Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams head of 2025 Daytona 500
The NASCAR Cup season officially begins with the 67th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET on Fox)
A new season presents new hope and also new lineups. 23XI Racing, Trackhouse Racing, RFK Racing and Front Row Motorsports have each added a full-time Cup team. Haas Factory Team makes its debut this season. Team Penske seeks its fourth consecutive Cup title.
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading to Daytona.
23XI Racing — Good news: Both Bubba Wallace (fifth) and Tyler Reddick (eighth) finished in the 10 in the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. … The organization expands to three cars with the addition of rookie Riley Herbst. … Bubba Wallace has finished second three times at Daytona, including twice in the 500. Bad news: Reddick has finished 27th or worse in each of his first six Daytona 500s. The only other drivers to do that were eventual NASCAR Hall of Famers Buddy Baker and Red Farmer.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: The team expands to three cars in 2025 with drivers Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith and Noah Gragson. … Smith has two Truck wins at Daytona. … Crew chief Drew Blickensderfer followed Gragson from Stewart-Haas Racing to Front Row in the offseason. … Gragson was ninth in last year's Daytona 500. Bad news: Gilliland has failed to finish all three of his Daytona 500 starts due to accidents.
Dustin Long,
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer returns to the Cup Series after spending the past two seasons in the Xfinity Series. He won the Xfinity title in 2023 and finished second in 2024. Bad News: New team that comes from the remnants of Stewart-Haas Racing.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron won last year's Daytona 500. … Kyle Larson's fourth-place finish at Talladega in last year's playoffs ended a 14-race streak without a top 10 at a drafting track (Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta). … Alex Bowman has three Daytona 500 poles, one shy of the record four held by Bill Elliott, Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough. … The organization has won the Daytona 500 pole eight of the past 10 years. … Chase Elliott is coming off his win in the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. Bad news: Larson ran out of fuel while leading on the last lap of the 2017 Daytona 500 and lost that race. He has never finished better than seventh in the 500.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the most recent race on a superspeedway, taking the checkered flag at the playoff race last October at Talladega. Bad news: Stenhouse has failed to finish five of his last six Daytona starts due to accidents.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin has won three of the last nine Daytona 500s. … The previous two times Hamlin started a season with a new crew chief, he won the Daytona 500 (2016 with Mike Wheeler and 2019 with Chris Gabehart). Hamlin enters this year with Chris Gayle as his new crew chief. … Christopher Bell has placed no worse than sixth in the last three races at drafting tracks: Talladega and Atlanta in the playoffs and the August Daytona race. … JGR has led 1,387 laps in the Daytona 500, the most of any organization. Bad news: The team is winless in the last 18 points races. … Chase Briscoe finished last in the 23-car field field at at the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium due to steering issues. … Hamlin's best Daytona 500 finish in the Next Gen car is 17th in 2023. … Ty Gibbs has not finished better than 17 in his two Daytona 500 starts.
Nate Ryan,
Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger has finished in the top 10 in his last four Daytona 500 starts. … Three of Ty Dillon's seven career top-10 finishes have come at Daytona. Bad news: Both cars failed to advance to the Clash feature at Bowman Gray.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: John Hunter Nemechek has finished 11th and seventh in his two Daytona 500 starts. … Jimmie Johnson is entered for the Daytona 500, which would be his 699th career start. Bad news: Erik Jones is coming off a 2024 season that saw him score a career-low two top-10 finishes.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Dale Earnhardt won his lone Daytona 500 in 1998 in his 20th start in the race. Kyle Busch, still seeking his first Daytona 500 win, will make his 20th start in the Great American Race this weekend. Is this the year for Busch? … Two of Austin Dillon's five career Cup wins have come at Daytona, including the 2018 Daytona 500. Bad news: Dillon finished a career-worst 32nd in points last year. … Busch enters this year with a 57-race winless streak.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Corey LaJoie, who is running a partial schedule in the No. 01 car, has scored five of his 11 career Cup top 10s at Daytona, including three top 10s in the Daytona 500. … Both of Cody Ware's Cup top-10 finishes came in his last three Daytona starts, including a career-best fourth there last August. … Seven of the organization's 10 career top-10 finishes have come at Daytona. Bad news: Organization did not have a car finish in the top 20 in last year's Daytona 500.
RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher made it to the Clash feature at Bowman Gray Stadium, marking the first time he's advanced to the Clash feature in four years. … Ryan Preece joins the team this year, giving RFK Racing three cars. … Brad Keselowski has seven wins at drafting tracks, most among active drivers. Bad news: Keselowski has failed to finish six of the last eight Daytona 500s due to accidents.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell, who is new to the team this season, won the pole for the last five races at drafting tracks. … Crew chief Rodney Childers, who has won a Cup title, joins the team and will lead Justin Haley's team this season. Bad news: McDowell has only one top-10 finish in his last eight races on drafting tracks. … Carson Hocevar placed 40th in last year's Daytona 500, his only start in the race.
Team Penske — Good news: All three team cars finished in the top 10 in the Clash at Bowman Gray: Ryan Blaney was second, Joey Logano placed fourth and Austin Cindric was seventh. … Cindric, the 2022 Daytona 500 winner, has placed second in his Daytona qualifying race in each of the past three seasons. … Logano won the pole for last year's Daytona 500. Bad news: Blaney has failed to finish the last three races at Daytona due to accidents. … The last time a reigning Cup champion won the Daytona 500 the next season was Dale Jarrett in 2000. Logano will try to snap that drought this year.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Team will have four cars in the Daytona 500: Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Shane van Gisberben and Helio Castroneves. Bad news: Chastain has one top-10 finish in his last 11 starts at drafting tracks.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: The last time the series raced at Daytona, the Wood Brothers won with Harrison Burton driving the car last August. … Josh Berry joined the team in the offseason. Bad news: Driving for Stewart-Haas Racing last year, Berry failed to finish 10 races — most in the series.
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New York Times
36 minutes ago
- New York Times
NASCAR's big lift to race in Mexico City: A 2,300-mile journey months in the making
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'At first, no, I didn't want to do it. Absolutely, I did not want to,' Scott said. 'The not-knowing (of) going to Mexico was big. I've been to Mexico a couple times, but sitting on the beach drinking beer is a whole lot different than driving 14 hours across there.' Before long, though, a different attitude took hold — confidence that NASCAR knew the scope of the massive undertaking and had an effective plan in place. '(The meetings) made you feel really comfortable,' Scott said. 'It put (aside) all the anxiousness that I had — and I know I've talked to a few of the other (hauler drivers) too. Yeah, I feel a lot better now.' The Cup haulers went from Brooklyn to Laredo, a 24-hour drive without stops, where they met the tractor-trailers for the second-tier Xfinity Series teams also racing in Mexico but departing from North Carolina. Each hauler then crossed through customs before making the 700-mile trek to Mexico City. Letting our hauler drivers play admin on their trip to Mexico City.@GarnerTrucking | @NASCARMexico_ — Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) June 10, 2025 The task of pulling all that off fell to Tom Bryant, NASCAR's vice president of racing operations, who oversees the logistics of putting on a race weekend, from membership and credentialing to overall operations and safety. But for a task of this magnitude, Bryant's previous experience is just as important — he served for 21 years in the U.S. Army and helped manage the relocation of troops in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Advertisement 'Every one of those deployments was with different units, and every one of those appointments had a kind of slightly different mission set,' Bryant said. '… We had to move from place to place over the course of the months that we were there, so you get pretty good at understanding how to plan for and resource and execute a large movement of people and equipment through a denied area safely and effectively. 'Just in general, you have to be comfortable when you approach something like this knowing that you don't know everything you need to know. You have to be comfortable with ambiguity.' We are driving nearly 12 laps around the earth at the equator to get to #NASCARMexico! 