Chase Elliott is making an extra appearance for Hendrick Motorsports in the Xfinity Series this weekend at Pocono and has been given a chance to work with a potential replacement for his crew chief

Chase Elliott is set to make an additional appearance for Hendrick Motorsports in the Xfinity Series this weekend at Pocono, driving the No. 17 car.

And the extra race provides him with another opportunity to collaborate with up-and-coming crew chief Adam Wall, who is working his way into the picture as a potential successor amidst increasing pressure on Alan Gustafson.

Despite the No. 9 car’s consistent performance in the Cup Series, a dearth of race wins and front runs has led many of Elliott’s dedicated fans to question if changes are necessary, while Jeff Gordon recently compared Elliott to his Hendrick teammates. Elliott recently put the ball in Hendrick’s court with a simple comment on his future, and has consistently defended Gustafson and his team from criticism.

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But Wall has achieved significant success with the No. 17 car, despite working with a variety of drivers, which has significantly enhanced his reputation. While there’s no current indication of any changes within Elliott’s team, Wall is positioning himself as a clear contender should Hendrick decide to make adjustments.

Elliott will now have a second opportunity this season to work under Wall’s direction, having previously driven the No. 17 car to a second-place finish at Darlington earlier this year.

With Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, and William Byron all having raced in the car, along with several races for rising dirt track star Corey Day, it’s been a significant opportunity for Wall, who worked for JR Motorsports last season.

He has climbed the ranks from multiple positions within the race shop, and contributing to Larson’s No. 5 team that clinched the Cup Series title in 2021.

Wall expressed his excitement about his career progress earlier this season, stating “It’s a huge opportunity for me. I’ve been a lot of places in this organization, kind of worked my way up through it, so to get to this point, it’s the whole goal of my journey through this place was to get here. It’s a cool spot to be in.”

The upcoming races are set to turn all eyes on Elliott as he teams up with Wall, maneuvering the No. 17 car through the ‘Tricky Triangle’, tackling double duty ahead of Sunday’s Cup showdown.

MEXICO CITY — If you can win a race by the largest margin of victory in two decades, you have proven you are among the best of the best in your discipline.

Shane van Gisbergen did just that in Mexico City. He punched his ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs by 16.567 seconds. It was the largest margin of victory in a Cup race since Kurt Busch won at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2009 by a fuel-mileage-aided 25.686-second margin of victory.

The playoffs is supposed to include the best of the best of the series, isn’t it? Now Shane van Gisbergen is in.

SVG held off past road course winners and playoff qualifiers Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman when they hounded him. Then, he proceeded to drive away from them by as much as a second a lap and buried past champion Chase Elliott’s chances of winning in a far, far distant third-place.

The New Zealander admittedly has an advantage. SVG became an 81-time winner and a three-time champion running Supercars Championship cars that have essentially the same tube-style chassis as the current Cup Series cars. Even still, in his lone NASCAR Xfinity Series season with cars most akin to traditional American stock cars generations of drivers and champions have grown up on, SVG was one of the series’ leading winners with three checkered flags in 2024.

SVG is not a traditional driver in any sense. He is 36 years old in his rookie Cup season and just jumped from 33rd in the championship points standings to being virtually locked into the playoffs. Even after the win, he is 30th in points — far away from even whiffing the playoffs for the first 10 years of it.

For 10 years, the playoffs were about taking the top-10 or top-12 drivers in the series — with points used to effectively determine the top drivers. The 2014 format shift meant winners effectively determined the top drivers more.

Winning is valuable. Fans clamored for it to mean more after Matt Kenseth’s 2003 championship, leading to the playoffs.

Winning proves a point. SVG could easily affirm his place in the playoffs and detract any haters at the three road courses coming up where he is a favorite.

Winning is tough. In the 77-year history of the Cup Series, only 206 drivers have ever won a single race. 144 drivers have won multiple races. For reference:

• 2,997 drivers have made at least one start
• 1,945 drivers have multiple starts
• 418 drivers have made 30 or more starts
  • Sunday marked SVG’s 30th Cup start

There are more drivers who have made any starts as SVG and never won than there are drivers who have made as many starts as him and won.

