Calling RACER No. 337 “The Greatest Issue” might seem like a tough brief to deliver on. But inside, our new issue lives up to the billing, telling stories of greatness from motorsports past and present.

Fo us, one aspect of greatness is versatility – not just taking part in multiple types of racing, but excelling in them. When discussing the most versatile drivers in motorsports history, there are several candidates for second- and third-best, but the greatest is surely indisputable. Despite his career not starting until he was 19-years old, or perhaps because of this, Mario Andretti accelerated his learning curve by driving anything and everything, his ultimate aim being Formula 1. When he got there, he was ready – and famously took pole for his first grand prix, in 1968 – before continuing to drive anything and everything!

Not only did Andretti drive a wide variety of cars, he also won with them, and was often the difference-maker. Ferrari would not have won the 1970 edition of the Twelve Hours of Sebring without Mario’s speed, verve and determination, and several years and experiences later, he combined those same qualities with a hard-earned technical savvy to relight the fire under a distracted Colin Chapman in Formula 1. The Lotus 77 of 1976 started off as a wayward hound of a car, but largely thanks to Andretti’s feedback, it became domesticated and at the season finale in Japan, he took pole and victory. The following year in the Lotus 78, he became a Formula 1 World Championship contender, and with the Lotus 78 and 79, he sealed the deal in 1978. It’s hard to imagine any of Andretti’s contemporaries providing the same combination of driving talent and engineering know-how to inspire a team’s renaissance.

Of course, Mario being Mario, during his spell at Lotus, he was filling up the weekends between grands prix to race part-time for Penske in Indy cars and competing in the IROC championship (winning the title in 1979). As you can appreciate, it wasn’t the work of a moment to narrow down which of Andretti’s cars we wanted our resident artist, Paul Laguette, to portray on the front cover of this issue, but we feel we’ve covered some memorable bases…

Of course, motorsports is more specialized now by necessity – heck, Formula 1 has 24 rounds per year and runs from early March to early December. Which is why this latest RACER, containing our celebrations of the best drivers and teams of 2025, couldn’t go to press until we knew who was the F1 champion. To this end, as well as paying tribute to Lando Norris, we’ve also commemorated McLaren’s previous 12 F1 world drivers’ championship triumphs.

And bringing versatility into the present, we’ve highlighted a few modern-day drivers who have embraced several motorsport disciplines. One such is Kyle Larson, but in this issue of RACER, our interview with him focuses on his remarkable clinching of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship. It’s quite appropriate that he features in an issue celebrating greatness: with this second title in five years, we have no doubt that Larson is on his way to joining the NASCAR pantheon.

Continuing the theme of greatness, we’ve also tried to narrow down which are the all-time best Indy cars, but it’s a task made tricky by the evolution of the championship and its calendar. The Chaparral 2K was a sensational ground-effect car that absolutely belongs on the list of contenders, but even its designer John Barnard would admit it might have struggled at Langhorne or Pikes Peak. Our effort to decide on the greatest Indy cars depends very much on context.

Discussions about the greatest ever road course are less contentious: the Nürburgring-Nordschleife was a daunting challenge from the day it opened in 1927, and remains so today, because in truth, its evolution hasn’t kept pace with that of the race car, nor could it possibly meet the most demanding safety standards of top-rank series. But that reputation for danger is undoubtedly part of its allure… for onlookers, at least. Jackie Stewart once recounted, “The number of times I thanked God when I finished a lap there… I can’t remember doing one more balls-out lap at the ’Ring than I needed to. It gave you amazing satisfaction, no doubt about it, but anyone who says he loved it is either a liar or he wasn’t going fast enough.”

When a legend who won three grands prix there – one of them by four minutes – describes the challenge of the Nürburgring in such an awe-filled manner, there’s little doubt that it’s the greatest track.

There’s a lot more to enjoy in this RACER, too, including a celebration of another IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO title for Corvette Racing, a double helping of off-road racing, courtesy of Baja 1000 debutant Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Ford’s all-American Dakar racer Mitch Guthrie, an interview with World Superbike legend Jonathan Rea, road impressions of BMW’s M4 CS, and much more.

CLICK HERE to purchase the new issue of RACER. Get 6 print issues of RACER Magazine, unlimited digital access to the RACER archive, and 24/7 motorsports streaming on the RACER+ App for one year at only $8.33/month, two years at $7.71/month, or three years at $7.22/month. CLICK HERE and subscribe now for the ultimate motorsports fan experience.