🤯 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 11, 2025 Last summer, when NASCAR moved toward finalizing a deal to race in Mexico City, Bryant was effectively named the point person. It was his team's job to figure out how to get every piece of equipment needed to Mexico City and coordinate the transportation of drivers, team members, NASCAR officials, and essential staff. This required numerous meetings with American and Mexican government officials, league executives, the teams, and many other entities. After nine months of meetings, a plan took shape. This included requiring each hauler, 132 in total, to document its contents in a manifest, a time-consuming endeavor required by customs officials. If a team brings a part across the border, that item must come back. No exceptions. 'Every single thing in those haulers crossing the border has to be accounted for and has to be listed on the manifest,' Bryant said. 'All that information has to be submitted to customs authorities for both governments, U.S. and Mexico. And particularly for Mexico, there's permits associated with it so that all of the equipment is accounted for, all the permits and things that we needed to cross the border and operate in Mexico have been done.' Advertisement NASCAR has done something like this before, though on a smaller scale. From 2005 to 2008, the Xfinity Series raced in Mexico City, and some of the plans from that venture were also implemented this time. Some aspects, though, needed an overhaul. For instance, this time, NASCAR arranged all the travel for its Cup and Xfinity teams, whereas last time, each team was responsible for handling its own travel. 'Super, super easy. Different from what we normally do, but well organized. Super well organized,' Front Row Motorsports crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, who served as crew chief in three Xfinity races in Mexico City, said of NASCAR's previous stint in Mexico. 'You knew what was going on. And once you got into the garage area, it felt like any other race weekend. It felt like you were at a race, and the only difference was a lot more people. There were a ton of people there.' Ready or not here we come Mexico City — Stoney Greene (@StoneySGreene) June 10, 2025 To help manage everything, NASCAR partnered with Private Jet Services, which has worked with various leagues that have held games outside the U.S., and Rock-It Cargo, a global logistics company whose credits include several major events, such as when it moved 200 18-wheeler haulers to Mexico City as part of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour. Team personnel began making their way to Mexico City midweek. With Xfinity off this past weekend, teams from that series had a relatively straightforward path to get their haulers to Laredo — they left directly from their respective shops. For the Cup teams, the process was more complex. On Sunday morning at Michigan International Speedway, the garage was a hive of activity — and nothing related to the race later that afternoon. 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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Should Ottawa target Marco Rossi this offseason? Senators mailbag, Part 1
We are weeks away from the 2025 NHL Draft and the free-agent market opening. The rumour mill is churning as we wait for the Ottawa Senators to handle contract negotiations with their remaining pending free agents. Those deals will shape how active they'll be in free agency. Let's take your questions on whether the Sens could offer a performance bonus-laden contract to Claude Giroux, whether Marco Rossi is a fit for the Senators and which prospects could challenge for an NHL roster spot next year. Note: Questions have been lightly edited for length and clarity. We've seen the need for truly top-end talent AND depth in these playoffs. With that in mind, do you think a perennial playoff team, but a first-round or second-round exit, is the Sens' ceiling? Or do they have what it takes to make a deep run as currently constructed (including prospects in the system)? — Mike M. Advertisement I think the Senators are good enough to make the playoffs and could win a round depending on their opponent. They have a No. 1 goalie, a No. 1 defenceman and a No. 1 centre. They have an impact first-liner in Brady Tkachuk, who has proven he can play in the playoffs. Their supporting cast is decent. They have a game plan that involves committing to playing defence. There's work to be done, but the Sens have a good foundation. The Senators are counting on that internal growth to take that next step. But what about filling holes in the roster, such as a need for scoring and potentially another defenceman to offset Nick Jensen's recovery from a nagging hip injury? That question will only be resolved once we know what Ottawa is doing with its remaining free agents before July 1. Finally, what about the other teams in the Atlantic? The Florida Panthers are two wins away from a Cup. Barring serious regression and/or injuries, the Tampa Bay Lightning still look like a playoff team. The Toronto Maple Leafs should be, too. The Montreal Canadiens became a playoff team