KANSAS CITY, Kan. — One year ago, Chris Buescher was beaten by Kyle Larson at Kansas Speedway by the blink of the eye.

Less than a blink of an eye.

The official margin of victory for the spring race at the track was 0.001 seconds, the closest in NASCAR Cup Series history, and nobody has forgotten it. Not the way that Larson came slinging around the outside of Turns 3 and 4, nor how they were nose-to-nose at the wire, nor how broadcasters thought that Buescher had held him off for the win.

“Certainly at that moment, thought we got it just by my eye,” Buescher recalled this week. “I was probably a little biased.”

It wasn’t until they had nearly finished their cool-down lap that Larson learned he had won.

And that Buescher learned he had not.

“At the end of the day, it was, you know — it was ‘that’ close, right?” Buescher said. “Like I said, played a lot of things in our head that week on what we would have done different, and maybe it would have ended in a different result. But ultimately, it doesn’t matter until we have a chance to replay it.”

They get that chance on Sunday when the Cup Series returns to Kansas Speedway.

Larson is off to another sensational start to the season, with wins at Homestead and Bristol, and three consecutive top-5 runs after his fourth-place finish last week at Texas. He’s the betting favorite to repeat at Kansas and start a busy three-week stretch that includes another shot at the “the Double” — the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day later this month.

Buescher hasn’t had nearly the same success. His best finish has been a fifth at Phoenix, and in the last three races, he has not finished better than 18th, which is where he put his Ford for RFK Racing last week at Texas.

But perhaps a return to the Heartland will turn around some fortunes. Forget for a moment that he was oh-so-close to winning at Kansas last year, and remember that he not only finished second in the spring but ran a strong 11th in the fall race.

He also had a strong run at Kansas in 2015, when he won the Xfinity Series championship.

Buescher recalled that season this week when he was thinking back to last year’s run at Kansas. Sure, his crew may have been celebrating in his pit stall, thinking he had beaten Larson to the line. But the fella behind the wheel refused to begin celebrating until everything became official — which, of course, turned out to be a good idea.

“I’m not one to celebrate too early, because I just have bad feelings all the time,” Buescher said. “I go back to our championship in Xfinity in 2015. We went into the race, we had to finish 13th, I believe was the number, no matter what (Chase) Elliott did, and we finish that race — no matter what, it was a lock. And I was being yelled at for racing, you know? For trying to pass for sixth or seventh. I was being yelled at by everybody.

“Anyway, we come across the line and we finished the top 10, I think. And you know, it was better than 13th, I know that. And I knew it at the time. So I knew we were done. And I still couldn’t bring myself to celebrate until somebody said something.”

Buescher knows he will always be part of Cup Series history after that photo-finish a year ago. It edged the 2003 spring race at Darlington, where Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch banged doors for the lead, as the closest in Cup Series history. The margin in that case was 0.002 seconds, or double the time between Larson and Buescher at Kansas.

The spring race at Talladega in 2011 also had a 0.002-second margin when Jimmie Johnson beat Clint Bowyer to the finish line.

“We’re chasing a thousandth of a second every week. … You’re chasing fractions all the time. Ultimately, it’s what we signed up to do,” Buescher said. “If it was 1,000th of a second for fifth and sixth, it wouldn’t have stung. But you know, for a win, it makes you relive it for a little bit. But again, it’s just, it’s our world, right? We are always chasing these minute details.”

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Jim Tonseth demonsttrats how he uses the spatula, once he has dipped it in the paint, to drtizzle it over the tire, which is placed on the Lazy Susan. — Karen Kistler

Jim Tonseth shows several types of his artwork, on tread, at left and a NASCAR tire sidewall. — Karen Kistler

Jim Tonseth shows the original tire to the finished painted piece of artwork. — Karen Kistler

Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Driving for a career delivering horse trailers was a blast for Jim Tonseth of Salisbury. It was something he loved doing, but on Jan. 1, 2020, that all changed. His career path took a different turn — into the world of art.

It was the day before on Dec. 31 that he returned home from Missouri after dropping off a trailer. He and wife Phyllis had gone to sleep early, and Jim woke up the next day, completely blind, with just a huge white cloud in front of his face.

