Monterey Motorsports Festival revs up with cars, music, and community

Updated: 2:42 PM PDT Aug 18, 2025

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The Monterey Motorsports Festival is taking over the Monterey County Fairgrounds tonight, offering a six-hour celebration that combines cars, culture, music, and community.Adam Langsbard, managing director of the Monterey Motorsports Festival, said, “What we want to do is provide an event that really gives greater access to folks. Car week has become a very luxurious destination and ticket prices are extremely high. Our ticket price is $130. The next ticket price up is probably around $500 for a major event. We want to be able to bring people together under the banner of car culture.”Tickets for the festival start at $130, with discounts available for seniors, students, and children. The event spans 22 acres and showcases supercars, hypercars, European classics, JDM builds, off-roaders, and electric vehicles.Langsbard said, “We have a lot of different touch points that people can experience beyond just looking at some sexy metal.”In addition to the cars, families can enjoy food trucks, lifestyle vendors, rides, and live entertainment, including performances by local bands and a headlining DJ, Dillon Francis, who will close out the night.A special surprise awaits attendees with the unveiling of the Peralta S, a unique one-of-a-kind car. The festival is expecting a crowd of 10,000 people from around the world.Maria Raya, a vendor from Antojitos El Sazon, said, “There’s Italian, Mexican, you know, everybody come here. That’s very, very nice.”Special highlights of the event include an exotic car parade, the roar of engines cutting through the fairgrounds, and the “Vino & Vibes” lounge featuring regional wineries. The Monterey Motorsports Festival is set to be one big final party for Car Week.

One more race in the regular season remains. We have a new order in the NASCAR Power Rankings after Richmond. Drivers are starting to make moves for the end of the season and preparing themselves to make playoff runs.

The next 11 weeks will decide the NASCAR Cup Series champion. Who makes it to Phoenix? Who is going to be booted early? There are a lot of questions ahead of us.

The NASCAR Power Rankings have the same leader. But there has been a little bit of movement throughout he top-10. Let’s get into it and prepare for Daytona this weekend.

1. Ryan Blaney – Team Penske (-)

That second win of the season is coming soon. Ryan Blaney has finishes of P8, P7, P4, P6, and P3 in the last five races. In that time, he has a pole and two stage wins.

No, he hasn’t had the race win. But with Daytona, Darlington, Gateway, and Bristol in the next month, I think he has a great chance of getting there.

2. William Byron – Hendrick Motorsports (+1)

An average day for William Byron, but he clinched the regular season championship. So, he moves up in the NASCAR Power Rankings. Those 15 bonus playoff points will be a major factor.

Byron has struggled with consistency. Let’s see if that changes going into the playoffs.

3. Chase Briscoe – Joe Gibbs Racing (-1)

In the last two months, Chase Briscoe has been the definition of consistent. His results have been strong, and his speed remains elite in qualifying.

Briscoe does have problems maintaining his speed in the races. However, he has looked great lately, and despite a P13 finish, he’s one of the best in the Cup Series right now.

4. Bubba Wallace – 23XI Racing (-)

Another driver that has been on another level lately is Bubba Wallace. His loose wheel on pit road cost him a shot at the win, but Wallace led the most laps, won Stage 2, and had the fastest lap at Richmond.

Since winning at Indianapolis, Wallace has been fantastic. Could he pull off the win at Daytona that he has been so close to getting in the past?

5. Denny Hamlin – Joe Gibbs Racing (+3)

For a solid P10 finish, Denny Hamlin moves up three spots in the NASCAR Power Rankings. He had two rough weeks, but that is likely behind him at this point.

Hamlin was hindered by pit road issues on Saturday night as well. The Toyota crews have been great this season, but were due for an off night. It came at Richmond.

6. Kyle Larson – Hendrick Motorsports (+3)

Another driver with a solid top-10 performance. Kyle Larson needed this badly. He has struggled to find that same speed he had prior to Memorial Day Weekend.

We know what Larson can do in this series. He is capable of winning a lot of races and doing it in a short time. Will we see him reemerge as the most talented driver in the field in the next two months?

7. Christopher Bell – Joe Gibbs Racing (-1)

Still searching for his first win since March, Christopher Bell had a tough finish at Richmond. P21 was fine. To his credit, the prior five races had been much better.

It is a minor setback for Bell. He’s still trying to find that fourth win this season after rattling off three in a row to start the year.

