Motorsports

Promoter’s Caution could add random layer of chaos in NASCAR All-Star Race

The fate of the NASCAR All-Star Race largely rests on the whims of Marcus Smith, who is giving few hints about how he’ll deploy a new “Promoter’s Caution.” It’s the latest goofy gimmick in an event defined by annual format changes designed to goose the competition in the name of fender-banging fireworks. At a randomly […]

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The fate of the NASCAR All-Star Race largely rests on the whims of Marcus Smith, who is giving few hints about how he’ll deploy a new “Promoter’s Caution.”

It’s the latest goofy gimmick in an event defined by annual format changes designed to goose the competition in the name of fender-banging fireworks. At a randomly selected point Sunday night during the first 220 of 250 laps at North Wilkesboro Speedway, a yellow flag will fly and possibly wipe out a big lead while bunching the field for a race-altering restart.

The decision on when to throw the yellow rests solely with Smith, the president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, which owns the 0.625-mile track in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

“I’ll have a very special mystery guest with a little All-Star Race history of his own to help me out when it’s time to drop the yellow,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we’ll create a little chaos for the teams and some fun for the fans at the same time.”

It’s an attempt to restore some luster to the All-Star Race, which has lost touch with its no-holds-barred origins. The past two events at North Wilkesboro produced runaway victories for Kyle Larson and Joey Logano, who led 199 of 200 laps in 2024.

The most memorable event last year came after the race when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch engaged in fisticuffs after tangling for a mid-pack position. It was a far cry from the furious last-lap battles that once sent an All-Star Race winner to the emergency room (Davey Allison sustained a concussion in 1992 after crashing from contact with Kyle Petty at the checkered flag).

The Promoter’s Caution won’t guarantee a slam-bang ending, but it’s in the vein of an exhibition race with $1 million but no points at stake. While other pro sports have struggled to keep all-star events relevant, Cup Series drivers pride themselves on competing as hard as they would in a race with championship implications — and sometimes harder.

“The All Star Race is not just another race,” Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell said. “Everybody is more aggressive than a normal Sunday Cup race. Everyone has that win it or wear it attitude, and it races differently because of that.”

A sense of resignation from the All-Star Race’s annual format overhauls also makes it easier to accept the inanity of a random yellow.

“I have a hard enough time keeping up with all of the different format stuff,” Team Penske’s Austin Cindric said. “It doesn’t really bother me that much that we’re going to have a Promoter’s Caution because, unless I’m the caution, I can’t control it in any way. It’s just the racing gods, but maybe they’re on earth this time.”

Though its timing could cost him a win, Logano is fine with the Promoter’s Caution because “the All-Star Race presents the opportunity to try things outside of the box.

“I don’t think we should have a Promoter’s Caution in points-paying events,” he said. “But in this case, we do something different. It’s something everyone can talk about. And I just don’t know what they’re going to do. Are they going to put Marcus in the flag stand, and he’s just going to throw a yellow flag?”

The son of late NASCAR Hall of Famer Bruton Smith, who once lobbied for random yellows as the most bombastic promoter in Cup history, is coy about how the Promoter’s Caution will be unveiled.

“I’ve had no shortage of NASCAR experts from inside and outside of the garage giving me advice on what to do,” Marcus Smith said. “I’ve got a couple of scenarios in mind depending on what’s happening with the race. Or I could just go spur of the moment with my gut.”

Odds and ends

Christopher Bell (+350) is the BetMGM Sportsbook favorite, followed by pole-sitter Brad Keselowski (+600), Logano (+650), two-time defending Daytona 500 winner William Byron (+700) and Denny Hamlin (+800). Kyle Larson, who will start last after missing practice and qualifying while attempting to make the Indy 500, is listed at +1000. … Keselowski and Bell were the winners Saturday of the two 75-lap heat races that set the starting lineup for the All-Star Race. Keselowski already was guaranteed the top starting spot for Sunday night’s main event after qualifying on the pole position Friday. Bell will start second Sunday, followed by Ross Chastain, Logano and Byron. … After sitting essentially dormant for more than 35 years, North Wilkesboro Speedway is playing host to its third consecutive All-Star Race since a $20 million makeover. Keselowski wants to move a points race from Charlotte Motor Speedway’s “Roval” layout to North Wilkesboro Speedway and shift the All-Star Race back to Charlotte’s 1.5-mile oval (the host from 1987-2019). “This needs to be a points racetrack,” Keselowski said of North Wilkesboro. “I’m very strong about the Roval has got to go.”

