Motorsports
Niece Motorsports NCTS Race Advance: Bristol Motor Speedway II – Speedway Digest
Event: UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics (250 laps / 133.25 miles)
Round: 20 of 25 (Playoffs Round of 10)
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway
Location: Bristol, Tennessee
Date & Time: Thursday, September 11 | 8:00 PM ET
Tune-In: FOX Sports 1 | NASCAR Racing Network (NRN) | SiriusXM Ch. 90
Team Stats & Notes
- Niece Motorsports Bristol Stats: Niece drivers have made a combined total of 30 starts at Bristol Motor Speedway. The organization has garnered a total of two top-fives and four top-10 finishes over the years, including a third-place result with Ross Chastain in 2019. In the spring race, Kaden Honeycutt led the team home with an eighth-place run.
No. 41 Crowe Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Conner Jones | Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett
Conner Jones Racing
@ConnerJones88
@ConnerJones88
Website - Jones Returns: Fredericksburg, Virginia native, Conner Jones makes his third NCTS start of the season behind the wheel of Niece Motorsports’ No. 41 entry at Bristol Motor Speedway. An accomplished short track racer, Jones has primarily spent his year competing in the zMAX CARS Tour.
- Jones’ Bristol Stats: Conner Jones has competed in three NCTS races at Bristol. Jones’ best result at the 0.533-mile short track is a 15th-place finish in 2023, and he finished 36th last fall after suffering overheating issues. In three ARCA Menards Series starts at the track, Jones captured two top-10s, including a personal best of sixth in fall, 2023.
- Shiplett’s Bristol Stats: Mike Shiplett has called four NCTS races from atop the pit box in Bristol. Shiplett’s best truck finish is 13th, which came last fall, and he led Matt Mills to a 20th-place effort in the spring of this year. A two-time Bristol winner (fall, 2007 with Kasey Kahne and fall, 2018 with Kyle Larson), Shiplett picked up seven top-fives and eight top-10s in 13 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) starts. He’s also earned one top-10 in nine Cup Series races.
- Triple Duty Weekend: After Thursday’s NCTS race, Jones will make the drive over to South Boston Speedway to compete in both the zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model (PLM) & Late Model Stock (LMSC) Series. Jones currently sits eighth in the LMSC standings after putting a season together with three top-fives and five top-10s. He’s raced part-time in PLM competition this year.
- On the Truck: Jones’ No. 41 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from Crowe Equipment, a family-owned heavy equipment dealer which specializes in new, used & rebuilt parts.
- Quoting Jones: What makes Bristol a good short track for you to race at?
“I feel like the first time I raced here, it just clicked right off the bat. It’s not necessarily a hard track, but you have grip all the time there and it’s fun to race. I think my short track background definitely helps me out here, because it’s pretty similar to places like Salem and Newport. I’d say that Bristol is different aero-wise, but that’s part of the fun in trying to figure that stuff out.”
About Crowe Equipment: Based in Jasonville, Indiana, Crowe Equipment, Inc. is a family-owned heavy equipment dealer which specializes in new, used & rebuilt parts. To view a full inventory of machinery available online, please visit www.croweequipment.com.
No. 42 J.F. Electric Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Matt Mills | Crew Chief: Landon Polinski
Matt Mills Racing
@MattMillsRacing
@MattMillsRacing
Website
- Mills’ Bristol Stats: Matt Mills has competed in four NCTS races held at Bristol Motor Speedway including his series debut back in 2016. Mills nabbed his best finish at the track in the spring when he crossed the line in 20th-place. Through five NXS starts here, Mills’ best run of 18th-place came in fall, 2019.
- Polinski’s Bristol Stats: Landon Polinski will make his first-career NCTS start as a crew chief at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday.
- NXS Return: Over the off week, Mills competed in the NXS race at World Wide Technology Raceway near the home of J.F. Electric. Driving for DGM Racing, Mills finished 21st in his first race with the series in nearly two years.
- On the Truck: Mills’ No. 42 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from longtime partners J.F. Electric, who will be featured as a co-branded primary sponsor along with DQS Solutions & Staffing and Precision Vehicle Logistics.
