that breakthrough point, however, was hardly a rosy one. Busch’s competitive nature was tested in his first full season in Cup, and one week earlier, after a sour run at Bristol Motor Speedway -- a track that would become one of his favorite haunts -- his relationship with crew chief Alan Gustafson had reached a deep frost. Gustafson, who now serves as crew chief for Hendrick’s No. 9 team and driver Chase Elliott, was a Cup rookie that year also, but as frustrations mounted through the summer, their communications went nearly silent.

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That standoff only raised the stakes for California as a make-or-break point. Adding to the pressure, Busch had a chance to become the Cup Series’ youngest winner, eclipsing a mark then held by Donald Thomas, who posted his only big-league victory at Atlanta’s Lakewood Speedway in 1952 at the age of 20 years, 4 months, 6 days. A California triumph would give Busch the record by four days. Wait until the next week at Richmond, and the opportunity would vanish.

“He wanted to win everything all the time, and the fact that we hadn’t been able to seal the deal, I think, was starting to weigh on him,” Gustafson says now. “He was very, very aware of the youngest winner record, and he was conscious of that, and I was aware of it obviously through him, and that was something that became a focus for me, too, because that was one of those records that there’s very few opportunities to get.”

Those tensions needed a pressure-relief valve. A driver and crew chief heart-to-heart just days before the California race had helped alleviate the impasse, but Busch’s intensity flared as the 500-mile race transitioned from day to night, with a setting sun beyond the Turn 3 banking casting a striking glare down the backstretch.

With his vision increasingly impaired as he charged into the lead, Busch vented to spotter Jeff Dickerson -- now the co-owner of Spire Motorsports -- and pleaded for assistance.

“Kyle was getting really frustrated and lashed out at Jeff, and was like, ‘Jeff, you’re gonna have to really start paying attention or something, and the sun’s getting in my eyes into (Turn) Three; I can’t see,’ and he goes on this rant,” Gustafson recalls, “and Jeff super-calmly just says, “OK, cool. I’ll quit drinking now and start spotting.’ It was just like perfect, because Jeff’s that way, you know. He’s just always a little bit off-color, and the fact that he said it, I think, lightened the mood, and everybody kind of laughed.”

Dickerson, speaking from the Cup Series grid last weekend at Richmond Raceway, laughed anew when the story jogged his memory.

“To Alan’s point, it was just like, everybody just needed to chill and laugh for a minute, right, because everybody hated each other, we were all over running as bad as we were,” Dickerson said. “I think he was saying like I can’t see into (Turn) Three because of the sun and then it was just, ‘Oh, thanks. I guess I’ll [expletive] actually start doing my job.’ “

Everyone’s jobs mattered that night, when Kyle Busch checked the last box to fully launch his assault on NASCAR’s national-series record books.

* * *

Busch’s generational talent was only starting to be realized when he came under Rick Hendrick’s employ in early 2003. “To say he has a bright future would be an understatement,” Hendrick said at Busch’s signing, making an even greater understatement in historical hindsight.

Busch had blitzed the competition in what’s now called the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series as a rookie in 2004, winning five times and finishing second in the final standings to Martin Truex Jr. Reaching the Cup Series the following year with Hendrick’s No. 5 team felt like destiny, and he was paired with another first-year standout in Gustafson, who at 30 was still considered young in an era when Cup Series pit boxes were still ruled by veterans.

“Growing up fast,” was the Page 1 headline of a Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal profile of the two that season, when both driver and crew chief were still learning the ins and outs of Cup Series racing and about what made each other tick.

“He had incredible pace,” Gustafson said last week. “I think the most interesting thing is he just was not super-competitive, like he was next-level competitive, right? He was just so hyper-focused on being successful, and that was it. Like, that was really all that existed in his life, so I think that’s what you pick up on right away. Then as we work together, you start to see, I think I saw this throughout his career, too, there’s that part of his personality is so overbearing that that’s what most people see and focus on, but I think as we worked together, you really started to see Kyle, the human being and who he is, that there is more to him than that.”

Carving a niche in the Cup Series was a tall order, and the competition included many established drivers with Hall of Fame-worthy credentials -- Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Dale Jarrett and more. Even within the campus borders of Hendrick Motorsports, Busch’s teammates included household name Jeff Gordon and champion-in-the-making Jimmie Johnson.

Still, when the racing press tried to draw comparisons between Busch and Gordon, the youngster who would become Rowdy didn’t exactly shy away from it. “I believe so, and I’m hoping so,” Busch told the Daytona Beach paper. “Alan and I have that attitude that nothing can keep us out of Victory Lane; nothing other than ourselves.”

Dickerson conceded that Busch rarely showed signs of being starstruck or intimidated by the elite company on the grid, even as a highly touted but relatively unproven Cup Series prospect.

“By this point, nobody has any resume, you know what I mean?” Dickerson said. “Like Alan, that was his first Cup win as a crew chief, his first season. I mean, you have to go backwards. It’s like all of us were like lowercase of what we were. Nobody had made it yet.”

The pre-race focus for California was less on Busch’s aspiration than it was on the pursuit of one of the 10 spots available in that year’s Chase. The 500-miler was the next-to-last event of the regular season, and Gordon and Kenseth were on opposite sides of the bubble, fighting for their postseason lives. Busch had long since been eliminated, having shown glimmers of his potential with two runner-ups (Vegas, Dover) but sinking to 22nd in the Cup Series standings once the circuit headed back to California.

An uneven summer stretch helped seal his Chase ouster. Busch finished 33rd or worse in four of five races as July rolled into August, and the winless frustrations grew. The last event in that horrid five-race span was Bristol’s annual night race, where the team’s core relationship turned its most fractious.

