INDYCAR

Caio Collet kept the upper hand on championship leader Dennis Hauger during the second practice for the Grand Prix of Road America on Saturday, eyeing his first pole and victory of the INDY NXT by Firestone season.

2024 series Rookie of the Year Collet was quickest at 1 minute, 52.3358 seconds in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car, nearly one second quicker than his session-leading time of 1:53.1345 from Friday. Collet is third in the standings, 78 points behind Hauger, with a best start and finish this season of second in the INDYCAR development series.

SEE: Practice Results

Hauger was second once again, this time at 1:52.3998 in the No. 28 Nammo car of Andretti Global. Myles Rowe jumped from sixth Friday to third in the 45-minute session today at 1:52.8789 in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy machine.

Callum Hedge also charged up the leader board today on the 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit, climbing from seventh to fourth at 1:53.0088 in the No. 17 Abel Motorsports car. Salvador de Alba rounded out the top five at 1:53.3482 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi entry of Andretti Global.

Lochie Hughes, second in the standings and just 19 points behind Hauger, ended up seventh at 1:53.3950 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car of Andretti Global. Hughes was third Friday.

Up next is qualifying at 1:30 p.m. ET today. The 20-lap race starts at 11 a.m. ET Sunday. Live coverage of both sessions will be provided by FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Denny Hamlin returns this week after missing last week’s race in Mexico City. He stayed home after the birth of his third child midweek.

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet and the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, met with the media in advance of running double duty in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series at Pocono Raceway.

Media Availability Quotes:

“We would like to take some positive things that we had a year ago to this weekend. That would be great. So, we will just keep chipping away, and I thought we were doing some good things so we just have to do some of the things we are doing well and add some more to it.”

WILLIAM (BYRON) AND KYLE (LARSON) ARE 1-2 IN POINTS, LED A LOT OF LAPS AND WON RACES. YOU ARE NOT TOO FAR BEHIND THEM, BUT WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO DO TO LEAD MORE AND GET INTO VICTORY LANE?

“I think there are a lot of things that go into that. It’s a little bit of everything truthfully, but I think probably the biggest one, is qualifying. You know I think the qualifying thing is so important and an area that I have struggled in. No doubt. So, when I look at some of the races…I look at Michigan, I think Michigan is a good example. We got ourselves up front and when that happened, I thought we were super competitive. It was like night and day from running around 10th to 20th and just a lot of traffic, and starting runs in traffic and it can just really dictate what your car drives like. So, I think being up front, having a really good pit stall, keeping yourself up there, it can change the complexion of your day in such a large way that it can really be overlooked. So, I think that would be really top of mind for me as I look at what is one thing that we can do to help ourselves, and I think that is probably it.”

WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO RUN THE XFINITY RACE THIS WEEKEND?

“Well, I mean it’s an opportunity for me to get better. I don’t do a ton of Xfinity races or Truck races or whatever, so for me, it’s mainly the Cup thing. So, it’s an opportunity to race and I only had one on my schedule this year and when they talked about adding another one I was super open to it and wanted to get involved. Had a lot of fun in Darlington, thought we were really competitive and right in the mix. So, I think the car is in a really good spot and everybody on the Xfinity side of the shop has done a really good job of getting this thing really where it needs to be. So, yeah, it’s been fun to be a part of that process a little bit and hopefully we can keep it rolling and have some fun and also get some reps here today and kind of get myself up to speed. I hope that it will help us a little bit on the Cup side and just start the day off quick, get a good qualifying effort over there, and help us for tomorrow.”

YOU HAD THE UNIQUE POSITION OF BEING ON A PODIUM LAST WEEK. ARE YOU FOR THAT IN FUTURE RACES?

“Yeah, I am not really for it or against it. I am fine with it. I have no problem in giving Shane (Van Gisbergen) his congratulations and making sure he is celebrated properly. He won the race, and he deserved the right to that. Me being the second loser, I can get in there and make sure that I appreciate the job that he did. I guess that is what you are getting at, there is no doubt. Would I have rather that been me? Yeah, no question. It’s not normal for us, so I am okay with it, I am okay with doing it, I am okay with not doing it. If that is going to be a new thing, then it’s totally fine and we can start a new tradition. But that has not historically been us, so I just want to make sure our focus is being us, being NASCAR and that is okay. We are our own form of motorsports and we can stand on our own two feet and we can do our own thing. So, as long as we are not doing it to be like everyone else, I am fine. But if that is the case, I am also good not doing it.”

WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE SO FAR, HAS THIS BEEN A GOOD SEASON FOR YOU?

“That is a good question. Good? Sure, but it’s not where I want to be no doubt. I think for us there have been some high spots and to be honest, there have been weeks where we have run well where we have had a good finish, and there have been weeks where we have not had a good finish and I can go home and be like, ‘man, we were in the mix, and we had good pace today’. And those are the weeks where you just want to feel like you are in the ball game as it pertains to pace, doing the right things, and getting up in there and giving yourself a shot. Those days I can go home and have something to be proud of. It’s the days and weekends where we are just not even relevant that I think are the most frustrating to me. We have had more of those than I would want to have and that we would want to have as a team. So, I think it’s been good but not satisfactory for myself or to our team, but there is still a lot of racing left in the season and I think we have ourselves in a position to make a mediocre day alright. We can build from it, and we still have a chance.”

ARE YOU APPROACHING THESE NEXT FIVE RACES AS GETTING THE WIN, OR POINTS OR CASE BY CASE BASIS?

“I think it’s a little bit case by case and a lot of it comes back to my speed comments. It’s do you really have a legit shot at winning that day. I mean just based on your pace and so on and so forth. Its super circumstantial is the best way to answer that. The biggest circumstance that is going to dictate what you do in those moments is what kind of pace you have, and what kind of real shot you have to win the race when you just kind of sit back and look at the day so far and compare it to the guys that have had good air and are out front. I have a pretty good idea when that is the case and when that is not the case, but certainly Alan and everybody on the box on the team, they are the ones that are watching that much closer than I am able to. So, we will see, and I hope that we are fast, and I am down with giving up Stage points to give ourselves a shot to win, all day long for sure. But if you are struggling and you are not super-fast, then some days those points might be worth the risk to try and get them and put yourself in a deficit the next stage.”

HOW WILL YOU NAVIGATE THROUGH THE HIGHER WINDS, AND WHERE WILL IT AFFECT YOU THE MOST?

“It’s definitely been windy in general, I feel like across the country. It seems like….especially this late in the year. But I do think the wind died down yesterday and I don’t feel like its going to be as big of a deal today and tomorrow from what I saw. But, it just depends on what direction it’s blowing and which direction the wind is pushing you, and where it’s working. The wind can work against you, but it can also work with you, for car handling too. Having a head wind is a good thing, right? So, you have to kind of think about it both ways and making a lap, you are going to see all different directions of the wind. And it just depends on which way its going and which corner it’s going to help you and which one it’s going to hurt you. You have to think about that a little bit.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR DESIGN TO DRIVE INITIATIVE?

“Yeah, for those that don’t know, it’s been our foundation’s initiative over the last nine years. It’s just all in support of children’s health care of Atlanta. We have typically done something around the Atlanta race every year and it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of it and watch it grow. It started as a shoe initiative where we were designing shoes, and we were auctioning those off. Then NAPA got involved and really when NAPA got involved it kind of took it to the next step, because they have given up one of their races to let this happen. A young girl named Raylen has designed my car, my helmet, and all the things for next weekend in Atlanta. I am super excited to meet her and have her family out at the track and hopefully spread some joy with her and her family and also to help a good cause. They are a fantastic network of hospitals, and I have some close friends of mine that have gone through there and it’s an amazing place if you do have to do anything. And no one wants that, right? But an amazing place, amazing atmosphere, great doctors, so we are just really proud and it’s an honor for me to partner with them. I am sure it’s not as much help as a lot of people do, but we have tried to help where we can and to grow this deal and it’s been a really fun thing to be a part of. So, I am looking forward to it next weekend as well.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS GOING TO YOUR HOME TRACK?

“I would like to go win. Pretty simple.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN TAKE, EVEN WITHOUT WINNING, THAT YOU AND THE TEAM CAN TAKE FROM THE CONSISTENCY SO FAR INTO THE LATTER HALF OF THE SEASON?

