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How far will NASCAR drivers go to prepare for Mexico’s high elevation?

In the final weeks of Alexa DeLeon Reddick’s pregnancy, husband Tyler Reddick slept in a tent. No, he wasn’t in trouble. He was in training. NASCAR’s first race outside the continental United States since 1958 presents drivers and teams with a unique challenge — Mexico City’s elevation. Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the 15-turn, 2.42-mile course Xfinity […]

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In the final weeks of Alexa DeLeon Reddick’s pregnancy, husband Tyler Reddick slept in a tent.

No, he wasn’t in trouble. He was in training.

NASCAR’s first race outside the continental United States since 1958 presents drivers and teams with a unique challenge — Mexico City’s elevation.

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the 15-turn, 2.42-mile course Xfinity and Cup drivers will compete on this weekend, sits at an elevation of nearly 7,500 feet. The next highest track on the Cup circuit in terms of elevation is Las Vegas Motor Speedway at about 2,000 feet above sea level.

With less oxygen at higher altitudes, driver performance could be impacted.

Drivers have tried different methods to prepare for the impact on their bodies from arriving in Mexico City earlier to acclimate, to wearing a mask that simulates less oxygen to sleeping in a hypoxic tent.

Reddick was among those who slept in a tent to adjust to the higher altitude and mitigate potential symptoms of altitude sickness.

“One side effect of it is my wife hasn’t been super happy about me sleeping in a hypoxic environment especially at the later stages of her pregnancy,” said Reddick, whose wife delivered the couple’s second child May 25.

NASCAR Cup Series All-Star - Practice Open and All-Star Entries

Mexico’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is about 7,500 feet above sea level and the thinner air will impact engines.

While he said he noticed benefits from using the tent, will Reddick continue to use it as a part of his training after Mexico?

“My wife would throw a fit if I come home from Mexico and I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to keep this tent thing going.’ She might put the tent outside,” Reddick said laughing.

The tent was part of the training program Toyota developed for its drivers after Christopher Bell raised questions before the season about what would be done to help maintain maximum performance in such trying conditions.

“We started that early in the season just talking and getting a plan together, making sure we’re prepared for it,” Bell said. “I’m proud of everyone at Toyota, the Toyota Performance Center. Caitlin Quinn has really headed up the department of physical fitness and made sure we’re ready for this challenge. Hopefully, the Toyota drivers are the ones that are succeeding.”

Quinn is the director of performance for the Toyota Performance Center in Mooresville, North Carolina. She was a strength coach at Florida State University before joining Toyota Performance Center.

NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600

William Byron ranks first for the season in speed and restart rankings, according to Racing Insights.

The department has grown to include a sports dietician, physical therapist, physician assistant for orthopedic issues, mental health and wellness specialist, an additional strength coach and, as Quinn said, “just every science tool we can imagine.”

Quinn said all that is done “to help drivers find their edge in the car. The teams work really hard on making the cars as fast as possible and we’re trying to make the drivers able to perform at the best of their ability physically and mentally.”

After the conversation with Bell, Quinn began to work on a program to help drivers prepare for Mexico. That led to a couple of ways to help drivers adjust.

One was having drivers get used to a lower oxygen environment when they’re resting (the tent). Another was having them exercise in an environment where there was less oxygen. Toyota enclosed a space in its center with a bicycle inside it for drivers to ride in a lower oxygen setting.

Quinn said Toyota starting implementing those programs about eight weeks ago for drivers.

“I did a lot of exercising in the altitude tent,” said Bell, who will compete in both the Xfinity and Cup races in Mexico City. “Let’s see if it works.”

Reddick said sleeping in hypoxic tent proved beneficial, noting he felt he got better sleep in it.

“It is different sleeping in a hypoxic environment,” he said. “I’ve noted the changes so far, and I’m excited to see what it’s going to be like when I get there to Mexico City.”





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Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway

Welcome to the Racing America On SI Live Race Updates page for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. Be sure to refresh this post throughout Saturday night’s event as the Live Race Updates story will be updated regularly with the biggest moments from the 400-mile race around the […]

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June 29, 2025

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Welcome to the Racing America On SI Live Race Updates page for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta.

Be sure to refresh this post throughout Saturday night’s event as the Live Race Updates story will be updated regularly with the biggest moments from the 400-mile race around the 1.54-mile drafting track, including lead changes, crash replays, the winner of the race, finishing results, and In-Season Tournament updates.

Lap 48: Back to Green!

Jory Logano, and Austin Cindric, who did not pit under this caution, lead the field to green. They are side-by-side up front, and Cindric looks to have a slight advantage going into Turns 3 and 4, and Cindric leads Lap 49. This is the first lead change of the race.