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AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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Motorsports

NASCAR Nashville: Ryan Blaney gets first Cup win of 2025

LEBANON, TENN. — Ryan Blaney broke through at Nashville Superspeedway for his first win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Photo courtesy of Team Penske Blaney led a race-high five times for 139 of 300 laps, including the final 33 laps. It is his 14th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series and first […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 2, 2025

Your Sports Nation

LEBANON, TENN. — Ryan Blaney broke through at Nashville Superspeedway for his first win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Blaney led a race-high five times for 139 of 300 laps, including the final 33 laps. It is his 14th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series and first at Nashville Superspeedway. Most importantly, he is no longer the only other Team Penske driver who is winless on the season.

“The 12 boys are awesome. They stick with it, no matter how it goes, and it was great to finish one out tonight,” Blaney said after doing a rare burnout. “It’s nice that it’s finally happening so I’m going to go celebrate.”

Blaney’s closest competitor throughout the night was Denny Hamlin who, in his 700th start, finished third. Hamlin matched an all-time best mark Jeff Gordon set when he made his 700th start at Darlington Raceway in May 2013.

In total, Hamlin led five times for 79 laps. Toward the end, he didn’t have the pace he needed as the track changed. Worse yet, he also didn’t have any cooler air pumping in nor any water to drink.

“I got hot,” Hamlin said. “I just couldn’t run with the 12 [Blaney] in the super long run. Our best strategy was to run long, catch a caution… but then we got jumped by the 77 [Hocevar]. Then the track went through a really weird phase in the last 30 laps where everyone was pinned to the bottom. There weren’t enough cars running the middle so it threw dust up there and made it like ice so that definitely hurt the passing.”

Sandwiched between the favorites was Carson Hocevar who backed up a stellar run in the Coca-Cola 600 with a second-place finish. Hocevar pitted four laps before Blaney which put him in clean air for those laps and boosted him to second during the final green-flag pit stop cycle.

“This proves how strong this group is to go from the disappointment last week to having a really bad qualifying draw, qualifying bad, to sticking through and having a shot, like a straightaway, I’m just proud of this group. Our average with this car is 38th so this is a big upgrade,” Hocevar said.

Hocevar had a great drive Sunday night, going from 26th in the first stage to seventh in the second stage and second in the end.

STAGE 1 TOP-10 (LAP 90): Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain.

In contrast to the first stage, which went caution-free, the second stage featured four cautions.

On lap 107, Carson Hocevar ran hard into turn three and spun Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into the wall, ending his night last (39th).

Stenhouse wasn’t happy.

“A lap or two before, he tried to dive in there from around 10 car lengths. That time, I opened my entry and he drilled us in the bumper. I’d say it’s not out of the ordinary for him but I wasn’t expecting it,” Stenhouse said. “I definitely have something to do about this at some point.”

Hocevar said he needed to see a replay but defended himself.

“I’ve seen a bunch of people do that same move and get shipped. He was the only one who got wrecked. I feel like it was a common move with how big of a run I had,” Hocevar said.

On the restart seven laps later, in the same corner on lap 114, Alex Bowman got loose and bumped Noah Gragson. The contact left both of them crashed and relegated to 36th and 38th on the night.

Six laps later, on lap 120, Christopher Bell threw a block on Erik Jones as they ran well inside the top-10. Jones fought back and spun Bell around. Bell hit the wall while Jones carried on.

On lap 132, Corey Heim received a “Welcome to the NASCAR Cup Series” gesture from Brad Keselowski. Heim tried to get around Keselowski exiting turn four but wasn’t clear, causing him to hit the wall and end his night in 37th.

When the race went green again, Denny Hamlin controlled the race but Ryan Blaney kept him honest. Blaney challenged Hamlin until William Byron got by and led a lap on lap 167. Then, Hamlin led a lap before Blaney and Byron took control to the end of the stage.

STAGE 2 TOP-10 (LAP 185): Blaney, Byron, Hamlin, Logano, Erik Jones, Austin Cindric, Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, Josh Berry, Bell.

Bell grinded out a top-10 stage finish and held on to the track position through the end of the race. Bubba Wallace rose to the top-10 after a drive-through penalty in the first stage. Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick also made their way into the top-10 after they each had to pit under green for tire issues.

Despite all of the storylines swirling around, Blaney took control. He led 81 of the final 102 laps and took home his first win of 2025.

