The winged warriors of NASCAR’s aero wars are the stuff of legend, and now one of the most significant examples is heading to auction. Hall of Famer Bobby Allison piloted this genuine 1969 Dodge Hemi Daytona NASCAR, a one-of-one artifact from the peak of the superspeedway era. After Pat McKinney discovered it in a barn, restorers brought it back to its former glory, and it will cross the Mecum block in Monterey this August.

The History of this NASCAR Dodge Hemi Daytona

This is not just a tribute car; it’s the real deal, and it has the paperwork to prove it. A handwritten letter from Bobby Allison himself, dated November 10, 1999, proves the car’s incredible history. In the letter, he confirms he personally inspected and verified its authenticity. This is the very car that, on August 24, 1969, Allison drove for four laps at more than 200 mph during testing before the Daytona’s official competition debut.

A Pure NASCAR Build

Under the hood sits a period-correct, 426 ci Hemi V8 that the legendary drag racer Dick Landy built and dyno-tested to produce 650 horsepower. It’s a full-on race engine, featuring a dry-sump oil system and the iconic single four-barrel “Bath Tub” racing intake manifold. The rest of the 1969 Dodge Hemi Daytona is just as serious, with a four-speed manual transmission, a heavy-duty 9-inch Ford rearend, and a full NASCAR performance suspension with dual shocks at all four corners.

A Concours-Winning Restoration

After Pat McKinney pulled it from a barn, the car underwent a full restoration. The restoration team finished it in the correct red and gold Coca-Cola No. 22 livery that Bobby Allison ran in that era. The quality of the restoration is so high that the car took home a First Place award at the prestigious 2005 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, a rare achievement for a rough-and-tumble race car. The LeMay Car Museum also recently displayed it, cementing its status as a top-tier collector piece.

An Irreplaceable Piece of History

This Daytona is a direct link to the days when the Ford and Chrysler went to war on the superspeedways, pushing the boundaries of speed and aerodynamics. The very legends who created and drove it authenticated this machine with its ironclad history. With an auction estimate of $1.1 to $1.4 million, this car represents a rare opportunity to own a genuine piece of American racing folklore, a one-of-one artifact from the wildest era in NASCAR history.

Corey LaJoie is going playoff racing! The part-time driver is taking over the No. 77 truck at Spire Motorsports this weekend. LaJoie is going to control the truck that was last driven by Andrés Pérez. Spire released Pérez earlier today, and he has moved to Niece Motorsports.

We knew that Corey LaJoie had more races to go this season. Now, we know that he is going to race for the owner’s championship in the Truck Series.

Spire Motorsports is going to move the points from the No. 07 team, which has a win from earlier this season at Homestead with Kyle Larson. That will allow LaJoie to race in the postseason and compete for a championship.

“Spire Motorsports, in consultation with NASCAR, will shift the owner’s points from the team’s No. 07 entry to the No. 77 team with veteran Corey LaJoie at the controls for the final eight races of the season, beginning at Richmond Raceway,” Spire said in a team statement.

“The team will compete as a three-truck operation for the remainder of the 2025 campaign, fielding the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados in pursuit of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series owner’s and driver’s titles.”

Earlier this season, Corey LaJoie raced for Spire at Michigan. He finished P5 in a hectic race that had a wild ending with plenty of wrecks. LaJoie has never won a national series race in NASCAR. He’s hoping ot get the job done in these next eight races with the 77 team.

Corey LaJoie replacing Andrés Pérez at Spire

Despite being released from Spire, the Andrés Pérez situation appears to be a non-controversial split. Spire wished him well, made it clear they believe in his talent as a driver, but just wanted to give the 20-year-old the ability to explore his options.

Pérez is going to suit up for the No. 44 Niece Motorsports team. That group has had a lo of changes these last two weeks. Kaden Honeycutt is out. Pérez and Bayley Currey are full-time there now. They have also shifted their other two part-time entries around to make sure Josh Bilicki and Connor Jones are able to compete in the races they had signed up for.

Corey LaJoie is good enough to win a Truck Series race. I truly believe that. But is he going to get the chance to prove it in the next few months? That remains to be seen. Even top Cup Series drivers have had trouble winning in these Spire trucks.

• NASCAR driver Austin Dillon is the general manager of the Carolina Cowboys, a Professional Bull Riders (PBR) team.
• Dillon’s grandfather, Richard Childress, owns the Carolina Cowboys and sees the GM role as training for Dillon to potentially take over Richard Childress Racing in the future.
• Dillon is learning the intricacies of bull riding and team management, drawing parallels between managing riders and NASCAR drivers.

It reminded Austin Dillon of fantasy football.

Of course, Forza Motorsport still had its place in the Xbox lineup – after all, it’s been the platform’s exclusive sim racer since 2005 on the original Xbox. But, despite curiosity surrounding Turn 10’s 2023 reboot, FM for Xbox Series X|S just never really landed with the broader community, coming and going like a hot lap at Brands Hatch. There have been some great updates since and the game is in a decent spot right now, but we wouldn’t say there’s much enthusiasm for another entry, anecdotally.

And that brings us back to our initial question, is Forza Horizon going to become the main Forza franchise over at Xbox HQ? With Phil Spencer teasing another FH entry next year, and Turn 10 seemingly losing quite a few staff recently, that certainly looks to be the case. There’s a lot that Microsoft can do with future Forza Horizon iterations, but honestly, Motorsport just feels like it’s spinning its wheels right now. This could be the right time to retire the series, even if such an eventuality would have felt impossible just a few years ago.

Denny Hamlin came thisclose to losing his top spot this week, but look around.

Honestly, go look around. Who would you tab to take his spot atop our weekly power rankings? William Byron? Sure, he’s finished first and fourth the past two weeks, but you can’t simply ignore the months of mediocrity preceding it.

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Just kidding, it wasn’t all mediocre. Some of it was miserable.

Kyle Larson? Come on, he’s tumbling so much lately, he flirting with the unthinkable by teetering very close to edge of our top 10.

So, Denny it remains. And will likely remain next week after Richmond. Why’s that? Glad you asked.

In his last eight starts at Richmond, Denny has finished either first or second six times. He also had a fourth-place in that string of Richmond races, along with a 20th, which we assume came when he was driving a rental Camry from Hertz.

1. Denny Hamlin

That’s it, he’s out of mulligans. You gotta think he’ll return to form at Richmond.

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2. William Byron

Followed his long-awaited win with a fourth at The Glen, so maybe he’s regaining mojo at the right time.

3. Chase Briscoe

No longer a Saturday show pony, “the other Chase” continues to improve on Sundays.

4. Ryan Blaney

Four straight finishes of eighth or better.

5. Bubba Wallace

Also has four straight top-8 finishes, and Sunday was his fourth top-10 on a road course in 37 career starts.

6. Christopher Bell

Almost had SVG in sight as the Glen checkers were waving.

7. Chase Elliott

Billy Clyde has returned to ho-hum mode, sad to say.

8. Alex Bowman

Oops, lost his top-10 grip at Watkins Glen. Coasting into playoffs on points?

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9. Kyle Larson

Good grief, look who’s returned to Slumpville.

10. Shane van Gisbergen

Appearance here might be short-lived, but we could only ignore the road ruler for so long. Now, about those ovals …

— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Power rankings: Top spot holds but look out below. Is that SVG?