Lap 46: Close Calls on Pit Road

The fuel can and fueling area on Noah Gragson’s No. 4 Ford caught fire as he was peeling out of his pit stall during his pit stop under this caution. Fortunately, the fire went out as he drove off pit road.

Christopher Bell also exited his pit stall wide, which forced Bubba Wallace to drive through the grass with his right side tires.

Lap 44: Bell Needs Push From Tow Truck

Christopher Bell was the lone driver who couldn’t get his car to fire on pit road, but after a push from the tow truck, Bell was able to catch up to the field and take his position back.

8:09 PM ET: Engines Re-fired

Track drying efforts are nearly completed, and the drivers have been instructed to re-fire their engines.

Red Flag Thoughts

While Joey Logano has led every lap of this race, we’ve seen some good racing in the pack, and drivers throughout the field have complained about ill-handling cars with the aging track surface at EchoPark Speedway. Handling will be at a premium tonight.

Chase Briscoe has had a rough start to the race and has dropped to 39th from the 10th starting spot. Briscoe has told his team it’s like his right rear tire hasn’t even been touching the track. A lot of bad balance issues are going on with the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota right now.

Lap 42: Cars Being Called to Pit Road

We’re about to head to a red flag for rain as the drops continue to fall in Turns 1 and 2 and down the backstretch of the EchoPark Speedway. The NASCAR Tower is calling for drivers to park in the outside lane of pit road. Drivers are being told to stay in their cars as this is expected to be a brief delay.

Lap 36: Caution No. 1

We’re under caution for the first time in the Quaker State 400 on Lap 36. This caution is unfortunately for perecipitation. Right now, it looks like light sprinkles to light rain, but there are reports that drops are intensifying in Turns 1 and 2.

Lap 33: Keselowski Up to P2, and Pressuring Logano

Brad Keselowski has moved into the second position, and he is threatening to become the first leader of this race not named Joey Logano.

Lap 29: Byron Fights Back, Blasts Past Hocevar

William Byron was not happy with Carson Hocevar. he rebounded from being placed in the middle, and worked to the outside of the track, where he zoomed around Hocevar for the seventh position.

Lap 24: Six Chevrolets Lined Up Behind Six Fords Up Front

The Chevrolet camp has gotten their resources together and they have six cars lined up behind the top-six Fords. The Chevys, now led by William Byron are starting to make their move, but Hocevar cuts to the inside of Byron and goes three wide with Byron and Cindric. Yikes, that was sketchy, but they get through it. Hocevar has killed the Chevrolet momentum, and Byron is stuck in the middle.

Lap 22: Hocvear on the Move

Carson Hocevar has found a way through the pack as he has moved his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet from the 30th starting spot to seventh. Hocevar is now the highest-running non-Ford driver. Joey Logano continues to lead this race.

Lap 16: Hendrick Quartet Starting to Press Things

All four Hendrick Motorsports cars have gotten hooked up with Alex Bowman (8th) leading them. They are starting to try to pry some of the Ford contingent apart from each other. Logano still leads Berry, Blaney, Cindric, with Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece in front of the four Hendrick cars.

Lap 6: Blaney Clears Keselowski; All Penske Up Front

Ryan Blaney was able to clear Brad Keselowski, who had been hanging on his outside, and now it’s all Team Penske up front. The top-four have broken into a single file line in front of the pack and are still led by Logano. It looks like Team Penske is doing its best impersonation of Stewart-Haas Racing at Talladega a few years ago.

Lap 4: Fords Dominating the Top-10

After a strong qualifying effort, the blue ovals hold the top eight spots in the running order on Lap 4. Joey Logano still leads. Kyle Larson is the first non-Ford in the running order in ninth.

Lap 1: Logano Gets a Good Surge

Joey Logano got a great push from Ryan Blaney to start the race, and he cleared Josh Berry in Turn 1. Coming off of Turn 1 on the opening lap, Logano goes to the outside lane in front of Berrt. All four Penske-affiliated cars are all now lined up bumper to tail on the bottom lane.

Brad Keselowski is leading the outside lane on the outside of Blaney.

7:22 PM ET Green Flag!

The green flag is waving on the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, GA. The front two rows leading the field are occupied by all of the Team Penske-affiliated cars. Joey Logano and Josh Berry lead the field into Turn 1.

Logano is in the inside line with Ryan Blaney behind him while Berry is up top with Austin Cindric behind him.

7:08 PM ET: Engines Are Fired

The engines have been fired, and we are ready to start pace laps for the Quaker State 400.