- Recapping Darlington: Matt Mills and the No. 42 team had their race ended before the end of stage one. Mills started 18th and began to press forward at the start, but incurred damage after picking up a Darlington stripe. On the very next lap, Mills’ right front tire blew apart, forcing him to hit the wall at a high rate of speed. With too much damage to continue on, Mills finished the race in 29th.
- Points Rundown: Mills continues to sit 18th in the driver points standings heading into the 20th race of the season at Bristol. The driver of the No. 42 Silverado is 21 points behind his teammate, Andrés Pérez de Lara, in 17th-place, and 14 points ahead of Jack Wood in 19th.
- Quoting Mills: What notes can you take away from the spring race to bring into the fall?
“Going into Bristol, I feel like I just need to be more prepared in studying, because that’s a track that I’ve honestly always struggled at. But, being that my teammates had speed there in the spring, that tells me that our team has a good package to work off of once we roll off the truck. I’m definitely going to rely on my teammates and try to get some more notes on their end going into it.”
About J.F. Electric: J.F. Electric is an electrical contractor that provides engineering expertise, backed by construction and installation know-how in a diverse range of service offerings, from utilities and commercial projects, to industrial and telecommunications customers. When having a long family history in an industry, a company not only builds on its knowledge and experience, it takes pride in cultivating a solid understanding of client needs, all the while nurturing strong relationships with its employees. Evolving through five generations of the Fowler family, J.F. Electric has matured into a well-managed and thoughtfully diversified electrical contractor which is poised to continue its growth and expansion into the future.
About Utilitra: Utilitra is a woman-owned firm specializing in utility and technology solutions with a diverse team of specialized professionals. Utilitra is committed to solving their client’s unique challenges, whether one expert or a team of experts is needed. By adapting to the needs of their respective industries, Utilitra has built a range of services for their utility and technology partners.
No. 44 Telcel Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Andrés Pérez de Lara | Crew Chief: Wally Rogers
@AndresPLG2
@Andres.PLG
Website
- Pérez de Lara’s Bristol Stats: Andrés Pérez de Lara made his first NCTS start at Bristol in the spring of this year, where he finished 19th. Pérez de Lara has competed in three ARCA Menards Series events at the short track, picking up two top-fives and three top-10 finishes along the way. His best ARCA finish of third-place came in 2023.
- Rogers’ Bristol Stats: Wally Rogers has called nine NCTS races at Bristol Motor Speedway, finishing as high as third with Matt Crafton in 2004. In the spring race, Rogers brought Bayley Currey a fast truck which led 14 laps, but finished a disappointing 23rd after mechanical issues. Rogers posted two top-fives (third, twice) and seven top-10s in 13 NXS races at the track. He’s also called 11 Cup Series races here.
- On the Truck: Pérez de Lara’s No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from Telcel, a Mexican telecommunications giant, along with associate partners, Claro and Infinitum.
- Recapping Darlington: Andrés Pérez de Lara and the No. 44 team put forth a noble effort in just their second race together as a group. Pérez de Lara started the event in 20th-place, but quickly adapted to the difficult track and made progress throughout the day. In the third stage, Pérez de Lara was running just outside of the top-10 when he was forced into the wall. After repairing the damage to his Telcel machine, the rookie made up some track position to finish in 16th-place.
- Points Rundown: Pérez de Lara remains 17th in the driver points standings after his 16th-place finish at Darlington Raceway. The rookie is only 14 points behind Matt Crafton in 16th-place, and has a 21-point cushion above his teammate, Matt Mills, in 18th.
- Quoting Pérez de Lara: You’ve said this is one of your favorite racetracks, so what are your expectations for this weekend?
“I think this is one of my favorite racetracks because it’s a place that I know pretty well. I’ve been there many times before, and it’s my favorite oval in the US. I know the team ran really well there in the spring, so our motivation is high. We’re going to go to Bristol and run the best we can, and I think if we can put everything together, that should be a really solid race for us as a whole for our team.”