Gustafson and Dickerson remembered the race so vividly, both could recall that Busch drove the “Johnny Bravo car,” a paint scheme the No. 5 Chevy sported as a tie-in with primary sponsor Kellogg’s and the Cartoon Network animated series. Gustafson recalled the car bottoming out in qualifying, a suboptimal pit stall and general gloom. Busch eventually wrecked about a third of the way in, spent time behind the wall for repairs, and finished 52 laps off the pace in 33rd.

“So, like, essentially, the last 300 laps of Bristol, they weren’t talking,” Dickerson said. “Nobody was talking. I was just like, ‘I guess we’re pitting. Pit,’ because they weren’t talking. So we were kind of at each other’s throats.”

Said Gustafson: “Yeah, it just came unwound. He came unwound and melted down and ended up crashing, and there was a lot of intensity around that, kind of going back to his competitiveness, his expectation to win. It didn’t happen, and he struggled really at that time to be able to handle failure and things not going his way, and it just got super ugly on the radio.”

Two days later, the two had a lengthy two-hour summit where those heightened emotions all came to a head, followed by a team meeting in which Busch and Gustafson owned up to their immaturity. “We needed to refocus,” Gustafson said then. Growing up fast had reached its next developmental step, with California next.

* * *

Busch started in unlucky Row 13 at California Speedway that early September afternoon, but even in 25th place, his bid for a breakthrough had some pop. “Could he get his first win tonight?” NBC announcer Bill Weber said as the starting lineup scrolled. “We’ll see.”

Feeding some of the favor was Busch collecting his first pole position at Fontana that February, setting a youth record in the process. Busch also showed strength at sister track Michigan International Speedway just weeks earlier, foiled when errant trash that clogged his car’s grille overcooked the engine.

Busch’s quest nearly met with early disaster when JJ Yeley spun from the Turn 4 exit on Lap 2 of his first interim start in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 Chevrolet. Busch instinctually dove to pit road to avoid the tangle. As for the No. 11 ride, Yeley and Hall of Famer Terry Labonte each made four starts in the car after Jason Leffler was replaced behind the wheel. Five races later, Denny Hamlin made his debut in the car that would define his career.

After that early blip, Busch marched forward, breaking into the top 10 in the 33rd of 254 laps. “Man, it’s like it just took off,” Dickerson recalled, and by Lap 82, Kyle Busch passed brother Kurt for the lead, offering a friendly wave after he had roared by.

Gustafson left the car’s handling untouched until the race neared the halfway point, making a key air-pressure adjustment as nightfall approached. But his most pivotal call was about to arrive, just as Busch was asserting himself as a full-fledged contender.

With 10 laps left in the 250-lap scheduled distance, a caution flag flew for debris on the backstretch, erasing Busch’s sizable lead and setting up a final round of pit stops for the majority of the field. Busch, however, carried too much speed entering his pit stall, and the No. 5 Chevy sharply veered to a halt. The car stopped too close to the pit wall, leaving no room for the jack man to operate on the left side. The planned four-tire stop quickly became a two-tire service on the fly.

“I knew we weren’t going to be able to jack it up, so it was just instinct,” Gustafson recalled. “It wasn’t like anything other than that, that we just were going to have to do two. That was going to give us our best opportunity because if we waited for four, it was going to be no chance.”

One more caution period forced overtime, but even with just two fresh tires bolted on for the final stretch, Busch outdistanced Biffle’s No. 16 Ford in a two-lap dash to the end. “Get it, get it, get it!” Gustafson exclaimed at the checkered flag, reminding Busch of his record-setting age distinction.

Kurt Busch was among the first of his Cup Series peers to greet him in Victory Lane, tousling his brother’s hair before he exited the car. The younger Busch, however, had a big-picture perspective amid the jubilation. He pulled Rick Hendrick into frame during his post-race interview, asking his car owner to join him in pledging their shares of the night’s winnings to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which had made devastating landfall on the United States’ Gulf Coast earlier that week. “I saw Carl Edwards do that last night and I thought that was a first-class act,” Busch said, noting Edwards’ generosity after an O’Reilly Series win a day earlier, “and we want to do the same.”

The relief was evident in Busch’s face, and Gustafson said that the No. 5 team planned to use the 10-race Chase as a mock run for next year’s postseason, which they intended to make. They did, entering as the Chase’s fourth seed.

“That’s when it was super hard,” Dickerson says now. “I mean, it’s hard now, too, but you’re racing against all the heroes. That kind of just propelled us, it felt like, where even though Kyle still had to work out some kinks, it’s like the team believed now more in him, and I think he believed more in the team after that.”

The rest of Busch’s career soared from there, with accolades that stacked sky-high in all three NASCAR national series, from his time with Hendrick, his meteoric rise at JGR, and his final chapter as a veteran with Richard Childress Racing. Ten years after that breakthrough Cup Series win, he would become the circuit’s champion -- a feat he repeated four years later.

Gustafson noted how he would have relished the opportunity to look back at those days with his former driver, sharing their reflections before Busch’s death from bacterial pneumonia and sepsis on May 21 robbed them of that chance. When weighing Busch’s legacy, Gustafson says the driver was more than the glowing stats, but a firebrand competitor who often cut against the grain.

“I think that his sheer talent and his ability, and the fact his successes (were) really unprecedented through all three series, I don’t know anybody who’s done that or will ever probably do that,” Gustafson says, “but the thing that stands out to me is he -- and I saw this when he was young with me – like he was not accepted, right? I mean, he was not accepted really from the fan base, and wasn’t accepted from his competitors, and he wasn’t accepted by NASCAR, in my opinion, and that fueled this … just continued to fuel that bravado, right, or that ‘him against the world’ mentality. I don’t think he wanted to be a villain, or he wanted to be that guy, but no one gave him a choice, and he accepted that.