“I could see absolutely nothing, which is terrifying,” he said.

Tests followed with the diagnosis of mild sleep apnea which had damaged the optic nerve, which had been starved of oxygen, he said. He was told he might get his sight back in six to eight months but that was not a guarantee.

Wanting a second opinion, they went to Duke University where, following hours of testing and an MRI ruling out a tumor or other causes, the answer was the same — mild sleep apnea.

This, said Tonseth, was happening when COVID was going on, “so getting a sleep study to get a CPAP machine was next to impossible.” 

It was scheduled, postponed and rescheduled. When it finally happened, it revealed he had mild sleep apnea, and the same process for the sleep lab.

However, he now has the machine and while he said it was a challenge in the beginning, he is used to it and “now it’s no big deal at all.” The result has definitely been, as he said, “life changing.”

Before that day in January 2020, Tonseth had intended on cutting down on the amount of driving he did, which was about 4,000 miles a week.

That all ended and he said it took him about three and a half to four years to get his head straight as he went from completely sighted to completely blind, plus he has to rely on somebody else all the time.

When he drove for a living, he was also involved in another business — We Recycle Tires, which made things out of old NASCAR racing tires. It made about 80 different items, Tonseth said, with one of the major being rubber fencing for horses. Other items included silage cover weights for dairy farmers, mouse pads, Christmas ornaments and keychains.

“Literally anything you can think of to reuse the material rather than throw it away,” he said.

Things changed in 2008 when the economy crashed, he said, and sales went way down.

He noted that his best friend and partner is handling their concession business in Florida. For Tonseth, since losing his sight, things are more difficult and he is doing other things with the material.

And one of those things is using the sidewalls as a painting canvas.

Having gotten back about 95 percent of his sight, Tonseth can see things that are large and high contrast, but what is right before him is just a blur.

“If it’s small stuff, that doesn’t work, it’s just a blur,” he said.

He has some custom-built glasses similar to a telescope, thinking he might be able to use these to drive again, he said.

Using them, he said he could “see 500 yards down the road clear but when you’re looking through a telescope, it’s that small” and that he “could change the focal point but it’s very small. There’s no peripheral stuff.” 

So not wanting to endanger himself and others, he decided to forfeit his license. He came to the decision to start what was originally planned for 2020 and that was to use his creative talents, something he has been gifted with all his life, and “merged my tire stuff with painting.”

The process begins with a whole tire, and the sidewalls are cut out “because of the space it takes up,” he said.

These tires are old NASCAR racing tires, he explained as he held one before it was painted. It showed the markings on it, revealing that it was a right rear tire from a race in Atlanta, and it was a qualifying set, he said.

He has been collecting tires for many years, and has quite the collection to use for his artwork.

“I have a huge warehouse with about 20,000 tires right now, down from 70,000,” he said. ”Over 30 years, you collect a lot and sell a lot.”

Once the tire is cut, he cleans it with chemicals to get rid of the oil or any other debris it might have picked up on the track.

Then, a base coat of paint is applied to the tire, one that he said “will adhere to it because rubber doesn’t take paint very well unless you condition it, put stuff on it to make that happen. We have a special paint that we use and paint the whole thing.”

A classically trained artist, having received his degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Tonseth knew what to do. The problem is, he said, “all that training, I can’t use it because I can’t see.” He was inspired by the artist Jackson Pollock and his style, which is called “action painting, which is basically throwing or splashing paint onto canvases,” something he became famous for.

He also noted that he is basically using enamel paint, “primarily because that was what Pollock used.”

And while Pollock’s paint was oil based, Tonseth is using water based, because it’s easier for him. 

“It’s a whole lot easier for someone who is blind to work with it because it’s easier to wash off,” he said.

As for Tonseth, he said he is inspired by what Pollock did because “I can actually see it, a lot of it. I can’t see a bunch, but a lot of it I can see because there’s high contrast.”

The actual painting process is done on a lazy Susan platform he made to place the tire or a canvas on and he turns it. He uses a small spatula, which he dips into the paint and drizzles it over the tire as it turns.