NASCAR has continuously swung the pendulum on rewarding wins in the playoffs. The original format didn’t seed the playoffs based on wins. The second through fourth formats did but the fourth format didn’t beyond the first round of the playoffs, leading us to the balance NASCAR has struck — drivers get into the playoffs on the strength of the win but get into the championship round on the strength of their performance throughout the season.

SVG has been improving on ovals but is unlikely (for now) to steal a spot in the Championship 4 – let alone the Round of 16. Historically, the Round of 16 is a time for some teams and their partners to revel in the playoff glory before their subsequent elimination.

Again, it’s a reward for achieving something tough — winning. In the respective years that drivers like Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Harrison Burton got it done, former champions like Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch didn’t and paid for it — albeit in different circumstances than each other.

Beyond a win and glory, a playoff berth guarantees extra money over the next three years. That extra money arguably allowed a team like Hyak Motorsports to survive and contend for the playoffs this year despite losing many of their major partners.

For Trackhouse Racing, a team that has been struggling with finding raw speed, losing key higher-ups like Pitbull and Ty Norris and failing to get multiple cars in the playoffs the last two seasons, this is just as huge for them. Two cars in the playoffs puts them on-par with heavyweights like Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports. With contract talks swirling within the team as they look to find a spot for hotshot Connor Zilisch, SVG and Trackhouse are securing their future in real-time.

As some have said, “don’t hate the player, hate the game” — but how do you change the game? Proposals have swirled and people have called for past formats to return. But NASCAR usually never looks back, especially when their format has promoted parity in the sense of what a burgeoning or smaller team can do with playoff money that they couldn’t do without it.

Not to, crossovers like SVG can bring a new audience and excitement to the sport for more than a handful of races.

So welcome to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Shane van Gisbergen! You’re here at the right time when a ringer like yourself can be hired for your talents and to deliver for a huge, new opportunity for a team like yours.

Again, “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Play on, SVG.

Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.

A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.

Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick’s final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers’ stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.

Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com

It’s been an up and down year for Denny Hamlin on and off the track in 2025, but the 44-year-old has been boosted with news of a Joe Gibbs Racing deal this week.

The veteran racer has already won three of the first 15 NASCAR Cup Series races this year, finishing second in another two, and is fifth in the drivers’ championship points standings despite missing last weekend’s race in Mexico City.

The reason for missing that race was one of the major ‘ups’ in Hamlin’s 2025, with his fiancee Jordan Fish giving birth to their third child in the days leading up to the road course event.

Hamlin’s issues have been more focused around 23XI Racing, the team he co-owns with Michael Jordan, but the Joe Gibbs Racing team he drives for have gone from strength to strength this week with a new partnership with Bob’s Discount Furniture.

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Hamlin opens up on new Joe Gibbs deal

Hamlin will debut the No. 11 Bob’s Discount Furniture Toyota Camry XSE at Iowa Speedway in August, with fans getting a first glimpse of it at the grand opening of the Bob’s Discount Furniture location in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Thursday, July 17th.

In a statement announcing the deal, Joe Gibbs said: “We are thrilled to partner with Bob’s Discount Furniture. Racing every weekend all across the country, we will have the opportunity to promote their great furniture at everyday low prices to race fans everywhere.

“We are especially excited to have the opportunity to celebrate their expansion into North Carolina at the grand opening event at their new Winston-Salem store on July 17th.”

Hamlin added: “We’re excited to welcome Bob’s to our No. 11 team and to have their new locations opening up close to home. If you look at their marketing and social media, they do a great job being creative, so we’re really looking forward to what kind of ideas we can work on together both on and off the racetrack.”

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Related

The following are Thursday’s qualifying results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, North Central Division 19th Annual University Hospitals Cavalcade of Stars presented by Budweiser:

The event experienced weather and will resume qualifying in the morning.  SST and STK are complete with the rest of the classes still needing to run in the morning as mentioned.