7:02 PM ET: Inovcation, National Anthem, and Flyover

The invocation, National Anthem, and flyover ahead of Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway have been completed. The drivers are now sliding behind the wheel of their race cars, and we are approaching the command to fire engines.

Drivers Introduced Along With Their Opponent in the NASCAR In-Season Tournament

Ahead of Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway, the 32 drivers taking part in the NASCAR In-Season Tournament were introduced on the frontstretch stage alongside their opponent in Round 1 of the tournament in a “fight weigh-in” style set up.

No drivers got more into the shtick than Michael McDowell and AJ Allmendinger, who had a tussle on the stage prior to stepping up on the scales.

NASCAR Reveals Quaker State 400 Pre-Race Festivities Schedule

NASCAR has confirmed that as of now no cars will drop to the rear before the green flag of Saturday night’s Quaker State 400.

The sanctioning body has also revealed the complete pre-race festivities schedulen and the approximate green flag time:

6:01 PM ET: Lightning Hold Has Expired

The 30-minute clock has expired on the lightning hold at EchoPark Speedway. No additional lightning strikes have occurred in the vicinity of the 1.54-mile speedway in Hampton, GA, there has been no rain fall as of yet.

The situation at the track is very overcast skies, and the radar shows plenty of weather in and around the area. But as it stands, there is still no delay to Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway.

Weather Rolling In; Track in Lightning Hold

Weather is building around EchoPark Speedway, and while no rain has hit the track just yet, lightning in the area has forced NASCAR and the track to evacuate the grandstands and pit road at the 1.54-mile speedway.

There is still over an hour before the scheduled start time of Saturday night’s race, but there is a significant weather system building to the Northwest of the track, which has grown a lot in the last 30 minutes.

As of now, there is no delay to the start of the Quaker State 400. If the conditions change, we’ll update you.

Bell Anxious Heading into Atlanta Race With Another New Spotter

Christopher Bell came out of the gates firing in 2025 as he scored three consecutive wins early in the season, and went on to win the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Strangely, Bell’s longtime spotter Stevie Reeves quit the No. 20 team following the All-Star Race, which put Bell and his team in a bind.

Matt Philpott, a longtime crew member in the sport and relatively new spotter, stepped in to fill the void for Bell and the No. 20 team in the Coca-Cola 600. However, when HYAK Motorsports released veteran spotter Tab Boyd following a controversial social media post during the Mexico City race weekend, Joe Gibbs Racing saw an opportunity to add an experienced spotter for Bell’s team.

However, with the latest spotter change, Bell will now need to build rapport at one of the most stressful tracks there are for driver/spotter combinations — EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. Needless to say, Bell is going into Saturday night’s race expecting a struggle in the early portion of the race.

“Uh, yeah, it’s going to be tough,” Bell stated. “I’ve listened to Tab on our replay system, but aside from that, that’s all we’ve got. It’s going to be tough, for sure, getting acclimated at probably one of the most spotter-intense race tracks on the calendar, but Tab has a bunch of experience. So, we’ll play it by ear. And definitely the first Stage or two is going to be a learning curve.”

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The Quaker State 400 Pre-Race Info

The Quaker State 400 will be televised on TNT, the first of five NASCAR Cup Series races to be covered by the cable television channel this season. The TNT Sports race broadcast will begin at 7:00 PM ET, and the five-race TNT schedule can also be streamed on the Max streaming service.

The Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of Saturday’s race. For subscribers of the Max streaming service, NASCAR Driver Cam, which streams live in-car camera footage from every car in the field, will be available for today’s race.

The overall race purse, which teams will fight for their portion of in Saturday’s race, is a total of $11,055,250.

The race distance is 260 laps around the 1.54-mile drafting track, which equates to a 400.4-mile race distance.

The Quaker State 400 will be broken up into three Stages. Stage 1 will end at the conclusion of Lap 60. Stage 2 will end at the conclusion of Lap 160. And the race is scheduled to finish at the end of Lap 260, barring an Overtime finish.

The winner of Stages 1 and 2 will be awarded one Playoff Point, and the overall race winner will be awarded five Playoff Points. The Playoff Points will be added to the reseeded point totals if the drivers make it into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and will be carried through each round of the Playoffs.

Joey Logano is the defending winner of this event, and Christopher Bell won the event at EchoPark Speedway earlier this season.

Joey Logano Takes Quaker State 400 Pole in First Tiebreaker Settled by a Tiebreaker Since 2007

Joey Logano, the defending winner of the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway) will start the race from the pole position after he turned a lap time 30.979 seconds (178.960 mph) in Friday’s qualifying session.

