Over a million fewer viewers tuned in for last Sunday’s NASCAR race at Nashville Superspeedway than did for the previous year, after the telecast was switched from NBC to Prime, which requires a paid subscription.

The Cracker Barrel 400 drew 2.06 million viewers, down from the 3.24 million that watched last year’s Superspeedway Cup race, making it the nation’s most-watched sports event of the week.

The plunge was not unexpected; TV viewership likewise dropped by over a million for the previous race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the first one carried on Prime.

The industry tried to put a positive spin on the drastic drop-off by noting that viewership increased among the younger demographic, a statistic that appeals to sponsors.

Three races remain on Prime this season: Sunday at Michigan, followed by the inaugural Cup race in Mexico City and Pocono.

The five races launch a seven-year NASCAR contract with Prime. It is not known if the same races will be on Prime next season, or moved around.

The Superspeedway’s fan turnout remained robust. Last Sunday’s Cup race drew a capacity crowd announced at 38,000 – the fourth sellout of the track’s five Cup races – and the companion truck and Xfinity races drew average or above crowds for those series.

Mark Collie heads Hall of Fame class

Actor/singer Mark Collie headlines the list of inductees for the 2025 Fairgrounds Speedway Hall of Fame.

Collie is joined by two-time track champion Jeff Green; former champion and Alabama Gang charter member Jimmy “Smut” Means; famed car builder Wayne Day; crew chief Bubba Frances; and retired racer P.B. Crowell III.

Collie, a Robertson County native, founded and oversaw the annual Mark Collie Celebrity Race at Fairgrounds Speedway. For years it attracted entertainers ranging from Paul Newman to Loretta Lynn, generating approximately $250,000 per event for the Vanderbilt Hospital’s Diabetes Center for research and treatment.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony date and ticket information will be announced later.

Sutton back in action

Lebanon’s Dawson Sutton, coming off his second-best finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finish (11^th) in last week’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, plunges back into action Saturday at Michigan Speedway.

The 11 a.m. race on Fox Sports is the 13^th of the 25-race truck schedule. Sutton has shown steady improvement as he advances through his rookie season.

Red Bull pinpointed the Spanish GP as a potential Championship-defining moment, with the Austrian team optimistic the new flexi-wing directive would turn the tide in the favour.

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, to varying degrees, were vocal about their optimism heading into Barcelona.

Ultimately, this conviction was misplaced – as McLaren maintained an advantage over the rest of the field.

Thanks to a crafty three-stop strategy, Red Bull managed to put the papaya duo under pressure.

This hard work was undone after the Safety Car, which triggered a sequence of events that culminated in a 10-second penalty for Verstappen after intentionally hitting into George Russell.

Helmut Marko admits he does not have an explanation for the Dutchman’s decision-making.

Helmut Marko cannot understand Max Verstappen “thought process” during Russell clash

There are few people with greater confidence in the abilities of Max Verstappen than Helmut Marko.

The 81-year-old was instrumental in the 4-time Champion’s progression into Formula 1 and later ascension to Red Bull.

Because of this, Marko is typically one of the most vocal to praise and, in other cases, defend Verstappen from race to race.

Last weekend was an exception, though, with the Austrian offering no defence for his driver’s incident with George Russell.

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Marko has provided some insight into why Red Bull initially asked Verstappen to give Russell the place back – and his reaction to the collision:

“The internal discussion was that it was 50-50,” he told ServusTV, per motorsport.com.

“Since it happened right after the Safety Car period, the impact of a 10-second penalty it much greater than if it happens mid-race.

“So, that was one thing.

“Max didn’t want to give the position back, but he was instructed to do so. He did it under protest.

“Max lifted off the throttle, so we all assumed he was letting Russell through.

“And then suddenly he accelerated again. I don’t know what kind of misjudgement or thought process was going on inside him.

“And then, as they say, all hell broke loose.”

A pivotal moment in the Championship

For all the emphasis on the flexi-wing regulations, the impact of these changes was minimal.

To some extent, it could be argued that Red Bull were competitive enough to put McLaren under pressure throughout the race.

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Even taking into account their bold strategy, Verstappen was still contending for the victory until the final stages.

At the same time, there is no evidence to suggest this was directly because of the FIA’s clampdown on front wings.

The reigning Champion has already claimed two race victories in 2025.

Regardless of the technical directive’s impact, Spain was still host to a pivotal moment in this season’s title race.

Max Verstappen dropped from 3rd at the restart to 10th after his penalty was applied – a significant 14 point loss.

This has allowed both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to create a sizable buffer in the Championship.

Even if the Red Bull driver had managed to cling into the podium, the task of defending his title would have been difficult.

After losing so many points, however, this challenge is far more unlikely.

Unless additional upgrades to the RB21 can arrive quickly and deliver instant performance, Red Bull will be reliant on Verstappen producing some heroics (alongside some blunders from McLaren) to reassert themselves in the title race.

Main photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images (via Red Bull content pool)

Carson Hocevar continues to make a ton of noise on the racetrack. After his latest on-track incident with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. during Sunday’s race at Nashville Superspeedway, FOX Sports analyst Kevin Harvick questions Hocevar’s place within the garage.

“I don’t think he has the respect of the garage right now, personally,” Harvick said on Tuesday’s Happy Hour podcast.

Hocevar has ruffled the feathers of several drivers in the garage throughout his brief NASCAR tenure. Sunday, it was Stenhouse who took issue with Hocevar. Stenhouse went for a spin through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 106 in Stage 2. Hocevar, riding behind Stenhouse in the corner, clearly got in the back of Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevrolet. 

