Connor Zilisch continues to harbor dreams of racing in Formula 1 as he climbs the ranks and impresses in NASCAR.

Zilisch has emerged as one of the brightest prospects in NASCAR. The 19-year-old has won at every level he has competed in, and even took the checkered flag with Dale Earnhardt Jr. serving as his interim crew chief. 

At Sonoma Raceway, Zilisch impressively defeated the in-form Shane van Gisbergen in a thrilling Xfinity Series race. Van Gisbergen has been in electric form recently, winning three of the last five Cup Series races, highlighting the teenager’s ability. 

Zilisch is currently driving full-time with JR Motorsports and is contracted to Trackhouse Racing, where he participates in a partial Cup program. He is set to be elevated into a permanent Cup Series seat alongside Van Gisbergen next year.

While he is attracting attention and hitting headlines in NASCAR, Zilisch started his career in karts and spent time in Europe. His original goal was reaching Formala 1, and it still remains on his list of targets for the future. 

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“It’s always in the back of my mind,” said Zilisch on the Stacking Pennies Podcast of a possible F1 future. “Growing up it was my dream, I wanted to race F1. I went to Europe when I was a kid racing go-karts, it’s what I wanted to do. It’s just when I was younger, I didn’t really have the chance.

“Now with an American team [Cadillac] being brought to F1, having connections with Red Bull and being kinda tied in there, I’d say the chances aren’t zero.”

Cadillac is set to arrive on the F1 grid for the 2026 season, but Zilisch hopes to establish himself in NASCAR first. He is also looking for a multi-year commitment before he entertains the idea of switching codes, even after his karting career in Europe saw him win the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy series in 2020.

“If it were to happen, I’d have to go over there for at least a year, two years probably to even get enough Super Licence points to qualify,” Zilisch declared. “I’d run F3… I’d just run a bunch of ‘BS’ series to get Super Licence points. Middle East F3, random things that you can do to get the points.

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“That’s why it would be such a big commitment. I’d want to get settled in here first and know that if I go over there for two years I could come back and still have a job.”

Zilisch is certainly intrigued by the idea of racing in different cars and series. He added: “I’m not the guy who cares to win 250 races in NASCAR like a Kyle Busch or care to go for a win record. I want to win a championship here and I want to be successful, but I want to experience different series and different cultures and what there is to explore in the world of motorsports.”

Zilisch is next in Xfinity Series action in the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sat., July 26.

Honoring the 250th Anniversary of the United States Navy, all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions will tackle a street course race around Naval Base Coronado outside of San Diego, California.

NASCAR To Race At Naval Base Coronado, San Diego, in 2026 to Honor Navy’s 250th

To celebrate the United States Navy’s 250th anniversary, NASCAR is heading to San Diego for a historic first: all three national series—Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck—will compete on a street course built inside Naval Air Station North Island, part of Naval Base Coronado. The race weekend will be Father’s Day Weekend, June 19th-21st, 2026.

With Chicago’s Street Course off the 2026 schedule, rumors of a San Diego replacement gained traction. Now confirmed, the new event is more exciting than expected.

“As part of our nation’s 250th anniversary, we are honored for NASCAR to join the celebration as we host our first street race at a military base, Naval Base Coronado,” said NASCAR Senior Vice President Ben Kennedy. “NASCAR San Diego Weekend will honor the Navy’s history and the men and women who serve, as we take the best motorsports in the world to the streets of Naval Base Coronado.”

To announce the event, NASCAR released a Top Gun: Maverick-inspired video featuring Cup drivers Chase Elliott, William Byron, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, and Carson Hocevar.

Project: Race the Base.

We’re bringing a different kind of speed to @USNavy Base Coronado in 2026. pic.twitter.com/A3mRh2x8bN

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 23, 2025

The Track: Naval Air Station North Island

The street course will run through Naval Air Station North Island—the birthplace of naval aviation and a location made iconic by the Top Gun films. Naval Base Coronado spans nine installations across Southern California, from San Clemente Island to Long Beach.