COMPETITION ELIMINATOR
1) Ryan Priddy, Chino, Calif., ’20 Camaro, A/A, 6.493 seconds, -0.587 (under index)
2) Brian Browell, Lafayette, Ind., ’15 MR2, D/D, 7.161, -0.579
3) Rodger Brogdon, Tomball, Texas, ’34 Roadster, B/SR, 7.845, -0.575
4) Patrick Ross, Avon Lake, Ohio, ’05 Gran AM, D/A, 7.748, -0.552
5) David Dupps, Germantown, Ohio, ’06 GTO, C/EA, 8.170, -0.530
6) Michael Farrell, Louisville, Ky., ’34 Chev, B/SR, 7.885, -0.525
7) Jeremy Bailey, N. Manchester, Ind., ’97 Agan, C/DA, 7.085, -0.515
8) Robert Bailey, Wabash, Ind., ’21 Agan, A/ED, 6.683, -0.497
9) John Frech, Cortland, Ohio, ’88 RED, F/D, 8.086, -0.474
10) Greg Kamplain, Brownsburg, Ind., ’12 Spitzer, C/DA, 7.081, -0.469

SUPER STOCK
1) Tony Alvey, Mount Washington, Ky., ’01 Sonoma, GT/TB, 9.943 seconds, -0.907 (under index)
2) David Dupps, Germantown, Ohio, ’06 Cobalt, SS/BS, 8.768, -0.882
3) Nicholas Morris, Louisville, Ky., ’03 Mustang, FGT/I, 9.619, -0.881
4) Mike Walter, E. Canton, Ohio, ’92 Formula, GT/OA, 10.572, -0.878
5) Robert Rashid, Grosse Pointe Wo, Mich., ’05 Cavalier, GT/GA, 9.533, -0.867
6) Stephen Belanger, Elizabeth, Ind., ’67 Camaro, SS/H, 9.638, -0.862
7) Richard Rodgers, Dearborn Heights, Mich., ’14 Cobrajet, FGT/C, 8.971, -0.829
8) Jeremy Duncan, Charlestown, Ind., ’69 Camaro, SS/DA, 9.371, -0.829
9) Fred Allen, Winamac, Ind., ’03 S10, SS/TB, 9.078, -0.822
10) Charles Weber, Frewsburg, N.Y., ’82 Camaro, SS/KA, 10.437, -0.813

STOCK ELIMINATOR (Final)
1) Paul Carr, Highland, Mich., ’15 Camaro, FS/F, 10.201 seconds, -0.999 (under index)
2) Matthew Antrobius, Centerville, Ohio, ’89 Camaro, H/SA, 11.188, -0.962
3) L. Scott Libersher, Wilmington, Ill., ’15 Copo, FS/C, 9.357, -0.943
4) Mike Taylor, Somerset, Ky., ’79 Malibu, K/S, 11.608, -0.942
5) Darren Robinson, Berryton, Kan., ’70 Duster, D/SA, 10.608, -0.942
6) Ronald Jewell, Holley, N.Y., ’70 Chevelle, E/SA, 10.762, -0.938
7) Robert Gyorke, Clarkston, Mich., ’69 Camaro, A/SA, 10.075, -0.925
8) Corkey Welfel, Goodlettsville, Tenn., ’83 Camaro, H/SA, 11.232, -0.918
9) Mike Delahanty, Novi, Mich., ’64 Belvedere, A/SA, 10.083, -0.917
10) Kevin Wideman, Huntersville, N.C., ’23 Camaro, FS/D, 9.694, -0.906

OAKLEY TOP SPORTSMAN
1) Glenn Butcher, Doylestown, Ohio, ’69 Camaro, 6.307 seconds, 221.52 mph
2) Darian Boesch, Kenner, La., ’18 Camaro SS, 6.333, 225.90
3) Robert Mandell, Culleoka, Tenn., ’55 Bel AIR, 6.338, 225.75
4) Dennis Dowson, Auburn, Ill., ’14 Challenger, 6.432, 222.07
5) Jeffrey Brooks, Fredericksburg, Va., ’51 Henry J, 6.443, 216.79
6) Scott Wasko, Columbia Stn, Ohio, ’11 GXP, 6.445, 214.45
7) Ronald Proctor, Hedgesville, W.V., ’09 Mustang, 6.527, 211.53
8) Mark McDonald, Boonville, Ind., ’67 Mustang, 6.538, 211.83
9) Rick Sojka, North Aurora, Ill., ’02 Firebird, 6.554, 216.31
10) Keith Castle, Columbia Station, Ohio, ’07 Stratus, 6.583, 210.83