The interesting part of this is that Hocevar, to this point, has avoided extreme trouble coming back his way. On top of that, he’s fast. He finished P2 at Nashville, his second runner-up finish of the season. The more Hocevar runs with the Cup Series’ best, the more he’s going to continue ruffling feathers, Harvick said.

“They’re going to like him less because he’s faster than them and that sometimes in itself without running over people, pisses people off because he’s going to take someone’s spot. He’s not going anywhere because he’s going faster than they are,” Harvick said. “His ability to drive the car fast and apparently, relate that to his team guys, is making those cars faster. Having that cornerstone in a company is important, but companies also look for the fastest guys.

“The fastest guys will learn how to manage all that stuff. Now, the competitors will stir it all up and say he’s a hack or whatever it is, but in the end, he’s faster than most of you.”

Kevin Harvick reacts to Carson Hocevar controversy at Nashville, future payback

This is hardly the first time Hocevar has been involved in conflict with another driver. He’s not the first driver to go through this. But Harvick is blown away by Hocevar’s ability to block out the noise and keep pushing.

“Here’s the thing about Carson: Carson’s fast and is, to me, he’s able to keep making these mistakes and not let it mentally bother him. Not all people are like that way. When Ross Chastain — we saw everything that happened with Rick Hendrick — it slowed him down for a while,” Harvick said. “It has not slowed down Hocevar up until this point. And he’s got the speed to be able to back up what he does on the racetrack, and he’s got the speed to overcome these types of scenarios.

“But he’s got the mental ability to just let it go. It didn’t bother him the rest of the race. It isn’t the first time that this has happened this year or last year and it is going to ruffle some feathers along the way.”

In this episode of The Creative Drive, host Taro Koki sits down with the one and only Larry Chen.

Larry is one of the most iconic and influential automotive photographers and content creators in the world today. Known for his unmistakable style, relentless work ethic, and deep love for car culture, Larry has become the go-to visual storyteller for some of the biggest names in motorsports and the aftermarket world.

Starting from humble beginnings shooting cars on the streets of Los Angeles, Larry turned his passion into a career by mastering the craft of automotive photography — capturing not just cars, but the spirit behind them. His work spans every corner of the car world: from grassroots drift events to the global stage of Formula Drift, from SEMA builds to Pikes Peak, from classic JDM icons to electric hypercars.

He is the official photographer for Formula Drift, a Canon Explorer of Light (one of the most prestigious honors in the photography world), and a creative force behind brands and countless OEM and aftermarket brands. If you’ve seen a jaw-dropping rolling shot, an epic drift angle frozen in time, or a SEMA build immortalized before it hit the floor, chances are, Larry Chen was behind the lens.

Campbell crossed the finish line third, fading after an adjustment on the final pit stop of the event.

“The car drove really good in practice. After the first red, right before we got tires, I figured it would be us and the 71 sailing off. The car was good. We obviously made a little bit of an adjustment, so we slipped back to third. All in all, a good finish. I’m really proud of these guys and we represented Berlin Raceway really well.

Erik Jones, another former winner of the event now on the NASCAR circuit, finished fourth. The Byron, Michigan native qualified on the pole and started eighth following the invert. However, passing proved much more difficult for Jones as he wrestled with the balance on his car.

“You know, it’s a new car for us and we just kind of struggled with the balance,” said Jones. “It had speed, there with the pole, but just really free in the first segment. We put tires on and it got pretty tight at the end. We just kind of missed that adjustment, over-adjusted a little bit.

“Build a notebook, try to get better for the [Battle of Berlin] 250. I feel like we learned about this car, and need to button it up and get a little bit better.”

Tyler Rycenga finished fifth, with Terry Senneker crossing the line sixth. Chase Burda, who led the race’s first 36 laps after starting second, finished seventh, with Joe Bush, Dylan Stovall and Michael Atwell rounding out the top 10.

The next event on the UARA National schedule is the Motor Mountain Masters 150 at Jennerstown Speedway. That race is scheduled for Thursday, June 19.

-Photo credit: Matt Prieur

When the No. 77 Spire Motorsports team unloads Carson Hocevar’s chariot for the upcoming race weekend at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, the Chevrolet race car will have a very different look.

Totalplay, Mexico’s leading telecommunications provider, has landed a partnership with the team, which will see it serve as the primary sponsor for Hocevar and the No. 77 team. As a result, Hocevar will carry a bold and bright race car around the 17-turn road course all weekend long.

Hocevar, who will race at his home track, Michigan International Speedway, this weekend, is excited to compete in the first internationally contested NASCAR Cup Series event since a series of offseason exhibition events that were contested in Japan from 1996 to 1998.

“We’ve seen a lot of growth for the sport over the last several years, and because of that, I think it’s time that we have an international race and give that a try,” said Hocevar. “This car has put on a good race on the road courses and it will be interesting to see how it does on a track where we see other high-level motorsports series compete.”

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year, who finished third at Watkins Glen International a season ago, is excited to see where his team stacks up at the road course in Mexico.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how we unload in Mexico. The No. 77 team has put in a lot of effort to improve and find consistency from week to week, no matter what type of course we’re racing. We finished 2024 with a strong finish at Watkins Glen and had made a lot of progress overall with our road course program,” Hocevar explained. “I expect we’ll have speed, and since everyone is on an even playing field to start, we should have a good shot at a decent starting position. From there, we’ll just learn with every lap and hope to be fighting for the win.”

Hocevar, who is coming off of a career-best tying runner-up finish at Nashville Superspeedway this past weekend, sits 17th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings with 12 races remaining in the regular season. Hocevar is only four points below the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff cutline entering this weekend’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan.

The NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 from Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is set for Sunday, June 15, and the event will be streamed live on Prime Video with coverage beginning at 3:00 PM ET.