NASCAR has not released the track layout yet, but parts of the track will include parts of the Naval Air Station’s tarmac. The length will roughly be 3 miles.

“NASCAR embodies the very best of the American spirit through speed, precision, and an unyielding pursuit of excellence,” said Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan. “Hosting a race on this base is more than a historic first—it’s a powerful tribute to shared values like grit, teamwork, and love of country.”

“Hosting one of America’s premier motorsports events on this historic base reflects our partnership with the local community and our shared pride in the nation’s heritage,” added Captain Loren Jacobi. “We are honored to showcase the dedication of our Sailors alongside NASCAR’s finest.”

What an exciting location, combining an active military base with a new NASCAR venue. This race will be an exciting one to attend, and has the potential to be massive for the sport.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race on Friday, June 19th, 2026. The Xfinity Series will follow, racing on Saturday, June 20th. The Cup Series will race Sunday, June 21st.

Craftsman Truck Series coverage will be on Fox. Xfinity Series coverage on The CW. Cup Series coverage will be on Amazon Prime.

Tickets will go on sale in the fall on NASCAR San Diego’s website.

Last Word On Motorsports will continue to update fans on any updates to NASCAR’s San Diego Weekend.

July 23, 2025

July 23, 2025 – This weekend, Mia Lovell returns to Trans Am Presented by Pirelli Western Championship competition with Nitro Motorsports, as the series heads to Portland International Raceway for Round 4 of the season. The event marks the first doubleheader weekend on the Western Championship schedule, presenting an exciting opportunity for Lovell, and the team, to score valuable championship points in their quest for the TA2 Western Championship title. 

Lovell last competed in the series at Mid-Ohio in late June, where she secured another top-ten finish. Now, with the summer break behind her, and a two-race weekend on tap, she’s focused on putting together a strong performance in the #40 Nitro Motorsports machine. 

“I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel at Portland,” explained Lovell. “This track has such a fun rhythm to it, and with the doubleheader format, there’s a huge opportunity to gain ground in the championship standings. The Nitro crew has worked hard to prep me a great car, and I’m excited to get after it.” 

Portland International Raceway, located just outside downtown Portland, is a 1.97-mile, 12-turn permanent road course known for its tight technical layout and signature Festival Curves chicane. The circuit demands precision and consistency, key qualities that Lovell has continued to display throughout the season. 

The weekend schedule will kick off Friday with a test session, followed by official practice. Saturday will feature qualifying and race one of the doubleheader weekend. On Sunday, teams will return to the track for a morning warm-up and race two, the final contest of the weekend. 

Following Portland, the Trans Am Western Championship will see only two more stops on the 2025 calendar: Thunderhill Raceway Park and the season finale at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), setting the stage for an intense final stretch of racing. Lovell will stay sharp by competing in the National TA2 race at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in September, with Pro Late Model races at Colorado National Speedway and Tri-County Speedway along the way. 

Fans can follow Mia Lovell and Nitro Motorsports throughout the weekend on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content.

Notes of Interest

●Eyes on Indy. The family-owned Beard Motorsports team is gearing up for its third NASCAR Cup Series race of the season and second in a row with 20-year-old driver Jesse Love when it hits the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for Sunday’s Brickyard 400. The event marks the team’s first on the legendary four-cornered, 2.5-mile layout and the first in Cup Series competition for Love, the native of Menlo Park, California, who was last seen behind the wheel of the No. 62 C4 Ultimate Energy Beard Motorsports Chevrolet in the team’s most recent Cup Series race May 4 on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth.

