Todd Gilliland and the No. 34 Overplay Ford Team
Charlotte Motor Speedway Competition Notes
Coca-Cola 600

Date: Sunday May 25, 2025
Event: Race 15 of 38
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-miles)
#of Laps: 400
Time/TV/Radio: 6:00 PM ET on Amazon Prime/PRN/SiriusXM channel 90

Todd Gilliland Notes

Todd Gilliland and the No. 34 team now turn their attention to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the longest race of the season — the Coca-Cola 600. This 400-lap, 600-mile event is one of NASCAR’s crown-jewel races and pays tribute to U.S. service members by featuring the names of fallen heroes on each team’s car. This year, Gilliland will have the name of Captain Robert Michael Secher riding on the windshield of his Overplay Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

Overplay— the world’s first user-generated gaming platform where anyone can make games from videos—will team up with FRM and Gilliland at the speedway. Founded by seasoned interactive media executives Dan Projansky and Caroline Strzalka, Overplay aims to democratize game development and make it accessible to everyone. By downloading the Overplay app users can gamify their lives instantly! The platform already has hundreds of thousands of downloads and millions of games played. Overplay was also featured in Season 15 of Shark Tank where the company struck a deal with billionaire investor Mark Cuban.

Born on May 20, 1973, in Germantown, Tennessee, Capt. Robert M. Secher loved being a soldier. He attended the Marion Military Institute and then graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in political science. Secher was commissioned as an artillery officer and, in 2006, he volunteered to go to Iraq. He was part of an elite team of 11 officers who were embedded and training with the Iraqi Army. On October 8, 2006, in Al Anbar, Iraq Captain Secher was KIA while leading a patrol. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with Combat V for valor for actions during his deployment.

Camp Hanson’s Secher Hall in Okinawa, Japan is named in Secher’s memory. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has created the Captain Robert M. Secher Scholarship to honor Secher for his contributions to Wharton, including spearheading the Quantico Leadership Venture, which builds upon U.S. Marine Corps facilities to develop leadership at its Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va. Secher is remembered with love and deep respect by all who knew him.

“The 600 weekend is always a big one for the industry—it’s NASCAR’s version of a home game, so I’ll have a lot of family attending,” said Gilliland. “It’s an honor to carry Captain Robert Michael Secher’s name on my race car this weekend. I’ve really enjoyed learning about him and his story. He made the ultimate sacrifice so I could have the freedom to race on Sundays.”

Road Crew

Driver: Todd Gilliland

Hometown: Sherrills Ford, North Carolina

Crew Chief: Chris Lawson

Hometown: Medway, Ohio

Car Chief: Joe Marra

Hometown: Somers, New York

Engineer: Marc Rullo

Hometown: Ringwood, New Jersey

Engineer: Kevyn Rebolledo

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Spotter: Brit Andersen

Hometown: Branford, Connecticut

Underneath Mechanic: Michael Brookes

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio

Interior Mechanic: Chance Burke

Hometown: Siler City, North Carolina

Tire Specialist: Billy John

Hometown: Pitman, New Jersey

Engine Tuner: Tim Meyer

Hometown: Beatrice, Nebraska

Transporter Driver: Christian Boller

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Pit Crew

Front Tire Changer: Danny Olszowy

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky

Rear Tire Changer: Justin Fox

Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Paul Steele

Hometown: Wichita, Kansas

Jackman: Landon Honeycutt

Hometown: Mount Pleasant, North Carolina

Fueler: Zeke Nance

Hometown: Calhoun, Georgia

ABOUT OVERPLAY

Overplay is a user-generated gaming platform that gives users the ability to create their own games from short videos and share them with the world instantly. Founded by seasoned interactive media executives Dan Projansky and Caroline Strzalka, Overplay aims to democratize game development and make it accessible to everyone. The platform has generated over 2 million games played and well over 300,000 app downloads. Overplay is backed by venture capitalists N29 Capital Partners, Village Global, Gaingels, Sound Media Ventures, Plus Eight Equity Partners, Red & Blue Ventures, Band of Angels, Stampede Ventures, Outlander Capital, Singularity Capital, Everyrealm, Adobe Fund for Design, as well as angels from Warner Brothers and Riot Games. For more information, please visit overplay.com.

