In 21 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-10 finish. Carson Hocevar earned a team-best eighth-place result in last season’s summer stop to the Virginia oval. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet ZL1s in the Cup Series for Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Hocevar, respectively.
The 400-lap event will be televised live on USA Saturday, Aug. 16 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 25th of 36 points-paying races on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series calendar will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.

Justin Haley – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

Justin Haley will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Gainbridge Super League Chevrolet ZL1 in Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
Haley has made eight previous Cup Series appearances at the 0.75-mile D-shaped oval in Henrico, Va., scoring a venue-best 21st-place finish in August 2022. In five NASCAR Xfinity Series appearances at Richmond, Haley finished in the runner-up position twice (September 2020 and 2021).
Last weekend at Watkins Glen International, the 26-year-old clocked the fastest lap in practice and raced as high as 14th. Haley was forced to settle or a 27th-place finish when severe tire wear in the last 20 laps limited his speed.
The Gainbridge Super League is a Division I professional women’s soccer league committed to expanding access to the highest level of the sport in the United States. Launched in 2024 and sanctioned by U.S. Soccer, the league is operated by the United Soccer League (USL). The 2025/26 season will feature nine clubs: Brooklyn FC, Carolina Ascent FC, Dallas Trinity FC, DC Power FC, Fort Lauderdale United FC, Lexington SC, Spokane Zephyr FC, Tampa Bay Sun FC, and Sporting Jax. Through a landmark entitlement partnership with Gainbridge®, a Group 1001 company, the league is building a sustainable, community-rooted model to grow women’s professional soccer nationwide. For more information, visit gainbridgesuperleague.com and follow the league on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.
The 2016 ARCA Menards Series East champion owns one start at Richmond in the series. In 2015, Haley started sixth and finished 12th driving for late team owner Harry Scott, Jr.
Haley is one of just 41 drivers to have won races in all three of NASCAR’s National Touring Series. The driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevy has collected one win in the NASCAR Cup Series, four in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and three in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
Haley is a veteran of 168 Cup Series starts and has notched one win, five top fives, 16 top 10s and led 118 laps in NASCAR’s premier division. In total, he has made 68 Cup Series starts for Spire Motorsports, including his first start in NASCAR’s premier division at Talladega Superspeedway on his 20th birthday.

Justin Haley Quote
What is your outlook heading into Richmond this weekend?
“I really enjoy competing at Richmond. It’s always been one of my favorite tracks. The lack of grip from the old asphalt and short track feel makes the cars slide around and a lot of fun to drive. I feel confident we can execute a solid weekend in the Gainbridge Super League Chevy.”
Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Ryan Sparks

Ryan Sparks serves in a dual role as both Spire Motorsports Competition Director and crew chief for driver Justin Haley and was first paired with Haley at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in September 2024.
The Winston Salem, N.C., native has called 190 NASCAR Cup Series races where he’s earned three top-five and nine top-10 finishes.
In total, Sparks has called eight previous Cup Series races at Richmond Raceway and has a pair of 21st-place finishes with driver Corey LaJoie.

Michael McDowell – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Go Workforce Chevrolet ZL1 in Saturday’s 400-lap race at Richmond Raceway.
McDowell has made 27 starts in NASCAR’s premier division at the famed 0.75-mile D-shaped oval and has compiled one top-10 (sixth) and five top-20 finishes. In the series most recent visit to Richmond last August, he started 28th and raced his way to a respectable 15th-place showing.
The Glendale, Ariz., native has logged five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Richmond where he earned a series/venue-best eighth-place finish in the 2009 Lipton Tea 250.
For the second time this season, Workforce Occupational Health and Safety Solutions will serve as the primary sponsor aboard McDowell’s No. 71 Chevrolet. Workforce Occupational Health and Safety Solutions is based in Pittsburgh with partners throughout North America. For over thirty years, Workforce continues to provide support to clients through the operation of three divisions – Work Injury Management, Medical Bill Repricing and Employer Services. The Work Injury Management Division provides access to telephonic physician services with expedited access to a nationwide network of specialty, imaging and therapy providers – and employer access to OSHA recordable injury investigation and impact mitigation services, preferred medical provider panel development and more. The Medical Bill Repricing Division provides cost containment to clients by minimizing incident, experience, and injury frequency rates, reducing exposure to insurance premium increases. The Employer Services Division provides employee onboarding and testing services, corporate safety committee oversight, required annual certification coordination and integration of any required testing, licensing, or accreditation. Since 1995, Workforce’s mission is developing long-term partnerships with employers that facilitate successful and positive impacts on health and safety issues encountered by their employees at the workplace.
Over the first 24 races of the season, McDowell has tallied two top-five, three top-10 and 12 top-20 finishes. The 2021 Daytona 500 winner is currently 22nd in points, 44 markers below the playoff cutline.
The No. 71 team earned a $100,000 payday and a trip to Victory Lane after winning the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge during May’s NASCAR All-Star Weekend at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. The crew’s blazing 12.587-second stop topped all entries for both the NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race, earning the title of the fastest team on pit road.
McDowell has claimed three Xfinity Fastest Lap awards this season, clocking the fastest lap in the Daytona 500, Phoenix Raceway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The team is one of just three in the series to tally three or more bonus points via the program.
The No. 71 team secured Spire Motorsports’ first Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. The 28.833-second lap marks the fastest lap recorded in NASCAR’s seventh-generation Cup Series car (2022-present) at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval. The team also earned Spire Motorsports’ first stage win during the Grant Park 165 on the streets of downtown Chicago.

