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Spire Motorsports AdventHealth 400 Race Advance – Speedway Digest

In 22 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-10 and three top-20 finishes. Zane Smith earned a team-best 10th-place result in last fall’s Hollywood Casino 400. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet ZL1s in the Cup Series for Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, […]

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In 22 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-10 and three top-20 finishes. Zane Smith earned a team-best 10th-place result in last fall's Hollywood Casino 400. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet ZL1s in the Cup Series for Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, respectively.
The AdventHealth 400 will be televised live on FS1, Sunday, May 11 beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The 12th of 36 points-paying races on the 2025 NCS schedule 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 NationsGuard Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway.
The Winamac, Ind., racer has recorded eight Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway. Over those eight races, Haley has logged a 28.0 average start, a 26.6 average finish and earned tallied top-20 showings.
NationsGuard is an innovator in the automotive finance and insurance (F&I) space. NationsGuard programs are designed to maximize sales, profit, CSI, customer retention and deliver consistent, measurable results through disciplined monitoring and continuous improvement. Its process measures every key element of a dealer’s program – from vehicle inspection efficiency to service advisor performance. NationsGuard targets and eliminates waste and inefficiency wherever it’s found, while maintaining process improvements, making changes where necessary, and relentlessly pursuing perfection.
Last week at Texas Motor Speedway, Haley overcame multiple setbacks, to secure his fourth top-15 finish of the season.
In NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at Kansas Speedway, Haley earned a pair of venue best fourth-place finishes in October 2019 and 2021. He’s earned a 9.8 average start, a 5.3 average finish and came home no worse than seventh over four starts.
In his lone ARCA Menards Series race at Kansas, Haley started fourth and finished sixth (Oct. 2017).
Over the course of his career, the newly minted 26-year-old has collected four NASCAR Xfinity Series checkered flags and three CRAFTSMAN Truck Series wins, making him one of just 41 drivers in history to have earned wins across all three of NASCAR’s National Touring Series. 
Haley made his first start in NASCAR’s premier division for Spire Motorsports at Talladega Superspeedway on April 28, 2019 – his 20th birthday. Sunday will mark Haley’s 156th career NASCAR Cup Series start. Over the course of the last seven seasons, the 26-year-old racer has notched one win, five top fives, 17 top 10s and led 103 laps.
In total, Haley has made 52 Cup Series starts for Spire Motorsports, with the bulk of races coming during the 2021 season behind the wheel of the team’s No. 77 machine.

Justin Haley Quotes
You have to feel good about a top 15 last weekend and Spire Motorsports’ overall performance at Texas Motor Speedway. How does that buoy your optimism coming into this weekend?
“When you look at the speed Spire Motorsports has at the mile-and-a-halves and if you look at how the team performed as a whole last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, there’s no reason not to be optimistic about Kansas.”
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.
As a race engineer in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Sparks helped Austin Dillon to a second-place finish in 2012 at Kansas Speedway during his time with Richard Childress Racing.
The Winston-Salem, N.C., native has called 176 NASCAR Cup Series races where he’s earned three top-five and nine top-10 finishes.

