Motorsports

Chevrolet in Indycar: Lundgaard and McGlaughlin Share Podium at Barber Motorsports Park – Speedway Digest

Christian Lundgaard and Scott McLaughlin drove their Chevy power to podium finishes in the third consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES race that ran green to checkered caution free. Lundgaard, in only his fourth race driving the No. 7 Velo Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, continued his string of podium finishes scoring the runner-up position in today’s 90-lap race […]

Published

1 month ago

May 4, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Christian Lundgaard and Scott McLaughlin drove their Chevy power to podium finishes in the third consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES race that ran green to checkered caution free.

Lundgaard, in only his fourth race driving the No. 7 Velo Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, continued his string of podium finishes scoring the runner-up position in today’s 90-lap race around the 2.3 mile/17-turn Barber Motorsports Park. It is the third podium for one of the newest Team Chevy drivers.

Two-time Barber winner Scott McLaughlin brought the No. 3 Good Ranchers Chevrolet to the finish in third place.

A total of seven Chevrolet drivers scored top-10 finishing positions in the fourth race of the season as the series now heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Following race winner Alex Palou, Lundgaard and McLaughlin were Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet in fifth, Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finishing sixth. In eighth, ninth and 10th were Alexander Rossi,, No. 20 Java House Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.

Next up in a busy “Month of May” for Team Chevy’s drivers and teams in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on May 9-10, 2025.

Practice for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, starts on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.

Lundgaard utilized the undercut perfectly, gaining a few spots in the pits, but also making some impressive passes, including a memorable move into the final corner to grab second place. 
The second-place finish is the Arrow McLaren driver’s third straight podium after finishing third at Thermal and Long Beach. He now has six career podiums. 
McLaughlin’s drive to third place in the No. 3 Team Penske Good Ranchers Chevrolet is his third straight at Barber Motorsports Park and the 20th trip to the podium in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career. 
Lundgaard’s three straight podiums moved him into second place in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship battle. His Arrow McLaren teammate Pato O'Ward and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, join the Danish driver in the top five on the championship table.
The two Team Chevy podiums are the manufacturer’s 341st and 342nd since rejoining the series in 2012. 
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers and teams have now completed 339 straight green flag laps and today’s race on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course is the third straight without a caution, the longest stretch since 1986.

Children’s Of Alabama Indy Grand Prix Results

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, finished 2nd:

“It’s everything we could have hoped for and much better. The No. 7 Velo Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew has done an awesome job all year, I think in Thermal we proved it straight on pace. (Our) strategy was good, but the 10 (Álex Palou) car still beat us. We put the car in the wall in qualifying at Long Beach, and we raced our race forward to the podium. The crew did an awesome job on strategy, and once again, today, we did so. We knew we could go aggressive after yesterday. The car hasn’t really been as good all week as it was at the test when we tested here, so it’s just been tough mentally, dealing with that.”

“I think everything about our strategy worked today. We did a change overnight that we’ve kind of been speculating on or the entire weekend, and we didn’t really pull the trigger early enough. We did it overnight, and that was really the deal breaker. The car was so much better this morning and just so much better in the race. So it’s awesome to, to finish like this.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet, finished 3rd:

“The Good Ranchers Chevy has been fast the last three years. We didn’t have enough today. Props to Alex (Palou) and Lundgaard as well, who was super quick. We had the third best car today. It was a very interesting race, but I wish we had a little bit more tire life on our car. But overall we’re all good.”

What can you do to stop Álex Palou?

“I think when the guys on top of this game, you just can do the best you can in that regard. I feel like week in and week out, we can challenge him, but if he keeps executing like that, all we can do is execute as well. Props to his team. It’s a long season, and it’s way too early to be even worried about points. We’ve just got to keep being there, and if we’re there, we’ll be okay.”

Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, finished 5th:

“If we saved fuel, we could have gone a lap longer. We should have tried to cover VeeKay. There was a bit of hard racing there. It was still a good day with the strategy. We could have over cut and got a couple of people. It was difficult decision, but still a good day.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, finished 6th:

“It was a very strong points day for all of us. It was great to see all three cars in the top 10. It was a pretty boring race I would say. The highlight was seeing Christian go through the Penske’s while I was struggling. But great job to Christian and Nolan. From the our side, I felt like we were behind playing catch-up and we kept making things better and better but for the race, that was the most I could get out of it. We recovered some good points for the championship, and I’m excited to go to the Indy Road Course and the Indy 500, which is just an amazing event to be a part of.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet, finished 8th:

“The Java House team called a great race from pit lane and that was about as much as we could do on the day. I am still a bit disappointed on our performance yesterday, I did think we had a quicker car than that. Ultimately, we knew we were going to have a tough stint on the black tires at some point because of where we started. We tried to get as much track position as we could on the alternate red tires and build a big enough gap that it wouldn’t hurt us too much, then did the black tires at the end. It was a lot of work to keep going and keep those guys behind us, but we managed.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, finished 9th:

“It was good to get a solid result on the board. Everyone did a really good job this weekend. I’m happy with how the weekend went and it was just smooth the entire time. That was a solid result and we can build from there. There was opportunity for more, and it always sucks to have a good result that doesn’t feel good because you think there was more in it. But that’s ultimately a good thing, and we’ll push for more in Indy.”