Michael McDowell Quote
What are your thoughts heading into Richmond?
“Running Richmond on a Saturday night should be a fun race. The track temps are going to be different than what we see in practice on Friday afternoon, but I think our Spire Motorsports group has been in the game with our short-track package. We had the speed at Iowa, but those long green flag runs put us behind with some old tires and didn’t get the finish we deserved. I think we have a lot to show this weekend in Richmond, and I’m looking forward to getting to the track. I have been watching a lot of film and us, as a group, have put a big emphasis our simulator sessions, so I feel confident heading into this weekend and expect to have a good run.”
Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson

Travis Peterson serves as the crew chief for driver Michael McDowell and Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Peterson has called four Cup Series races at Richmond Raceway, all with McDowell in the cockpit. The West Bend, Wis., native guided his driver to a spirited sixth-place finish in April 2023.
As a race engineer at JR Motorsports, the 34-year-old played key roles in Chase Elliott’s runner-up finishes at Richmond in 2014.

Carson Hocevar – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

Carson Hocevar will make his third NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond Raceway in Saturday night’s 400-lap race. The 22-year-old driver finished eighth in his most recent outing at the venerable 0.75-mile D-shaped oval.
Hocevar’s most recent start on tracks measuring less than one mile in length came two weeks ago at Iowa Speedway where the driver of the Delaware Life Chevrolet started seventh and finished eighth to score his sixth top-10 finish of the season.
Delaware Life is an insurance and annuity company that empowers financial professionals with a wide array of customizable solutions. A subsidiary of Group 1001 Insurance Holdings, LLC (“Group 1001 Insurance”), our focus is to deliver a seamless experience for advisors. We understand how important it is to find the right fit for every client, every situation, and every individual need. We’re passionate about equipping you with annuities that give your customers peace of mind and a successful future—allowing them to plan with confidence for whatever’s next.
The Portage, Mich., native has four previous NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at Richmond. In 2023, Hocevar qualified 17th, lead 64 laps, and collected his third of four wins that season.

Carson Hocevar Quote
The No. 77 team’s short track performances have been strong this year. What is your outlook for Richmond this weekend?
“I enjoy racing at Richmond a lot. Last year I was able to move around and find different lines that worked for me based on how our tires were wearing. It was a lot of fun to move around and try something different. I feel like those are the types of tracks where I do well and can find something that works for me that may not work for someone else. I know we had the option tire there last year, and maybe that was what made the difference, but I still feel like I learned enough about how the track races to be able to put together a good run.”

Spire Motorsports PR

Richmond Raceway will welcome the Cup, Truck and Modified series for its only NASCAR race weekend of the year.

The Modified Series will be in action Thursday at Richmond with NASCAR Cup veterans Ryan Newman, Ryan Preece and Corey LaJoie entered in the field of the 150-lap race, which also will include defending race winner Justin Bonsignore.

Friday will feature Cup Series practice and qualifying. The Craftsman Truck Series will have practice, qualifying and a 250-lap race at Richmond. Ty Majeski is the defending winner of the event, which will be the series’ regular-season finale and set the 10-driver field for the playoffs.

