Latest news with #XfinitySeries
Fox News
6 hours ago
- Automotive
- Fox News
NASCAR's Christian Eckes aims for breakthrough at Nashville during tough Xfinity season
Christian Eckes found his footing last year in the Craftsman Truck Series. He posted a third-place finish after winning three races and earning 22 top 10 finishes, but he made a major move. This year, the 24-year-old is in his first Xfinity Series season, and while he hasn't found similar success, he knew it was a necessary change. "I felt like I had gotten to a point in the Truck Series where I wasn't content or happy with the success, but it definitely got to a point where I felt pretty comfortable about moving to the next level, and I felt like this was a great opportunity to go get in some different series with hopefully a ladder to Cup, as well," Eckes, who now races with Kaulig Racing, told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. To go along with his move to Xfinity, Eckes partnered with Celsius, the energy drink he says has given him huge boosts on race day. "It's been a blast so far. I've been able to meet a lot of cool people and obviously drink some good drinks along the way. And I'm looking forward to the future as well," Eckes said. "It's helped me a lot. Some of these races are at night, or even in the morning, really. So getting that caffeine in definitely helps as well as the hydration packets. There's a lot of things that they do that help us succeed. So yeah, definitely a big part of our race weekends." Eckes admitted this season has not gone as he'd like. He has only six top 10 finishes this year. "We're still trying to find our way," Eckes said. "We've had some success here and there, have had some speed, but not on a consistent basis. So, that's kind of our No. 1 thing right now is to try to push that forward and get to where we feel like we should be, and that's contending on a weekly basis." This weekend, Eckes will be racing in Nashville, where he reached the pinnacle of success. He won there last year, and Kaulig has taken the checkered flag there before. "Nashville should be a good place for us. I won the race last year in the Truck Series, so hopefully it's the weekend that we finally turned around," he said. Eckes admitted he was not a fan of Nashville in the past, but "leading every lap last year, I like it a little better now." "I've done it in a truck before, so hopefully I can repeat that success. It's gonna take a lot. The Xfinity Series is challenging to win. You gotta be perfect in every aspect or as close to perfect as you can be. It's gonna take a lot, but I feel confident in our team to do it." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
NASCAR Saturday schedule at Nashville Superspeedway
The Xfinity and Cup series will be on the concrete of Nashville Superspeedway for nearly eight hours of nonstop practice, qualifying and racing Saturday. The action on the 1.333-mile oval will begin at 2 p.m. with Xfinity practice leading into qualifying. The Cup cars will be on track from 4:35-6:30 p.m. for practice and qualifying for Sunday's race. Advertisement The Xfinity race will begin at 7:30 p.m. Defending winner John Hunter Nemechek is absent from the entry list, but 2022 winner Justin Allgaier is in the field along with Cup veteran Ross Chastain, who won the Coca-Cola 600 this past Sunday. Nashville Superspeedway schedule (All Times Eastern) Saturday, May 31 Garage open 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. — Cup 12:30 p.m. - 12:45 a.m. — Xfinity Track activity 2 - 2:55 p.m. — Xfinity practice (CW App) 3:05 - 4 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (CW App) 4:35 - 5:35 p.m. — Cup practice (Prime, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) 5:45 - 6:30 p.m. — Cup qualifying (Prime, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) 7:30 p.m. — Xfinity race (188 laps, 250.04 miles, Stage 1 at Lap 45, Stage 2 at Lap 90; CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) Weather Saturday: Mainly sunny with a high of 83 degrees and winds from the north-northwest at 10 to 15 mph. It's expected to be 79 degrees with a 7 percent chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Earnhardt': Dale Jr.'s drive to race, receiving tough love from father early in career
'I wanted to race cars badly. Just as badly, I think, as my dad.' Episode 3 of the four-part 'Earnhardt' docuseries on Prime Video explores Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s start in racing and the challenges of earning his father's attention in the early portion of his career. Advertisement With racing constantly on his mind growing up, Earnhardt Jr. said he drew race cars often in school. However, his father and stepmother Teresa interpreted it as a different passion for Dale Jr. 'Dad and Teresa came home one day with a giant box of all these supplies, and they said, 'We thought maybe you'd want to go to art school. We were looking at this college down the road,' Earnhardt Jr. said. 'I was like, 'are you freaking out of your mind? I'm not going to art school.' What? Like, I'm not an art student. I'm not into art. I was so spun out. And I was like, 'damn it, you're Dale Earnhardt, and I want to race.' Help me race. What should I do in this moment to be getting closer to racing? Take all this art [expletive] out of here.' RELATED: Watch all four episodes of 'Earnhardt' on Prime Video As Earnhardt Jr. began racing late models locally, his father remained absent from the track with his son. Advertisement Dale Sr.'s friend, Hank Parker, revealed that Earnhardt said he didn't believe his son was cut out for racing. 