It took a tiebreaker for Logano to pick up his first pole of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season as Josh Berry, the driver of the Team Penske-affiliated No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse turned the exact same lap time.

All four of the Team Penske-affiliated cars will start from the top-four spots in Saturday night’s race as Ryan Blaney secured the third starting spot and Austin Cindric will roll from the grid in fourth.

“Super proud of Team Penske, Roush-Yates, and Ford, obviously. To keep our Mustangs up there, really shows the ability to repeat from car to car,” Logano said. “It’s really hard to do. When you see we tied with the 21, and the other cars were all within a couple of hundredths of second. When you think of all of the parts and pieces in a race car and how you can put them together, to make them all end up the same like that is pretty impressive.”

Quaker State 400 Starting Lineup

Pos

Car

Driver

Team

Manufacturer

1

22

Joey Logano

Team Penske

Ford

2

21

Josh Berry

Wood Brothers Racing

Ford

3

12

Ryan Blaney

Team Penske

Ford

4

2

Austin Cindric

Team Penske

Ford

5

60

Ryan Preece

RFK Racing

Ford

6

6

Brad Keselowski

RFK Racing

Ford

7

41

Cole Custer

Haas Factory Team

Ford

8

38

Zane Smith

Front Row Motorsports

Ford

9

48

Alex Bowman

Hendrick Motorsports

Chevrolet

10

19

Chase Briscoe

Joe Gibbs Racing

Toyota

Click here for the full official Quaker State 400 Starting Lineup.

Denny Hamlin Enters Atlanta as NASCAR In-Season Tournament No. 1 Seed

Despite missing the race at Mexico City (the second race of the three-race seeding period), Denny Hamlin will enter Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway as the No. 1 seed in the In-Season Tournament, which was based off of the Denny Hamlin bracket tournament that he created on his Actions Detrimental Podcast a season ago.

Seeding was determined by best race finish in the three-race period, and by way of his win at Michigan, Hamlin joined Chase Briscoe, who won at Pocono, as the only tournament-eligible drivers that won over the three race seeding period.

By way of a runner-up finish at Pocono, Hamlin won the tie-breaker over Briscoe to take the No. 1 seed.

32 drivers will be paired off in groups of two (determined by the three-race tournament seeding period (Michigan, Mexico City, Pocono). The tournament will be a five-round head-to-head elimination style bracket tournament, where the top seed remaining will face off agains the lowest seed remaining each week.

The driver, who outlasts the 31 others in the bracket, will be awarded a $1 million bonus at the conclusion of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Here are all of the head-to-head matchups in Saturday night’s race, which will serve as the opening round of NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge.

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Former NASCAR Champion ‘Concerned’ About Bubba Wallace

Former NASCAR Champion ‘Concerned’ About Bubba Wallace originally appeared on The Spun. The 2025 season hasn’t been great for Bubba Wallace, but it didn’t truly become a disaster until last Sunday at Pocono Raceway. Advertisement Wallace’s weekend started off with him failing to run a qualifying lap because the hot rod for his No. 23 […]

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Former NASCAR Champion ‘Concerned’ About Bubba Wallace originally appeared on The Spun.

The 2025 season hasn’t been great for Bubba Wallace, but it didn’t truly become a disaster until last Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

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Wallace’s weekend started off with him failing to run a qualifying lap because the hot rod for his No. 23 Toyota wouldn’t fire. Any hope of him making a miraculous run up the leaderboard was derailed when he suffered a brake failure.

Unfortunately for Wallace, he has failed to finish six of 17 races this season.

“That was the most frustrated I’ve been in a long time,” Wallace said. “That was like a gut punch … really hard to swallow. Yeah, it’s qualifying … whatever. But it took me back to like a-few-years-ago Bubba, where it’s like, yeah, here we go. You ride on the momentum high and you get excited and have some optimism, and then you’re just smacked in the face with some B-S.”

Even though Wallace has time to turn his rough season around, some people are convinced it’s just not meant to be for him and 23XI Racing.

LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 21: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 McDonald's Toyota, walks the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 21, 2025 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 21: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 McDonald’s Toyota, walks the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 21, 2025 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Former NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick isn’t ready to write off Wallace just yet, but he admit he’s concerned about his recent performances.

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“I would say there are some concerns about the 23XI speed in general,” Harvick said, via On3. “I don’t think Reddick has been as fast; I think Bubba started really well and has been kind of average in a lot of the most recent weeks.”

Wallace has a chance to redeem himself this Saturday at Atlanta Moto Speedway. He’s entering this weekend’s race with a positive mindset.