The Cup Series will hold a 400-lap race Saturday night at Richmond. Austin Dillon won last August’s race, but the victory was stripped of playoff eligibility because NASCAR penalized Dillon for wrecking Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the last lap.

It’s the first time in 67 years that Richmond is scheduled for only one race weekend with NASCAR’s premier series. The 0.75-mile oval had two annual races on the Cup schedule from 1959-2024 (one of its 2020 races was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

Richmond Raceway weekend schedule

(All Times Eastern)

Thursday, Aug. 14

Garage open

• 12:45 – 11 p.m. — Modified Series

Track activity\

• 3:15 – 3:45 p.m. — Modified practice
• 3:55 – 4:25 p.m. — Modified practice
• 6 – 6:30 p.m. — Modified qualifying
• 7:30 p.m. — Modified race (150 laps 112.5 miles; FloRacing, MRN)

Friday, Aug. 15

Garage open

• 9 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. — Truck Series
• 11 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. — Cup Series

Track activity

• 2:05 – 3 p.m. — Truck practice (FS2)
• 3:10 – 4 p.m. — Truck qualifying (FS2)
• 4:30 — 5:30 p.m. — Cup practice (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
• 5:40 – 6:30 p.m. — Cup qualifying (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
• 7:30 p.m. — Truck race (250 laps, 187.5 miles; Stage 1 at Lap 70, Stage 2 at Lap 140; FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Saturday, Aug. 16

Garage open

Track activity

• 7:30 p.m. — Cup race (400 laps, 300 miles; Stage 1 at Lap 70, Stage 2 at Lap 230; USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Weekend weather

Thursday: Partly cloudy with afternoon showers, a high of 91 degrees and light winds. Chance of rain 40%. It’s expected to be 81 degrees with a 40% chance of rain around near the start of the Modified race.

Friday: Partly cloudy with a high of 89 degrees and light winds. Chance of rain 21%. It’s expected to be 83 degrees with a 16% chance of rain around the start of the Truck race.

Saturday: Partly cloudy with a high of 88 degrees and light winds. Chance of rain 21%. It’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 3% chance of rain around the start of the Cup race.

CLUB MINUTES:

JJ WINS AT RICHMOND: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson has 37 Cup Series starts under his belt at Richmond Raceway. In these starts, he has secured three victories, seven top-fives, and 16 top-10s as well at leading 461 laps. His first win came in May 2007 when Johnson started fourth and won with a .732 margin of victory over Kyle Busch. He followed that up a couple months later in September 2007 when he started on the pole and led 104 laps to his second win where he beat Tony Stewart by 3.007 seconds. His final win at Richmond came in September 2008 when Johnson started third, led 32 laps, and bested Stewart once again by .365 of a second. Johnson has an additional five starts at Richmond in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he earned a best finish of 12th in May 2000 and May 2001.

KENSETH RICHMOND SUCCESS: LEGACY MC competition advisor Matt Kenseth is also a winner at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series. He has a total of 38 starts in the series at Richmond which resulted in two wins, six top-fives, and 16 top-10s. Kenseth led a total of 1,013 laps throughout his career. His first win came in September 2002 when he started 25th, led 134 laps, and bested Ryan Newman by 6.184 seconds. His next victory came in September 2015 when he started second, led 352 laps, and bested Kyle Busch by .951 of a second. Kenseth has an additional 21 starts at Richmond in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he collected 12 top-fives and 16 top-10s. He earned a best finish of second three times – May 2000, September 2001, and May 2007.

THE KING OF RICHMOND: Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion and LEGACY MC ambassador Richard Petty owns 63 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond Raceway in his career. The King earned a total of 13 wins, 34 top-fives, and 41 top-10s in his career at the short track. His first victory at Richmond came in April 1961 where he started on the pole and led 182 of 200 laps. His final win at the .75-mile track came in February 1975 where he once again started on the pole and led 444 of 500 laps to find victory lane.

TOYOTA DOMINATES AT RICHMOND: Toyota has a winning history at the short track of Richmond Raceway. Since 2015, Toyota has won 10 of the 19 NASCAR Cup Series races at Richmond. In total, Toyota has won 17 Cup Series races at the .75-mile oval.