“He was so confident and so committed, and just was not going to take no for an answer, that he shouldered all that and was an unstoppable force. So that’s what I think made him who he is, or who he was, and that’s why I think that continued to fuel his competitiveness and fuel his desire, and generate that … KFB, right? Yeah, that’s where that persona came from.”

Sixty-two more wins followed that first California triumph, but so did the birth of a racing legend.

“I’m telling you, it’s just like it seems so stupid, but like he was gonna be that guy,” Dickerson says. “I mean, he was just gonna be that guy.”

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Christopher Bell has finished runner-up seven times already during the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.

While many drivers would give anything for that sort of resume, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver is itching to return to Victory Lane for the first time since the Bristol Night Race last September.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Bell, there are many instances in sports where teams and athletes can’t get over the hump and are stuck in a loop similar to Phil Connors in the movie Groundhog Day.

Now, cue Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” and let’s dive into some history of misfortune.

Buffalo Bills (1990-1994)

The Jim Kelly-led Bills competed in four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 1990s. The team’s best chance at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy came in Super Bowl XXV following the 1990 season as Buffalo had the rival New York Giants on the ropes in the closing seconds of the game.

Running back Thurman Thomas rushed for 11 yards to get kicker Scott Norwood in field-goal range. While a 47-yard attempt hardly seems extraordinary today, it was rare to see field goals of that distance in this era.

Norwood attempted the kick that would’ve given the Bills their first Super Bowl win, but instead, the ball went “wide right” of the field-goal post and the Giants won 20-19.

It only got worse for Buffalo as the Bills would get beat by 10-plus points in their following three Super Bowl appearances, including a 35-point drubbing by the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVII.

Ask Josh Allen if it’s gotten any better for the Bills today.

Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers (1959-1970)

The Lakers were the first professional basketball team to build a dynasty in the league’s infancy in the 1950s — winning five of the first eight titles.

But then a big man by the name of Bill Russell took over the NBA with the Boston Celtics and etched his name into the history books in a feat that will likely never be repeated.

The Celtics won every NBA title but one in the 1960s. During this time, the Lakers lost seven consecutive NBA Finals matchups to Boston, and then one more to the New York Knicks in 1970.

After eight Finals losses in the span of 14 seasons, the Lakers returned to glory in 1972, knocking off the Knicks.

England men’s football recent shortcomings (2018-present)

For as big as football (“soccer”) is in England, it really is astonishing that the results don’t match the passion in the history of the “Three Lions” on the men’s side.

No titles in the UEFA European Championship and you have to go all the way back to 1966 for England’s sole triumph in the World Cup.

Recently, it seems England has to give its fanbase one heartbreak after another going back to its semifinal loss in the 2018 World Cup to Croatia.

Kieran Trippier got a goal through in the fifth minute to put England up 1-0 before Ivan Perišić leveled the match in the second half, and then Mario Mandžukić put the game away during extra time in the 109th minute to send Croatia to the World Cup Final.

Same story for England in the Euro 2020 final. Luke Shaw got the scoring started against Italy in the second minute to put England up 1-0, but the “Three Lions” eventually lost in penalty kicks.

In a 2022 World Cup quarterfinal, Harry Kane had a chance to level with France in the second half with a penalty kick and shanked it over the net.

England returned to the Euro Final in 2024 and lost to Spain, which would win the World Cup in 2026.

And then there was this year’s World Cup semifinal against Argentina. After a scoreless and heated first half, Anthony Gordon put England up 1-0 before Argentina had an endless amount of chances late and scored two goals to send Argentina to the Final.

Sheldon Creed (2022-2026)

Before earning his first career O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win at EchoPark Speedway back in February, Creed was NASCAR’s Exhibit A of a bridesmaid.

He tallied 15 runner-up finishes in the series between 2022 and 2025 until finally breaking through with Haas Factory Team early this season.

The good and bad news for Creed is that he’s finished second only once since his maiden victory (Kansas).

St. Louis Blues (1968-1970)

The NHL went through a big expansion in 1967, adding the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and California Seals, along with the St. Louis Blues.

Right from the jump, the Blues found themselves in the Stanley Cup Final — becoming the first expansion team of the four major North American professional leagues to reach the championship round in their inaugural season. For context, this has only happened one other time and that was also in the NHL when the Vegas Golden Knights accomplished the feat in 2018.

The Blues were swept in their first appearance by the Montreal Canadiens.

They were also swept in the Stanley Cup Final in the following two seasons by the Canadiens and Boston Bruins.

Still an impressive feat for the first three seasons of your existence! (And they eventually won the Stanley Cup in 2019 after a seven-game classic against the Bruins.)

BONUS: Los Angeles Dodgers (2017, 2018)

A gluttonous addition to this list, but had to throw it in for personal flair.

There were many Dodgers fans who gave up hope after the team lost back-to-back World Series to the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox (under questionable circumstances … allegedly …) respectively in 2017 and 2018. Those two appearances in the Fall Classic came after disappointing runs from 2013-2016.

As all hope seemed lost, look what has happened since October 2020. Not too shabby. And perhaps good news for Bell — history suggests these streaks eventually end.

Josh Berry got a text with a wide-open question from USA Sports analyst Jeff Burton before the Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway.

What did the Wood Brothers Racing driver want to express about his uncertain future in the NASCAR Cup Series?

Berry’s reply was sobering and succinct.

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“I told him, ‘Look, I’m racing for my career,’ ” Berry told reporters during a Ford Performance media availability this week. “I’m not uncomfortable in that scenario. I’ve been in this scenario many times, and I don’t feel uncomfortable at all about what we’re up against. It’s just about finding a way to get things going the right way, continue these good results, and hopefully, something materializes from it.”

