CHICAGO — During a weekend of hot, high-speed friction against the asphalt of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race course, thousands of tires burn out and wear down. After a few dozen laps, they lose their grip and become obsolete.

But their life cycle doesn’t end there. Each NASCAR race weekend, most of the 3,000 tires provided by Goodyear Racing become a fraction of the tens of thousands recycled annually by Liberty Tire Recycling. Before state laws prohibited it, used tires would be landfilled or stored in stockpiles, said Rick Heinrich, Goodyear’s product manager for NASCAR.

“And at a certain point, that’s got to be dealt with. We came to the realization that there had to be a new use for these tires, and that’s where we’re at today,” he said. “When they’re not usable anymore on the street, they’re very suitable when they’re turned into a different type of product to make other things, things that are all around us.”

In 2024, a total of 215 million tires — including 92,588 from NASCAR — were recycled by Liberty, a company based in North Carolina that collects and processes racing, as well as auto and truck tires, from all across North America, according to spokesperson John Dowdy.

The ideal would be to reuse a tire for the rest of its life, Dowdy said, which is possible when retailers resell gently used auto or truck tires for less than new ones. But, after being used, racing tires don’t usually have any more life left in them, at least in their original form.

At a Liberty facility in Concord, a suburb of Charlotte in North Carolina, NASCAR racing tires are shredded into quarter-sized chips that can be used as aggregate in roadbeds, landfill liners and landscaping products.

“It’s a perfect example of sustainability,” Heinrich said. “You’re taking stuff that’s worn out, you can’t use it again for what it was originally built for, but it goes into something else. Nothing is wasted.”

The shredded tires can also be used as a more efficient fuel to power kilns and boilers in concrete factories, electric plants and pulp and paper mills. However, while burning so-called tire-derived fuel is cleaner than using other fossil fuels, the process still releases some greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide.

IMC Outdoor Living, a division of Liberty in the village of Godfrey in southwest Illinois, makes fully recycled rubber products out of tires for both residential and commercial landscaping. One of these products is rubber mulch, with a realistic texture that makes it look just like its wood counterpart, and which can be used to cover the ground in playgrounds and parks, making it safe for children to jump and land on.

However, there are concerns that such products derived from tires can expose kids to heavy metals and other harmful chemicals, which can act as carcinogens or neurotoxins.

In 2024, the company gave a second life to 4.7 billion pounds of rubber, Dowdy said. That material might otherwise have been disposed of illegally.

These recycled products also eliminate the need to produce entirely new ones, which would entail deforestation. Processing synthetic rubber is an energy-intensive process that can cause pollution, too.

“What we ultimately want to do is, we want to replace virgin rubber in as many goods as we possibly can,” Dowdy said.

Other Liberty recycling facilities grind up the tires into an even smaller end product: crumb rubber. Crumb rubber is at most 0.25 inches, and a single passenger car tire can produce some 10 to 12 pounds of the product.

In one of its main uses, crumb rubber is mixed into asphalt to make it more durable and resistant to cracking.

In September of last year, 2,800 end-of-life auto tires from Walmart were processed by Liberty and became part of a mix used to repave the parking lot of one of the chain retailer’s stores, in Rolla, Mo.

“We’re keeping tires from going into and just clogging up landfills, or being dumped (in) nature and creating all this blight,” Dowdy said. “We can actually create products that make other things better.”

WHIPPANY, N.J. and SONOMA, Calif., July 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SPH), a nationwide distributor of propane, renewable propane, renewable natural gas, fuel oil and related products and services, as well as a marketer of natural gas and electricity and investor in low carbon fuel alternatives, is pleased to announce its role as the main sponsor of Track to Table, an exclusive event uniting the charitable, culinary, and motorsports communities, to kick off Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series weekend at Sonoma Raceway.

This debut Track to Table event will take place on Friday, July 11, at the iconic Turn 11 Club at Sonoma Raceway, merging the adrenaline of NASCAR with the flair of fine dining, live music, and charitable giving. All proceeds will benefit Speedway Children’s Charities Sonoma, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of Sonoma County children and families in critical need.

“Track to Table is a perfect blend of purpose and celebration, and we’re honored to empower such a meaningful evening that supports children and families,” said Nandini Sankara, Spokesperson, Suburban Propane. “As a proud partner of Speedway Motorsports and a long-time supporter of community-focused initiatives through our SuburbanCares platform, Suburban Propane is delighted to help bring this remarkable new tradition to life.”

Through its SuburbanCares pillar, Suburban Propane is committed to giving back to the communities it serves. Supporting Track to Table aligns with the company’s broader mission to fuel positive change, champion local organizations, and support programs that directly impact children and families in need.

“We’re excited to kick off race weekend by celebrating the incredible food and wine that make Sonoma so special,” said Courtney Kiser, Director of Speedway Children’s Charities Sonoma. “We’re grateful to partner with those who share our deep commitment to helping vulnerable children lead safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives—no matter the challenges they face.”

Guests will indulge in an unforgettable culinary experience of exquisitely prepared dishes with wine pairings provided by Viansa Winery, Three Fat Guys Wines and Caymus Suisun. The evening will also feature an acoustic performance by country music artist Tim Dugger, a live charity auction and memorable surprises throughout, making it one of the most anticipated new events of the summer.

About Suburban Propane:
Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. (“Suburban Propane”) is a publicly traded master limited partnership listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Headquartered in Whippany, New Jersey, Suburban Propane has been in the customer service business since 1928 and is a nationwide distributor of propane, renewable propane, renewable natural gas (“RNG”), fuel oil and related products and services, as well as a marketer of natural gas and electricity and producer of and investor in low carbon fuel alternatives, servicing the energy needs of approximately 1 million residential, commercial, governmental, industrial and agricultural customers through approximately 700 locations across 42 state.