“The consistency has been good, but this deal really rewards winning. It’s way more important to win and to get those Playoff points in fives than to have to wait till the end of the regular season and maybe get eight or ten, depending on where you finish in the points. So, you need to have some wins, and you need to finish good in the points and then kind of double down on that to get yourself in a really good spot. The consistency is nice, no question. I think our team has done a really good job taking some of those days where we were not having a good day, and digging in, and finding a way to just get something halfway decent out of it. Sometimes that can be a really hard thing to do, and I am really proud of them for that. Because it’s easy to throw in the towel on those days, just lose it and be done and go try again next week. But we as a whole, we don’t know any better and we just keep trying, keep pushing, and make the most out of whatever the day has brought us.”

GM PR

With his win in the inaugural Mexico City race last weekend, Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen has punched his first career ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet won last week by more than 16-seconds, the largest margin of victory in a NASCAR Cup Serie race since 2009.

The 36-year-old New Zealander – a three-time Australian Supercars Series champion – insisted that having that “ticket” into the Playoffs would not really change the way he goes about competing this year – his first time running a full season.

Although he famously became the first driver in NASCAR history to win in his first career NASCAR Cup Series start at Chicago in 2023 – the Mexico City win was only his second top-10 of this season.

“I don’t think it really has [changed his mindset],” Van Gisbergen said of the victory. “It was always our goal to win. There’s probably less pressure on road courses now. We can play with our strategy if we want to try and get playoff points now and stuff like that.

“But yeah, probably less pressure. We can enjoy the road courses a bit more. But yeah, the ovals, we just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing; keep our head down, keep improving every week, and try and keep getting good results. We’ve been frustrated with top-20s the last couple of weeks, which is a huge improvement for us for how we started. Our potential is getting a lot better, and hopefully we keep getting close to that back-end of the top-10. That would be good.”

Chase Elliott won a NASCAR Cup race at Pocono in 2022, but it came in the most bizarre fashion.

Long after the race had ended and the track’s grandstands had cleared, the apparent race winner, Denny Hamlin, and the apparent runner-up, Kyle Busch, were disqualified when their cars didn’t pass inspection.

Elliott, who had finished third, found out about his “victory” after he got back home in Georgia.

Matt Barndt found out about Elliott’s win while getting ready to get on a plane at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. He was stunned, but happy.

Barndt, a Lower Saucon Township native and Saucon Valley High School graduate, has one wish this weekend as he returns to familiar turf at Pocono Raceway as Elliott’s car chief.

“This time I want us to win because we were the first ones across the finish line,” Barndt said. “I don’t want to win it any other way. And I want to get a celebration in Victory Lane. That didn’t happen the last time.”

Barndt, a 2009 Saucon grad, has been working with Elliott since Elliott joined Hendrick Motorsports on a full-time basis in 2016. Barndt previously worked with NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, a staple of Hendrick’s dominant racing team.

“Basically, everyone who worked on Jeff”s team went on Chase’s team,” Barndt said.

Bardnt has formed a strong bond with Elliott, who is 29 and five years younger than Barndt.

“His experience far exceeds his years because he grew up in a racing family,” Barndt said. “He’s a great person to work with, and we communicate quite well. We both grew up around race tracks.”

Of course, Barndt must also work with crew chief Alan Gustafson, who has been working with Elliott since 2016 and entered this season as the longest-running driver-crew chief pairing in the Cup Series. Barndt and Gustafson also have a great rapport.

During an interview available on the Hendrick Motorsports website, Barndt said he was fortunate that Gustafson saw something in him when he was ready to graduate from college.

“You transitioned from design engineer to race engineer to car chief in a really short period of time, and you’re still really young.” Gustafson said. “And now you have a really difficult job.”

Barndt said that NASCAR’s newest car, now in its third season, makes it difficult for any team to gain an advantage. That’s one reason why Hendrick, which used to be considered the Yankees of NASCAR because of its all-star lineup and dominance in the Cup series, no longer dominates.

But Barndt said Hendrick remains a great place to work. He started working there on an internship while a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, which is located right smack dab in the home base for NASCAR and its teams.

Barndt earned a degree in mechanical engineering, but his heart was in racing, which is something he started at the age of 5.

“I started in quarter-midgets, then did mini-cups, asphalt late-models, and after starting at local tracks, I went to national events around the country,” he said. “My sister was racing, too. We were a racing family. The dream was always to make it to this level of the sport, but it happened in a different capacity. That competitive drive and desire to win when I was a kid is still there. But now I’m not on the track, but you still want to find an edge. I still want to win.”

Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, is a seven-time winner of NASCAR’s Cup Series Most Popular Driver Award as voted on by the fans. His father, Bill, won the same award 16 times.

There are a lot of people who hope Elliott can end a drought and win a Cup points race for the first time since April 2024 at Texas.

While he hasn’t won a race, he has a streak of 16 top-20 finishes going for him.

“I go into every race thinking we can win,” Barndt said. “And I feel the same way about this race. We’ve been running well. We would love to get one at Pocono.”

Win or lose, Barndt, who flew to Pennsylvania late Friday afternoon from Charlotte, said it’s tough to find time to go home and visit with family.

“We now put on two-day shows in NASCAR, and things aren’t spread out like they used to be when you’d get to town on Thursday night,” he said. “From the time we get there, we’ll be going to work and try to figure out what we need to do to be successful.”

Kurt Busch named grand marshal

Kurt Busch made his way into Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway three times and won on the Cup circuit 34 times.

He’s on his way into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January.

But he will make a pitstop at Pocono Raceway on Sunday to serve as grand marshal of The Great American Getaway 400, the marquee event of NASCAR’s three-race weekend at Pocono.

Governor Josh Shapiro will serve as the honorary starter and wave the green flag for the 2 p.m. race being live-streamed by Amazon Prime.

“We’re honored to celebrate Kurt’s Hall of Fame career with our fans,” Pocono Raceway President Ben May said. “Pocono Raceway is proud to be a small part of that illustrious career with Kurt being a three-time race winner and two-time polesitter.

Busch, 46, won at Pocono in 2005, ’07, and ’16. He also won the pole in 2005 and ’11. He totaled 21 top-10 finishes, including 14 in the top five, in 41 career starts in Monroe County.

In 23 years on the circuit, Busch won the series title in 2004 and the 2017 Daytona 500. He also won at least four times in each of the three NASCAR national series — Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck.

In addition to being named grand marshal, Busch will be honored by Pocono with “TY KURT” painted on the start/finish line, and the Mattioli Foundation will donate $10,000 to Vet Tix in his honor.

Pocono Raceway schedule

Saturday 

8 a.m. — Gates, Fan Fair & Paddock Open

10 a.m. — NASCAR Xfinity Series practice

11:05 a.m. — NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying

12:35 p.m. — NASCAR Cup Series practice

1:45 p.m. — NASCAR Cup Series qualifying

3:30 p.m.  —  Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series Race (100 Laps / 250 Miles)

Sunday

8 a.m. — Gates, Fan Fair & Paddock Open

2 p.m. —  The Great American Getaway 400 NASCAR Cup Series Race (160 Laps / 400 Miles)

Originally Published: June 21, 2025 at 7:00 AM EDT

There’s just something about country music and NASCAR, don’t you think? The two pair well with one another, like ketchup and mustard — which, coincidentally, you can get on your hot dog at the racetrack’s concession stand.

Whether racing is considered a “country” sport or not, there are plenty of country music fans who enjoy watching their favorite drivers out on the track on Sunday afternoon. Networks have picked up on this, and many use hit country tracks in their promotional video packages.

And if you’ve been out to the track to take in an event, you know it’s likely the race will feature country music playing in the stands. If you’re really lucky, it will be a country artist singing the national anthem before the first engine is revved up.

Country Music Loves NASCAR

There are quite a few country artists who are fans of the sport of racing. In addition to being a part of race day traditions, it’s not a rare thing for singers and their families to be roaming the infield or the pit area at the tracks in Nashville.

Country artists have also been given the honor of taking part in other pre-race activities, like driving the pace car, waving the checkered flag and delivering the iconic line, “Gentlemen, start your engines.”

And let’s not forget those who have graced the actual cars themselves.

Luke Combs, Bailey Zimmerman and Chris Stapleton are some of those whose names or likenesses have been used on a car’s wrap, thanks to various drivers. We’ve never seen some of these guys move so fast!

The next time you rally up the crew on race day, add these songs to your pre-race soundtrack. Some are sentimental and others are just silly, but they’re perfect for any fan!

Keep scrolling to see the best country songs about NASCAR.