A slight sense of resignation could be read into that outlook, but it’s really just a reality.

Cup drivers who are racing to stay in the series have little control over whether they can actually save their jobs. It’s never as simple as garnering results that will guarantee a ride.

Berry needs look no further than the driver he replaced.

Nearly two months after being told he wouldn’t return at Wood Brothers Racing, Harrison Burton broke through at Daytona International Speedway for his first Cup win (and the 100th for Wood Brothers Racing). He still was out of the series after the 2024 season

At virtually the same juncture of the 2026 season, Berry has 13 races left to prove that he deserves a fourth Cup season, and he’s been doing his level best to show his worth.

His fourth at Iowa was the Wood Brothers’ first top five on a short track since the storied team had Hall of Famer Ricky Rudd behind the wheel in 2005. That followed a seventh at the Brickyard 400, marking consecutive top 10s for the first time since the end of last season.

But the small surge has done little other than stirring social media buzz.

Berry could reel off top 10s all the way through Homestead-Miami Speedway and still have nary a nibble in Cup, where all the premier rides seem set for 2027.

“I don’t feel any closer now than I did two months ago, if I’m being honest,” said Berry, who has been job hunting since being informed in June that he was out of the No. 21 Ford after the 2026 season. “We’ve had conversations. We’ve had good ones. We’ve had bad ones. We’ve had ones that we thought had potential. We had ones that we sat down, and they asked for $3 million. So it’s been a little bit of a challenge working through all of that.

“To be honest, I’m kind of to the point now where I can’t do much else other than just try to focus on Sundays and try to have days like we’ve had the last couple of weeks. Honestly, I feel like if we turn this deal around and run like we have the last three races and find ourselves in the top five and top 10, and nothing materializes, I kind of feel it shows more about the system than it does about me.”

When it comes to job security in motorsports, the system can be exceptionally vicious.

It’s crueler than any other professional sport where performance can always save someone’s job.

Absent personal transgressions, athletes in the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball remain in demand as long as they’re producing results. Every league has a few dozen teams needing to fill rosters ranging from 15 to 53 players.

The options are far more limited in racing. There are 36 full-time seats in NASCAR’s premier series, and the hiring process can be capricious.

It can revolve around bringing at least seven figures in sponsorship – even for established stars. When he learned the 2017 season would be his last at Joe Gibbs Racing, Matt Kenseth had a line on another top-tier ride before the conversation switched to how much money he had in tow.

There are instances of stars solely hired on merit and talent – witness Kyle Larson at Chip Ganassi Racing and Hendrick Motorsports – but it’s mostly a hope and a prayer that will lead to a new job for Berry.

Because the Cup landscape is “kind of mapped out,” his chances are better of landing something in the O’Reilly Auto Parts or Craftsman Truck Series, but both are even more dependent on funding.

“If you can run in the top five, top 10 in Cup races, I surely think the results should carry some weight,” Berry said. “I don’t want to get into too many details about my opinions on everything necessarily, but it’s a tough battle. The system is difficult. The business model is difficult. This is not anything new. I spent years racing Late Models and fighting for opportunities. This has all been well documented, and now it’s kind of come back around the other way, unfortunately, just because of how this year has gone.

“I think that the funding is an important piece. A majority of the teams, it’s hard to even get a conversation unless you already have at least something in place to bring to the table.”

That might seem frustrating, but Berry insists it’s not. The frustrating part is how the conversation around the 35-year-old has shifted.

Last year, Berry made the playoffs with an early season win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But a rough start this season left no hope of making the Chase and took some luster off a career that had been trending up.

“I feel like the narrative against me changed,” he said. “And now we’re coming off races where we’ve run up front and been fast, and it’s going the other way again.”

But how far can it take him? The tricky thing about racing for a career is there’s only so much a Cup driver can do.

Full throttle linkage

Some NASCAR.com reads to check out from the past week:

• Matt Crossman spins a typically incredible yarn about Défi-Vision, a race in Quebec with a unique twist: All the drivers are blind.

• Neil Paine examines the unusually off-kilter results for Hendrick Motorsports this summer.

• Zach Sturniolo has the blow-by-blow account of Christopher Bell’s Season in Second Place.

• On the “Hauler Talk” podcast, Racing Insights’ Russell Wenrich ran the numbers on the 25,000 simulations that helped implement the return of the Chase.

For the past 16 years, Kim Coon has built an impressive career in motorsports, evolving from the highly coveted role of Miss Sprint Cup into one of the most respected voices on pit lane. Throughout her journey, Coon has embraced every opportunity to expand her role in motorsports broadcasting, working across a variety of networks and consistently rising to the occasion. While talent and experience have helped shape her career, Coon credits two qualities above all else for her success: meticulous preparation and a relentless work ethic.

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KAITLYN VINCIE: You have been a fixture in this sport for the last 16 years, but I’m curious: What first put NASCAR on your radar as a potential career path?

KIM COON: Growing up, I was a fan of stick-and-ball sports, and racing wasn’t necessarily something that was on my radar. My dad would occasionally go to the Indy 500 with his friends, and Daytona International Speedway was just 50 minutes from the doorstep of my childhood home. I was familiar with racing, but I didn’t have any connections in the sport. I didn’t come from a racing family.

Over the years, I felt like the sport kept tapping me on the shoulder in a lot of different ways, starting during my undergraduate education. I went to the University of Miami, and obviously, Homestead-Miami Speedway is there. In one of my sports management classes, they had a representative from the speedway come speak to our class, and I found it very interesting. My first job out of college with FOX Sports Florida was not on-camera; it was all behind the scenes. I had to cut down races for a show called NASCAR Classics, making a four- to five-hour race fit into their broadcast window. I had to go through and really learn the sport—what I should and shouldn’t cut and what I needed to leave in for the show.