He said, “I want the major portion to flow. I don’t want it to be really heavy or thick and then I will drizzle and try to watch what I’m doing. The initial colors are easy to see because there’s high contrast because this is painted white and with white and any color I can see that.”

He also uses silicone spoons for bigger canvases and has all sorts of different items.

For one piece, he told how he did one part with a brush and other parts were done with a spatula. Dots on the top layer were made by him putting his hands in the paint, and making sure it was streaming off but “literally dribbling over the top. That’s why there’s actually no pattern to that and there’s no consistency,” he said, adding that he loves this particular style of painting.

As for how he knows the painting is complete and it’s how he wants it to look, he said, “a lot of it is actually just divine guidance really because I can’t see a lot of what I’m doing.” So he just waits for that guidance as he is drizzling the paint.

“And basically, it’s going to sound weird,” he said, but “I listen to the sound of the paint and it’s telling me when there’s enough. It sounds really, really weird, probably is to most normal people, but when you lose one sense the other ones get kind of accentuated. They don’t take over,” but he said he concentrates more.

Prior to his going blind, Tonseth said he had bought many supplies such as canvases, paint and alcohol ink which he intended to use. His plan, he said, “got kind of wiped out and what I’ve since done after going through the depression that goes with losing your sight, I’ve finally gotten back to doing something.”

When he paints, Tonseth said that is doing a process of putting layers on the tire or canvas and letting it dry. “I do not want the paint to actually mix together for what I’ve been doing so far.”

When wet paint is on top of another layer that is wet, he said you can have a chemical reaction, something he tries to avoid happening.

As for how long it takes to complete a piece, he said it depends on the layers and the time it takes to dry. He typically lets it dry four hours between layers.

For example, he said a piece that has 12-15 layers may take over a week.

And then once the piece is dry, he lets it dry for another 24 hours before putting two coats of varnish on it.

“The varnish actually brings out the pigments in the colors a whole lot brighter as well as protects the surface from damage,” said Tonseth. “Once the varnish is on there, the surface is a whole lot tougher.”

He has plans for additional paintings, he said, “where I’m basically setting up parameters for stuff to happen with machines like a giant pendulum machine as well as a giant spin machine and then combining both of those to do incredibly unique canvases of painting. I’m not really painting it, I’m pretty much setting up what can occur and then letting nature take its course.” 

He has the materials to build these machines and is in the process of building this equipment.

“The problem is, I need eyes to do it,” he said. He’s had some help, but would like to get someone who has basic mechanical skills who can help and hopes to work on these machines this summer.

When asked what he wants people to learn from seeing his work, he said, first, you can paint on anything, noting the tires and he also uses the tread to paint on. He has  also painted on frisbees and record albums.

Secondly, he said, “anybody I believe can do this.”

Tonseth has done several shows and anticipates one later in the fall with Carolina Artists and plans to have several pieces of his rubber artwork and the remainder would be new items.

In addition to his painting, he said he also “stays very active watching art-related YouTube videos of other folks and what they are doing, getting inspired by some of them.”

The Georgian Automobile Sport Federation (GASF) and RDV Competition have agreed to collaborate for the remainder of the 2025 NASCAR Euro Series season, beginning with the NASCAR GP Italy. Davit Kajaia and Sandro Tavartkiladze will race the #9 Chevrolet Camaro, entered by Team Georgia and serviced by RDV Competition, the championship-winning organization led by Franck Violas. The Georgian drivers hope to build on the momentum they gained in their EuroNASCAR debut at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain.

“I am thrilled to be part of RDV Competition,” said Kajaia. “I am ready to do my best and maximize the opportunities for our team. I would also like to thank Marko Stipp Motorsport for giving us the opportunity to complete our initial NASCAR races.” The Georgians raced with Marko Stipp Motorsport in Spain, but they and the team decided to part ways.

Tavartkiladze added, “I’m excited to join RDV Competition for Round 2 of the EuroNASCAR season. Thank you to them for the warm welcome and the opportunity to race with such a solid team. I also want to thank my previous team for everything we achieved together. I learned a lot, and I truly appreciate their support. I’m looking forward to this next challenge and am ready to give it my all this weekend!”