“We’ll get out of this little slump that we’re in and get back on the momentum train,” Wallace told reporters.

As of this weekend, Wallace is 14th in the Cup Series standings.

Related: There Are Growing Calls For 23XI Racing To Get Rid Of Bubba Wallace

Former NASCAR Champion ‘Concerned’ About Bubba Wallace first appeared on The Spun on Jun 28, 2025

This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jun 28, 2025, where it first appeared.



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Full Quaker State 400 results

Just two tracks are on the 26-race 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season schedule twice, and one of them is Atlanta Motor Speedway. Atlanta, which is now officially known as EchoPark Speedway for sponsorship purposes, hosted the season’s second race back in February, and now it is the host of race number 18 this Saturday […]

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June 29, 2025

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Just two tracks are on the 26-race 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season schedule twice, and one of them is Atlanta Motor Speedway. Atlanta, which is now officially known as EchoPark Speedway for sponsorship purposes, hosted the season’s second race back in February, and now it is the host of race number 18 this Saturday night.

The Quaker State 400 is a 260-lap race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) Hampton, Georgia oval. Last year’s race was a playoff race, but the race has shifted back to July, which is where it had been since getting its second date back in 2021. This year’s race also kicks off NASCAR’s inaugural five-race in-season tournament.

The only other track on the regular season schedule twice is Daytona International Speedway, which hosted the season-opening Daytona 500 a week before Atlanta’s first race of the year and is also scheduled to host the regular season finale in August.

Atlanta, since its post-2021 repave and reconfiguration, is considered a superspeedway like Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway, since it races much more like a superspeedway than a typical mile-and-a-half oval.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano took the pole position for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 in Friday evening’s qualifying session, and Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry joined him on the front row.

A full starting lineup can be found here.

Follow along with our race updates, specifically the updates of the first two stages and the race itself.

NASCAR at Atlanta: Stage 1 results

NASCAR at Atlanta: Stage 2 results

NASCAR at Atlanta: Full Quaker State 400 results

Race number 19 on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series calendar is the Grant Park 150, which is set to be shown live on TNT Sports from the Chicago Street Course beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 6.



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Corey Heim leads 99 of 100 laps to win inaugural NASCAR Truck race at Lime Rock

When it comes to a perfect race, they don’t get much better than what Corey Heim did on Saturday in the inaugural NASCAR Truck race at Lime Rock Park. He started from pole, posted the fastest lap, won both stages, and led 99 of 100 laps on his way to capturing the checkered flag. Layne […]

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When it comes to a perfect race, they don’t get much better than what Corey Heim did on Saturday in the inaugural NASCAR Truck race at Lime Rock Park. He started from pole, posted the fastest lap, won both stages, and led 99 of 100 laps on his way to capturing the checkered flag. Layne Riggs led one lap as he nosed ahead of Heim (briefly) on a restart.

Heim now has 16 career wins in the Truck Series, which is tenth on the all-time wins list.

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“It was nothing short of incredible, man,” said Heim. “These are the races I really look forward to. I prepare pretty hard for them and to see that all pay off is super special. The truck was so good today. I can’t complain one bit about that. Flawless day. We’ll take that and move forward.”

Ty Majeski finished second, Gio Ruggiero third, Ben Rhodes fourth, and Australian Supercars star Cam Waters rounded out the top five. Chandler Smith was sixth, Josh Bilicki seventh, Brent Crews eighth, Daniel Hemric ninth, and Tyler Ankrum tenth.

The final stage was delayed due to one truck leaking fluid, forcing a brief red flag. Once things got back rolling, Heim remained fully in control with Riggs second and Mosack moving up to third as Taylor slipped back.

Matt Crafton went off track and made an unscheduled pit stop as a result but again, there was no need for a full-course yellow. Dawson Sutton was also forced to limp back to the pits after suffering a cut tire.

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It looked like the race might go caution-free, but Matt Mills got stuck off-track with just 11 laps to go, causing the first natural yellow of the race.

That restart ended up being the most hectic as Jordan Taylor lost control and spun from inside the top five. A couple other trucks were collected including his teammate Rajah Caruth, but the race remained green and Heim escaped the chaos unscathed. Taylor, who had run inside the top five all day, ended up 20th due to the late-race spin.

Stages 1 and 2

Rajah Caruth, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Rajah Caruth, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Rajah Caruth, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

The race was remarkably clean with Heim leading the way from the very start. The No. 11 TRICON Toyota was unstoppable, never truly relinquishing control of the race.