DOLLAR TREE VENDOR SPOTLIGHT: Dollar Tree will serve as the primary partner on the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE, driven by Erik Jones, at Richmond. The Dollar Tree scheme will hit the track alongside support from vendor partner Dove Men’s Care, showcasing a strong collaboration for the race weekend across LEGACY MC’s social platforms.

PYE-BARKER SIGNS EXTENSION: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB sponsor Pye-Barker Fire & Safety announced today that it would extend its partnership with the CLUB for the 2026 season. Pye-Barker is the nation’s largest full-service and fully integrated fire protection, life safety, and security services provider. The renewed agreement will expand the company’s involvement in hospitality, employee engagement programs, and community outreach as well as allow Pye-Barker to serve as the primary sponsor on the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE for 14 races in 2026.

NEVER SETTLE: Join ESPN’s Marty Smith and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s co-owner Jimmie Johnson for their weekly podcast, “Never Settle”. The podcast airs live on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 at 2 p.m. ET every Wednesday and can be downloaded wherever fans source their podcasts. This week’s guest is Andrea Brimmer, the Chief Marketing and Public Relations Officer of Ally Financial.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY TOYOTA CAMRY XSE

JHN AT RICHMOND: John Hunter Nemechek has three starts at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series, with his highest finish being 25th in March 2024. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he has made six starts at the track, earning three top-three finishes and a best finish of second earned in his last two races at the rack in April 2022 and April 2023. Nemechek also has two starts at Richmond in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where he won in April 2021 and finished second in August 2022. He has led a total of 115 of the 500 total laps he’s run at Richmond in the series.

WINNER AT RICHMOND: Nemechek knows how to find victory lane at the short track of Richmond. In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he never finished worse than second at the .75-mile oval. In his first start at the track in April 2021, Nemechek started 18th after the lineup was set per the NASCAR rulebook. Nemechek first took the lead from Kyle Busch on Lap 100 and did so an additional two times to lead a total of 114 of 250 laps in the race. He passed Chandler Smith for the lead one final time on Lap 234 to capture the checkered flag by .307 of a second ahead of his team owner Kyle Busch.

T-MACK RICHMOND STATS: Saturday’s race under the lights will be crew chief Travis Mack’s 11th NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond. His first outing came in September 2017 with Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished 13th, Mack’s best finish at the track. He returned the following year in April 2018 with Kasey Kahne. After a short gap, Mack was back at Richmond in April 2021 with Daniel Suárez, where the duo competed for six total races between 2021 and 2023, with their highest finish being 16th, earned twice in April 2021 and April 2022. In the NASCAR Xfinity series, Mack has five starts at Richmond with Michael Annett, where they duo never finished worse than 14th and earned a best finish of seventh in the September 2020 doubleheader.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“I look forward to going to Richmond. I feel like we’ve made gains in our short track program based off Iowa and the results and speed we had there. I’ve had a lot of success at Richmond in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series. I should’ve won multiple races in the Xfinity Series there, but it has always been a good racetrack for me. I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“We’ve put a lot of effort into improving our short track program, and each race has taught us something new. The team has been making solid progress, and I’m feeling really good about where we’re heading. I’m looking forward to keeping that momentum going and seeing what we can do this weekend at Richmond.”

LMC PR

CONCORD, N.C. – For a good portion of the season, three teams at Hendrick Motorsports have been fighting tooth and nail atop the NASCAR Cup Series points standings, locked in a battle for 15 pivotal playoff points and of course, a trophy. 

Filling out the top three spots as recently as last week and entering this Saturday’s penultimate regular season event at Richmond Raceway in first, second and fourth respectively, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have remained among the stiffest competition for each other. 

Yet, to walk around the Concord, North Carolina-based campus, one would never know a championship clash is being waged. And that’s just how Hendrick Motorsports vice president of competition Chad Knaus would prefer it. 

“If you’re playing basketball in the driveway with your sibling, you want to beat your sibling, but as soon as someone from down the block comes down, you want to make sure you beat that kid,” Knaus explained to HendrickMotorsports.com last week. “That’s the way we want to approach it every single time. We have to think of the greater good of Hendrick Motorsports and what it is we can do collectively.” 

Certainly, over the course of a 24-race sample size, the organization’s four teams have put themselves in prime positions. Rounding out the contingent is the No. 48 Ally Chevy team with driver Alex Bowman ninth in points and 60 markers above the playoff cutline. 