'I was worried about Dale Jr. and he was green as grass,' Parker said. 'Didn't know a whole lot about racing. Dale Sr. told me one time. He said, 'I don't think that boy will ever be a race driver. He just ain't got it.\"' Earnhardt Jr.: 'If dad was sitting right here, one thing I'd want to ask him, did he ever see me race my late model car? I ran 159 races. I never saw him. He never said, 'Hey, I'm coming to your race this weekend.' He's never around the trailer. Never around the car. I don't know if he saw me.' As Dale Jr. made his way to the Xfinity Series, formerly known as the Busch Grand National Series, he had a rough few outings in his first starts. Advertisement After wrecking out in a race, Dale Jr. recalls an important moment in his relationship with his dad that stuck with him. 'The door flies open on this double-wide trailer I lived in. Boom, boom. I know immediately those are dad's footsteps,' Earnhardt Jr. said. 'He looks over at my buddies that are sitting over there, and he goes, 'get the [expletive] off my property. [They] ran out of the house and jumped in the cars and they drove out the driveway. The shoes are still sitting in the floor. 'He said, 'Come here.' And we walked out. I thought he was gonna whoop my ass. And he goes, 'Man, what are you doing?' I was like, 'I thought my racing career is over.' He's like, 'no, they're gonna fix that car. That's where you should be. You should be wanting to fix your car. Where is that? Where is that inside of you? What's missing in you that you thought to come over here and sit on your ass and feel sorry for yourself?' That was the one father-son talk that we had that sunk in.'
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
NASCAR free agency: What we're hearing about Trackhouse, Connor Zilisch, Kaulig and more
NASCAR's Silly Season — that time of year when drivers and teams are looking to solidify their plans for the next year and speculation about potential moves ramps up — can often be quiet at the onset, giving the feel that no notable major free agency moves will occur. And then, something out of nowhere drops, causing a ripple effect across the Cup Series landscape. Advertisement Quiet is how things presently stand for this year's version of Silly Season — 'very, very quiet,' according to one executive whose team is often in the middle of NASCAR's free-agency period. 'Crickets' is how another industry source described it. This time, though, the expectation from sources throughout the industry is that Silly Season will remain rather uneventful. That's primarily because four of NASCAR's biggest teams — Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing — essentially have their driver lineups locked in for 2026. Not much change is anticipated among many other teams either, for various reasons (drivers in the middle of contracts, sponsorship, performance, etc.). Still, there are things to keep an eye on into the summer, when many deals are brokered and contracts signed. Let's take a look at the drivers and teams to watch. The big domino this Silly Season is Trackhouse. The Justin Marks-owned team has four drivers under contract and only three spots on its Cup roster — one of which is taken, with Ross Chastain still under contract for multiple years and delivering exceptional performance. Jockeying for the other rides are Daniel Suárez, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch. The former two are currently teammates with Chastain in Cup, while the latter is a promising rookie in NASCAR's second-tier Xfinity Series. Both van Gisbergen and Zilisch have term remaining on their respective contracts, with Suárez's contract up at the end of the season. And, ultimately, it may come down to just this factor — letting pending free agent Suárez, who sits 30th in points, walk to promote Zilisch. Of course, it may not be this straightforward. Suárez is well-liked within Trackhouse, has sponsorship, and is more proven on ovals than van Gisbergen, who, in just his first full Cup season, has largely struggled with this type of racing after years focusing exclusively on road courses. Trackhouse could decide that van Gisbergen, who is three spots behind Suárez in the points standings, has hit his ceiling as a NASCAR driver and opt to retain Suárez. All of that is predicated on Trackhouse promoting Zilisch. And this is no sure thing. He'll turn just 19 in July, and he's in his first full season competing at NASCAR's national level. Another year of development isn't necessarily a bad thing. And even if he stays in Xfinity full-time, Trackhouse would continue to provide Zilisch limited Cup starts with its fourth part-time entry. Advertisement 'We'll see what his future holds, but right now we have a mechanism in the company to put that extra car out,' Marks said. 'We just want him to get that experience. No expectations for results or anything like that. 