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

Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway.
In 27 NASCAR Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, the 40-year-old has posted an average starting position of 25.3 and an average finish of 26.9. Over his last 10 starts at the track in the heartland of America, he has improved those numbers to an 18.1 average start and a 16.8 average finish, including four top-10 starts.
The No. 71 Chevrolet will return to its black-and-blue Gainbridge livery for Sunday’s 400-mile race.
Founded in 2018, Gainbridge® is an insurtech subsidiary of Group 1001 that empowers consumers to take control of their financial future with solutions that are accessible to everyone, no matter their budget or financial knowledge. Its platform provides access to financial products that are simple, intuitive, and backed by smart technology with no complexity or hidden fees. Gainbridge® is headquartered in Zionsville, Ind. For more information, visit www.gainbridge.io or follow and connect with us on X and LinkedIn.
The father-of-five qualified eighth in last year’s spring race at Kansas Speedway, where he earned his only top-10 finish at the venue.
The 18-year Cup Series veteran has made two Xfinity Series starts and one ARCA Menards Series start at the track, highlighted by a notable 11th-place finish in the fifth race of the 2007 ARCA season.
Texas Motor Speedway was a rollercoaster for McDowell and his Travis Peterson-led team.  After a fifth-place qualifying run, the No. 71 team led a season-high 19 laps and ran up front during the closing stages. However, his strong run ended after a late-race incident left him 26th in the final rundown.
The No. 71 team has earned 11th-place results three times this season, (Daytona, Austin, Talladega) and is still in search of its first top 10 of the year.
McDowell has claimed three Xfinity Fastest Lap awards this season, clocking the fastest lap in the Daytona 500, at Phoenix Raceway, and again at Talladega Superspeedway. He stands as the only driver in the Cup Series to have secured three bonus points via the recently unveiled program.
The Arizona native secured Spire Motorsports' first Busch Light Pole Award last month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His 28.833-second lap marks the fastest lap in NASCAR's seventh-generation Cup Series car (2022-present) at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Michael McDowell is ranked in the top 10 of the All-Star Weekend Fan Vote standings at North Wilkesboro Speedway, alongside his teammate Carson Hocevar.

Michael McDowell Quote:
What are your thoughts about heading to Kansas Speedway this weekend?
“Kansas is a great track and it has a lot of lanes. Everybody migrates towards the wall, which is always high intensity. The track changes a lot throughout the weekend, it usually starts out really fast and then by the time the race comes around, it drops off and you start to slide and move around. It’s been a good track in the past. It’s hard to hit it just right, but I feel like the speed that we’ve had at Vegas and Texas this past weekend gives us a good baseline to keep building momentum and confidence, so we are coming into it with high hopes.”
Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson

Across two Cup Series attempts at Kansas Speedway, crew chief Travis Peterson has led McDowell to an average start of 14.8 paired with an average finish of 22.8.
As a race engineer at JR Motorsports, the West Bend, Wis., native played a key role in Regan Smith’s third-place result in 2013. After qualifying fifth, the team dominated the race and led 81 of the 200 laps en route to his seventh-of-eight top-five finishes during the 2013 season.
Prior to his time as a crew chief, the 33-year-old worked as a race engineer for Dale Earnhardt Jr., at Hendrick Motorsports where he recorded a third-place result at Kansas Speedway in 2015.

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

Carson Hocevar, driver of the Delaware Life Chevrolet ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, will make his fourth NASCAR Cup Series start at Kansas Speedway. The 22-year-old driver earned his first career Cup Series pole last Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, becoming the youngest series pole sitter at the Fort Worth track.
In sixteen starts on 1.5-mile tracks, Hocevar owns one top-five and three top-10 finishes. In addition to leading laps at Texas, Hocevar also led laps in March at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hocevar is one of the top-10 drivers in the Fan Vote standings for NASCAR's All-Star Weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway alongside teammate Michael McDowell. Hocevar was top-three in last year’s Fan Vote and finished 10th in the All-Star Open. 
The 2024 Rookie of the Year has a best finish of 20th in three Cup Series starts at Kansas.
Prior to climbing in the No. 7 Delaware Life Chevrolet Silverado RST for Saturday's CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, Hocevar will return to the FS1 broadcast booth for Friday night’s ARCA Menards Series race. He owns seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 16 starts in the series.
The Spire Motorsports driver will make his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start of the season on Saturday night. Hocevar owns five starts in the series at Kansas, highlighted by a one top five – a runner-up finish in 2022 – and two top 10s. He’s led a total of 60 laps at the Kansas City venue.
Hocevar led the first 22 laps in Sunday’s race and ran no worse than seventh until Lap 215 when he made his final scheduled pit stop under green flag conditions. The Portage, Mich., native was caught a lap down when a caution occurred as he was on pit road and subsequently sustained damage in a mid-pack incident. The No. 77 team recovered to finish 24th.
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Carson Hocevar Quotes
What are your expectations for Kansas after a solid weekend at Texas?
“I think we’ll have another good weekend. We seem to be heading in the right direction on our intermediate track program and it’s been a lot of fun to show people that we are improving. I felt like running the truck race at Texas was a big help as far as getting laps on track and getting into the racing mindset early in the weekend, so I’m excited to do that again at Kansas and try to make up for how last weekend ended.”
Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Luke Lambert