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, finished 10th:

“Just a decent day. At least got a decent result. P10-nothing to brag about. At least we got some points and a clean day which is probably the most important at the moment. Lacked a little bit of speed in the race. The team executed really well. We just wanted to get as much as we could. Just disappointed we couldn’t drive forward a little bit more. Sometimes its all you have on a weekend. Everyone did a great job. We rallied pretty aggressively on Saturday just to try to compensate for the hybrid issue. The team did a good job sticking with it and getting what we could out of it. Again, just brought home a solid result. Something we can build on to get a podium or a victory here hopefully soon.”

Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet, finished 15th:

“Tough weekend, I think. We thought we would roll off better than we did with how our recent test here went, but it seemed like nothing from the test correlated to the race weekend which put us on the back foot from the start. Qualifying P17 wasn’t great and with an all green race again, we become limited on what we can do. We maximized what we had with what we could do on strategy to end today’s race.”

David Malukas, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet, finished 16th:

“Really unfortunate from a whole weekend as whole. We’re just not having any luck this season. The car was mega all weekend, we found a really good car heading into qualifying and just got stuck behind people in traffic and couldn’t get a lap in, and ended up being in the back and then, yet again in the race. Every time we came into the pits, we just couldn’t get clean air, even though we tried, and just kept getting stuck behind people. So, really fast car, but couldn’t show it, but hopefully we get some luck in the next one.”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing/Sexton Properties Chevrolet, finished 18th:

“Obviously, one of those days that’s tough to swallow. Everybody did a phenomenal job, crew, engineering, the car was amazing. We were so quick. Just had an issue with some electronic stuff in the pits that had us had a short fill. Just some bugs that we’re gonna work out going into Indy and I think we will be really good.

Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, finished 19th:

“In the beginning, we got blocked by another car and then got hit on lap one, so that kind of killed our momentum a little bit, which is a shame because I thought I had a great start! Honestly our first two stints felt great. The pace on reds is good. We just need to improve our pace on the primary tire, and we’ve got to figure out the best possible strategies for these all-green (flag) races. It seems like we are just missing a little bit on clear track and a few opportunities there. Honestly I think actually we learned quite a lot. Gotta figure out what happens at the next race. But we will be in good shape when we go to Indy.”

Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, finished 22nd:

“Barber this year-we finished the race. Something we haven’t been able to do the last couple of years so that is good. It is nice to have seen the second half of the race here. I think there was a lot to learn. It seems like INDYCAR is holding trend to no yellows – which is unbelievable.

“Good job to the team to work hard this weekend. It was a long day day out there. We kept fighting but unfortunately ended up in the same spot. That was just kind of the way the day went. Everyone was on the same strategy. Not a lot of variability. But made it fun to race against those guys. Hopefully we can go into Indy road course with some lessons learned.”

Callum Ilott, No, 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, finished 23rd:

“The first lap was tough as we were on the hard tires. I had a little tap into turn two which destabilised me, and then there was a bigger hit from behind which caused some damage and made the rest of the race tough. Once I got going the pace was good, especially on the softer tire and I was able to move forwards a bit. Our pit stops are an area that we need to improve on, in my last stop I lost two or three positions which put us on the back foot for the final stint. Another finish for both cars though which is important and while we didn’t quite execute enough in the race, I think there was a lot of things learnt, both positive and negative.”

Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, finished 25th:

“It was a difficult race, and I would say it wasn’t my best. I’ve struggled with the car all weekend, which I was expecting as we had similar struggles during the test here. There is something that isn’t working well with the stability of the car, but I don’t want to get too focused on this weekend. We have to learn from this, and I hope that the team can go away and analyse everything so that we can come back next weekend with a clear idea of what we can change on the car to help it be more under control and fast.”

NTT INDYCAR SERIES at Barber Motorsports Park

May 4, 2025

Post-race transcript

Christian Lundgaard and Scott McLaughlin:

THE MODERATOR: We are joined now by Scott McLaughlin, his first podium of the season. Scott led three of the 90 laps this afternoon. It’s his 20th podium of his career, third straight podium at Barber.

Christian Lundgaard with a race-high 16 passes on the track today. Second in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points standings.

Christian, your thoughts, a busy afternoon for you, have to be happy with another podium to start this year.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, absolutely. I think the progression we made since the Sebring test earlier this year, it’s been moving forward and going in the right direction. The team has been doing an awesome job.