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Spencer Boyd was the first incident of the 100-lapper, spinning off into the grass before carrying on. Heim earned the Stage 1 win with over seven seconds between himself and Layne Riggs with IMSA star Jordan Taylor in third.

The second stage was much of the same with no notable incidents and Heim again driving off with the stage win. Riggs remained second and Taylor third. Passing appeared to be very difficult around the small road course.

Read Also:

Jordan Taylor returns to NASCAR – along with alter ego ‘Rodney Sandstorm’

Nick Sanchez spun, then won in frantic NASCAR Xfinity race at Atlanta

Shocking restart pileup collects ten NASCAR Xfinity cars after weather delay

Joey Logano earns NASCAR Cup pole in a tie as Ford dominates Atlanta qualifying

1

TRICON Garage

11

 

Toyota

100

1:50’28.259

 

4

61

2

98

 

Ford

100

+1.381

1:50’29.640

1.381

5

41

3

TRICON Garage

17

 

Toyota

100

+2.476

1:50’30.735

1.095

5

34

4

99

 

Ford

100

+3.336

1:50’31.595

0.860

5

33

5

66

 

Ford

100

+7.326

1:50’35.585

3.990

5

32

6

Front Row Motorsports

38

 

Ford

100

+8.070

1:50’36.329

0.744

5

41

7

44

 

Chevrolet

100

+8.293

1:50’36.552

0.223

6

 

8

TRICON Garage

1

 

Toyota

100

+9.217

1:50’37.476

0.924

5

36

9

19

 

Chevrolet

100

+9.262

1:50’37.521

0.045

6

28

10

18

 

Chevrolet

100

+10.231

1:50’38.490

0.969

5

27

11

9

 

Chevrolet

100

+10.494

1:50’38.753

0.263

5

27

12

Niece Motorsports

45

 

Chevrolet

100

+10.996

1:50’39.255

0.502

5

35

13

Front Row Motorsports

34

 

Ford

100

+11.685

1:50’39.944

0.689

5

42

14

15

 

Toyota

100

+11.972

1:50’40.231

0.287

6

23

15

Spire Motorsports

07

 

Chevrolet

100

+14.545

1:50’42.804

2.573

5

 

16

McAnally Hilgemann Racing

81

 

Chevrolet

100

+17.326

1:50’45.585

2.781

5

 

17

Spire Motorsports

77

 

Chevrolet

100

+17.462

1:50’45.721

0.136

5

20

18

Young’s Motorsports

02

 

Chevrolet

100

+17.706

1:50’45.965

0.244

5

19

19

88

 

Ford

100

+17.717

1:50’45.976

0.011

7

18

20

7

 

Chevrolet

100

+19.395

1:50’47.654

1.678

5

33

21

Spire Motorsports

71

 

Chevrolet

100

+28.863

1:50’57.122

9.468

5

21

22

McAnally Hilgemann Racing

91

 

Chevrolet

100

+29.796

1:50’58.055

0.933

5

15

23

52

 

Toyota

100

+1’01.549

1:51’29.808

31.753

6

14

24

ThorSport Racing

13

 

Ford

99

+1 Lap

1:49’57.767

1 Lap

6

13

25

56

 

Toyota

98

+2 Laps

1:50’46.576

1 Lap

7

12

26

42

 

Chevrolet

98

+2 Laps

1:50’46.738

0.162

6

11

27

Reaume Brothers Racing

2

 

Ford

98

+2 Laps

1:50’47.314

0.576

5

10

28

Reaume Brothers Racing

33

 

Ford

98

+2 Laps

1:50’49.297

1.983

5

9

29

TRICON Garage

5

 

Toyota

98

+2 Laps

1:50’55.628

6.331

5

8

30

Rackley W.A.R.

26

 

Chevrolet

96

+4 Laps

1:50’50.016

2 Laps

7

7

31

76

 

Chevrolet

92

+8 Laps

1:50’54.293

4 Laps

7

6

32

NDS Motorsports

32

 

Chevrolet

91

+9 Laps

1:42’38.069

1 Lap

5

5

33

Halmar Friesen Racing

62

 

Toyota

90

+10 Laps

1:48’22.920

1 Lap

5

4

34

22

 

Ford

34

+66 Laps

1:10’18.683

56 Laps

4

 

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Corey LaJoie’s Amazon Prime gig may have put him on new NASCAR path

Dale Earnhardt Jr. debuts as NASCAR crew chief, turns to TNT on TV The guys break down Chase Briscoe’s win and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief debut at Pocono. They also review the five-week Amazon Prime Video stint. Corey LaJoie, a NASCAR Cup Series driver, recently finished a stint as a broadcaster for Amazon Prime’s […]

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June 28, 2025

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  • Corey LaJoie, a NASCAR Cup Series driver, recently finished a stint as a broadcaster for Amazon Prime’s NASCAR coverage.
  • He reflects on a near-win at Atlanta in 2022 and a missed opportunity driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
  • LaJoie is content with his broadcasting role and selectively pursuing racing opportunities in the Truck Series.