Carvana (NYSE: CNVA), an industry pioneer for buying and selling used cars online, today unveiled the Daytona paint scheme for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB owner Jimmie Johnson. The reveal kicks off the new racing season and the fifth year of Carvana and Johnson’s collaboration.

The custom design features interlocking halos that form a gradient across the body, a visual nod to movement, connection, and speed. A prominent rear halo anchors the design, while yellow streaks from the wheels evoke light in motion. The scheme also incorporates Johnson’s iconic neon accent, long associated with his career triumphs and LEGACY. It’s a subtle signature that signals his return to the track where he’s twice claimed victory.

“Carvana has been an incredible partner, and every season we’ve found new ways to celebrate what makes racing so special,” said Jimmie Johnson, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and owner of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. “This year’s scheme is sharp, it’s fresh, and I can’t wait for fans to see it on the track in Daytona.”

Since joining forces in 2021, Carvana and Johnson have pushed the boundaries of creative storytelling both on and off the track, from fan-favorite designs to celebrity collaborations that have brought new energy into the sport. The 2026 season promises to build on that LEGACY.

“We’ve shared an incredible journey with Jimmie and we’re excited for what’s ahead in our fifth year of partnership this season,” said Ryan Keeton, Carvana co-founder and Chief Brand Officer. “Jimmie’s drive, energy, and authenticity always inspire us, and we can’t wait to see him take to the track at Daytona with this brand new design, marking another exciting chapter in our story together.”

Fans can follow Johnson’s 2026 campaign beginning with the DAYTONA 500 on February 15, 2026. He is also confirmed to compete in the San Diego NASCAR Street Race, taking place June 19–21 at Naval Base Coronado.

LMC PR

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will compete in the 2026 Daytona 500, Legacy Motor Club announced Thursday (Dec. 18).

Johnson will attempt the race in the No. 84 Toyota sponsored by Carvana.

2026 will mark Johnson’s fourth consecutive attempt at The Great American Race in the No. 84, and 23rd attempt overall. The 50-year-old NASCAR Hall-of-Famer won the race in 2006 and 2013.

Johnson finished third in the race last year.

With the announcement, Johnson has confirmed two Cup Series races in 2026, with his other being the street course event at the Naval Base Coronado in San Diego in June.

The 2026 Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 15.

Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.

From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book “All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story” with racer Geoff Bodine.

Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.

You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.

William Byron is looking to win his first NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2026. After making the Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway in 2025, Byron wrecked with three laps to go while running in second place. The Hendrick Motorsports driver hopes to rebound from the defeat; however, one of his sponsors won’t be as involved.

Liberty University has cut down its sponsorship for Byron’s No. 24 team ahead of the 2026 season, the university announced. Liberty will sponsor Byron in three races during the 2026 NASCAR season, which is down from six races in 2025 and 12 races in 2024.

The driver of the No. 24 car will have Liberty as a sponsor at Watkins Glen International, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the second event at Martinsville Speedway. It is unclear if Liberty will drop Byron entirely in 2027, but for now, the races are continuing to decrease with the No. 24 team.

CHICAGO — Instituto del Progreso Latino received a $20,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and NASCAR Chicago Street Race. The organizations are teaming up to provide education, training and workforce opportunities to Chicagoland residents and their families.

“Our grant to Instituto is driven by our continued commitment to the communities we serve,” said BCBSIL President Brian Snell. “Helping to provide resources for sustainable careers helps those individuals build physical and financial security, which improves their overall well-being.”

As part of its efforts to improve health equity statewide, BCBSIL provides support to community organizations dedicated to upskilling, developing career paths and providing resources like education and training to help people build stable careers. The Instituto grant supports its nursing program, which will create sustainable careers for its participants and help replenish the health care workforce. 

“We are profoundly grateful to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and NASCAR for this gift to Instituto,” said Karina Ayala-Bermejo, president and CEO of Instituto del Progreso Latino. “This investment directly supports our efforts and Instituto’s college nursing programs, expanding opportunities for students to enter the health care workforce and serve our communities. With support from NASCAR and Blue Cross and Blue Shield, we can fasttrack the preparation of new nurses and keep our community’s health care workforce moving forward at full speed.”