last year and the Detroit Red Wings continue to knock on the door as well. And maybe the Buffalo Sabres will be one day, too. I think the Senators need to show that they're more impressive than other teams in the Atlantic. It's possible. But they need to prove it wasn't a fluke. Of course, projections for any team go out the window because of the magic of the playoffs. All it takes is one run, and how you play after that run, for your perception to change. I think Ottawa's good enough to be a playoff team right now. But expectations need to be higher than that. Would love a one-year assessment of the (Carter) Yakemchuk pick given it's this window's last top 10 pick (hopefully) and chance to get a star, his progression being hard to judge by box score stats alone, and the glut of other D prospects picked in that range that tempt 'what if' thinking. — Alexei K. Advertisement It's a bit too early to tell with Yakemchuk, I think. He experienced some injury trouble during the second half of his WHL season and wasn't as much of a factor as he should have been during the playoffs. The one game I watched in full last December was his last game before the Christmas holidays. The offensive instincts were there, but he needed to work on gap control, having an active stick and positioning at the time. But until we see him up close at the pro level, I'm going to consider any real assessment of Yakemchuk to be premature. I think the Senators still got a high-end prospect with size and offensive ability, but I'm not comfortable saying the Sens got a better prospect than guys like Zeev Buium, Zayne Parekh and the like. Yakemchuk should be at the Ottawa development camp next month after the draft, and he'll likely head back to Calgary after that to get himself in shape for a training camp battle. The Sens continue to monitor his progress with help from development coach Wade Redden. My impression is that the Senators will give Yakemchuk every opportunity to make the team, as questions surround Jensen's health. My colleague Scott Wheeler thinks Yakemchuk could play in the NHL this fall, too. Are there any players from Belleville that you can see pushing for an NHL roster spot next year? — Keith C. Leevi Merilainen could have the best odds of that, but it doesn't appear to be a slam dunk as of now. It has everything to do with whether Anton Forsberg remains in the organization. Up to now, I haven't heard any confirmation that his time in Ottawa is done. We'll see. Something else to consider: Ottawa's goaltending depth across the organization looks pretty thin if it lets Forsberg go. We know Linus Ullmark is the No. 1 guy. But in a world where Merilainen is No. 2, that leaves Mads Sogaard as their No. 3. Even if Forsberg goes, I'm inclined to think the Senators will vie for a veteran goalie in free agency. Advertisement Stephen Halliday showed some promise at the AHL level with 19 goals and 51 points in 71 games. Depending on what the Sens do with their pending free agents, maybe he gives himself a chance to play on the fourth line with a good showing at training camp. In addition to Yakemchuk battling for a roster spot, I'd look at Donovan Sebrango as a possibility for the seventh defenceman. He played two games last year. It only makes sense that he gets a good look in the fall. It seems like this is the perfect opportunity to pay Claude Giroux via performance bonus, which is allowed on contracts for players aged 35 and above. I'm thinking he could count for a league-minimum cap hit this year and give him $4-5 million in easily achievable performance bonuses, which, from my understanding, would count next year. But with the cap going up, and Nick Jensen and David Perron off the books, they might be OK with it? Can you do a deep dive on this? I don't see this strategy used by teams very often. — Matthieu K. On this week's Ask CJ on the Chris Johnston Show, Johnston tackled a similar question about Brad Marchand. I'd recommend checking that out if you want an in-depth explanation from him. Anyway, yes, the Senators could tender a one-year contract with those performance bonuses that can carry into the next season. For those wanting an update on Giroux, senior vice president Dave Poulin said negotiations are ongoing on Tuesday at a season-ticket-holder event. Joe Pavelski is a notable example of this strategy. He signed a one-year deal in 2023-24 with a $3.5 million cap hit and $2 million in performance bonuses. Combined with bonuses for Thomas Harley, that went up to about $2.6 million in performance overage bonuses carried over into 2024-25, according to PuckPedia. But some money was saved because the Stars were under the cap. That could work as some comparison for Giroux in this case. Are the Senators willing to live with having four or five million on their books in bonuses on their cap? Depends on how