Corey LaJoie is a race-car driver again. 

For a while there, he traded in the firesuit for TV duds and joined the maiden NASCAR voyage of Amazon Prime Video, which ended its five-week midseason run last weekend at Pocono.

He’s a good talker and the camera likes him, so maybe his NASCAR destiny will include a microphone instead of a steering wheel. After some 25 years of sawing on that wheel and climbing the ladder, only to reach the upper rungs and stall, he seems fine with the possibility.

LaJoie started racing karts at age 5 and progressed through the normal types of cars and tracks, winning often enough along the way to keep the dream alive.

Unlike some young racers, LaJoie was always comfortable and familiar with the landscape atop the stock-car world. His dad, Randy, was a two-time champion (1996-97) in the Busch Series (now Xfinity) and a 15-time winner on that circuit. 

Ironically, the second-generation LaJoie spent almost no time in the Xfinity Series, instead landing a job at the Cup level in 2017. He spent four seasons with three different teams that were going nowhere fast, before moving to upstart Spire Motorsports in 2021 and seeing some glimmers of hope with that upstart team, particularly at Daytona and Talladega.

The closest he came to a breakthrough was the 2022 summer race at Atlanta, where he lost the lead to Chase Elliott on the next-to-last lap, then got into the wall while attempting to retake the lead on the final lap.

The Spire relationship ended late last season when the team basically “traded” LaJoie to Rick Ware Racing for Justin Haley. LaJoie played out the season and, along the way, started meeting with officials from Amazon Prime’s new NASCAR broadcast team. 

He was part of the pre-race and post-race shows alongside Carl Edwards and Danielle Trotta. But he hasn’t sold the helmet and has cobbled together a limited racing schedule this year, including several late-season Truck Series races.

LaJoie and wife Kelly live outside Charlotte, in Davidson, N.C. They have three sons, ages 1 to 5.

Here, LaJoie covers a lot of ground, particularly on the topic of reaching one goal (the Cup Series) but not another (doing well at that level), and how bittersweet it can be. Also, he tells us about the one phone call every driver wants to receive sometime in their career — the call that led to his very short-lived career on the other side of the tracks.

Corey LaJoie on his new NASCAR job with Amazon Prime Video

News-Journal: When and how did the deal come about with Amazon Prime Video?

Corey LaJoie: “I think it was around last October. My career was going through some transitions, and I wasn’t really happy with how things were shaping up. I was just kinda burned out on chasing the ghost and trying to be a race-car driver. They offered me a really enticing deal, and I think anything the Prime group touches … they do it at a high level. Getting in on the front side of that was important to me.

“Talking to my wife, she was the one forcing me into that open door when I was probably a little too stubborn to walk through it myself. But it’s ultimately become one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.”

Corey LaJoie on what he remembers from his dad’s racing career

N-J: How much do you remember of your dad’s racing career?

LaJoie: “Some of my favorite memories were probably on the back side of my dad’s career — I was 9, 10, 11 — it was when dad’s good driving opportunities started to dry up. My favorite memories were going on motorhome trips, seeing the country. We’d just load up in the motorhome and be gone for two months.”

N-J: Were you old enough to remember your dad’s Buckshot Jones feud in the late-’90s?

LaJoie: “Oh yeah. I think it was around ’97 or ’98, I was about 6. They got into it at Bristol. I remember us being escorted out in a police golf cart, and fans were throwing beers at us. I was thinking, ‘Man, this is wild. Why are they throwing (stuff) at my dad.’

“People would send some Buckshot stuff to him every now and then, and my dad would throw it right in the trash. My dad isn’t one to hold a grudge, but there’s one person on Earth he does not like, nor does he ever care to put any work into a working relationship, and that’s Buckshot Jones.”

Corey LaJoie on his own NASCAR Cup Series career

N-J: During your Cup career, how difficult was it to keep showing up every week knowing your car was outclassed by the cars from Hendrick, Gibbs, Penske, etc.?