●The Team’s Latest New Track. Sunday’s race marks the 33rd start for Beard Motorsports since its Cup Series debut in the 2017 Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, and the Indianapolis oval will be the sixth different track on which it has competed. Through its first seven seasons, the high-banked, 2.5-mile Daytona oval and its sister track, the behemoth 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, were where the team focused its Cup Series efforts, with 21 of its first 22 appearances in the series coming at those two layouts from the 2017 Daytona 500 through the April 23 race at Talladega. The lone outlier in that

stretch was the August 2020 Go Bowling 235 on the 3.61-mile, 14-turn Daytona road course during the final Cup Series season for the team’s original driver, Brendan Gaughan. After continuing its focus on the Daytona and Talladega superspeedways in 2021 and 2022, the team added three new tracks to its resume in 2023 – the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway in July, the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn in August, and the 2.28-mile, 17-turn Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval in October. Love’s outing in the Beard Motorsports Chevrolet at Texas in May represented the team’s first in the Lone Star State.

●Young Driver’s Cup Series Indoctrination Continues. Love will be making his fourth career Cup Series start Sunday, all this season. The second-year fulltime competitor for Richard Childress Racing (RCR) in the NASCAR Xfinity Series made his Cup Series debut in the April 13 Food City 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where he qualified 19th and finished 31st in the No. 33 RCR Chevrolet. Love’s second Cup Series race May 4 at Texas in the Beard Motorsports Chevrolet was cut short by an accident in the latter stages of the race. He was back in the RCR Chevrolet the following weekend at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, where he qualified 32nd and finished 29th.

●Previous Indianapolis Experience. Love has one previous outing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in the Xfinity Series. He piloted the No. 2 RCR Chevrolet to a 13th-place finish from the 15th starting position in the July 2024 Xfinity Series race at the track. In his 53 career Xfinity Series races the past two seasons, Love has a pair of victories – in April 2024 at Talladega and at this year’s February season opener at Daytona – 12 top-five finishes, 31 top-10s, seven pole positions, and has led 511 laps. He’ll also be part of Saturday’s Xfinity Series field. Meanwhile, Love has experienced success in the area, just across town in the August 2023 ARCA Menards Series race on the .686-mile Indianapolis Raceway Park oval., He dominated behind the wheel of a Venturini Motorsports entry, winning from the pole and leading 154 of 200 race laps along the way.

●Beard Motorsports and C4. Riding along with Love and the No. 62 Beard Chevrolet at Indianapolis will be C4 Energy, America’s fastest-growing energy drink brand. Nutrabolt, owner of C4®, is the No. 1-selling global pre-workout brand and one of the fastest-growing energy drink companies in the country. Making its C4 Ultimate Energy product lineup more delicious and even cooler, Nutrabolt recently introduced the Frost collection – a product extension available in three flavors that will also unveil a unique can technology that transitions from silver to blue when the can is cold and ready to drink.

● In Case You Didn’t Know. Entering a new race market is always a good time to highlight the Beard Motorsports story – a boutique race team borne out of a passion for racing and sustained by love for the family patriarch. The late Mark Beard Sr., brought his dream to life when he fielded the No. 62 Chevrolet in the season-opening Daytona 500 in 2017. Upon his passing in 2021, his wife, daughter and son pursued the racing dream in remembrance of Beard. Owned by Linda Beard and managed by daughter Amie Beard-Deja and son Mark Beard Jr., the No. 62 NASCAR Cup Series team continues to participate in select events on an annual basis.

● A Powered Partnership. As it has been since 2017, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports team has been powered by an ECR-built engine and the team has leveraged the power of those engines to post solid finishes. To date, Beard Motorsports has participated in 33 Cup Series events, scoring two top-five finishes and seven top-10s.

● Next Up. Following this weekend, Beard Motorsports returns to the Cup Series for the Aug. 23 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. Driver and sponsor information are to be announced.

Jesse Love, Driver of the No. 62 C4 Ultimate Energy Chevrolet Camaro:

The Brickyard 400 is one of the marquee events for the NASCAR Cup Series. What will it mean to be a part of the starting field for this race?