Eventually, I moved to Charlotte and saw the job listing for Miss Sprint Cup. I thought it was the perfect combination of everything I had studied in school, and I obviously loved sports. That job looked very appealing to me, so I applied for it.

KAITLYN VINCIE: That leads me to Miss Sprint Cup. You held that role from 2010 to 2015. I feel like the Miss Sprint Cup program was ahead of its time in a lot of ways. What was special about that time in your career?

KIM COON: I tell people those were some of the best years of my life. I made some of my lifelong friends in that job. To your point, that program was very much at the forefront of social media. Twitter and Instagram were very infantile, and people were still experimenting with what worked at that time. I think, at one point, numbers-wise, the NASCAR handle, Dale Jr., and Miss Sprint Cup were the top three for followers in our sport. I think having the Miss Sprint Cup handle as one of the top three most popular accounts on Twitter at that time was a huge achievement. That just reinforced that we were doing the right things and catching people’s eyes.

There was a lot of experimentation: What worked? What did fans like? What things were going to go viral? It was kind of this big science experiment, and it was just fun to be a part of. That job was perfect for me in terms of getting my feet wet in the sport because you had so many different responsibilities. We were emceeing live events on stages in the middle of the midway in front of thousands of fans. We were doing driver interviews, and there was a broadcast element where we would do segments for radio and television. We would attend different customer-hosting events where we were talking to the presidents of Fortune 500 companies. On the flip side, there were all those interactions we had with the fans in the garage and the relationships we had to build with the teams and drivers. That job exposed me to so many different things and allowed me to circle back to the broadcast side, which I discovered I really loved.

KAITLYN VINCIE: From there, you started working with Motor Racing Network, and from there you transitioned to television. What are the biggest differences you notice between radio and television, or are there not many?

KIM COON: It’s strange, but I think anybody who’s done radio and television would agree that they are so much alike, but at the same time, so very different. You’re doing the same job, but in different ways, so there’s an overlap. With radio, you are the fans’ eyes. It’s your job to thoroughly paint the scene for the listener. With television, the screen dictates everything you do. It’s about telling a relevant, comprehensive story in a very short amount of time.

KAITLYN VINCIE: I think about the radio portion of your career, but then I also remember the Glass Case of Emotion podcast with Ryan Blaney, which was hugely popular. What are some of your best memories from that time, and can we ever expect to see an anniversary episode of some sort?

KIM COON: I miss that podcast so much. It’s so nice to be at the race track or at a NASCAR-adjacent event and have fans come up and tell me they miss the show. It demonstrates that it really struck a chord with race fans and just people in general, because I’ve had people tell me that the show made them a fan of the sport or a fan of Ryan Blaney. It was very unique because it did have that crossover appeal. I don’t know if there will be an anniversary episode. We have tried some of that in the past. I like to leave that in Ryan’s hands. He’s so busy these days that I don’t think I can make any promises on that. My favorite memories of that show were just having the best conversations and experiencing those natural, funny moments when the train went off the rails.

KAITLYN VINCIE: I feel the same way with Happy Hour. You have a plan, and it just goes somewhere else. You mentioned Ryan being busy, but so are you. You work for so many different broadcast partners. How do you balance all the series, the travel, and the ever-changing headlines? I will venture to say you’re the busiest pit reporter in the business right now.

KIM COON: I do stay very busy, but it all comes down to time management. I think my study habits are a big help. I’ve always loved studying and taking tests; those types of things really serve me in my job. I know this metaphor has been used before, but I look at a NASCAR race, or any live sporting event, as a test. You know the subject matter, you know what the test will be on, but you don’t know the questions that will be asked.

When you go into a test, you have studied everything you need, prepared throughout the week, and read all the storylines. Ultimately, as the live event plays out, you don’t know what’s going to come at you or what pieces of research will be needed for the broadcast. It goes back to this: You have to prepare for everything and hope that you have prepared enough, then do the reports that serve the broadcast the best.

KAITLYN VINCIE: That’s an amazing analogy. I feel the exact same way about studying and doing the homework. That’s my favorite part. I feel like, at this point, you have done a little bit of everything in this space. Is there something you still want to add to your broadcast resume or a sporting event you want to cover?

KIM COON: Big-picture broadcasting-wise, I would love to be a part of the coverage team for the Olympics. I’ve done so many things in terms of NASCAR coverage that I can’t think of anything that remains on my bucket list, but if I ever had the opportunity to be a part of the Olympics, I think that would be incredible.

A bigger career bucket-list item that I have is being a narrator for an audiobook. I don’t know how an author finds the voice to read their work, but that is one of my dreams. I just love voice-over work because there’s something about it that I find challenging in a different way.

KAITLYN VINCIE: I’m going to put that energy out there, then, because for someone who’s such a big reader, that would be very special for you. For younger generations who obviously want to be here, what’s one of the biggest things you have learned along the way that helped you succeed?

KIM COON: I think what’s more important than just your knowledge of a specific subject matter is your work ethic, your willingness to learn, and the way you treat people. Don’t worry if you don’t know everything, because if you have the work ethic and the willingness to learn, you will catch up. And finally, I think kindness goes so far and is something my parents instilled in me from a young age. It’s the Golden Rule, and it’s going to take you so much further than anything else. Those are my three pillars.

We predicted that pit-stall selection would be significant in our Iowa preview last week and that ended up being a story line for multiple teams, whether it was for optimal performance … or for some of the mistakes and issues we saw for multiple cars.

Connor Zilisch has experienced a tough rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series that has involved some early crashes in races and resulted in his pit crew not seeing action, but things turned around at Iowa as Zilisch ran up front for most of the race. His pit crew stepped up to the challenge as well and left the track with the fastest pit stop average of the day.