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 Craftsman Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 4, No. 34, and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 34 and No. 38 Craftsman Truck Series teams from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @teamfrm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

Primary Car Sponsor for Nashville and Phoenix Races

NEW YORK, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, New York Racing Team announced a partnership with Fanatics Sportsbook to become the primary sponsor of the team’s No. 44 Chevrolet, driven by star driver J.J. Yeley for two of the NASCAR Cup Series’ most prestigious races – the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway and the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.

The Fanatics Sportsbook No. 44 Chevrolet will take to the track – first in Music City on Sunday, June 1 and next in The Valley on Sunday, November 2 – decked in the company’s signature Lava Red and Black paint scheme and adorned with the Fanatics Sportsbook logo on the hood and sides of the car. It’s only fitting that Fanatics Sportsbook will grace the car for the first time in Tennessee, as the state was the first to experience the sportsbook upon its launch in 2023.

In celebration of this partnership, Fanatics Sportsbook will have exclusive new customer offers for the Nashville and Phoenix races, along with expanded NASCAR betting capabilities, such as race parlays, to finish on the podium, exacta and trifecta betting. Fanatics Sportsbook will also offer unique JJ Yeley specials and live betting markets on Raceday.

According to Fanatics Sportsbook, Yeley is +800 to have a Top 10 Finish at Nashville Superspeedway and customers will also be able to place wagers on J.J. Yeley’s Starting Grid Position, Chevrolet-specific placement, first lap results, and much more. NASCAR fans can download the Fanatics Sportsbook app on iOS and Android and begin their Fanatics betting experience.

“We are proud to partner with John Cohen and the New York Racing Team,” said Selena Kalvaria, CMO of Fanatics Betting and Gaming. “The partnership with New York Racing Team is an incredible branding opportunity and an inflection point for us as we continue to build the fastest growing sportsbook in America.* We are going to develop exclusive content for NASCAR fans and curate an elevated experience for our customers at each race that only a brand like Fanatics can offer. Our employees and customers can’t wait to cheer on the No. 44 Fanatics Sportsbook Chevrolet toward the checkered flag at Nashville Superspeedway and Phoenix Raceway.”

Nashville Superspeedway is Middle Tennessee’s racing jewel. The 1.33-mile D-shaped track with 14 degrees of banking is the largest concrete-only track in NASCAR and the perfect track for a prime time race. The sponsorship will see Fanatics Sportsbook featured on Yeley’s No. 44 Chevrolet in the Cracker Barrel 400 on Sunday, June 1 at 7 PM ET, broadcast live on Prime Video. The No. 44 Fanatics Sportsbook car will return at the end of the season to compete at the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 2, 2025, which will air live on NBC. For up to date news and information on the Fanatics Sportsbook No. 44 Chevrolet follow @FanaticsBook on X and @FanaticsSportsbook on Instagram.

About Fanatics Betting and Gaming

Launched in 2021, Fanatics Betting and Gaming is the online and retail sports betting subsidiary of Fanatics, a global digital sports platform. The Fanatics Sportsbook, now the fastest growing sportsbook in America*, is available to 95% of the addressable online sports bettor market in the U.S. Fanatics Casino is currently available online in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Fanatics Betting and Gaming operates twenty-two retail sports betting locations, including the only sportsbook inside an NFL stadium at Northwest Stadium. Fanatics Betting and Gaming is headquartered in New York with offices in Denver, Leeds and Dublin.

“Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER

(CO/DC/IA/IL/KS/KY/LA/MD/MI/NC/NJ/OH/PA/TN/VA/VT/WV/WY), www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), (800)-327-5050 or gamblinghelplinema.org (MA), Call (877)8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), or Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), (888) 789-7777 or ccpg.org (CT), or 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), morethanagame.nc.gov (NC), 1800gambler.net (WV)

*Compared across all sportsbooks accounting for 98.5% of national handle.

Contact: [email protected]

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4eaf4697-d15e-401d-a1f4-4deb7fdb0461

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9cbe9d06-356f-4bb5-82d7-0b44cebacd11

What’s Happening?

It’s time for NASCAR’s longest race of the year, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Daily Downforce will be at the track in full force for all the festivities. Make sure to swing by our tent this weekend to hang out and get some free goodies!