About Telcel: Telcel is Mexico’s leading telecommunications company, providing nationwide coverage, cutting-edge mobile connectivity, and high-speed internet services to millions of users. With over 30 years of experience, Telcel continues to innovate in digital communication, offering solutions that keep people connected anytime, anywhere.
No. 45 Sparco Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Bayley Currey | Crew Chief: Phil Gould
Bayley Currey
@BayleyCurrey
@BayleyCurrey05
Website
- Currey’s Bristol Stats: Bayley Currey has competed in six NCTS races at Bristol since 2018. Currey’s best finish at the short track is 11th, which was earned in the spring race of last year. Through five NXS starts, his best finish was also 11th in the fall of 2022. Currey has also made two Cup Series starts at ‘The Last Great Colosseum’.
- Gould’s Bristol Stats: Phil Gould has called eight NCTS races at Bristol Motor Speedway, producing two top-fives (best of third with Ross Chastain in 2019) and four top-10 finishes. Gould navigated his No. 45 team to an eighth-place finish in the spring with Kaden Honeycutt behind the wheel. In 12 NXS starts here, Gould has delivered three top-10 finishing results.
- On the Truck: Currey’s No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from Sparco, the team’s uniform supplier. Sparco provides Niece Motorsports with driver & pit crew fire suits, gloves, protective underwear, shoes, and more. Bristol marks the first race of the season where Sparco will serve as a primary sponsor for the team.
- Recapping Darlington: Bayley Currey and the No. 45 team fought an uphill battle from the moment the green flag dropped in Darlington. On the initial start, Currey sustained significant damage to both the front and rear ends of his DQS Solutions & Staffing Silverado. Despite pitting numerous times for damage repair, at a racetrack where aero is crucial, the team couldn’t do much to gain speed. As the race continued, Currey was later shoved into the wall by contact from another competitor, which necessitated a green flag pit stop. Currey crossed the line in 25th after a long, hard-fought afternoon.
- Points Rundown: The No. 45 team continues to hold down 11th-place in the owner points standings following Darlington. Entering Bristol, the team has a 48-point lead over ThorSport Racing’s No. 13 entry in 12th-place. In the driver standings, Currey gained three positions in points, now shown in 22nd overall. Currey is 20 points behind Toni Breidinger in 21st, and three points ahead of Luke Baldwin in 23rd.
- Quoting Currey: You had a really fast truck in the spring race when you were on the No. 44 team. Do you think some of that speed can translate over to this team this weekend?
“I think it will The only change I see from the spring race to the fall is where you run on the track due to the PJ1. I know they said they’re going to lay the traction compound down right before our race, which kind of sucks since it will take a little longer for us to move around. I think with the race being longer this time, we should be able to get a good multi-grooved track which will help us out. I think we will have a good shot at running well with our No. 45 Sparco truck.”
Niece Motorsports PR
Hendrick Motorsports has published a classy response following the announcement on Tuesday that NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps would be stepping down at the end of January after 21 years with the organization.
Phelps’ announcement came in the wake of the antitrust lawsuit, which was filed by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR, with both teams refusing to sign the new 2024 charter agreement, alleging “monopolistic” behavior on NASCAR’s part.
The lawsuit, filed in October 2024, ultimately went to court in Charlotte, North Carolina, where a series of damning messages from Phelps were unearthed, seemingly sealing his fate. Ultimately, the case was settled after eight days, with Evergreen charters being the major talking point of the deal.
Responding to Phelps’ decision, Hendrick published a statement later that day, saying: “We thank Steve Phelps for his leadership and dedication to NASCAR over the past two decades.
“He helped our sport navigate opportunities, challenges and periods of significant change while positioning it for the future. We appreciate his service and wish him all the best in his next chapter.”
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The last month has been tough on Phelps after some of his irate messages during charter negotiations came to light.
The most brutal comments of all came in a chain of messages between Phelps and Chief Media & Revenue Officer Brian Herbst during charter negotiations with teams in 2023. At this point, NASCAR was also negotiating what turned out to be a blockbuster seven-year $7.7 billion broadcasting rights deal with Fox, NBC, Amazon Prime Video, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Phelps specifically aimed his frustrations at 80-year-old Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress, commenting: “Childress is an idiot. If they don’t like the state of the sport, sell your charter and get out,” before adding: “Did I mention Childress was an idiot?”