The pace in the car is there, and it’s just about execution. We didn’t really execute in qualifying yesterday, so we were frustrated and wanted to make up for it. We did today.

THE MODERATOR: Some of the passes out there, which did you enjoy the most?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, I enjoyed the pass on Scottie Mac here, but I really did enjoy the one I had on Pato into five, around the same pit sequence. It was kind of all three cars, the 5, the 12 and Scott coming out sort of like a lap after each other. I pitted before them. I had warm tires. It was just kind of chipping one off at the time.

I had a great time out there, for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Scott, another podium for you at Barber Motorsports Park. Your thoughts on a third-place finish?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think we were just third place today. Didn’t quite have the pace from the get-go really. From lap two I tried to push Alex. He just had a lot of speed.

Yeah, I just didn’t feel I had much grip. But the car was still okay. It was still pretty fast. Just wasn’t as quick as the front guys, front two.

Hey, it’s good points. We got to just keep keeping on and being at the front as much as we can. That was a solid race for us from the pace we had. If you want to build a championship campaign, that’s how you have to do it.

THE MODERATOR: Third straight all-green race this season. As physically demanding as this racecourse is, it’s amazing.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah. But I think we all feel pretty good like now. It’s just like match fitness. All your muscles are going. If this is the first race of the year, it would be pretty hard.

I think ultimately very surprised by INDYCAR that we have no yellows right now. It’s a credit to the racing, credit to clean racing that we’re having, and obviously the hybrid. We’re able to restart when we spin or something like that, so…

THE MODERATOR: Christian, you agree?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Absolutely.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions.

Q. Scott, you said something on pit lane that as long as you keep executing, eventually you’ll catch up with Alex. How frustrating is it to know you’re out there doing as good as you can, and he’s just doing that much better?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s not frustrating. At the end of the day you can only do as much as you can. I mean, I’m driving the thing as fast as I can. Christian is doing the same thing. Alex is doing the best job he can. That turns out to be a really good job and solid. We all know it was going to be that way.

When a guy is at the top of his game, all you can do is try to be at the top of yours. We had a third-place car and we came in third. That’s all we can do. Nothing more, nothing less. I learnt that when I was racing Supercars, championship campaigns. You just got to be there.

It is all swings and roundabouts. We’ll be strong at places he won’t. Just got to capitalize.

Q. Any other season, you’d be the story of the season so far. Alex is on fire. How do you put that in perspective?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s just about putting that aside and focusing on yourself. The 10 car is doing a great job. We’ve seen that in years in the past.

I would say we’re trying to raise our own bar, and we’re doing so. We’re performing better and better. On top of that, I had a team change. Getting to know a bunch of new people, getting to work with a bunch of new people. It’s a different car to drive.

I’m very pleased with the job that I’ve done so far, the work that we’ve done. I mean, I don’t think I could have dreamed of three podiums in four races, four first races.

Q. Scott, on lap two you were within half a second of Alex Palou. By lap four, you had fallen back to two seconds. What happened there?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Just pace purely. That was it. I just didn’t have enough pace.

I mean, at the end of the day I pushed him, then sort of settled into a rhythm. Ideally I wanted to stay in that two-second bracket. Alex just had really good speed there, yeah.

Q. Christian, what was your thought process with the power move on Scott McLaughlin on lap 43?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, ultimately you’re just trying to get by. It’s a pit sequence. It’s the one real opportunity you have, ’cause as soon as everybody settles in, you need to rely on people making a mistake and you can’t do that.

It was about doing it when it counted. I was close enough to Scottie. I think we all know as soon as we get to the high speed on cold new tires, we’ll kind of bottom out. I pitted a couple of laps before, so I’d gone through that. When I caught Scott there, I knew game was on. I knew he was going to work for it, but always clean racing with Scott.

Q. Scott, for the future races, you and your team, do you have any idea how to break the dominance of Alex, which areas you have to improve the car?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Pure speed, man. I think those guys are executing. They’re just knocking good lap times out, qualifying well, then executing in the race. Great strategy.

Props to Barry and the team that they run on the 10 car. They’re doing a great job. Obviously they’ve got a really good driver. I think Alex is one of the best racing car drivers I’ve ever come across. He’s the whole deal. That doesn’t mean we can’t beat him, as I said.

Yeah, we know where we can improve, different facets that I can’t really expose. Ultimately I think if we just keep knocking on the door. Everyone has a bad race at some point. You got to try and keep knocking on the door there.

Like I said, the people on the 10 car, Barry, Alex, all the guys, they’re doing a fantastic job. All you can do is just sort of be there, if you can.