The Daily Downforce tent will be located across the street (Concord Parkway South) from the speedway in the Ver-El RV Park and Campground. Make sure to get to the track early, get parked, and head over – you can’t miss us! The Daily Downforce will be at our location on Saturday and Sunday. For detailed times, check out the schedule below.

Come by to get a goodie bag packed with FREE samples from our friends at Beard Guyz, Carrera, Crocodile Cloth, Forney Industries, Joe’s Hand Cleaner, K-Seal, Motorsports Books/Barnes & Noble, Peanut Patch, Tiger Balm, Toxic Waste Sour Candy, and Victory Junction.

Charlotte Motor Speedway Sampling Schedule

Saturday, May 24

• Daily Downforce Sampling Tent Open: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Sunday, May 25

• Daily Downforce Sampling Tent Open: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Be sure to come by, hang out, and grab some awesome freebies at Charlotte this weekend!

Amazon Prime Video doesn’t intend to reinvent the wheel when it airs the first exclusively streaming NASCAR race in the U.S.

Recognizable faces—headlined by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edwards—will call Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, with plans to keep the spotlight on the racing. Amazon has a seven-year deal with NASCAR, airing five Cup Series events each season. There’s plenty of time to tinker down the road. Yet, the company can’t help but innovate.

“There’s a high level of respect of the history of NASCAR and the way this sport is presented,” race caller Adam Alexander said this week. “While there are tremendous new ideas that will come in through technology, and those are things that you will see unfold this weekend, I would say that we’re not going to get too far away from the foundation of what makes a NASCAR broadcast what it is.”

Amazon has committed to side-by-side rather than full-screen commercial breaks during active racing, something that other NASCAR broadcasters do for some but not all races. Pre- and post-race coverage will also feature ads split up by audience demographic—such that young, city-based viewers could hypothetically see a slightly different commercial than parents in rural locales—as well as interactive spots.

Fans joining late will be able to watch a data-driven compilation of race highlights and flag changes on demand. And without a set end time on its broadcasts, post-race conversations could extend for up to an hour if the action warrants it.

“Being able to sit back and just spend time talking about the day that we just had, the race that we just saw … I think that’s going to be a big part of our identity,” senior coordinating producer Alex Strand said. “That’s something that’s unique, that we have the ability to do as a streamer. We don’t have to get off air for anything else.”

Edwards will be joined by current Cup Series driver Corey Lajoie and broadcaster Danielle Trotta on pre- and post-race coverage. Alexander will call the race alongside Earnhardt Jr. and former crew chief Steve Letarte, with Trevor Bayne, Kim Coon and Marty Snider reporting from pit road.

On Thursday Night Football, Prime Video employs advanced analytics to simplify hidden aspects of football, from blitz predictions to fourth-down decision making. Strand foresees Prime Video similarly educating NASCAR fans, though not every bell and whistle will be unveiled this weekend. For one, Letarte discussed the possibility of displaying estimated fuel gauge information during the race, indicating how much further a driver can likely go before needing to pit.

“I shouldn’t say this because I’m an announcer, but my goal of racing is that the announcers aren’t necessary for the watching experience,” Letarte said. “On every sport you gotta have the score and the time on the screen. It’s very complicated in NASCAR, but I think every year we get better at showing more on the screen for the fan to digest.”

Of course, none of that will matter for fans who don’t have access to Prime or don’t know where to find Sunday’s action. NASCAR released a new promo for the event earlier this week, building on cross-promotion with other broadcasters. During its media negotiation window, NASCAR surveyed its fans and found that more of them subscribed to Amazon Prime as of 2023 and 2024 than subscribed to cable. For those without the service, an available 30-day free trial will extend past Amazon’s final 2025 race from Pocono Raceway on June 22.

“Now it’s more of an education around, OK, we’re shifting from Fox and FS1 to Amazon Prime,” NASCAR EVP and chief media and revenue officer Brian Herbst said in an interview. “You just need to fire up the app and go there on Sunday.”

And execs have already seen ratings increases for its CW and FS1 slates so far this year as fans find stock car racing wherever it’s airing. 