Crew chief Luke Lambert has called 22 Cup Series races at Kansas resulting in three top-10 finishes and claimed the pole position with driver Daniel Hemric in Oct. 2019.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Lambert has called two races from atop the pit box. He owns a fourth-place run with Elliott Sadler in Oct. 2012 and a win with Noah Gragson in Sept. 2022.

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NASCAR driver, Michigan native Erik Jones embracing life on and off the track

NASCAR driver, Michigan native Erik Jones embracing life on and off the track – CBS Detroit Watch CBS News The one week of the season that Erik Jones gets to race in his home state, the 29-year-old driver for the No. 43 Toyota made time for not only another race, but to chat with CBS […]

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NASCAR driver, Michigan native Erik Jones embracing life on and off the track – CBS Detroit








































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The one week of the season that Erik Jones gets to race in his home state, the 29-year-old driver for the No. 43 Toyota made time for not only another race, but to chat with CBS Detroit sports anchor Rachel Hopmayer about his new season of life on and off the track.

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Determined Effort By Custer Ends Prematurely After Getting Collected in Michigan Crash – Speedway Digest

With the Xfinity Series off this weekend, Cole Custer carried the banner for the Haas Factory team during Cup Series racing at the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway. Making his sixth Cup Series start at Michigan, Custer rolled off 24th on Sunday. 41 Cole Custer – Recap Early in Stage One, Custer was faced with challenges, […]

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With the Xfinity Series off this weekend, Cole Custer carried the banner for the Haas Factory team during Cup Series racing at the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway. Making his sixth Cup Series start at Michigan, Custer rolled off 24th on Sunday.

41 Cole Custer – Recap

Early in Stage One, Custer was faced with challenges, reporting that his No. 41 Ford was loose on entry and exit, with a hint of tightness in the center of the corners. The handling made it difficult to get back to the throttle quickly off the turns. Still, Custer and the team were undeterred. As Stage One ended the team worked to dial in the HaasTooling.com Ford. Adjustments, including a round of wedge, were made to help improve stability, and give Custer the ability to attack the turns.

As Stage Two began, Custer worked to overcome adversity, He found restarts especially challenging, due to a lack of grip while trying to re-enter the throttle zone. He described the car as being “out of the track” with minimal grip, though he noted the balance itself wasn’t far off – just lacking overall feel. Unfortunately, just as the team looked to regroup and regain track position, Custer was caught in a multi-car incident on lap 68. The crash ended Custer’s day early and brought a premature close to what had been a determined effort. Custer was officially credited with a 35th-place finish.

“I don’t exactly know what transpired to get us into that situation but it just seemed like we all just ran out of room,” said Custer. It’s really disappointing from the standpoint of we want to be on the up end of things with our team right now. We want to move in the right direction in the summer time. I like we are bringing better cars to the racetrack and getting more competitive but getting wrecked on days like this, definitely sets that back.”

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Amber Balcaen Seeks Collaboration for Upcoming Efforts in the NASCAR Canada Series

Amber Balcaen, currently competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series with Nitro Motorsports, has logged two starts this season, finishing 29th at Daytona before improving to 16th at Talladega. Now, the Winnipeg, Manitoba native has her sights set on returning to home soil to race in the NASCAR Canada Series. Eager to compete in front […]

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Amber Balcaen, currently competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series with Nitro Motorsports, has logged two starts this season, finishing 29th at Daytona before improving to 16th at Talladega. Now, the Winnipeg, Manitoba native has her sights set on returning to home soil to race in the NASCAR Canada Series.