Later, Phelps would go on to suggest: “If he’s that angry (and apparently he is), sign your charter extension and sell. He’s not smart, is a dinosaur, and a malcontent. He’s worth a couple hundred million dollars — every dollar associated with NASCAR in some fashion. Total a–clown.”
The reveal of these messages not only prompted Childress to threaten legal action, but also drew the ire of major sponsor Bass Pro Shops in a public undressing of NASCAR via a letter released on social media.
The following day, a settlement was reached between the teams and NASCAR, which included evergreen charters and the reinstatement of both 23XI and FRM’s six full-time rides as chartered entrants. It is also believed that NASCAR would have had to shell out tens of millions of dollars to settle the case with both teams.
Fast forward to January 6, and Phelps announced he was stepping down, explaining in a statement: “As a lifelong race fan, it gives me immense pride to have served as NASCAR’s first Commissioner and to lead our great sport through so many incredible challenges, opportunities and firsts over my 20 years.
“Our sport is built on the passion of our fans, the dedication of our teams and partners and the commitment of our wonderful employees. It has been an honor to help synthesize the enthusiasm of long-standing NASCAR stakeholders with that of new entrants to our ecosystem, such as media partners, auto manufacturers, track operators and incredible racing talent.
As I embark on new pursuits in sports and other industries, I want to thank the many colleagues, friends and especially the fans that have played such an important and motivational role in my career. Words cannot fully convey the deep appreciation I have for this life-changing experience, for the trust of the France family and for having a place in NASCAR’s amazing history.”
Two Event Entitlements Included in Multiyear Deal, Partnership Expansion with Hitachi Energy
SOUTH BOSTON, VA…..Hitachi Energy has expanded its partnership with South Boston Speedway to become the title sponsor of South Boston Speedway’s Late Model Stock Car Division, which will be known as the Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division starting in 2026.
In addition, Hitachi Energy will sponsor two events at the speedway in both 2026 and 2027 as part of a two-year agreement.
“Hitachi Energy is proud to extend our partnership with South Boston Speedway by sponsoring the Late Model Stock Car Division for the next two years, along with two marquee events,” said Ryland Clark, Senior Corporate Real Estate Facility & Capital Projects Manager for Hitachi Energy.
“South Boston Speedway is a cornerstone of our community, and we’re excited to support the drivers, fans, and families who make this place so special. Investing in local traditions like SoBo strengthens the connection between our team, our neighbors, and the future of Halifax County.”
Hitachi Energy has played a big role at South Boston Speedway including its sponsorship of the lucrative Championship Loyalty Bonus Program which provided awards for eligible drivers in South Boston Speedway’s NASCAR-sanctioned racing divisions.
In addition, South Boston Speedway and Hitachi Energy partnered to collect donations of non-perishable food items to be donated to the Feed Halifax organization at the track’s CARS Tour event in September. Each non-perishable item donated earned a fan one chance at being chosen to wave the green flag for the start of one of the two late model features that night. The Feed Halifax organization set up a trailer at the speedway during the event to collect donations.
South Boston Speedway and Hitachi Energy will revisit the Feed Halifax initiative for 2026.
“We are very appreciative of Hitachi Energy’s partnership with the speedway,” said South Boston Speedway General Manager Brandon Brown, “and are excited about Hitachi Energy extending its partnership to include becoming the title sponsor of our Late Model Stock Car Division and sponsoring two of our events for the next two years.
“Hitachi Energy is a tremendous supporter of the South Boston-Halifax County community through its partnerships with community events and its donations and assistance to community organizations and schools. We thank Hitachi Energy for its support and bringing a new level of excitement and interest in racing at South Boston Speedway for competitors and fans alike.”