Q. Christian, you said earlier the biggest change in your performance has been the team change. What behind the scenes has really allowed you to step up your game this year?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I think ultimately not a lot is really different from my own approach. I would say it’s keeping things very simple and just focus on what you can control, master the basics really.

I think the car is purely faster than what I’ve been doing for the past three years. I think we’ve seen that just purely from the results across the last three years.

But no, it’s just good and nice to see it come into reality, really just executing when we have the pace. I think we’ve done so. I think we got more out of Long Beach than we anticipated waking up Sunday morning. At the end of the day that’s how you fight for championships.

Q. Christian, you said your car wasn’t as good as the test. The team made some changes last night. At what point did you know, or did you know, that those changes made a huge difference and could get you on the podium?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I’d say straightaway in warm-up this morning. I’ve been battling with the same balance issue all weekend. We had an issue on the car in P1, which kind of forced us not to be able to really try much in P1. So we didn’t get to try some things that we wanted to try. We were kind of stuck for the rest of the weekend with what we had, because there was a bunch of other stuff we needed to test. It kind of decreased in our list of things we wanted to try.

I said last night we need to do something if I want to have a good race car. We did it for warm-up this morning. It was just clearly better. I said that was probably one of the biggest game changers I’ve had in a car. It’s a relatively small change. A little surprising for us.

The car felt at least a lot better.

Q. Scott, I don’t have an Alex Palou question.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: You can (smiling).

Q. In advance of this event you went to the Children’s Hospital in this community. Talk about how emotional, inspiring that was, how you felt when you got home and hugged your own child?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: That was really like I guess a sobering experience, realizing how lucky we do have it. At the same time how many angels work in that hospital. It’s an amazing thing. The kids were so positive. The kids that I met.

Anything that you can do as a racing driver, as a role model or anyone, you’re kind of like a Super Hero at that point when you come in and hang out and play Hot Wheels, play Mario Kart. I’m quite good at Mario Kart I might add.

I had a great time. I would like to do that again. It was a really cool thing. Yeah, I think you just appreciate the people that work in the hospital. As much as the kids are going through, they have amazing people that look after them. The Children’s Hospital of Alabama do a fantastic job with that.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys.

GM PR

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NASCAR hopes for Cup Series race in Brazil, but unsure of timeline

Published

5 minutes ago

June 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps said he doesn’t “know when we’ll get to Brazil” for a Cup Series race, but added that he would “like to see it happen” as NASCAR prepares for its race in Mexico City, according to Erick Gabriel of MOTORSPORT. Phelps, who came to Brazil during the NASCAR Brazil round at Interlagos, said, “Obviously, we need all parties to come together and understand how important that would be for NASCAR in general and for the category.” There were “previously talks to get ‘The Clash’ to Brazil, but those talks never advanced” and the race will remain at Bowman Gray Stadium for 2026. NASCAR VP & Chief International Officer Chad Seigler said, “I personally think we are exceeding expectations of where we thought we would be.” Seigler: “You could hear this week the excitement when overtaking was done. You can see that the fans are getting used to our style of racing.” On June 15, for the first time in the “modern era of the Cup Series,” a points race will take place “outside the borders of the United States as they head to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City” (MOTORSPORT, 6/5).

NEW ON PRIME: In Daytona Beach, Ken Willis wrote NASCAR’s partnership with Amazon’s Prime Video involves “just five midseason races” within a 36-race season, but it has “thrown a definite monkey wrench into the clutch assembly.” The reviews of Prime’s coverage “are solid to great, and the reviewers aren’t wrong.” The product is “really good.” Willis: “Struggling with the labyrinth of streaming TV offerings isn’t a made-up malady. It’s a real thing, and quite maddening for folks who are already being nickel-and-dimed to death by phone and cable companies selling us air at ever-increasing prices.” Viewership numbers are OK through two weeks of NASCAR on Prime.” Prime is “averaging between” 2-3 million viewers per race, which is “right in line” with races on Fox’s cable arm, FS1. If the numbers were “in the ditch, meetings would be held.” Most important is “future potential,” and the parties are “betting that Prime offers the opportunity to attract new viewers and fans that might not otherwise pay attention” (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 6/5).

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NASCAR Sets Sight On International Drivers as Commissioner Speaks Out On Expansion

NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps has spoken about his hopes of attracting Brazilian drivers to the sport with the possibility of the country hosting a race in the future. As one of NASCAR’s four international series alongside Canada, Mexico, and the Euro Series, Brazil has hosted the NASCAR Brasil Series since 2012, and Phelps is keen […]

Published

27 minutes ago

June 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps has spoken about his hopes of attracting Brazilian drivers to the sport with the possibility of the country hosting a race in the future.

As one of NASCAR’s four international series alongside Canada, Mexico, and the Euro Series, Brazil has hosted the NASCAR Brasil Series since 2012, and Phelps is keen to see some of the drivers from the series join either the Craftsman Truck, Xfinity, or Cup Series.