'We have the opportunity to give him the learning experience, and we'll continue to do that. The Cup Series is a different sport than the Xfinity Series. It is just so, so difficult. The only way to learn is to go out there and do it.' Keeping Zilisch in Xfinity for another year also effectively allows Trackhouse to kick any major decisions down the road. This pathway would allow Suárez to keep his ride while also giving Marks more of a sample size to see whether van Gisbergen can adapt to ovals. Then, next year, Trackhouse could decide on whether to retain Suárez or van Gisbergen. Marks told The Athletic that no decisions have been made about Trackhouse's 2026 roster, and the team hasn't even started contemplating it. Something to keep in mind, though, there are three street/road courses in the upcoming seven races, giving van Gisbergen a strong chance to score a win. Should he cash in, it would go a long way to firming up his future with Trackhouse for next year. '(Road courses) are where everyone expects us to perform,' van Gisbergen said. '… It's been a big learning process the last couple of months. It'll be nice to have a break and turn right.' A superstar, championship-contending driver like Denny Hamlin being in a contract year would usually generate plenty of discourse on his future. Except in this case, there is a high probability he re-signs with Joe Gibbs Racing, where he's spent the entirety of his 20-year career. Hamlin said as much last week when asked where negotiations stood. 'Working on it,' Hamlin said. 'Should be something done somewhat soon.' Advertisement Seemingly, no Silly Season overview is complete without mentioning Kaulig Racing, whose driver lineup often is in flux from year to year. It came as no surprise, then, that AJ Allmendinger was uncertain about his status for next season — he has bounced between Kaulig's Cup and Xfinity programs in recent years — when asked by The Athletic. Allmendinger said he wasn't sure where things stood, but was happy to do whatever team owner Matt Kaulig and president Chris Rice thought best. But while Allmendinger may be unclear, Rice left no doubt which series Allmendinger will be competing in next year, saying that '100 percent' Allmendinger will remain as driver of Kaulig's No. 16 Cup entry. Keeping Allmendinger in Cup makes sense considering how much he's elevated the team's performance. He is currently ranked 18th in the standings, just 13 points behind the provisional cutoff to make the playoffs. Ask someone in the garage what they think of 23XI Racing reserve driver Corey Heim and the likely response is that he's both ready for and deserving of a full-time Cup ride. The soon-to-be 23-year-old has 15 Truck Series wins in 75 career starts and impressed in limited Cup starts. 'He's going to be a Sunday Cup guy,' said Hamlin, 23XI co-owner. 'There's no doubt in my mind about it. He's going to be with 23XI for the long haul.' But while Heim will likely be in Cup full-time someday, it won't be next year. Instead, he'll continue to race full-time outside of Cup (with spot Cup starts mixed in) while waiting for an opportunity to materialize. Currently, that opportunity isn't there. 23XI's 2026 lineup is set with Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst all under contract. That makes 2027 the earliest timeline for Heim to secure a full-time Cup ride. '(Heim is) doing everything (he's been) asked to,' Hamlin said. 'He's in the building multiple times per week, working on his craft, continuing to get better, waiting on the opportunity. And he knows he's got a long-term future with 23XI Racing, and he's happy with that. And he's happy with the development process that we have set out for him in the future. But, ultimately, there's only three cars, three charters that we're allowed to have, and so we have to figure out in the future where we go with that.' Other names to watch (listed alphabetically): Aric Almirola, Corey LaJoie, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith (Top photo of Connor Zilisch hugging Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
NBC Sports
a day ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
How to watch Saturday's Xfinity race at Nashville: Start time, TV info and weather
Justin Allgaier is the lone former Nashville Superspeedway winner in the field Saturday as the Xfinity Series enters the second half of the regular season. Five different drivers have won the past five Xfinity races at Nashville, which has been the site of seven first career wins in the Xfinity Series (most recently Brad Keselowski in 2008). Austin Hill is the only active Xfinity driver with top 10s in all four races since the track returned to the schedule in 2021. After winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports' No. 17 Chevrolet has two victories and five top-two finishes in eight starts this season. Corey Day will be driving the car at Nashville as one of 13 drivers making their Xfinity debut on the 1.333-mile concrete oval. Coming off his Coca-Cola 600 victory, Ross Chastain will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Through 13 races, six of 12 Xfinity playoff spots have been filled by series regulars with victories. Allgaier has a series-leading nine top fives and 537 laps led. Details for Saturday's Xfinity race at Nashville Superspeedway (All times Eastern) START: The command to start engines will be given at 7:30 p.m. ... The race is scheduled to begin at 7:40 p.m. PRERACE: The Xfinity garage will open at 12:30 p.m. ... Driver introductions are at 6:55 p.m. ... The invocation will be given at 7:22 p.m. ... The anthem will be performed by Rocky Wallace at 7:23 p.m. DISTANCE: The race is 188 laps (250.04 miles) on the 1.333-mile oval. STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 45. Stage 2 ends at Lap 90. ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 40 cars entered at Nashville. TV/RADIO: CW will broadcast the race starting at 7 p.m. ... Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have radio coverage. FORECAST: WeatherUnderground — Mainly sunny with a high of 84 degrees and winds from the west-northwest at 10 to 20 mph. It's expected to be 78 degrees with a 15 percent chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race. LAST TIME: John Hunter Nemechek led a race-high 76 of 188 laps and beat Chandler Smith by 0.366 seconds.