The second round of the 2025 NASCAR Euro Series season will take place at Autodromo di Vallelunga on May 17-18. It will be the first time for both drivers to race a EuroNASCAR car at the fast, technical venue near Rome, Italy. Kajaia competed in the Challenger Trophy in Valencia and aims to advance significantly in the PRO standings. Tavartkiladze left Spain in fifth place overall and as the leader of the Master Trophy for aspiring OPEN drivers. Both drivers are striving to raise their game and collect more trophies for their home country of Georgia.

Qualifying and all races from Italy will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, as well as on many TV networks around the world.

NWES PR

KANSAS CITY — Corey Day is taking life in the fast lane to the extreme.

Between 22 NASCAR races and as many High Limit Racing events he can squeeze into his schedule, the 19-year-old racer continues to sharpen his skills on dirt and asphalt.

Day’s double-duty return to competition in both disciplines at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March was nothing short of impressive. A whirlwind of activity surrounded Day’s weekend, starting with the premiere of DIRT II: A Season with High Limit Presented by NOS Energy Drink—in which he was featured prominently.

While rain and wind played prominently in the disruption of the race schedule, Day delighted fans by earning his first Craftsman Truck Series pole on the 1.5-mile oval Friday. He then scored his ninth High Limit Racing win across the LVMS property at The Dirt Track on Saturday night—in the season opener.

Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Day juggled both motorsports disciplines again—this time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday, followed by High Limit later that night. 

Day finished a career-best 16th on the 1.5-mile asphalt track with HMS before crossing the parking lot to the four-tenths-mile dirt oval. He finished fifth in the No. 14BC Jason Meyers Racing sprinter, his third race of the season. 

“It will be good to get a lot of laps in a lot of different race cars this year,” Day said. “I’m super fortunate for the opportunity that Hendrick Motorsports has given me, and, yeah, just loving every second of it.”

Day feels like he’s living a dream. Although he grew up a Jeff Gordon fan, the Clovis, California, native could have never imagined driving for Hendrick Motorsports, let alone having the four-time champion and current vice chairman be his mentor and boss. 

HMS president Jeff Andrews, also a huge supporter of Day’s, is often seen in the pits at companion events. Then there’s Kyle Larson, the poster boy for motorsports versatility, at the rookie’s disposal, whether at the HMS campus in Concord, N.C., or wherever the NASCAR/High Limit schedule takes him.

Currently, Day’s stock car schedule includes 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series, eight NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and four ARCA races.

“They all do a great job in answering my questions and giving me a direction to go with all this stuff,” Day said. “Luckily, Jeff (Gordon) grew up sprint car racing, and Kyle did. Jeff Andrews was around sprint cars in his young life as well. So they all know what I’m feeling, and how to help me, or how to explain to me why I’m feeling what I’m feeling, and how to how to get better. 

“I feel super fortunate for them and the format they’ve given me to put me on the path to success.”

Certainly, there have been challenges for Day along the way. He’s had to adapt to the varying formats of the series, the complexity of the cockpit and the data and simply the feel of the cars. The cadence and distance of the races are dramatically different.

“There are a lot of things,” Day said. “There are things inside the race car and outside the race car. If I had to pick one, I would definitely say how long the race is. In the sprint car, you’ve got to get all you can from the drop of the green flag. 

“Whereas NASCAR is not like that. You’ve got to set yourself up for the third stage. You don’t have to go try and win it in the first 10 laps. That’s definitely a big change.”

In 2024, Day competed in seven NASCAR events between trucks and ARCA. At two of the three truck tracks he saw for a second time this season, Day improved his performance. His truck suffered from a mechanical failure at Martinsville.

Day has changed his approach to NASCAR and the results reflect the effort.

“It’s easy to do because of how fast a sprint car racing is and everything, (NASCAR is) definitely a lot slower,” Day said. “I’m thinking more in the race car than I ever have. Sprint cars, we do a lot of things that are just off instinct. 