During an interview with Motorsport.com, Phelps explained:

“We have a driver who is from Mexico, Daniel Suarez, and that’s a great victory for us. Not through our driver development program, [but] we also have Shane Van Gisbergen from New Zealand [who] used to race in Australia.

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, and Erik Jones, driver of the #43 Dollar Tree Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 01, 2025…

James Gilbert/Getty Images

“We’d like to have drivers from all over the world coming to race with us, in our three national categories, but in particular in our main category, like what Daniel and SVG are doing.”

He added:

“We’d like to have a Brazilian come out of NASCAR Brazil, come and race with us full-time, and, you know, compete for wins and championships. So we’re excited about this prospect, I was very impressed with the number of drivers I saw and how fast they were and their abilities, and we’re excited about this happening in the future.”

Phelps was promoted to the newly formed role of NASCAR Commissioner in March. He commented at the time of the announcement:

“I’m honored to take this next step in helping to guide NASCAR, the sport I’ve loved since my father took me to my first race at 5 years old, continue to grow and welcome new fans, competitors and partners that together create some of the most extraordinary moments in sports.

“I cannot thank the France family enough for their unwavering commitment to our fans, their steady leadership, and most importantly, their stewardship of stock-car racing since its inception nearly eight decades ago. This sport is truly one of the great American business stories and I’m privileged to continue as part of that legacy – and especially its bright future.

“We are thrilled to name Steve Phelps as NASCAR’s first Commissioner. His leadership, professionalism and well-earned respect from across the sports industry speak to his unique value for the sport,” said NASCAR Chairman & CEO Jim France added.

“With more than 50 years of expertise between them, both Steve Phelps and Steve O’Donnell bring tremendous expertise, stability and a commitment to the bold racing innovations that will continue to serve fans, teams and stakeholders for many years to come.”

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TNT Sports & Max Announce NASCAR Driver Cam “Featured Multiview” Selections for FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, June 8 – Speedway Digest

TNT Sports and Max today announced the driver selections for NASCAR Driver Cam’s Featured Multiview during this Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway, with streaming coverage beginning approximately 30 minutes before the green flag: Brad Keselowski, with a top 15 finish at Circuit of the Americas this season (March 2). Joey Logano, looking […]

Published

1 hour ago

June 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

TNT Sports and Max today announced the driver selections for NASCAR Driver Cam’s Featured Multiview during this Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway, with streaming coverage beginning approximately 30 minutes before the green flag:

Brad Keselowski, with a top 15 finish at Circuit of the Americas this season (March 2).
Joey Logano, looking for another strong finish to follow his May 4^th win at Texas Motor Speedway.
Bubba Wallace, currently 12th in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series standings, with a couple top 10 finishes at Martinsville Speedway (March 30) and Talladega Superspeedway (April 27) this season.
Ty Gibbs, looking to gain momentum following his two top 10 finishes in April at Briston Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway.

B/R Racing’s X and Instagram platforms will also host four head-to-head polls through this Friday featuring eight additional drivers for fans to vote on which four will be featured on a special “Fan Selected” Multiview stream on Max.

Individual Driver Cams will also be available for all drivers in the NASCAR All-Star Open earlier in the evening on Sunday.

The NASCAR Driver Cam experience — exclusive to Max — offers motorsports fans the ultimate all-access pass to every driver for every race throughout the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, including a layered audio mix of scanner team radios and ambient car noise, all synced up with a 1080p Driver Cam feed (on supported devices). 

Fans will be able to choose between the up to 40 individual Driver Cams or the two pre-set Multiview stream options featuring four drivers each. Each individual driver stream features integrated live stats— stage, lap number, position and race status — along with telemetry data including speed, RPM, gear, and more. Users can pause, rewind and fast forward as well, and a replay of each individual driver stream will be available following each race.

The NASCAR Driver Cams and Multiviews are available to stream within Sports on Max. Users can find all NASCAR Driver Cam on Max live content on the upcoming schedule at https://play.max.com/live-sports-schedule.

TNT/WB PR

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NASCAR Michigan qualifying live results: Cup Series starting lineup

The NASCAR Cup Series’ only race weekend at Michigan this year begins June 7 with practice and qualifying for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Ryan Blaney is coming off his first win of the 2025 season with the June 1 win at Nashville Superspeedway. Tyler Reddick is the defending winner of the […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The NASCAR Cup Series’ only race weekend at Michigan this year begins June 7 with practice and qualifying for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Ryan Blaney is coming off his first win of the 2025 season with the June 1 win at Nashville Superspeedway. Tyler Reddick is the defending winner of the Michigan race, but has not yet won in 2025.

The Michigan race is the first of three to set the field for the NASCAR in-season tournament.