OAKLEY TOP DRAGSTER
1) JB Strassweg, Evansville, Ind., ’20 Miller, 6.129 seconds, 220.33 mph
2) Scott Luken, Perry Hall, Md., ’12 Dragster, 6.148, 225.37
3) Edward Dudley, Plainfield, Ind., ’11 Dragster, 6.157, 223.69
4) Jim Prevo, Mundelein, Ill., ’15 VRN, 6.159, 225.82
5) Gregory Rice, Maryland Heights, Mo., ’15 Profab, 6.171, 226.13
6) Darian Boesch, Kenner, La., ’23 Danny Nelson, 6.192, 203.09
7) Blake Peavler, Olney, Ill., ’14 American, 6.236, 223.36
8) Alan Kenny, Jupiter, Fla., ’14 Dan Page, 6.236, 223.10
9) Frank Carpinelli, N. Canton, Ohio, ’14 Undercover, 6.247, 203.37
10) Prescott Dean, Olathe, Kan., ’22 Mullis, 6.299, 189.98

CONCORD, N.C. — Margins in NASCAR have never been smaller.

Whether it’s the leveling effect of the Next Gen car or the evolving technological arms race among teams, the Cup Series has never been tighter. And as parity grows, so does the need to uncover even the slightest competitive advantage.

That’s where artificial intelligence comes in.

From performance analysis to data visualizations, AI is playing an increasingly pivotal role in how race teams operate across the NASCAR garage. Teams are using AI not just to crunch numbers, but also to make quicker decisions, generate strategic insights — and even rewrite the way they approach race weekends.

“It just builds a little bit more each year,” said Josh Sell, RFK Racing’s competition director. “We’re doing more now than we were a year ago. And we’ll probably be doing more a year from now than we are sitting here right now. It just continues to evolve.”

Asking better questions, getting smarter answers

The rise of AI in NASCAR mirrors the broader tech world.

Early large language models — or LLMs — were trained to answer basic questions. But now, they can cite sources, detect tone and reason through complex decisions. That opens up a new world for how teams evaluate everything from strategy calls to post-race feedback.

For example, a full race’s worth of driver and crew radio chatter can be fed into an AI model that not only identifies which calls worked and which didn’t, but also interprets tone and urgency in real time.

“Information is speed in this game nowadays,” said Tom Gray, technical director at Hendrick Motorsports. “He who can distill the information quicker and get to the decision quicker, ultimately, is going to have the race win. If you can control the race or make that decision that gets you in control of the race at the end, you’re going to be win the one who wins.”

Finding the time where it matters

AI is also helping teams develop talent and streamline operations.

Even if someone on the team isn’t an expert in a particular field, AI can help them learn new skills faster. That’s especially important in the highly specialized Cup Series garage — and it could help smaller teams close the gap with bigger operations.

RFK Racing, now a three-car Cup Series team, is already seeing those benefits.

AI helps reduce the hours team members spend manually analyzing photos or videos. Instead of having a crew chief sort through everything, the software flags the most relevant material and delivers it quickly. On the technical side, the team is also using tools like ChatGPT to assist with software development, solving coding problems in various languages and freeing up engineers to focus on execution.

“It’s trying to figure out ways where, instead of having a crew chief spending three hours studying whatever it might be — photos, videos — if we can shorten that to an hour of really impactful time,” Sell said. “Looking at things that are important to them, not searching to find those things. That’s the biggest gain we see, and certainly whether it’s through the week or on race weekends, time is our limiting factor.

“You have a finite amount of time from the time practice ends to when the race starts. What you’re able to do to maximize the efficiency of that time is kind of a race in and of itself.”

Visuals, velocity and vintage data

At Hendrick Motorsports, the winningest team in Cup Series history, AI is being used both to look ahead and to look back.

The team now works closely with Amazon Web Services (AWS) — a relationship that began after Prime Video sponsored one of its cars. The partnership has accelerated Hendrick’s use of AI across several key areas.

One of those is visual communication. Engineers are now generating images to help share ideas, whether they’re pitching a new part or breaking down a technical strategy. That ability to visualize complex concepts instantly helps everyone stay aligned and efficient.

Hendrick is also leveraging its four decades of data. The team can now go back and test old strategies, setups and decisions using AI to predict how past insights might inform future success.

“We’ve had a long history in the sport,” Gray said. “Not only can we look forward, but we can also look backward, back-test all the information we have, and see how that predicts the future.”