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That No. 88 Trackhouse Racing pit crew of Connor Zilisch is comprised of some veteran pit crew athletes, starting with front-tire changer Josh Bush, who won Super Bowl 50 as a member of the Denver Broncos before becoming a NASCAR pit crew athlete. He also spent time with the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills before joining Richard Childress Racing in 2021 and eventually moving to Trackhouse.

Rear-tire changer Seth Gajdorus took an entirely different path. His first exposure to race cars came when he worked on a dirt late model as a teenager. Eventually he moved to North Carolina and attended NASCAR Technical Institute, which led him to a position of bodywork installer and tire changer at what is now RFK Racing. He made his way to Trackhouse in 2023 and pitted for Daniel Suárez before being assigned to Zilisch this year.

Jackman Aslan Pugh studied mechanical engineering and played as a linebacker at Rutgers University, where he made it to the Academic All-Big Ten list multiple times. He enjoys coding and computational analysis and was part of the Shane van Gisbergen No. 97 pit crew last year.

Tire carrier Jeremy Kimbrough played as a linebacker for Appalachian State University and was signed by the Washington Commanders in 2013. Eventually he ended up on the injured reserve list, but later made it to a NASCAR Drive for Diversity pit-crew development program. He has worked with drivers like Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez before ending up on the No. 88 pit crew of Zilisch.

Fueler Milan Rudanovic is another Rutgers alum like Pugh, where he played as a defensive end while working multiple jobs ranging from home inspector to waiter. Working on a Red Bull car is a bit of reunion for Rudanovic, who got his start in NASCAR in 2008 working on the Red Bull Racing team. He eventually made it to Chip Ganassi Racing, which led to his current spot at Trackhouse.

We predicted that William Byron and his No. 24 pit crew would be ones to watch at Iowa Speedway and the team continued its stable climb in performance with a ninth-place finish in the race along with the single fastest pit stop.

That 8.04-second four tire stop from the No. 24 pit crew is the fastest stop ever recorded by a Hendrick pit crew and was just hundredths of a second away from the series record. Their performance over the last few weeks has been impressive and has led to a climb into the top five of the pit crew rankings, which should provide William Byron some confidence heading into The Chase.

Pit lane wasn’t rosy for everyone as we saw mistakes happen for multiple pit crews like the No. 54 pit crew of Ty Gibbs, the No. 9 pit crew of Chase Elliott and the No. 22 pit crew of Joey Logano. We dug into the details of how and why these mistakes happened on NASCAR Inside The Race this week with Steve Letarte and Todd Gordon, and you can watch that analysis here on the Motorsport.com channel.

What to expect

Richmond will be heavy on pit stops with most strategies likely resulting in five to seven four-tire pit stops, so it will be a busy night for pit crews. Tight conditions mean that pit stall selection will be important. Qualifying well in order to grab a good pit stall will be extremely significant. The first pit stall is likely to go first as it has the best chance of a quick exit, but the most successful pit stall in the Next Gen era is actually pit stall 16 with an average finish of 8.57.

Most top pit stalls have either an opening in or out, which allows for a quicker entry or exit during a pit stop. Pit stall 16 is located just past the start/finish line and has an opening out. Pit stall 19 isn’t far from it and has an opening in. Pit stall 35 is close to pit in and has an opening in allowing for quick entry. Pit stall 38 doesn’t have any openings, but pit stalls 37 and 39 are often chosen late and typically by cars that are more likely to go a lap down early in the race which can create openings later on.

It will be one of the most challenging races for pit crews as they won’t be waiting on fuel, so tires will matter and things are likely to be close as the top-10 pit crews all averaged within around a half a second of each other last year.

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August marks 20 years since “Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby” hit theaters, came at the box office like a spider monkey and made hot, nasty speed part of the cultural zeitgeist of the mid 2000s.

And over the next few months leading up to the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway, we’re thrilled to be celebrating a milestone anniversary of the film that made us wanna go fast.

Little did we know that once Ricky Bobby and his family headed off to get kicked out of an Applebee’s and the credits rolled (into some of the most side-splitting outtakes you’ll ever have the pleasure of seeing), this film would become a worldwide cultural phenomenon. You’ll still hear this movie referenced and quoted literally everywhere, from the race track to the most non-NASCAR places you could every imagine.

And to illustrate the unending staying power of this film, its quotes and its legacy, here are just a few examples of how “Talladega Nights” put that evil on the entire world, in no particular order.

Kurt Busch once ran a ‘Talladega Nights’-inspired paint scheme at Talladega Superspeedway in 2012

Kurt went all out to honor Ricky Bobby, driving a car with paint scheme much like the titular character drives to victory (Well, almost to victory but then he jogs the rest of the way) at the end of the film. Yes, he even had a stuffed cougar in the race car with him. And yes, he even quoted the film over the in-car radio. Our man was ready for the role.

Carl Edwards jogged to the finish line at Talladega Superspeedway in 2009

Edwards’ flight into the catch fence on the final lap (courtesy of Brad Keselowski) was terrifying, which is why Cousin Carl figured that we needed some levity once his mangled car finally came to stop on the front stretch. So he hopped out of his car and jogged on foot to the finish line, just as Ricky Bobby and Jean Girard did during the film’s finale. And just as it didn’t count in the movie, it didn’t count for Carl either.

Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe did a full weekend of “Talladega Nights” cosplay at Talladega in 2023

It’s easy to toss a paint scheme on your car and a fire suit on your person. That’s why those drivers that go into full method acting to do justice to the film deserve praise, if not an Academy Award nomination. Then-teammates Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe were Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. the entire week leading up to the race, at the track before the race, and during the race. Preece did the “I don’t know what to do with my hands” thing during an interview. Briscoe grew Cal’s bad-ass facial hair. If you have time, look this one up – such method acting from our drivers is rare.