Eager to compete in front of her countrymen, Balcaen is making her pitch to sponsors loud and clear. As she previously revealed during a segment on The Social CTV, carving out a career in NASCAR as a woman requires not just grit and performance, but relentless pursuit of sponsorships.

Balcaen recently took to LinkedIn with an open call for collaborators and brands ready to ride shotgun on her next chapter. She wrote, “I’m excited to announce that I’ll be racing in Canada this summer!…

“I’ll be on track for a few key races in the NASCAR Canada Series and the Ontario Sportsman Series, and I’m opening up limited opportunities for both primary and associate sponsors to come on board. This is a great chance for Canadian companies to align with:

✔️ A values-driven underdog story

✔️ A strong and growing personal brand (340K+ social media followers)

✔️ National media coverage and visibility

✔️ Meaningful B2B and community engagement opportunities

If you’re a Canadian brand looking for authentic representation, increased exposure, and a powerful partnership, you know where to find me. Let’s make this a winning summer.”

Balcaen has long shouldered the financial weight of her racing career, often self-funding through her business ventures. But competing in the NASCAR Canada Series seems to be bringing new demands, which is maybe why Balcaen is seeking additional sponsorship dollars to stay competitive.

Balcaen’s racing roots trace back to the dirt ovals where both her father and grandfather made their mark. From there, she clawed her way through the NASCAR regional ranks, earning Rookie of the Year honors, bagging a race win, and steadily climbing the ladder. But Balcaen also acknowledged that talent alone isn’t enough.

“It costs millions of dollars to race,” she had said, emphasizing that aspiring drivers must prove their worth both behind the wheel and in boardrooms. The 33-year-old had to learn how to be a businesswoman before being a race car driver, a journey that, by Balcaen’s estimate, has seen her raise approximately $67 million to date.



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Ex-NASCAR driver Danica Patrick weighs in on Riley Gaines and Simone Biles’ social media feud over trans athletes

Former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick proudly confessed to taking the “red pill” as the racing star publicly backed political activist Riley Gaines in her ongoing feud with decorated Olympian Simone Biles over transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. “This issue has a shelf life. I truly believe common sense will prevail,” Patrick, 43, […]

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Former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick proudly confessed to taking the “red pill” as the racing star publicly backed political activist Riley Gaines in her ongoing feud with decorated Olympian Simone Biles over transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.

“This issue has a shelf life. I truly believe common sense will prevail,” Patrick, 43, said on Instagram Sunday. “But until then, I am grateful for people like Riley Gaines who are making sure no one gets away with it. Not to mention the fact that she actually lived it.”

Danica Patrick defended Riley Gaines in her ongoing feud with Simone Biles over transgender athletes. Getty Images

“Defending men in women’s sports is the woke mind virus and/or another issue that requires therapy. Either way, it is so irrational,” she added.

Patrick’s comments are the latest in an ongoing war of words between anti-trans activist and former University of Kentucky swimmer Gaines and Olympic gymnast Biles that broke out Friday – a spat that has seen cheap shots taken by both sides. 

The sparring began when Biles targeted Gaines with a seemingly unprompted tweet amid controversy over a Minnesota trans high-school softball pitcher’s shutout in the state finals Thursday that helped secure the championship.

“@Riley_Gaines_ You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race,” 28-year-old Biles tweeted, referencing Gaines’ tie during a race with trans University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championship.  

Simone Biles called Riley Gaines a “bully” for her social media posts about transgender athletes. Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / SplashNews.com

“Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!” Biles wrote.

“bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,” she later added.

Gaines, 25, fired back. 

“It’s not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces. You can uplift men stealing championships in women’s sports with YOUR platform. Men don’t belong in women’s sports and I say that with my full chest,” Gaines said.

Gaines alluded to Biles’ efforts to take down former Team USA gymnastics doctor and prolific sex criminal Larry Nassar.