“In the NASCAR stuff, you got time to think, because the pace is just slower. And two, it’s a way bigger and heavier race car. You have to be way more calculated with the move you’re making. That’s one thing that I definitely have to get better at.” 

Starting on Friday at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Day hopes to regain the groove he established racing full-time with High Limit in 2024.

While he raced at Thunderbowl Speedway—his home track—in Tulare, Calif., following Las Vegas, Day skipped the next eight races to concentrate on NASCAR. Still, his average finish is 3.3 in 2025 HLR competition.

“I feel behind, but at the same time, I’m not behind, just not where I want to be,” Day said. “This racing is just way different than what I’m doing now. And I’m not to the point yet, like where Kyle (Larson) is, where he can show up and be fast the first lap.

“I’m fast by the heat race. Hopefully, running this month will get me back comfortable. We’ll be able to work on our race car, work with the team and just get everything ironed out, getting a really good place for all of the big races that I’m getting to do this year.

“So yeah, I’m excited to get back into it. I always enjoy running the sprint car. It helps me to go back to the pavement stuff as well with how fast-paced the racing is. I think just that keeps me sharp.”

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A three-judge federal appellate panel indicated Friday it might overturn an injunction that allows 23XI Racing, co-owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan and veteran driver Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports to race as chartered teams in NASCAR this season while the two teams sue the stock car series over alleged antitrust violations.

NASCAR attorney Chris Yates argued the injunction, granted in December by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina, forced the series into an unwanted relationship with unwilling partners, and that it harms other teams because they earn less money.

Yates said the district court broke precedent by granting the injunction, saying the “release” clause in the charter contracts forbidding the teams from suing is “common.” He argued, essentially, that the teams should not have the benefits of the charter system they are suing to overturn.

Overturning the injunction would leave the two organizations able to race but without any of the perks of being chartered, including guaranteed weekly revenue. They would also have to qualify at every Cup Series event to make the field, which currently has only four open spots each week; 23XI and Front Row are each running three cars in Cup this season.

Judges Steven Agee, Paul Niemeyer and Stephanie Thacker, at multiple points during the 50-minute hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District, pushed back on the argument made by plaintiff’s attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who accused NASCAR of being a monopoly.

“There’s no other place to compete,” Kessler told the judges, later noting that overturning the injunction would cause tremendous damage to the two teams, which could lose drivers and sponsors. “It will cause havoc to overturn this injunction in the middle of the season.”

The teams filed the antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR on Oct. 2 in the Western District of North Carolina, arguing that the series bullied teams into signing new charters that make it difficult to compete financially. That came after two years of failed negotiations on new charter agreements, which is NASCAR’s equivalent of franchise deals.

23XI – co-owned by Jordan, Hamlin and Curtis Polk, a longtime Jordan business partner – and Front Row Motorsports, were the only two out of 15 charter-holding teams that refused to sign new agreements in September.

The charters, which teams originally signed before the 2016 season, have twice been extended. The most recent extension runs until 2031, matching the current media rights deal. It guarantees that 36 of the 40 available spots in weekly races will go to teams holding charters.

The judges expressed agreement with Yates’s argument that the district court had erred in issuing the injunction allowing the teams to race, because it mandated they sign the NASCAR charter but eliminated the contract’s release.

“It seems you want to have your cake and eat it, too,” Niemeyer told Kessler.

At another point, the judge pointedly told Kessler that if the teams want to race, they should sign the charter.

Yates contended that forcing an unwanted relationship between NASCAR and the two teams “harms NASCAR and other racing teams.” He said that more chartered teams would earn more money if not for the injunction and noted that the two teams are being “given the benefits of a contract they rejected.”

Kessler argued that even if the district court’s reasoning was flawed, other evidence should lead the circuit court to uphold the injunction. Niemayer disagreed.

“The court wanted you to be able to race but without a contract,” he said.

A trial date is set for December and Agee strongly urged the sides to meet for mediation — previously ordered by a lower court — to attempt to resolve the dispute over the injunction.

“It’ll be a very interesting trial,” Agee said with a wry smile.