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About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois is the largest health insurer in Illinois, serving nine million members and operating in all 102 Illinois counties. BCBSIL is a division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Learn more at bcbsil.com and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn

About Instituto del Progreso Latino
Instituto del Progreso Latino is a leading Chicago nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of Latino and immigrant families through education, workforce development, and community empowerment. Its programs create opportunities for individuals of all ages to succeed in school, careers, and civic life.

About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X and Facebook.

Man. Denny Hamlin almost had me. It’s not like I had anything against the veteran NASCAR Cup driver: I was just sort of a Hamlin agnostic, sometimes a little put off by his aggressively carpy personality, but late this season, it seemed like a different Denny: He was handling the contentious lawsuit that he and 23XI team co-owner and NBA great Michael Jordan filed against NASCAR with a focused grace, plus he was driving exceptionally well as he marched toward a season championship, which would be his first in 20 years of trying.

Right up to the last race at Phoenix. (Where, incidentally, 12 years ago I had asked Hamlin for his opinion of the then-new generation-six car, and he honestly answered, which in part resulted in him being fined $25,000 by NASCAR, which does not like to be criticized by its drivers, much less sued).

This year, Denny, as you may know, had this last race and the resulting championship in hand right up to the end, when a crash caused a caution period, and the top cars dove for the pits. They all changed two tires, except Hamlin, who changed four. And the resulting delay sent him back on track late, and he lost the race, and the championship, to a flabbergasted Kyle Larson. Hamlin was understandably crushed. But he handled that with grace as well: I’m liking this guy.

Then came the courtroom drama, which was settled late in the proceedings last week, marketed by both sides, on the courthouse steps, as a trial where there were no losers, only winners! Then everybody hugged.

Though, as ESPN reported, “There was no doubt that the victory belonged to the teams over the sanctioning body.” We’ll get to that in a moment.

A central issue in the suit was that of the 15 NASCAR teams that held charters (think of them as franchises), 13 signed the new charter agreement, but 23IX and Front Row Racing didn’t, because they didn’t like the terms. Afterwards, comments made by Hamlin, and even Jordan, seemed measured and professional.

And then came Wednesday morning, when Hamlin responded online to an inoffensive “Good morning” social media post from Larry McReynolds, a mostly-retired crew chief who began working in NASCAR 50 years ago, and who won a pair of Daytona 500s, with Dale Earnhardt and Davey Allison. McReynolds now works in broadcasting as a TV analyst, and he and NASCAR TV reporter Danielle Trotta have a show on the SiriusXM NASCAR channel, number 90 on the dial, called “On Track.”

The post from McReynolds was about Tuesday afternoon’s show. To which Hamlin responded on X: “Now that the case is settled and the evidence is out will you or anyone on channel 90 be issuing an apology for what you all said about 23XI/FRM when the lawsuit was filed?”

Which ought to be required, Hamlin continued, “because I believe that once the actual facts and documents were released it was contradictory to the narrative that was being pushed. Larry is a very hard-working analyst. Hopefully he took the time to analyze the situation post settlement and revise his thoughts.”

Among those thoughts, Hamlin tweeted: “I believe it was ‘How dare them for trying to come in and change the sport. 23XI hasn’t been around long enough and FRM wasn’t good enough.’ Also how about ‘I don’t know what their problem is, 13 other teams signed it.’ Just to name a few examples.”

I’ve heard of sore losers, but a sore winner? Sigh. Hamlin seemed mostly incensed by comments made by McReynolds on the day the suit became public, back in October of 2024. I happened to be listening to McReynolds and Trotta that day, and it was memorable: An upset and incensed McReynolds, an undeniable NASCAR loyalist, took some of the suit’s incendiary language as an unmitigated attack on a series that, since it began in 1949, has made a whole lot of people millionaires. Including Hamlin, as we learned, who testified that he makes $14 million a year.

McReynolds, genuinely pissed, indeed ranted that day, and you know what? It was damned refreshing. NASCAR backs SiriusXM channel 90, and normally, seldom is heard a discouraging word from the hosts regarding anything that involves the sanctioning body, aside from an occasional rule, or ruling. And that includes throwing excessive shade at any of the well-funded teams.

But McReynolds was angry that the anti-trust lawsuit, funded largely out of NBA legend Michael Jordan’s deep pockets, threatened to comprehensively splinter NASCAR, which the suit contended is an illegal monopoly.

Trotta, acting as a voice of reason, especially in view of the NASCAR channel’s ultimate mission of promoting NASCAR and avoiding controversy, attempted to dial the fuming McReynolds back, but he wasn’t having it.