“All the horrific sexual abuse @Simone_Biles witnessed and spoke out against caused by one man, yet [she] believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men to validate the man’s feelings,” Gaines wrote in another tweet.

Riley Gaines pulled no punches in her bitter online feud with celebrated Olympian Simone Biles. Getty Images

Gaines also unearthed an old comment of Biles and used it against her in the widening dispute. 

“ahhhh good thing guys don’t compete against girls or he’d take all the gold medals !!” Biles wrote in the 2017 tweet, apparently responding to the men’s division results at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

“Oop don’t you hate it when your past self completely undermines your current nonsensical argument?” Gaines wrote sarcastically, retweeting Biles’ post.

“How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the fact 2017 Simone was a ‘truly sick bully’ by her own standard?” 

Danica Patrick said she cast a vote for the first time in her life in the last election when she pulled the lever for Donald Trump. Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Patrick’s position comes after she announced she would be voting for President Trump in the last election. Last October, at a campaign event with now Vice President JD Vance Patrick announced that she would be voting for the first time at the age 42. 

“I just want to say I’ve never voted before, but this time around, I have to vote,” Patrick  said, sharing the stage with Vance. “It’s that important.”

She said she would be voting for “the good guys.”

“I just want to be clear, I want to get on record — you’re voting for us, right?” Vance then asked.

“1,000%,” Patrick replied, joking that if she “could vote twice,” she would.

Patrick retired in 2018 after the 2018 Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500. 





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History Beckons for IMSA Competitors Racing the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Speedway Digest

The link between IMSA and the ACO extends to the headline race of the FIA World Endurance Championship: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As ever, a strong volume of IMSA competitors make the trip to the Circuit de la Sarthe to compete in the 24-hour endurance race classic. It’s not the only IMSA componentry […]

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The link between IMSA and the ACO extends to the headline race of the FIA World Endurance Championship: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As ever, a strong volume of IMSA competitors make the trip to the Circuit de la Sarthe to compete in the 24-hour endurance race classic. It’s not the only IMSA componentry of the race week in Le Mans, France; several IMSA-sanctioned series drivers will compete in Le Mans support races, including the Michelin Le Mans Cup’s Road to Le Mans and Ford’s Mustang Invitational.

The headliners, though, are in the FIA WEC’s Hypercar class, which allows for both Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) and Le Mans Daytona h (LMDh) specification prototype cars to compete for overall honors across both IMSA and the FIA WEC. Most of the full-season IMSA top-class prototype drivers will make the trip to Le Mans, including last year’s Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) championship winning team, while two other IMSA entrants garnered automatic invitations for their efforts in 2024.

Three Automatic Invites

Three IMSA entrants – Porsche Penske Motorsport, Nick Boulle and Orey Fidani – received automatic invitations to the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans from their 2024 IMSA successes.

Porsche Penske Motorsport secured a slot for the No. 4 Porsche 963, driven by IMSA full-timers Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr alongside Pascal Wehrlein, courtesy of the team’s 2024 GTP class championship achieved by Nasr and Dane Cameron.

IMSA recognizes the top-scoring Bronze-rated drivers in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) with the Jim Trueman Award and Bob Akin Award, respectively. Boulle secured the Trueman Award winning the LMP2 title in 2024, driving the No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07. Fidani was the Akin Award winner in GTD aboard his No. 13 AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Boulle, who races with United Autosports USA in 2025 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races, returns to Inter Europol for Le Mans. He’ll share the No. 34 ORECA LMP2 07 with Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer and Luca Ghiotto as a Pro/Am entry within the LMP2 class. Fidani has an easier car to follow; his same No. 13 AWA Corvette entry alongside IMSA co-drivers Matt Bell and Lars Kern. It shifts liveries from its usual black and gold colors to a striking red and white honoring the team’s Canadian roots.