@nascar@Carson Hocevar went full Ricky Bobby mode. 🤣

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Carson Hocevar has used dialogue from the movie over the radio when discussing in-race strategy

Who knew that Ricky and Cal’s self-assigned nicknames would soon be used on the radio at critical moments in the race? Probably not most of us. But in this code-word era, we’re grateful that we at least sort of know what “shake and bake” means.

The Cincinnati Reds’ catcher wore Ricky Bobby-inspired catchers’ equipment at Bristol

Kudos to Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson for understanding the assignment at last year’s Speedway Classic  – a game between the Reds and the Atlanta Braves that took place at Bristol Motor Speedway. We really hope he didn’t put a Fig Newtons sticker over the catchers’ mask. Draw the line somewhere.

Former IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud took his physical and vocal similarity to Jean Girard and made it his own cottage industry

French-born Simon Pagenaud is an Indianapolis 500 winner, an IndyCar champion, a two-time Rolex 24 winner, and last but not least, Jean Girard’s (Sacha Baron Cohen’s ex-Formula One antagonist) clone. He resembles him physically and does the voice perfectly. We’re endlessly appreciative that he realized the comparison and played along like a champ. Some heroes don’t need crepes.

The dialogue in the film has even inspired young children, especially after big accomplishments

Click play on Camden Truett’s speech after winning the Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2025. Undeniable stage presence, and kudos for the self-edit so that this clip could be posted as-is and we didn’t need to bleep it.

The movie inspired what is arguably the most legendary prayer in the history of sport

The year was 2012. The place was Nashville Superspeedway before an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. Pastor Joe Nelms could have delivered a standard blessing, but instead he became legend. Had you put money on never hearing the words “Smokin’ hot wife” in a prayer, well, sorry you’re a little poorer.

@carolinafreixaIve come to the conclusion I’ll never top this #talladeganights #amazoncostumes #bestiecostumes

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The film has become an inspiration for influencers near and far

Just search “Talladega Nights” or “Ricky Bobby” on TikTok or Instagram and you’ll get hit with a deluge of big-name influencers, mid-card influencers and wanna-be influencers all donning the firesuits and reciting lines from the film. It’s arguably one of the most quotable films ever, so naturally, it pretty much pisses excellence on these platforms.

Jared Goff and his wife Christen once dressed as Ricky and Carley Bobby for Halloween

The Detroit Lions quarterback and wife probably won best costume at the 2024 Detroit Lions Halloween party that year. If they didn’t, then that best costume award ain’t worth a velvet painting of a whale and a dolphin gettin' it on.

One of the NHL’s greatest goaltenders of all time was also a Jean Girard doppelgänger

Marc-André Fleury has a storied career in the NHL, three Stanley Cup championships and like Simon Pagenaud, an intimidating resemblance to Jean Girard. Like Pagenaud, he’s not hesitant to demonstrate it either. Fleury has danced with many great teams in the NHL, and yes, it was a slow jam.

Dialogue from the film has been utilized by commercial airline pilots

Watch the above video all the way to the end. It’s one of those things where you can’t tell whether it’s awesome, or if you’d rather not have the pilot quoting Will Ferrell movies on approach. I guess this one’s better than “I’m flyin’ through the air - this is not good.”

An infamous homicidal clown appeared onstage with Ice Nine Kills in a Ricky Bobby firesuit

Art The Clown from “Terrifier” series donned the fire suit at Rockville – an annual metal festival that takes place annually inside Daytona International Speedway. So it isn’t that random. But the video itself is not a pleasant watch and involves Art fake-unaliving two members of the band after some air guitar. That’s really all he knows how to do so whatever.

@brookebohannan_Replying to @Nathan Wright our family seriously looks forward to this more than Thanksgiving day 😂 #familytradition #fastfood #takeoutfood #talladeganights #thanksgiving #thanksandgivingdinner #fastfoodlife @tacobell @Bojangles @McDonald’s @Chick-fil-A @Buffalo Wild Wings

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“Talladega Nights” Thanksgiving is a thing

Honestly, it’s not the worst idea. Rather than hours toiling over a stove and oven all morning and afternoon so your family can complain about how the turkey is a little dry, some folks take an easier route that invoked the famous dinner scene at the beginning of the movie. Family and friends show up with takeout food from any number of chain restaurants, and two-liters of Mountain Dew. Easy, resourceful, and safe. Know what doesn’t lead to a deep-fryer explosion? Carryout at Domino’s Pizza.

@mollstigramTalladega nights first birthday party theme! So fun!! Amazon list link in bio. Happy birthday Bowman 💙❤️💛🏎️ #talladega #talladeganights #firstbirthday #firstbirthdayparty

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”Talladega Nights” 1st-birthday parties are also a thing

Because if you ain’t first, you’re last. The author of this article had many of his birthday parties at a flavorless pizza place that had an audio-animatronic rock band comprised of animals that aforementioned author was afraid of, so a birthday party with a theme like this? Hell yeah!

Chad Ochocinco would quote the movie on social media every time the NFL selected him for a random drug screening

Above is just one example – he made similar posts several times. Commitment to the bit – you have to admire that.

It is one of Christopher Nolan’s favorite films

Yes, that Christopher Nolan. The director known for such blockbuster films such as “Oppenhemier,” “Inception” and “The Odyssey.” Turns out he’s a huge fan of “Talladega Nights,” and this is not a joke, we promise. In the above video, he mentions how hard it is to create a successful comedy, which is why he admires the film so much. And it’s true what he says about comedy – “Interstellar” wasn’t funny at all.

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For the first time in 13 years, the Race to the Chase has restarted.