Follow the practice and qualifying sessions for the NASCAR Michigan race with our live updates.

NASCAR Cup Series Michigan qualifying live results, updates

On track action begins at 8:30 a.m. CT from Michigan International Speedway.

NASCAR Michigan entry list for FireKeepers Casino 400

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

What channel is qualifying on today for the NASCAR Cup race at Michigan?

Qualifying time: 9:40 a.m. CT Saturday (Practice begins at 8:30 a.m. CT)
TV: Amazon Prime Video (streaming) (Watch Amazon Prime with a free trial) | Radio: SiriusXM and MRN
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video; NASCAR.com and SiriusXM for audio (subscription required)
Track: Michigan International Speedway (2-mile oval) in Brooklyn, Michigan

NASCAR Michigan news, stories

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NASCAR Is Coming to Michigan International Speedway This Weekend

Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI — June 6, 2025 Race fans, Friday, June 6th through Sunday, June 8th, NASCAR makes its annual stop at Michigan International Speedway. It’s a “Home Game (Race)” for us locals. Let’s start with some important announcements. Speedway Traffic Updates Michigan International Speedway worked closely with Michigan State Police and a […]

Published

3 hours ago

June 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI — June 6, 2025

Race fans, Friday, June 6th through Sunday, June 8th, NASCAR makes its annual stop at Michigan International Speedway. It’s a “Home Game (Race)” for us locals. Let’s start with some important announcements.

Speedway Traffic Updates

Michigan International Speedway worked closely with Michigan State Police and a logistics company to update the traffic patterns and parking lots to ensure that your trip in and out of the facility is as quick as possible on Sunday, June 8th. These changes include opening additional parking lots (Yellow Lot 8 & 9) and directing traffic into specific parking lots depending on the direction you arrive at the property.

Be sure to review the Traffic Maps and detailed directions on the Speedway’s website so you approach the track and park in your preferred parking lot. If there is a specific parking lot you typically park in, you may need to change the route you typically use. All parking will be one direction inbound and one direction outbound.

Patterns may change due to traffic situations and capacity of parking lots.

Day parking on Michigan International Speedway property is FREE to Speedway guests! Please follow the parking attendant’s directions. A one-way traffic pattern will be implemented if deemed necessary on Sunday.

Busch Light Summer Music Series Concert News

Michigan International Speedway announced today that award-winning country singer and songwriter Ashley Cooke is stepping in to headline the Busch Light Summer Music Series performance prior to Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race.

Cooke replaces Nate Smith during pre-race festivities after he announced Wednesday afternoon that he’s going on strict vocal rest through the rest of June, thereby canceling his performances for the month.

“It means a lot that Ashley is stepping up to the plate to perform for our passionate fans before our NASCAR Cup Series stars hit the track,” said Joe Fowler, Michigan International Speedway President. “Ashley is one of the most exciting rising stars in country music and her show will have everyone singing along before the race on Sunday. We also wish Nate the best in his recovery and hope to see him out at the track soon.”

Since her debut album shot in the dark earned her critical acclaim, Cooke has been recognized as MusicRow’s Discovery Artist of the Year and Next Big Thing, Billboard’s Rookie of the Month and iHeartCountry’s On The Verge Artist.

Cooke won her first CMT Award for Breakthrough Female Video of the Year at the 2024 CMT Awards before being nominated for ACM New Female Artist of the Year, and is currently up for Best New Country Artist at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards.

In 2024, Cooke earned her first No.1 at Country radio with her single, “your place,” making her one of the only women to reach the top of the charts that year. With national TV appearances on NBC’s TODAY and ABC’s The Bachelorette, as well as tours with Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell and Jordan Davis under her belt, Cooke is ready to take 2025 by storm. Cooke started her year headlining her “your place Tour,” before hitting the road with Cody Johnson in Australia and Kane Brown throughout the US. She’ll be Performing at festivals all summer long, before heading out on the road with Parker McCollum and Lee Brice in the fall.”

“We enjoyed collaborating with Ashley Cooke last year to surprise our fans in Nashville through the ‘Busch on Broadway’ pop-up series, right after her big CMT award win,” said Krystyn Stowe, Head of Marketing, Busch Family & Natural Family at Anheuser-Busch. “With the second show of our Summer Music Series coming up this weekend, we know she will give our fans in Michigan a pre-race experience they won’t forget.”

The inaugural Busch Light Summer Music Series consists of five full-length concerts at NASCAR races throughout the country. The series is an exciting new fan experience born from the renewed partnership with NASCAR’S Official Beer Sponsor.