Tandy and Nasr (GTP) and Fidani, Bell and Kern (GTD) also won this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona and are among several drivers across the three Le Mans classes who can double up with both 24-hour race wins this year (more on that in a bit). Tandy and Nasr also sit on the precipice of history if they can win Le Mans to complete an unprecedented single season sweep of the traditional endurance sports car racing “Triple Crown” at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans.

“You think it would be totally out of this world to be able to win the three ‘Triple Crown’ races in one season. But we look at it today and the stuff that’s happened already this year is just quite unbelievable. So why not?” Tandy said. “It would just be it would be an amazing thing that would be in the history of books forever, of course.”

Pair of Cadillac GTP Teams

Two additional IMSA GTP cars head to Le Mans after being awarded an invitation by the selection committee: the pair of Cadillac V-Series.R cars fielded by Cadillac Whelen (Action Express Racing) and Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing.

This will be the Whelen entry’s third straight trip to Le Mans, and has a relatively young lineup of Jack Aitken, Frederik Vesti and Felipe Drugovich slated to drive the team’s No. 311 Cadillac. Drugovich is also the Aston Martin Formula 1 reserve driver.

For WTR (pictured left; photo courtesy Cadillac Racing), it’s a first trip for the family effort with Wayne Taylor and sons Ricky and Jordan Taylor, the latter two sharing the team’s No. 101 Cadillac with Filipe Albuquerque. It’s been a long time coming for the organization, having had a winter of change with the shift back to the General Motors family after a four-year period and beginning the logistical prep for this race.

“When they asked me to apply for the Le Mans entry, I was really pleasantly and happily shocked that that they accepted us,” Wayne Taylor said. “(WTR Vice President, General Manager) Travis Hogue on our team has done a really good job of getting the logistics and everything together, and we’ve been working with people in Europe as well.

“As far as people are concerned, there’s a lot of people going, probably about 80 people. (Cadillac Hertz Team) JOTA has helped us in a big way as well as Cadillac, and I believe we’ve got everything under control right now. It will be a week of building, and I think we can handle it pretty well.”

Heavy Contingent of IMSA GTP Drivers

While nearly 100 drivers who have started at least one 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race count in the 62-car, 186-driver 24 Hours of Le Mans entry list, the highest percentage of full-season IMSA drivers racing in France come from the GTP class. No less than 18 of the 22 full-season IMSA GTP drivers are racing at Le Mans.

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s quartet of Tandy, Nasr (No. 4 Porsche 963), Mathieu Jaminet (No. 5) and Matt Campbell (No. 6) appear, although are split among all three Porsche 963s.

All four Cadillac WTR drivers will race too, with the two Taylors and Albuquerque racing together. Meanwhile, last year’s Le Mans LMP2 polesitter Louis Deletraz shifts to the No. 199 AO by TF ORECA LMP2 07, which he’ll share with last year’s IMSA GTP champion Dane Cameron and AO Racing co-founder PJ Hyett – who share “Spike,” AO’s popular, dragon-liveried LMP2 car in the WeatherTech Championship.

Cadillac Whelen’s other full-season driver, Earl Bamber, is in another Cadillac for Le Mans: the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota entry he races during in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

BMW M Team RLL drivers Dries Vanthoor (No. 15) and Sheldon van der Linde (No. 20) resume with their FIA WEC team, BMW M Team WRT, aboard their BMW M Hybrid V8s.

Aston Martin THOR Team drivers Ross Gunn (No. 007) and Roman De Angelis (No. 009) join the respective WEC lineups there, Gunn as part of an all-British No. 007 Aston with De Angelis joining fellow Aston GT graduates Alex Riberas and Marco Sorenson in the No. 009.

And then there’s Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian, which sees all four of its GTP drivers at Le Mans, split among four different LMP2 cars.

The No. 60 Acura ARX-06 pair of Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist will be in the No. 24 Nielsen Racing ORECA (Braun) and No. 37 CLX Pure Racing ORECA (Blomqvist).

Meanwhile the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 duo of Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly will shift to the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA (van der Zande) and No. 43 Inter Europol ORECA (Yelloly).