“I have been to Indy a few times and I have watched the Indy 500. I always thought that was the coolest race in the world. I always loved going to Indy. It’s not my favorite racetrack to drive, but it’s the coolest race track I think there is because of the history and because of the Indy 500.”

This will be your fourth Cup Series start, all having come this season. What have you learned about the NextGen cars during your first three starts?

“Learning about the cars and what balance I need in the car, how to race, some of my strengths and weaknesses, too.”

You have one previous start on the Brickyard oval, albeit in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. What was that experience like? Did you learn things that will be applicable this weekend? And anything you can bring to this weekend from your previous three Cup Series starts this season on intermediate tracks?

“I crashed on lap one (of last year’s Xfinity Series race), so not really. I drove the car without the right-front fender on it, but I still feel like I have an understanding of what the racing is like there, so I kind of have a good idea of what the weekend is going to look like and what the race will be like. (Otherwise,) I feel like Indy is its own racetrack. There’s nothing else like it or even similar to it.”

How are you preparing for double duty this weekend at Indianapolis? How much does the extra seat time help for Sunday?

“I think it helps. I’m going to have to prepare a little more. It’s basically double the prep. I’m going to have to be a little more nitty-gritty on the Cup side because I obviously don’t race those cars as much as I do on the Xfinity side.”

Beard Motorsports PR

A victory in the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG is one of the most coveted accomplishments in the NASCAR Cup Series, but there also will be another prize on the line in this year’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Ty Gibbs and Ty Dillon are the last drivers standing in NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge, which ends with the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG on Sunday, July 27.

A field of 32 drivers was whittled to Ty vs. Ty in the single-elimination tournament, with the winner’s team owner earning a $1 million bonus at the checkered flag at IMS. Gibbs and Dillon will race at the same time as all the other competitors in the NASCAR Cup Series classic, with the driver finishing ahead earning the big bonus for his team.

The top 32 drivers in points after the Cracker Barrel 400 on June 1 at Nashville Superspeedway became eligible for the Challenge, with races June 8 at Michigan International Speedway, June 15 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and June 22 at Pocono Raceway determining the seeding by each driver’s best finish in those events.

Drivers advanced by finishing ahead of their opponent within each of the races. All competition took place within the regularly scheduled Cup Series race.

Gibbs, who drives the No. 54 Toyota for his grandfather’s Joe Gibbs Racing team, entered the competition as the No. 6 seed. Dillon, who drives the No. 10 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing, made a stirring advance to the final from the 32nd and final seed.

Last Sunday in the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway, Gibbs beat No. 23 seed Tyler Reddick to advance to the final, while Dillon continued his Cinderella story march to the final by beating No. 12 seed John Hunter Nemechek.

Besides Reddick, Gibbs also beat Justin Haley in the first round at Atlanta, AJ Allmendinger in the second round at Chicago and Zane Smith in the quarterfinals at Sonoma. Dillon upset top-seeded Denny Hamlin at Atlanta and then beat Brad Keselowski at Chicago and Alex Bowman at Sonoma.

Gibbs has been a stronger finisher than Dillon during the In-Season Challenge. He has placed 14th, second, seventh and fifth overall in the four races leading to the final, while Dillon finished eighth, 20th, 17th and 20th in those events.

Prior results in the Brickyard 400 are somewhat inconclusive when trying to predict a winner. Gibbs has made just one start in the annual NASCAR summer crown jewel, finishing 23rd after qualifying sixth in 2024. Dillon’s average Brickyard finish is 17.2 in five starts. He finished 19th last year, ahead of Gibbs.

As an interesting aside, neither Gibbs nor Dillon has won a Cup Series race. Sealing the In-Season Challenge crown with a first victory at IMS would be one of the most memorable moments of the 2025 NASCAR season.

Ticket information for the Brickyard Weekend, which includes the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG on Sunday, July 26 and the Pennzoil 250 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, is available at IMS.com.