Since the 1990s, the Anheuser-Busch family of brands has created countless opportunities for 21+ NASCAR fans to get closer to the sport they love. The first performance in the series took place earlier this spring, with ERNEST taking the stage at Texas Motor Speedway. After Michigan, the series moves to Chicago Street Race (Zac Brown Band – July 5), Iowa Speedway (Corey Kent – Aug. 3) and will conclude in Busch Light’s hometown of St. Louis at World Wide Technology Raceway (Sept. 7). Artists and details on the final concert will be announced at a later date.

Race Schedule and News

The June race weekend at Michigan International Speedway begins with the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200 on Friday, June 6, followed by the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 Powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics on Saturday, June 7. The NASCAR Cup Series will cap off the weekend’s action with the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, June 8.

Tickets are available for purchase via phone at 888-905-7223 or online at mispeedway.com.

Fans can view the full 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule and purchase tickets at nascar.com/tickets, and can stay connected to Michigan International Speedway on Facebook, Instagram and X.

The FireKeepers Casino 400 will be streamed live on Amazon Prime, Sunday, June 8 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 15th 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.

Beginning this weekend at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn and continuing through the Mexico City and Pocono races, the top 32 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings will race for seeding in the $1 million, five-race, in-season tournament that begins June 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Seeding will be based on the best finish in the upcoming three races, with tiebreakers determined by the next-best finish, followed by the season points position.

The 32 seeds will race head-to-head in a knockout-style format beginning at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The field will be narrowed to 16 after Atlanta, eight after the July 6 Chicago Street Race, four after the July 13 road course race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and two after the July 20 race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway.

The remaining two drivers will battle for the in-season title and the $1 million prize on July 27 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Trackhouse drivers Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez are part of the 32 drivers in the tournament.

Amazon’s Prime Video will broadcast all three upcoming seeding races before TNT Sports, and Max will broadcast the five in-season tournament races.

HOMETOWN HERO: Jones is returning to his home track of Michigan for Sunday’s Firekeepers Casino 400. The Michigan native grew up just 73 miles north of the track in the small town of Byron, where he started his racing career at a young age before transitioning to stock cars at age 13. He quickly moved up the ranks in NASCAR but never forgot his Michigan roots along the way. He is one of only three Michigan natives racing in the Cup Series fulltime along with Brad Keselowski and Carson Hocevar.

ERIK JONES QUOTE: “I always look forward to Michigan. Obviously, it’s a home race for me and my home track. It’s a lot of fun to get up there and be with family and friends. I typically get there earlier in the week to go spend more time with them and get to see them before the busy weekend. It’s always exciting and a lot of fun. The race itself – I just really enjoy the track. It’s come into its own here as it’s aged and widened out. Racing there with this NextGen car has been good. I’m looking forward to it. This one is high on my bucket list of tracks to win at one day. I just look forward for the chance to be out there every year.”

Ryan Blaney: Blaney heads to Michigan coming off his first win in 2025 at Nashville Superspeedway. The 2023 Cup Series champion has secured a playoff spot and looks to ride the momentum into the Irish Hills this weekend. Blaney was last victorious at Michigan in 2021.

Christopher Bell: Bell has remained a strong force throughout the first half of the 2025 season. Bell has three wins and currently sits third in points standings. He looks to earn his first career victory at Michigan this weekend.

Carson Hocevar: Carson returns to his native state after a strong 2nd place finish in Nashville. Sitting 17th in the points standings, he looks to head to victory lane in front of a home crowd and lock himself into the playoffs.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has been chasing a win in the Cup Series at Michigan his entire career. Keselowski returns home looking to add to Ford’s dominance in the Cup Series at MIS as the OEM has won 9 of the last 10 races at MIS. Keselowski has just one top five finish this year and looks to strike gold at MIS.

Chase Elliott: The fan favorite is still searching for his first win in 2025 and sits 5th in the points standings. Elliott has 7 top 10 finishes and 3 top five finishes while leading 76 laps this season. Elliott also has never won at Michigan and is hungry to visit Victory Lane as his last win came at Texas Motor Speedway in 2024.

Tyler Reddick: Reddickreturns to Michigan as the defending champion of the FireKeepers Casino 400. Reddick is winless in 2025 but sits 6th in points standings currently.

The Heritage Trophy

Since Michigan International Speedway began handing out the Heritage Trophy to the winning manufacturer in August 2013, Ford has taken it back to World Headquarters in nearby Dearborn more times than any other manufacturer. Ford has won 11 races since the trophy came into existence while Chevrolet has won six and Toyota two. Joey Logano’s win in the Pure Michigan 400 on Aug. 18, 2013 was his first win with Ford and new car owner Roger Penske, but it also marked the first time the trophy was awarded. Logano, who won the pole and led a race-high 51 laps, passed Mark Martin for the lead with four laps to go after Martin’s car ran out of gas.