The Late Model Stock Car Division is South Boston Speedway’s featured racing division, with the upcoming 2026 season being the 43rd year of the division being the track’s feature division. There have been 103 different winners in 757 NASCAR-sanctioned Late Model Stock Car Division races at South Boston Speedway.
One of the closest championship points battle in the track’s history was waged in the Late Model Stock Car Division this season, with Peyton Sellers of Danville, Virginia winning a record eighth South Boston Speedway title by a narrow two-point margin over Trevor Ward of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Sellers broke the previous record of seven South Boston Speedway titles held by David Blankenship of Mosely, Virginia which had stood for 27 years.
South Boston Speedway will open its 2026 season on Saturday afternoon, March 21, with one of the biggest events of the season, the SMART Modified Tour’s King of the Modifieds event. The track’s Late Model Stock Car Division competitors will be in action as well.
The first event of the season to feature all four of the track’s regular NASCAR-sanctioned racing divisions will be on Saturday afternoon, April 4.
South Boston Speedway’s 2026 season schedule can be found on the speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com. Additional information about South Boston Speedway is available on the speedway’s website and through the track’s social media channels. Information may also be obtained by calling the speedway at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours.
Source: South Boston Speedway
Updated Jan. 7, 2026, 1:07 p.m. ET
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — In 1966, France’s 24 Hours of Le Mans put Ford on the map as one of the world’s premier sports car manufacturers. Sixty years later, Ford is determined to make its mark again — this time as one of the world’s premier off-road makers by taking on the world at the 14-day, 2026 Dakar Rally in the desert of Saudi Arabia.
Ford v Ferrari meets Ford v Toyota.
The Japanese manufacturer, builder of the internationally-ubiquitous Hilux trucks, has dominated this race in recent years, just as Ferrari dominated Le Mans in the early 1960s.
Ford Racing is determined to dethrone Toyota at the end of this Jan. 3-17 race and, in the process, establish its Raptor truck performance badge (synonymous with its F-150, Bronco and Ranger bruisers) as a global icon just as Le Mans made GT40 an international sports car icon (ultimately, GT40 became a movie as well with its Oscar-winning turn).
“For any brand wanting to stake a claim to owning off-road racing, Dakar stands out head and shoulders above all others,” said Global Director of Ford Racing Mark Rushbrook. “Over two relentless weeks and thousands of competitive kilometers . . . there is no place to hide. That is why the 2026 Dakar Rally represents such a meaningful moment for Ford.”
Dakar is one of a series of meaningful moments for the Dearborn automaker’s racing division in 2026 as it has unleashed a historic assault on the world’s top motorsports series, including Formula One (with Red Bull), Le Mans (with Mustang) and off-road (Raptor). Come 2027, it will also be back at Le Mans for the first time since its 1960s dominance in the premier Hypercar class.
After two years getting its feet wet in Dakar — scoring a podium in ‘25 — Ford has come into the Saudi desert this January with an army of firepower.
Eight Raptor T1+ trucks — four of them full factory teams — piloted by some of the world’s most renowned off-road aces have entered the race’s most-capable Ultimate class. Pilots include names like four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz Sr., two-time winner Nani Roma, King of the Hammers champ Mitch Guthrie, Rallycross World Champion Matthias Ekström, world rally ace Martin Prokop, and Le Mans winner Romain Dumas. They will take on the best from Toyota as well as teams from international off-road racing teams Buggyra, Dacia and Century.
Le Mans 1960s GT40 aces AJ Foyt, Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Dan Gurney would be impressed.
The world standard in off-road motorsport since 1979, Dakar got its name from the original race run from Paris to Dakar, Senegal. For the last five years, it’s been held across Saudi Arabia’s demanding terrain. It’s a test of human as well as vehicle endurance as drivers and their navigators riding shotgun must traverse the desert at breakneck speeds while doing their own repairs and enduring extreme weather conditions.
While carrying the Raptor badge, Ford’s Ultimate-class trucks share little with their production siblings.
These are dune buggies on steroids — tube-frame monsters with high-horsepower V-8 engines, huge all-terrain tires, and 14 inches of Fox-shock suspension travel — capable of running at 100-plus mph speeds over a gnarly landscape that looks like something out of the Netflix hit “Stranger Things” dystopia.