Yes, the 26-race regular season still sets the 16-driver field that will compete for the NASCAR Cup Series championship, just like it did from 2014-25.

But that’s about all the 2026 campaign will have in common with the past 13 seasons of the elimination playoffs and the “win-and-in” scenario that offered a weekly shot at a title berth.

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This year’s resurrected Chase championship grid will be set entirely by the points standings, a throwback to the first iteration of the title format in 2004-13 when making the Chase was a grind-it-out-affair.

The final run-up to the championship battle, which usually followed a midsummer off-week similar to this year, was informally known as “The Race to the Chase.”

Much is different now – starting with the four tracks that lead into the 10-race run to the title. Iowa Speedway wasn’t even on the Cup schedule in the previous Chase era, and Richmond Raceway was annually the regular-season finale back then.

The Chase field is larger with 16 drivers now vs. 10 who made the field in 2004-06 and 12 from 2007-13. And there’s a bigger points reward for winning races (which incentivizes victories even though they no longer guarantee a championship-eligible spot).

But the structure is essentially the same as for most of the first 10 years of the Chase, which featured a tug of war over points during the last few regular-season races. Bubble drivers were put under extreme scrutiny and in very uncomfortable positions

The drama will likely exceed the “win-and-in” days because the field no longer will feel so wide open. The weekly pressure has seemed more diffuse in recent years because a dozen drivers below the cutline could always change their fortunes with an upset victory.

The return of the Chase will greatly narrow that focus to a handful of drivers and teams tasked with performing at an expected level of perfection while the danger lurks of one slip ending their championship hopes.

That’s the reality currently facing the six drivers within 60 points of the cutline for the Chase. Bubba Wallace, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Cindric, Ryan Preece, Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski are set for a roller-coaster ride that many others have endured before them.

Starting with the inaugural edition 22 years ago, the Race to the Chase produced some wild rides to set the championship field, and Richmond was the short-track crucible that produced some heroic results, epic chokes and underhanded behavior.

Here’s a look at five of the most memorable:

2004

It’s been largely memory-holed in NASCAR history, but the Chase made its debut with a quirk that actually made its field size fluid. The top 10 drivers in the points standings would qualify for the Chase … but so would any driver within 400 points of the leader.

Incredibly, there was a point during the Richmond finale when the Chase field was on the cusp of magically expanding to 12 drivers because of a crash for points leader Jimmie Johnson (who would fall out of first with a 36th-place finish). But it ended with only the top 10 in the 400-point range of Jeff Gordon’s lead. The big story wound up being Jeremy Mayfield, who zoomed from 14th in the standings to ninth and made the Chase by ending a four-year, 142-race winless streak.

The 400-point rule lasted for only three seasons and never produced a field larger than 10 drivers, which NASCAR Chairman Brian France cited as a prime reason for expanding the Chase to 12 in 2007.

2009

A three-way fight for the 12th and final spot between Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers that remarkably went to the underdog driver and team.

Vickers, driving the No. 83 Toyota for a Red Bull Racing team that failed to qualify for roughly half the races of its debut season two years earlier, rode the momentum of a win at Michigan into a four-week push from 14th to 12th in the standings.

Kenseth missed the Chase for the first time in his career by sliding from eighth to 14th in the points over the second half of the regular season, posting a best of 10th in the final four races. Busch, enduring a miserable second season at Joe Gibbs Racing that had continued the bad vibes from a disastrous 2008 Chase, had a glimmer of hope with a Bristol win, but a fifth at Richmond left him eight points short of Vickers, who was seventh.

2011

The most wide-open battle of the Chase 1.0 era (in part because of a rule added that set the field by the top 10 points, plus two wild-card entries for the winningest drivers ranked 11th through 20th), there were 14 drivers vying for three spots heading into Richmond.

Things got dicey quickly because of a 13-car crash on the eighth lap that put bubble drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin in danger of missing the Chase. But after 400 laps, the same 12 drivers provisionally in the Chase remained there – notably Tony Stewart shoring up ninth in the points with his third top 10 in the past four races of a then-winless season.

It was a harbinger for “Smoke,” who won the first two races of the Chase and five of the final 10 to earn his third Cup championship.

2012

In the best mano-a-mano battle for the final Chase spot, Jeff Gordon outdueled Kyle Busch at Richmond in a rain-delayed race that officially set the championship field at 1:22 a.m.

By that point, Gordon had made a miraculous comeback to finish second after falling a lap down and outside the top 20 because of a poor setup to start the race. A nearly hourlong red flag for rain on Lap 152 of 400 allowed his team to make major adjustments to the rear that brought his No. 24 Chevrolet to life.

Meanwhile, Busch was in 11th and comfortably in the Chase when the red flag flew, and it all went south. The critical decision was when the team kept Busch on track when the rain returned on Lap 276, gambling the race would be shortened early. But the storm cleared, and Busch stumbled to a 16th that left him three points behind Gordon – after entering his best statistical track with a 12-point lead that seemed insurmountable.

2013

The most recent Race to the Chase was also the most unpredictable and the most nefarious – with a tainted conclusion that reverberated for years.

It took six days and two major news conferences from NASCAR leadership to finalize the championship field as a baker’s dozen.

Jeff Gordon was added as a 13th driver by France after radio transmissions emerged of shenanigans between Front Row Motorsports and Team Penske to ensure Joey Logano’s Chase spot.

That came a few days after the firestorm of NASCAR determining (through radio transmissions and car data) that Michael Waltrip Racing had manipulated the results to ensure Martin Truex Jr. made the Chase. The controversy resulted in Truex being booted, Ryan Newman being added and endless hand-wringing over how to handle the unsavory tactics of team orders.

Full throttle linkage

Neil Paine covers which Cup drivers are poised for a big stretch run in the Race to the Chase.