much space they'll have. The Sens are currently projected to have $35 million in cap space in 2026, but what does that look like with a new Shane Pinto contract? What about other players they acquire through trade or free agency? Jensen and Perron look like cap casualties in 2026, but is it a guarantee that they both leave? Those are some of the factors the Sens would have to consider. Of course, Giroux has to want that contract, too. What if he wants two years instead of one, for example? Anyway, it's a good idea worth considering. I wouldn't be surprised if the Sens tried to pitch that idea already. I feel that the Sens have too many top-nine forwards but not enough top-six. With that in mind, do you think Marco Rossi could be an interesting option for the Sens? Would Ridly Greig and a second-round pick be enough to make a trade? Thanks! — Olivier N. I get teams and fans being interested in Marco Rossi, a 60-point centre who can score from high-danger areas and looks to be on the outs in Minnesota before his prime. But here's why your trade proposal might not work. My understanding is that the Wild would rather have players in exchange for Rossi instead of draft picks. The Wild probably won't need that 2026 second the Sens could offer (Ottawa doesn't have a second-rounder in this month's draft). Secondly, if the Wild want players, Greig doesn't fit the bill. His snarl and grit make him an excellent middle-of-the-lineup player, but it remains to be seen if he's a top-six player. I think Shane Pinto would be a more intriguing piece for Minnesota than Grieg. His ceiling is higher, and he's a centre with some size who can play well defensively while providing offence in your middle six. Secondly, is Rossi a veritable top-six player on this team, especially in the playoffs? It's worth asking. This spring in the playoffs, Rossi's ice time was limited between 9:27 and 12:10 in the six games he played against Vegas. He did have a multi-point outing in the series in Game 3, but played just 10:52 — and that was two-thirds of his points production in that series. Rossi had a 40.74 Corsi rating at five-on-five in the postseason and a 28.57 percent high-danger chances rate, according to Natural Stat Trick. That's not good enough, in my eyes. I think Rossi is a talented player who could benefit in an environment where he doesn't have to worry about being out of a team's middle six. I'm just not completely sure he would be a top-six player for Ottawa. (Top photo of Marco Rossi: Robert Edwards / Imagn Images)
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
How many Panthers fans want another Stanley Cup more than sex or $1 million?
Some Panthers puckheads figure even if their team loses this year's Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton, which the Panthers lead 2-1 going into Thursday's Game 4, three consecutive Cup Finals and last year's Stanley Cup counts as unimagined bounty. Smaller groups want another Panthers' Stanley Cup more than they want $1 million, sex in the near future or beer in the next year. That's what says its survey of 2,000 Panthers fans discovered. The study addressed not only personal sacrifice, but personal superstition. READ MORE: Panthers in contract years are thriving in playoffs. What it means for Florida's future Hops, money, sex and marriage ▪ Money: Only 10% of Panthers fans would give up a month's salary for the Panthers to win another Cup, and, just 1% would give up their savings. Neither should surprise anybody living in a metro area with a high rent/income ratio and in a state where half the residents are living without much cushion. READ MORE: Nearly half of Floridians are living paycheck to paycheck, report finds But, one in five fans, 20%, 'would rather see the Panthers win the Stanley Cup than win $1 million in the lottery' themselves. ▪ Sex and marriage: Only 4% said they would give up their marriage or relationship to see the Panthers get another Stanley Cup, but 10% said they can abstain from sex for six months if it meant a Panthers repeat. The survey didn't break down how many of that 10% were married or how many didn't expect to have sex in the next six months anyway. ▪ Beer: Panthes parade with Stanley again, but you don't drink any beer for a year? That's a deal 25% of fans surveyed would make, the most popular sacrifice on the board. ▪ Vacation: A year of vacation days was worth the Stanley Cup to 10% of fans. Not very superstitious...? The superstition that most Panthers fans will admit is 'wearing a certain color' for luck, something 48% said they do. After that, it dropped off precipitously to avoiding betting on the Panthers (14%), 'wear a lucky piece of clothing (e.g. underwear) (10%); perform an athlete's routine (9.5%); watch the game in a specific location (9%); don't eat a certain food (5%); and rub a lucky token (4.5%).