The four factory entries — developed with UK-based engineering company M-Sport — are state-of-the-art cyborgs while the four factory-supported buggies are year-old beasts. It’s an arrangement not unlike Ferrari F1 and the Formula One customer teams it supports with last-gen engines.
“Those privateer entries are a deliberate part of how we grow the Raptor ecosystem globally — sharing technology, data and durability across customer teams who are pushing the same hardware in the same extreme conditions,” said Rushbrook. “That depth strengthens the program, accelerates learning and reinforces the credibility of the Raptor platform.”
That ethic is part of a Ford business model to make money in motorsports — rather than just race for headline glory as it did in the ‘60s. The Raptor T1 program follows Ford’s Mustang GT3, GT4 and Dark Horse Challenge series efforts where Ford sells GT-class race cars to teams globally.
“Ford Racing today is also very much a business, and a growing one,” Rushbrook said pre-race. “We’ve proven across our Mustang programs what true race-to-road integration can deliver. That same philosophy now fully extends to Raptor and our off-road portfolio.”
In the brutal conditions of Dakar the private teams also are contenders to win outright. Just three days into Dakar on Jan. 6, for example, the private Orlen Jipocar Ford team driven by Prokop was second to the Guthrie-piloted factory effort as Ford entries swept the top five positions, with Toyota a distant ninth.
Ford’s early stage success (Dakar competitors must prove themselves over 13 stages totaling 5,000 miles) was born of teething years in 2024-25. Just as Ford struggled to build reliable Dakar warriors, so did its Le Man assault demand patience before its 1966 breakthrough.
“Our earlier years at Dakar were about building knowledge: understanding the race, the rhythms, the terrain and the operational demands,” said Rushbrook. “The phase we enter now is different. The objective is no longer to validate the program, the objective is to contend for overall victory.”
Whatever the outcome of this year’s Dakar Rally, Ford’s racing efforts are consistent with the history of a brand that has used racing for marketing and engineering excellence since Henry Ford won the Sweepstakes Race in 1901 — securing investors for his fledgling Ford Motor Company.
“Racing has served as our most demanding engineering laboratory and one of our most powerful brand amplifiers,” said Rushbrook.
It’s a philosophy that is also at the root of Ferrari and Porsche — and has recently taken hold at General Motors Co., which is also competing in F1 and Le Mans.
For all brands, the searing heat of motorsports translates directly into better road cars — putting cutting-edge tech to the test to improve performance and reliability, not to mention developing better engineers.
Ford’s Dakar ambitions follow successful off-road efforts in North America at the famed Baja 1000 and King of the Hammers competitions in Mexico and California, respectively. Factory teams have won production GT classes with F-150 Raptors and Broncos.
Similar production classes are also in play in international rally races like Dakar, where brands as diverse as Range Rover and Honda Powersports (motorcycles) compete across the desert.
But like Ford v Ferrari in the 1960s, Ford’s Dakar goals have started at the top of the sport.
Like Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship, Dakar is the jewel of a year-long race series, the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). Ford and Toyota will continue to exchange blows across the world in Portugal (March), Argentina (May), and Morocco (October) before the Abu Dhabi finale in November.
That’s the same month as Ford/Red Bull wraps the F1 season in the streets of Abu Dhabi.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
After decades of building some of the most respected engines in the world, Cummins Inc. is officially returning to NASCAR’s national spotlight in a big way. The global power technology leader has signed on as the full-season primary sponsor of Brenden Queen and the No. 12 Ram 1500 for the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, fielded by Kaulig Racing.
For Mopar fans and racing enthusiasts alike, this partnership hits on multiple levels. It reunites two legendary American brands—Cummins and Ram—on one of the most visible motorsports stages in the country, while also backing one of stock car racing’s fastest-rising young drivers.
Cummins branding will appear on the primary livery of Queen’s No. 12 Ram 1500 for every Truck Series race in 2026. The deal represents the latest chapter in a relationship between Cummins and Ram that dates back to 1989, when the first Cummins-powered Dodge Ram rolled off the line. Since then, more than 3.5 million Ram trucks have been powered by Cummins diesel engines, setting the benchmark for durability and capability in the heavy-duty pickup segment.