Ryan Blaney’s victory on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway means that all three Team Penske drivers have a win this season. Blaney followed Austin Cindric (Talladega) and Joey Logano (Texas) in clinching a playoff berth, and it continues an impressive record for the organization. Since Team Penske went to three NASCAR Cup Series cars in 2018, it has seen each team win at least one race in the same season six times. Overall, Team Penske has won 104 races with Ford and the current lineup of Blaney, Cindric and Logano have combined for 51 of those.

JOEY LOGANO QUOTE: IS MORE EMPHASIS PUT ON THE RACE AT MICHIGAN? “No more emphasis than any other race. We try to win them all. It’s not like we say, ‘Ah, this one doesn’t matter. We’ll just coast this one through.’ That’s not who we are. We don’t do that because every race matters, especially with the playoff format we have. Every win, every playoff point that you can get can be the difference at the end of the day, so we don’t really put more into any of them. I will say though that the manufacturers take pride in that trophy that they hand out there to the winning manufacturer, so it’s always a topic of discussion. We go up there early more times than not and go visit Ford headquarters and it’s a topic that comes up. They want that trophy in their main lobby, so when people walk in they can walk by it.”

The Lasco Press will be live all weekend at the track, follow Sports Editor Steve Sweitzer on Facebook, and look for his Cup Series Race Report of the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday evening after the race. Only at thelascopress.com.

If you see us at the track, be sure and say hi, we will capture your picture.

NASCAR Fan at Michigan International Speedway / Lasco Press Photo

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Driver nicknamed ‘Butterbean’ wins Friday Michigan NASCAR race, climbs fence

BROOKLYN, MI – A racer known for celebrating his wins at Waffle House was victorious Friday, June 6, at Michigan International Speedway – in a state with zero Waffle Houses. Brenden “Butterbean” Queen held off a hard-charging Corey Heim in the closing laps of the ARCA Series race at MIS to win by 0.3 seconds. […]

Published

3 hours ago

June 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

BROOKLYN, MI – A racer known for celebrating his wins at Waffle House was victorious Friday, June 6, at Michigan International Speedway – in a state with zero Waffle Houses.

Brenden “Butterbean” Queen held off a hard-charging Corey Heim in the closing laps of the ARCA Series race at MIS to win by 0.3 seconds.

Brenden Queen (28) celebrates after the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Friday, June 6, 2025. Ayrton Breckenridge | MLive.com

Queen, 27, pumped up the fans in the grandstands during his TV interview.

“It’s Bean Nation time tonight, boys!” Queen said. “It’s insane. I mean, I think I’ve got to climb the fence before I’m done.”

Queen was true to his word. He scaled the fence in front of cheering fans just after his interview.

The mullet-donning driver brings an energy to the series – living up to the hype of his “Butterbean” nickname. His family gave him the nickname as a baby, as they thought he looked a bit like professional boxer Eric “Butterbean” Esch.

This is Queen’s third career ARCA Series win, all coming in 2025. After the first two, he took his team and the trophy to Waffle House to celebrate.

“It’s been a thing I’ve done since I was late model racing … we’d just always take the trophy to Waffle House. It was the only thing open (that late),” Queen said. “We try to enjoy the night, reflect on it and then get ready for the next one.”

While Michigan doesn’t have a Waffle House, Queen has a plane to catch tonight, anyway, to get back to North Carolina.

It’s yet-to-be-determined if he’ll end up at one before the night ends. Queen was asked what his favorite thing is at Waffle House after he finished speaking with the media.

“Chocolate milk! We’re going to go get a chocolate milk,” Queen said.

How he got there

Queen took the lead with 23 laps to go on the final restart. While side by side with Gio Ruggiero, the pair slapped doors entering Turn 3, and Queen cleared him for the lead off Turn 4.

Second-place Heim, who has four Truck Series wins this year and is the favorite for Saturday’s race, wasn’t even supposed to be racing Friday. He was a substitute driver for Jake Finch, getting the call just hours before the race, since Finch had a viral infection.

Morgen Baird, who grew up in nearby Grass Lake, was the top finishing Michigander on Friday, with a 13th-place result. Baird will also race in Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series race, which starts at noon on Fox.

RELATED: A Michigan dad with a day job is Frankie Muniz’s NASCAR teammate this weekend

The pinnacle race of the weekend is the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400. That starts at 2 p.m. Sunday on Prime Video.

Where to stream the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200 at Michigan todayJun. 6, 2025, 2:00p.m.
A Michigan dad with a day job is Frankie Muniz’s NASCAR teammate this weekendJun. 6, 2025, 1:19p.m.
Award-winning country artist steps in for Michigan International Speedway showJun. 6, 2025, 11:28a.m.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Michigan’s Carson Hocevar reminds me of ‘a 1979 Dale Earnhardt’Jun. 6, 2025, 10:05a.m.
See the new traffic patterns around Michigan International Speedway for race dayJun. 6, 2025, 8:35a.m.

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