Suburban Propane is supported by three core pillars: (1) Suburban Commitment – showcasing Suburban Propane’s almost 100-year legacy, an ongoing commitment to the highest standards for dependability, flexibility, and reliability that underscores Suburban Propane’s commitment to excellence in customer service; (2) SuburbanCares – highlighting continued dedication to giving back to local communities across Suburban Propane’s national footprint; and (3) Go Green with Suburban Propane – promoting the clean burning and versatile nature of propane and renewable propane as a bridge to a green energy future and investing in the next generation of innovative, renewable energy alternatives.

For additional information on Suburban Propane, please visit www.suburbanpropane.com. 

ABOUT SPEEDWAY MOTORSPORTS:
Speedway Motorsports is a leading marketer, promoter and sponsor of motorsports entertainment in the United States. The company, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates the following premier facilities: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dover Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway and Kentucky Speedway. Speedway Motorsports provides souvenir merchandising services through its SMI Properties subsidiaries; manufactures and distributes smaller-scale, modified racing cars and parts through its U.S. Legend Cars International subsidiary; and produces and broadcasts syndicated motorsports programming to radio stations nationwide through its Performance Racing Network subsidiary.

ABOUT SPEEDWAY CHILDREN’S CHARITIES:
The mission of Speedway Children’s Charities remains true to the ideals it was founded upon in 1982: To care for children in educational, financial, social and medical needs to help them lead productive lives. SCC provides funding for hundreds of nonprofit organizations nationwide that meet children’s direct needs. Its vision is that every child has the same opportunities no matter what obstacle they are facing.

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SOURCE Suburban Propane Partners, L.P.

Will Brown made his second career NASCAR Cup Series start this past weekend on the streets of Chicago, Illinois, and he did it with Kaulig Racing in a car that the team had not previously entered in the 2025 season.

Brown drove the No. 13 Chevrolet, one of five non-chartered (open) cars on the entry list going for the four open spots in the 40-car field. Brown managed to successfully qualify, along with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, Garage 66’s Josh Bilicki, and Live Motorsports’ Katherine Legge.

In a surprising turn of events, 23XI Racing’s Corey Heim was left on the outside looking in after making contact with the wall on his qualifying run, making him the first driver to fail to qualify for a non-Daytona 500 Cup race since Timmy Hill and MBM Motorsports didn’t get into the November 2018 race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Brown qualified for the race quite comfortably and started 19th. However, he was involved in an early multi-car pileup and could not continue.

Kaulig Racing not bringing back third car at Sonoma

Brown, who made his Cup Series debut with Richard Childress Racing at Sonoma Raceway last year and finished in 31st place, does not have any more starts planned for the 2025 season, and Kaulig Racing will not be fielding the No. 13 car at Sonoma for this weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.

As of now, the team have no plans to bring back the No. 13 Chevrolet this season, but that could change. The team fielded the car for the first time in 2023, and it made five appearances (four starts and a Daytona 500 DNQ) between two drivers, Chandler Smith and Jonathan Davenport.

Last year, the car also made five appearances, but its two drivers, A.J. Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen, are now full-time drivers. Allmendinger races for Kaulig Racing and van Gisbergen for Trackhouse Racing.

Kaulig Racing’s other full-time driver is Ty Dillon, who is one of eight drivers still in the running for the in-season championship.

Sonoma Raceway will open its 2025 NASCAR race weekend with the ARCA West and Xfinity series turning laps on the 1.99-mile road course.

ARCA West will begin at 1:40 p.m. ET with an 80-minute practice leading into qualifying for a 64-lap race that will start at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Xfinity Series will begin a 50-minute practice at 4 p.m ET ahead of qualifying for Saturday’s race. Despite moving up to the Cup Series this year, Shane van Gisbergen will be in the Xfinity field to defend his Sonoma win last year.

Xfinity Series regular Sam Mayer is the defending winner of the ARCA West race but won’t be in the field Friday.

This will mark the second year in a row that the exhibition event will be held at the historic track.

Sonoma Friday schedule

(All Times Eastern)

Friday, July 11

Garage open

• 10:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. — ARCA West Series
• 11 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. — Xfinity Series
• 5:30 – 10:30 p.m. — Cup Series

Track activity

• 1:40 – 3 p.m. — ARCA West practice
• 3:10 – 3:30 p.m. — ARCA West qualifying
• 4 – 4:50 p.m. — Xfinity practice (CW App)
• 5:05 – 6 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (CW App)
• 6:30 p.m. — ARCA West race (64 laps, 127.36 miles; Flo Racing, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Weather

Friday: Mostly sunny with a high of 81 degrees and winds from the south at 5 to 10 mph. It’s expected to be 85 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the start of the ARCA race.

FREE LIVE DRAG RACING: Virginia Motorsports Park’s Mega Bucks Triple Threat Bracket Series Racing Action – Friday

Jul 11, 2025Chad Reynolds1320 Event Coverage, 1320 Spotlight, 1320 Videos, BangShift 1320, DRAG RACES, Event Coverage, RACING & ACTION, Videos

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If you want to see live big money bracket racing, this Triple Threat Bracket Series event is one to watch so check it out LIVE right here thanks to our friends at MotorManiaTV. We love this track, love the staff, and love that the racing action is hot and heavy regardless of the series. If you want a great time, make sure you hit Virginia Motorsports Park.

Video Description:

It’s become one of the go to events for the Mid-Atlantic bracket scene. This is the second schedule race of the series, but the first of the season when the first race was rained out.

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FREE LIVE DRAG RACING: NHRA Division 2 Divisional Lucas Oil Sportsman Drag Racing At South Georgia Motorsports Park – Friday

 

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