LaJoie: “Ah man, that’s a good question. I spent legitimately six years … I couldn’t make the amount of money that I made doing anything else. But you trade money for stress. When you dedicate your life to something … I had grown up and been successful and won races in every series I did, then you get to Sundays and you’re handicapped by what you’re driving. It eats away at your soul, because you’re apparently a competitive guy who wants to go run good. But on the contrary, you’re in a situation where you can’t, within reason.

“But I also feel the Lord shuts doors that are meant to be shut, and vice versa. There were two distinct opportunities I turned down to stay loyal to Spire and continue to build. And there’s this weird situation as a race-car driver, when you commit to build something, you commit to knowing you’re going to be a guinea pig. The cars aren’t gonna be any good, people are gonna be in and out leapfrogging for jobs. So the performance isn’t going to be there. 

“So you work … you’re starting to build this car to ultimately where you want it, then you run good enough to where it’s appealing for someone else to come buy your job.”

N-J: You ever consider how much that changed everything in your life?

LaJoie: “I haven’t lost a wink of sleep about it, because if that deal doesn’t dissolve, then this opportunity with Prime doesn’t come, you know, and doesn’t really open up what the next chapter of life might look like … More time at home with my kids, or just a little bit more peace and commitment, not banging your head against the wall, trying to chase whatever goal you have as a race-car driver that you’re never gonna be able to accomplish.” 

N-J: You ever wonder how your career might’ve changed if you had won that Atlanta race in 2022?

LaJoie: “Yeah, who knows? I probably spend more time thinking about that opportunity with the 9 car, when I got to fill in for Chase (Elliott). We went to a place where I wasn’t very confident, at Gateway. We’d blown up there the year before and didn’t get to run many laps. Hendrick (Motorsports) was off all weekend, and it was just a bad weekend, and we ran 20th or 21st.

“You legitimately work your entire life as a race-car driver to get a call from Rick Hendrick, and I got it. I actually missed the call, but he left a voicemail, and I still get to listen to that every now and then, which is cool. If we go to Dover or Bristol or somewhere where I have a lot of confidence, I have no doubt we could’ve contended for the win.

“I’m a pretty religious guy. Sometimes the answer of ‘no’ is for your own protection. Who knows what direction life would’ve gone after that.”

N-J: You’re keeping your foot in the gas with the few Cup races and several Truck races. What’s that future look like to you?

Lajoie: “I’m trying to take it slow. I think it’s important to take good opportunities and be selective with who you work with, this season more than ever, so that’s what I’m doing. I can work my fingers to the bone trying to figure out what’s next … I don’t think that’s where I’m supposed to be at the moment.”

N-J: Why did you do just a one-year deal with Prime? 

LaJoie: I wanted to see if I liked it, and I think they wanted to see if they like me. I think we checked both those boxes. I honestly enjoy it much more than I anticipated. I would love it if we could run it back next year.”



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Chase Briscoe vs. Noah Gragson: A matchup between close friends – Speedway Digest

Before last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway, Chase Briscoe was part of a small minority of drivers keeping a close eye on potential seeding for the In-Season Challenge, which starts Saturday night with the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The standings […]

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June 28, 2025

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Before last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway, Chase Briscoe was part of a small minority of drivers keeping a close eye on potential seeding for the In-Season Challenge, which starts Saturday night with the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The standings before the Pocono race would have paired Briscoe against fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick, a matchup the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota said he would prefer to avoid.

“Right now, I’d go against Tyler if it started this weekend,” Briscoe said at the time. “I’m hoping that changes, because Tyler… I think he’s seeded like 22nd right now, and he’s one of the top five guys in the sport.

“So, it would be a tough Round 1, but honestly, the seeding is tough because at Atlanta anybody could be hard to beat. I feel like at Atlanta you don’t want to go against somebody in your manufacturer (group), because you’re all normally on the same strategy.”

Briscoe, of course, claimed his first victory of the season later that afternoon and dramatically altered his position in the In-Season Challenge bracket. With the win, he earned the second seed behind Michigan winner Denny Hamlin and will face Front Row Motorsports’ Noah Gragson in the first round of the inaugural tournament.

Interestingly, Gragson is the favorite driver of Briscoe’s 3-year-old son Brooks.

He’s also one of Briscoe’s closest friends and may prove as formidable an opponent as Reddick would have been.

“Honestly, I feel like here at a superspeedway, we’ve seen how good the Fords are, and going against a Ford here is certainly a hard challenge,” Briscoe said. “This is one of those race tracks that, no matter what team you are with, you kind of have a shot to go and win.

“It’s no secret, right? Noah is not at one of the powerhouse teams, but when he comes here, he can be right here in the mix. Front Row (Motorsports) cars qualified on the front row here last year, so it will be a challenge.” 



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