The four full-season GTP drivers not racing at Le Mans are BMW’s Marco Wittmann and Philipp Eng, and JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Gianmaria Bruni and Tijmen van der Helm.

There are also a bevy of other IMSA drivers competing at Le Mans, most of whom are shifting from their WeatherTech Championship team to another one across the three classes at Le Mans.

2025 Rolex 24 Winners Look to Add 24 Hours of Le Mans Wins

A unique aspect of this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans is the eight Rolex 24 At Daytona-winning drivers who can win both marquee 24-hour endurance sports car races in the same year.

Tandy, Nasr and Laurens Vanthoor can do so, with Tandy and Nasr racing together in one car (No. 4 Porsche) and Vanthoor in another (No. 6 Porsche).

Fidani, Bell and Kern can win Daytona and Le Mans as well; they are in the same No. 13 AWA Corvette (different class, chassis and livery, but same car number, team and car type) as at Rolex 24.

Two other Rolex 24 winners in 2025 can double-up at Le Mans. Dennis Olsen was part of the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO)-winning No. 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 at Daytona. At Le Mans, the 2024 podium finisher will share the No. 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3. Paul Di Resta, too, was part of the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)-winning No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 in Daytona. He’ll be in the Hypercar class No. 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8.

With last weekend’s scrutineering and test day now in the rearview mirror, on-track action from Circuit de la Sarthe resumes on Wednesday with official practice and the start of qualifying.

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Chase Elliott has made feelings clear as NASCAR fans claim ‘enough is enough’

Chase Elliott finished 15th at Michigan International Speedway in a race won by Denny Hamlin, with the No.9 team’s performance leading to more calls for change Chase Elliott finished 15th in Michigan(Image: Getty) Chase Elliott’s fans are growing restless with the performance of the No. 9 team, but their driver had a powerful message for […]

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Chase Elliott finished 15th at Michigan International Speedway in a race won by Denny Hamlin, with the No.9 team’s performance leading to more calls for change

Chase Elliott finished 15th in Michigan
Chase Elliott finished 15th in Michigan(Image: Getty)

Chase Elliott’s fans are growing restless with the performance of the No. 9 team, but their driver had a powerful message for them before their latest setback.

Elliott secured a 15th place finish at Michigan International Speedway in a race won by Denny Hamlin. Elliott led for 19 laps after an impressive maneuver to take the lead early in Stage 2, but a decision to pit for fuel was ill-timed due to a subsequent caution.

Prior to the race, Elliott put the onus on Hendrick Motorsports with a straightforward statement about the future, while Carl Edwards made a surprising revelation at the start of the interview that caught many off guard.

In the same interview, Elliott defended his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, and reiterated to his fans that nobody cares more than them.

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Elliott asserted: “I think Alan deserves a lot of credit for just helping to manage this entire process, because there’s a lot to it.

“Look, there is no one here, and we have some great race fans and I appreciate them, but there is no one here who wants to perform as much as we do.

“And we put a lot of effort and work into that, and I think that’s always important to remember because we might not do the flashiest work, but we sure do care a lot. “

This message was particularly significant given what unfolded during the race, with fans inundating replies to the final result posted by his Hendrick No.9 Team account demanding changes, a sentiment expressed more than once.

NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400
Fans of Elliott are growing frustrated with the No.9 team(Image: Getty)

:”When is enough enough”” One fan queried. “AG should’ve been replaced years ago”, while another retorted: “No more excuses, Alan needs to be fired.

Enough is enough”. One fan expressed their frustration, saying: “This was easily the worst display of team effort and coordination in a hot minute. (Sorry @Hendrick9Team admin for being the punching-bag for all this for so long)” while another voiced their disappointment: “Terrible. Absolutely terrible. Drastic changes need to come to this team”.

Amidst the rising clamor for change from his supporters, Elliott’s post-race interview revealed unwavering support for Gustafson, as he has consistently shown, urging his fans to stand behind his team as well.



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