So if that’s what Hamlin is mad about, I don’t have a lot of sympathy. McReynolds was responding to specific language in the lawsuit, such as the assertion that NASCAR and its CEO Jim France, who was the only person specifically named in the suit, had a tradition of using “anticompetitive and exclusionary practices” to “enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.”

“The France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies,” the suit said. “And bullies will continue to impose their will to hurt others until their targets stand up and refuse to be victims. That moment has now arrived.”

And that made McReynolds angry. Understandably, I’d submit. In the year or so that followed, I do suspect Hamlin has had something to legitimately be annoyed about, as he says NASCAR Channel 90’s hosts, when they couldn’t avoid talking about the suit at all by deferring to driver interviews or “top-10 moment”-type chatter, were on NASCAR’s side. Understandable: It’s the NASCAR channel.

But McReynolds has nothing to apologize for. And Hamlin is presumptuous in asking for one.

As far as the settlement goes, I’m not quite as ready as ESPN to deed over the win to the teams. NASCAR gave those 36 charters to teams in 2016 for free. Their value has increased to about $40 million, and teams can sell or lease the charters to other teams that want to add a car. By far, the single greatest concession made by NASCAR and Jim France in the lawsuit settlement is that instead of the charters being renewed by NASCAR every seven years, when broadcast rights are renegotiated, the charters are now permanent. The cost to NASCAR? Nothing.

Charters are now expected to double in value, meaning that a new team that seriously wants to compete in NASCAR will need to pay somebody around $80 million per car, and that’s before you buy your first tire (about $600 each, and you’ll need maybe 28 per race, per car).

Teams have also been told they will have a bigger say in NASCAR governance. We’ll see. And teams will be receiving a chunk of revenue from “international” rights, which they should have been getting anyway. Teams will also get a third of the revenue from “intellectual property rights,” which may be helpful, though NASCAR critics will insist that intellect is already scarce.

And that whole illegal monopoly thing? Gone, even though the court had already said that NASCAR was indeed a monopoly, but never ruled on whether or not that was illegal. So NASCAR gets to keep everything it owns, and vice-versa—NASCAR’s owners, Jim France and niece Lesa France Kennedy, get to keep NASCAR. If that monopoly was so evil, and it was, according to the lawsuit, how could Hamlin and Jordan and lawyer Kessler possibly let it continue? You’ll have to ask them.

And why did Jim France decide to settle? You’d have to ask him, but multiple observers would suggest that the turning point may have been a letter from Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, and a longtime NASCAR sponsor. “It is painful for all fans to watch the current conflict and division occurring within the sport we love,” Morris wrote. “We hope the France family and team owners will reflect carefully on the damage that’s being done to NASCAR in the ongoing dispute and dig deep and strive hard for compromise.”

Morris is a close friend of Jim France, and somebody he listens to, one billionaire to another. (Forbes says Johnny Morris’ $9.4 billion outranks both France, at $1.8 billion, and Jordan, at $3.5 billion, and even team owner Roger Penske’s $6.2 billion). And we know that in motorsports, money talks.

Well, I guess it does. We learned during the trial that most every NASCAR team owner claims to be losing money under the previous NASCAR business model: Bob Jenkins, whose Front Row Motorsports was the other team that filed suit along with 23XI’s Hamlin and Jordan, said that he has lost $100 million keeping his team afloat. To which I suggest: Then that’s not a business, it’s a hobby.

All that said, before the settlement, page after page of discovery and testimony bloodied both sides, especially NASCAR, which was simply out-lawyered by Jeffery Kessler, who made the sanctioning body and its executives seem petty at best, incompetent at worst. Texts between NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps and President Steve O’Donnell were just vicious, especially what Phelps said about longtime team owner Richard Childress over comments he made on SiriusXM’s NASCAR channel, calling him a “total ass clown” who should be “taken out back and flogged. He’s a stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR.”

Even the media covering NASCAR wasn’t spared in this. Immediately before the trial started, Hamlin tweeted that fans “have been brainwashed with their talking points for decades. Narratives pushed by media who are intimidated by them. Lies are over starting Monday morning. It’s time for the truth. It’s time for change,” which makes Hamlin sound like he’s running for Congress.

I covered my first NASCAR race 36 years ago. I was startled to have Hamlin report that I’ve been “intimidated” by NASCAR, and brainwashing readers.

Consequently, per Denny, you’d best read all this with caution.