Edwards, who retired to central Missouri in 2017, recalled telling a neighbor about his new gig. “He said, ‘Hey, you’re doing some sort of TV thing!’ And I was thinking, you know, this guy’s 85 years old, and I’m gonna have to explain this to him,” Edwards said.

So Edwards began to walk through the modern world of sports broadcasting—only to be quickly interrupted.

“I started,” Edwards said, “and he’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, I got Prime! I’ll be watching.’”

The Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway starts at 6 p.m. ET Sunday.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Helio Castroneves felt an immediate difference — a subtle but noticeable uptick in speed — the first time he utilized the boost of horsepower offered by IndyCar’s novel hybrid engines around the imposing oval of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The question now facing the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, along with the rest of the drivers on the 33-car starting grid for the 109th running on Sunday, is how best to capitalize on the hybrid over 200 laps spent entirely on edge.

Empty it entirely and then wait for it to recharge, which might take several laps? Save it for short bursts for passes or to defend? Perhaps use it slowly to run down the leader or build a big advantage once out front?

“There is so much more that goes into this than I think people realize or recognize,” acknowledged Indy 500 veteran Graham Rahal, whose father Bobby Rahal won the 1986 race. “It’s an interesting thing. I mean, the hybrid, it’s quite powerful here. On a single lap if you utilize it correctly, it does make a hell of a difference in lap time or lap speed.”

The genesis of the hybridization began years ago, when IndyCar manufacturers Chevrolet and Honda wanted to better align their racing programs with a shift in consumer demand toward hybrid and electric vehicles. But the project was beset by delays as engineers struggled to fit a bespoke hybrid unit into the IndyCar chassis designed more than a decade ago, and that had to meet certain requirements for weight and safety, among other things.

The result was finally unveiled before last year’s Indy 500, a design based around ultracapacitors rather than heavy batteries. It provides a quick boost to the existing 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engines before recharging to be used again.

The system was introduced at Mid-Ohio midway through last year’s IndyCar season and has been in use ever since.

But it has never been used somewhere like Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where speeds at the end of each straight can hit 240 mph, and the difference between winning and losing can be measured in thousandths of a second.

“I’ve had some really interesting conversations with drivers about how of all places where the hybrid is going to make a huge difference, it’s going to be at Indianapolis,” IndyCar president Doug Boles said. “I asked why and they say, ‘Well, you think about Indianapolis, how trimmed out we are — especially in qualifying — any incremental difference in horsepower makes a difference.

“We’re going to see some exciting racing,” Boles continued, “and the strategies that I have heard from drivers in terms of talking about how to deploy the hybrid vary wildly. It’s going to be fascinating to watch how this goes.”

It hasn’t gone without its share of problems, either, dating to an open test last month and right through practice Monday.

For one thing, the hybrid still checks in at about 100 pounds, which is significant on a car that weighs just 1,600. And all of that weight is in the back of the car, which has dramatically altered the way they are balanced and ultimately perform.

“That’s a lot of mass percentage-wise you are adding,” two-time defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden said. “It’s almost like adding 200, 250 pounds to a stock car. If you said, ‘Hey, guys, we’re going to bolt 250 pounds to these stock cars, see what you think,’ I bet they would all go, ‘OK, this drives differently.’ And now we have to counteract it.”

Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood is among many who believe the additional weight makes cars harder to drive, and Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong said, “I do believe the window is considerably smaller, the balance window.”

Armstrong crashed in practice last Saturday and had to squeeze into the field in a backup car on Sunday.

Then there’s the fact that the hybrid unit — while mostly reliable — is still a machine, and machines can have problems. Rinus Veekay’s hybrid didn’t work at all during his first qualifying run for the final row of the starting grid, while 2008 winner Scott Dixon had his practice Monday cut short after just six laps when a warning light blinked for an overheating issue.

Nevertheless, the hybrid technology will play a part in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday. And if it comes down to the final laps, it could be a big part, as the leader tries to hold on and the chasers try to time their boost for a winning pass.

“I think it definitely adds some variables,” said Dixon, who will start on the second row. “If you’re sitting out front, you could be a bit of a sitting duck, especially if everybody is kind of recharged and ready to go behind you.

“I think the biggest thing that we’ve probably all learnt so far, you’ve got to be ready for change, is probably the biggest thing,” he added. “But I think it could ultimately change how the end of the race plays out.”