For the other three, those 15 points remain the carrot to chase and that shared goal would seem to potentially put crew chiefs in a seemingly awkward position. Would it not be human nature to keep a crucial setup note or an air pressure discovery a little closer to the vest come title-winning time?

Well, not at Hendrick Motorsports, it appears. And Knaus would be happy to know that to a man, all three crew chiefs toed, embraced and touted the company line when asked about any potential conflicts of interest. 

“I like racing these guys. We work together all the way through and we let the execution and the drivers and the pit crews at the track, we let those chips fall where they may,” said Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 team. “But we work together. We don’t hide anything from each other. We try to make each other better because we all want somebody in house to win everything every week.”

“The strength of our company is what unites us,” added Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 squad, about the points race. “At the end of the day, if we can get all four cars to finish in the top four of every single race, then that’s the first goal. Then where we sit within that, of course everybody has their own desires within that. But from my perspective, I value Rudy’s input, I value (No. 9 crew chief Alan Gustafson’s) input too, so to let any of our own competition get in the way of what could be good communication or helping each other build a strategy or build setups or other development items that we have, I think that would just be a distraction and a waste of time.

“As I walk around this place, I have zero consideration of the points battle amongst us other than I want all of us to score as many points as possible.” 

This past Sunday at Watkins Glen International, it was the No. 24 team leading the way in terms of points, using a fourth-place finish to separate itself a bit from the No. 9. Byron will head to Richmond 42 points in front of Elliott. Larson is now 85 back and in need of some massive swings the final two weeks. 

For the No. 24 squad, its perch at the top is getting quite familiar as Byron leads the standings for the 19th week so far in 2025. And as the regular season championship is a measure of excellence over an extended period of time, Daniels said remembering that when looking at the pecking order is an important measure of self-evaluation. 

“Of course, everyone wants as many points as they can possibly get but at some point you’ve got to come to grips with reality,” Daniels said. “The 9 has been the most consistent car in the field in terms of finishes all year long. The 24 has had better qualifying results than us that has given them a little more stage points along the way and we’ve been capable of some really good runs that we’ve been taken out of.”

Interestingly enough, now in his 21st season atop a pit box at Hendrick Motorsports, this is hardly Gustafson’s first foray into competing with teammates for wins and titles. 

Perhaps the most glaring example came in 2009. Jimmie Johnson won his fourth of five-straight Cup Series championships. In doing so, he had to best teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon, who finished the season second and third respectively. 

Knaus was the crew chief of Johnson’s No. 48 team while Gustafson was guiding the No. 5 squad, then anchored by Martin. Both noted the evolution and advancement of teamwork and cooperation over the last 16 years. 

“I think we’re much better. We’ve refined the process much more. It’s much more natural and the teams collaborate a lot more than we used to and I think it’s so much a part of our everyday life that it’s not really a consideration,” Gustafson said. “It’s nice to work with guys – not only crew chiefs but team members – the majority of people have been in this environment for a while and we all genuinely like and respect each other and it just makes it fun and easy. It’s nice to be around people you enjoy being around. I think we’ve gotten to a point with that culture that if you don’t, you’re going to be the anomaly and the one that stands out.” 

“The reality is … it’s growing every single day. To say back then we were sharing everything would be an untruth,” Knaus concluded. “As long as we’re communicating and we’re bought into the process and we understand what we’re trying to do, ultimately, we’re going to win out. We may not win every race, we may not win every championship but the company will win out as long as we’re doing that and that’s going to be, has been, and will always be our major focus is just that communication between everybody. None of us are as strong as all of us, none of us are as smart as all of us, none of us can do anything that all of us can achieve. We’re working really hard to make sure everybody understands that.” 

By the time the 400-mile race at Daytona is in the books next Saturday night, a regular season champion will have been crowned. Whether that’s Byron finishing it off, Elliott rallying late or Larson coming from way behind, the stakes will only be raised further once the postseason begins. 

Yet, the expectation of open sharing and the commitment to communication remain. And everyone involved believes the dividends will only be higher for all involved. 

“All of us understand that collectively we’re better and even if one of us was to hold something back or not share, that potentially could give you an advantage over the other three but you’re still going to be worse off than you would be if we all share openly,” Gustafson said. “I think that’s why you see what you see. Everybody is going through experiences and different things and that’s a lot more information, four times the information and data points and experiences that you can draw from. I think it’s important that you convey that experience accurately and that information accurately and your opinion on it and that’s what we do really well and it generates a lot of strength and collective intelligence for growth.”