8. Chase Elliott – Hendrick Motorsports (-1)

You could argue that Chase Elliott has hit rock bottom. The last two weeks are the two worst finishes of he season for Elliott. He suffered his first DNF on Saturday night.

Bad luck has bitten Elliott lately. Let’s see if he can shake it for the playoffs.

9. Ryan Preece – RFK Racing (-4)

A pole award for Ryan Preece, but not much else to show for it. P35 on the night and not a lot else to show for it.

Preece has to win at Daytona to make the postseason. It is going to be a dogfight for that final spot in the playoffs.

10. Alex Bowman – Hendrick Motorsports (NR)

Alex Bowman has to be on the NASCAR Power Rankings at his point. He has had great finishes going back to Mexico City.

Bowman will try to hold off any surprise winners. Could he be due for a win after helping Elliott get it done at Atlanta?

Connor Zilisch is currently slated to compete in Friday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway. JR Motorsports notified NASCAR.com‘s Zach Sturniolo of Zilisch’s status on Monday.

Zilisch, 19, is recovering from surgery to repair his broken collarbone. He sustained the injury following the Aug. 9 race at Watkins Glen International after falling off the top of his car while celebrating in Victory Lane. Zilisch appeared to get his left foot stuck in the window net upon climbing out of his car, leading to the fall. 

Fortunately for Zilisch, he had an entire week off before Daytona. Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks said it would be a “group decision” in determining when Zilisch is ready to return. Despite what JRM said, Marks told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that Zilisch could be a “game-time decision” for Daytona.

“It’s a balance,” Marks said Monday. “It’s a balance between a 19-year-old kid who just wants to be in the race car and can’t stand not being in the race car and is capable of driving the race car right now. And the other side of that is we need to make a smart decision. What we can’t do is rush him back into the car, especially a place like Daytona, get in a wreck and then be worse off than we were before.

“So, it’s kind of a day-by-day deal right now. This will be a big week to see how his rehab goes and his comfort level and all that stuff. And it could end up being a game-time decision. I know that we all want him back in the race car. He wants to be back in the race car. JRM wants him to be back in the race car. But we’ve got to make smart decisions, so I would just say, stay tuned on that one.”

Connor Zilisch chasing regular season title

That’s exactly what JRM/Trackhouse Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen figured would be the case. Van Gisbergen broke his collarbone in a mountain bike accident in 2021 and returned to racing just two weeks after the incident. When van Gisbergen learned of Zilisch’s diagnosis, he immediately reached out. He always believed it was possible for Zilisch to return at Daytona.

“My injury was probably worse than his. I did like my AC [joint] and three ribs as well on a mountain bike accident and then I had one week off and raced the next week, which is exactly what he’s got. He’s got Richmond off and then Daytona, so he should be fine,” van Gisbergen said on the Dale Jr. Download. “Your collarbone — it’s probably the best major bone you can break. You bolt it together and it’s stronger than it was. The hardest thing is putting on the belts. You feel the bolts in the collarbone through the belts and it’s just irritating and annoying.

“But yeah, he could — if it’s just the collarbone — he could race at Daytona or even this weekend. … I did that, broke my collarbone and raced the next race. I raced for three or four months and when we had a break, I took the plate out again and it was brand new. He can be fine. That was horrible to see. Initially, I thought he had done his knee or his ankle. Luckily, collarbone is a relatively OK bone to break.”

Zilisch is the Xfinity Series points leader after his victory at Watkins Glen, his sixth of the season. He holds a seven-point advantage over teammate Justin Allgaier in the race for the regular season championship.

The official entry list has been released, and a total of 40 drivers and teams will take part in the regular season finale for the NASCAR Cup Series. 20 of those drivers face a must-win situation, meaning they have to win the race or face missing the 2025 playoffs.

Along with the usual 36 full-time drivers and teams, there are four part-time entries filling out the field. Richard Childress Racing will enter the No. 33 Chevrolet as a third entry with Austin Hill. The Xfinity Series regular has four wins at Daytona in the lower two divisions.

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The Carl Long-owned No. 66 Ford is also going to take part in the race with NASCAR veteran Casey Mears behind the wheel, making his 591st start in the Cup Series.

NY Racing Team has also entered the No. 44 Chevrolet with Joey Gase as the driver. Gase has 92 previous starts in the Cup Series, including Iowa earlier this year, where he finished 37th.

Additionally, the field will include the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet with team owner B.J. McLeod making his fourth start of the year. McLeod has just two tops in his Cup career, but both of those came at Daytona.

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