That deep-rooted history makes this return to NASCAR feel less like a marketing move and more like a homecoming.
“Cummins has racing in its DNA,” said Brett Merritt, Vice President and President, Engine Business, Cummins. “From Clessie Cummins winning the first Indianapolis 500 as a crew member to our leadership in commercial power, we’ve always pushed the limits of what’s possible. Brenden Queen represents that same spirit – talented, hardworking, and full of momentum. Partnering with both Kaulig Racing and Ram provides the opportunity for us to continue to write our motorsport legacy.”
Queen, known to fans as “Butterbean,” enters 2026 as one of the most talked-about prospects in the sport. The 28-year-old Chesapeake, Virginia native put together a dominant run in the ARCA Menards Series, earning eight wins and finishing in the top five in 17 of 20 races en route to a championship. That success opened the door to five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts late in 2025, where Queen delivered strong, confidence-building performances against deeper competition.
Those results made him the first driver announced as part of Ram’s highly anticipated return to the Truck Series, and now he’ll carry one of the most recognizable names in American engineering on his truck.
To Queen, the opportunity is both humbling and motivating. Driving a Ram-backed truck with Cummins on the hood connects modern NASCAR ambition with decades of truck and diesel heritage that fans instantly recognize.
For Kaulig Racing, landing Cummins as a full-season primary sponsor is a major statement of intent. The organization has built its reputation through competitive Xfinity and Cup programs, and 2026 marks an aggressive push to establish itself as a consistent contender in the Truck Series.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Cummins to the Kaulig Racing family,” said Chris Rice, Chief Executive Officer of Kaulig Racing. “Their engineering excellence and commitment to innovation are a perfect match for our vision. Brenden is an exceptional talent, and we’re building a program around him that we believe can compete for wins and make a playoff run right away.”
The No. 12 Cummins Ram 1500 will officially hit the track at the 2026 season opener at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 13. Under the lights at Daytona, one of America’s most iconic engine builders will once again be part of NASCAR’s national conversation—this time paired with a new generation of driver talent and a familiar Ram badge.
For Cummins, Ram, and Kaulig Racing, 2026 isn’t just about sponsorship. It’s about legacy, performance, and proving that American engineering still belongs at the front of the field.
Kyle Larson made it count when it mattered most, winning the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship after a dramatic late-race restart in the Phoenix Raceway finale. But will the now-two-time champ get your vote for NASCAR Driver of the Year?
The Hendrick Motorsports driver started his 2025 campaign with three wins and five more top-five finishes in the first dozen races, then saw his form dip dramatically, before digging deep to stay in Playoffs contention and finally seal the deal.
Before that final restart, Denny Hamlin looked to be cruising to a seventh win of the season and a first Cup Series championship, but was left to rue another one that got away. Will the outpourings of goodwill and sympathy Denny received convert into votes? It’s your call, readers.
Or how about Shane van Gisbergen, who’s switched from the Australia-based Supercars Championship and took an unprecedented five road-course wins in his first full Cup Series season with Trackhouse Racing? That was impressive stuff – as was William Byron’s second-straight Daytona 500 win, a hard-fought first regular season championship and his third-straight Championship 4 appearance.
Outside of the Cup Series, rising star Connor Zilisch won 10 races in the Xfinity Series, including seven of the final eight regular season rounds, but was pipped to the title by Jesse Love in the Phoenix season-closer. Meanwhile, Corey Heim dominated the Craftsman Truck Series with 12 wins from 25 races, including five wins in the seven-race Playoffs.
Could a season like Heim’s or Zilisch’s put the stars of the Cup Series in the shade? It’s your call and your votes, and we’re looking forward to finding out who you’ve put top.
Voting will remain open for 72 hours, and we’ll be announcing your 2025 NASCAR Driver of the Year on January 15.
Plus, coming soon: vote for your sports car racing marque of the year.
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