The prospect of successful mediation seems unlikely. Yates told the judges: “We’re not going to rewrite the charter.”

The surreal sight was complemented by the first true sunshine the area has experienced in about a week and a parking lot full of fans, with the lot’s open parking spots almost being filled an hour before the group’s arrival. Later arrivals were allowed to get creative.

While the stop itself represented a small portion of a jam-packed week for the bikers, it was big for the fans that were getting to meet Petty, his dad, Richard, and the other celebrity bikers in attendance for the first time.

“I first started watching NASCAR in probably ’86, ’87 and I’m still a Kyle Petty fan,” said longtime fan Scott Henry while preparing for the bikes to arrive. “I’d seen him years ago when I was up in Michigan and he used to NASCAR race in Michigan but I never really got close to him. It’s just going to be cool.”

More notably, it was another great opportunity for people to come together in support of a great cause.

Richard Petty signs autographs for fans at the Flying J truck stop in Mill Hall Thursday afternoon during the first stop of the day by the Kyle Petty Charity Ride.
Petty and his father Richard as well as other former NASCAR drivers are part of this leg of the 2025 ride.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Fans showed up in droves to meet their idols, get merch and memorabilia autographed or buy new merch, with all proceeds going to Victory Junction — a year-round camp established by Petty and his family for kids dealing with serious ailments. While expected to be short and sweet, Petty and other celebrity riders — such as Ken Schrader and Herschel Walker — ensured most — if not all — autographs were signed.

“What it does for the camp is huge,” said Schrader on the cause. “I’ve had the opportunity to go to the camp more than a few times. If you get to see the kids that come there, spend the week, it’s amazing.”

“The (Petty) family has done an incredible job,” emphasized Walker. “I saw parents that were with their child 24/7. They brought them to Victory Junction, dropped them off and the kid absolutely loved it. That’s what brings a smile to your face.”

For the riders, that aspect of the event coupled with the experience of the ride and friends made along the way have unexpectedly made them for-lifers.

This year’s ride was Walker’s 19th in a row, and he doesn’t expect to stop anytime soon.

Tanner Aderhold, of Williamsport, left, gets his photo taken with Nascar legend Richard Petty, right, at the Flying J truck stop in Mill Hall Thursday afternoon during the first stop of the day by the Kyle Petty Charity Ride.
Petty and his father Richard as well as other former NASCAR drivers are part of this leg of the 2025 ride.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Tim Robinson, an inexperienced motorcyclist prior to joining, has been with the group for 21 years. And many bikers have been a part of it for at least a decade.

“Once you come, it’s hard to stop,” said Robinson. “When you see what it’s all about — raising money for these kids, it’s hard to stop.”

“I think the very first time I went, I knew this was something I wanted to be involved in,” emphasized Walker. “I had a lot of good coaches, good parents and adults help me, so I think this is time to give back and help someone else.”

The stop at Flying J Fuel Station marked the first of its second-to-last day, as the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America began making its Day 6 trip from Corning, New York to Bedford. For Petty and the riders, the week has gone by in a blink of an eye, but they’ve had a great time.

Through the ride, the group has gotten to experience the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Niagara Falls, the Corning Museum of Glass and now, for the first time, Central Pennsylvania. Outside of a rainy day or two, it’s gone off without a hitch.

Richard Petty signs autographs for fans at the Flying J truck stop in Mill Hall Thursday afternoon during the first stop of the day by the Kyle Petty Charity Ride.
Petty and his father Richard as well as other former NASCAR drivers are part of this leg of the 2025 ride.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“It’s so beautiful to come through these mountains,” said Petty on Thursday’s drive. “It’s been great.”

Through recent years, the ride has typically been able to generate between 1.75 to 2 million dollars per year for the camp, plenty of which come from events like these. While joining the ride at this point is difficult, involving a lottery, there are plenty of ways to help the cause.

“I would urge anybody to try and get on a ride but if you can’t, send a donation,” said Keith Edwards, a first-time rider. “It’s well worthwhile.”

“You can go to victoryjunction.org or kylepettycharityrun.com,” said Petty. “Everything we raise goes to camp.”