“I don’t hide anything and I know those guys aren’t hiding from me,” Fugle said. “We work together better than ever in these high-stress situations. We want everybody at Hendrick to win a race, win the regular season championship, the season championship – that’s what we care about. We want to bring a trophy home to Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports that put in all the hard work. We’re super competitive, but we can sit there and know we’re going to be way better working together because we’ve done it every single week. That’s how we’ve gotten here and there’s no need to stop now.” 

NASCAR TV schedule for Richmond

Friday, Aug. 15

• 2:05 p.m. – CRAFTSMAN Truck Series practice (FS2)
• 3:10 – CRAFTSMAN Truck Series qualifying (FS1)
• 4:30 – Cup Series practice (truTV)
• 5:40 – Cup Series qualifying (truTV)
• 7:30 – CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race (FS1)

Saturday, Aug. 16

• 7:30 p.m. – Cup Series race (USA)

Connor Zilisch shared an update on Social Media on Tuesday on his broken collarbone, which he suffered in a fall in victory lane following a win in last Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen.

Zilisch says he underwent surgery on the collarbone, where a plate and screws were placed to aid the driver’s healing from the injury.

“Wanted to give everyone a quick update. Had surgery on my collarbone this morning to get a plate and screws to help with the healing process,” Zilisch said in the post on his personal X account. “Been a tough few days for me mentally, but all the love you guys have shown has certainly helped. Thank you.”

LEGACY MOTOR CLUB announced the return of Pye-Barker Fire & Safety as a major primary sponsorship partner for John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 42 NASCAR Cup Series team for the 2026 season.

“We are thrilled to have Pye-Barker Fire & Safety renew for next season,” said Jimmie Johnson, majority owner of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. “John Hunter [Nemechek] and the No. 42 team are great representatives of the brand, and our collective goal is to put Pye-Barker back in Victory Lane.”

Next year, Pye-Barker will serve as a 14-race primary sponsorship partner for Nemechek.

Cup Results: Practice | Qualifying | Race
Truck Results: Practice | Qualifying | Race
Entry Lists: Cup | Trucks

Share TC Daily Pit Stop

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Connor Zilisch was still in the hospital on Tuesday as he recovered from a broken collarbone suffered in a fall in Victory Lane over the weekend.

He appeared to get a good laugh after he showed off an ironic wristband he received from nurses. The yellow band read, “Fall Risk.”

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Aug 9, 2025; Watkins Glen, New York, USA; NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Connor Zilisch walks back to his car after winning the Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.  (Matthew O’Haren/Imagn Images)

“The bracelet I got in the hospital this morning bc of anesthesia. Can’t make this stuff up,” he wrote in post on X.

Separately, he provided an update on how his recovery was going.

“Wanted to give everyone a quick update,” he wrote on X. “Had surgery on my collarbone this morning to get a plate and screws to help with the healing process. 

“Been a tough few days for me mentally, but all the love you guys have shown has certainly helped. Thank you.”

The tumble occurred following his sixth win of the 2025 season. This time, it was at Watkins Glen International in New York. He climbed onto the roof of his No. 88 to celebrate the win. He slipped after his left foot caught in the driver’s side window netting, and he tumbled onto the asphalt.

2025 NASCAR RICHMOND ENTRY LIST: ALL 39 DRIVERS FOR COOK OUT 400

After winning the Mission 200, Connor Zilisch, #88 JR Motorsports Registix Chevrolet, falls from his Registix Chevrolet and hits his head on landing in Victory lane at The Glen on Aug. 9, 2025, at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. (David Hahn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Zilisch was set to race in the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday at Watkins Glen. Trackhouse Racing withdrew the No. 87 that he was set to compete in. His next Xfinity Series start is scheduled for August 22 at Daytona International Speedway.

He missed a race earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway after sustaining a back injury during a crash at Talladega Superspeedway. He’s recorded 11 consecutive top-five finishes and five wins since his return, and won four out of the last five races.

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Connor Zilisch, #88, takes the checkered flag to win the Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, on Aug. 9, 2025. (Matthew O’Haren/Imagn Images)

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He’s currently seven points ahead of Justin Allgaier in the drivers’ standings. The 19-year-old has 12 top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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