NASCAR CUP SERIES AT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 300): Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell.

Leaving Nashville, 17 drivers are within a race worth of points of the cutline — either above or below:

Bubba Wallace: 343 (+54 points to the cutline)
Chase Briscoe: 342 (+53)
Alex Bowman: 334 (+45)
Chris Buescher: 297 (+8)
Kyle Busch: 291 (+2)
Ryan Preece: 289 (-2 points to the cutline)
Carson Hocevar: 287 (-4)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr: 285 (-6)
AJ Allmendinger: 284 (-7)
Michael McDowell: 278 (-13)
John Hunter Nemechek: 267 (-24)
Todd Gilliland: 261 (-30)
Erik Jones: 259 (-32)
Zane Smith: 255 (-36)
Austin Dillon: 252 (-39)
Ty Gibbs: 236 (-55)
Daniel Suarez: 231 (-60)

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

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Motorsports

NASCAR RECAP: Blaney executes down the stretch to win at Nashville

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) during the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Photo by Randy Sartin-Imagn Images/Reuters For the second consecutive week, the NASCAR Cup Series raced under the lights, this time at Nashville Superspeedway. Chase Briscoe started on the pole and led 53 laps in the early run, but Denny Hamlin […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 2, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) during the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Photo by Randy Sartin-Imagn Images/Reuters

For the second consecutive week, the NASCAR Cup Series raced under the lights, this time at Nashville Superspeedway. Chase Briscoe started on the pole and led 53 laps in the early run, but Denny Hamlin came through down the back stretch of that 90-lap run to win the first stage of the night and give himself a playoff point.

On pit road after Stage 1, Ryan Blaney took gas and just two tires to take the lead off of pit road and jumped ahead at the restart while Hamlin started to tail off. At Lap 106, Rickey Stenhouse Jr went around after contact from Carson Hocevar put him into the wall and suffered rear tire damage. After trying to get back in the race, more damage was discovered and he ended with a DNF.

Seven laps later, Alex Bowman overrode the corner and collected Noah Gragson in the process, as both cars would end up out of the race a third of the way through.

On the restart, Christopher Bell went around and nearly wrecked Chase Elliott in the aftermath, but the #9 was able to avoid it. Elliott then fell through the field as far as 21st, but was very quiet on the radio about the issues he was facing.

At the end of stage 2, Ryan Blaney got the playoff point and would propel himself to a big run down the early stretch of Stage 3 as the #12 car had a 2.5-second lead over Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, Blaney’s teammate, with 56 laps to go.

With around 55 laps to go, green flag pit stops were underway and Blaney’s crew was excellent, getting the 12 car back on the track in under 10 seconds to regain the lead once pit stops cycled through with abou 30 laps to go. However, during those final five or so laps of stops, Blaney ran into lapped traffic, which shortened the distance between himself and the second-place car of Hocevar.

Blaney was able to space his lead to over 3 seconds as the laps ran down, and he picked up the win on Sunday night in Nashville. Carson Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, and William Byron round out the top 5.

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Motorsports

Ryan Blaney wins NASCAR race at Nashville

Blaney beat Carson Hocevar by nearly three seconds for his first win of 2025. LEBANON, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney captured a NASCAR Cup Series win at Nashville Superspeedway for his first win of 2025. Blaney’s team used pit strategy to get the Team Penske driver to the front with a two-tire call, putting him in […]

Published

3 hours ago

June 2, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Blaney beat Carson Hocevar by nearly three seconds for his first win of 2025.

LEBANON, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney captured a NASCAR Cup Series win at Nashville Superspeedway for his first win of 2025.

Blaney’s team used pit strategy to get the Team Penske driver to the front with a two-tire call, putting him in the lead mid-race. He stayed in the lead for most of the final stage. Blaney is the third Penske driver to win this year.

“We’ve had great speed all year, but it hasn’t always worked out for us,” Blaney said after the win. “I thought it was a good call [to take two tires].”

Carson Hocevar finished second, about three seconds behind the winner. Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and William Byron rounded up the top five.

Chase Briscoe started on the pole for the second week in a row. He led for much of the first stage but lost the lead to Hamlin, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. Hamlin went on to win the first stage.

Blaney’s long quest for the win began in the first stage when he stayed on track much longer than most of the field during the first cycle of green flag pit stops. The move shifted Blaney from outside the top 10 to inside the top 10. He regained the lead by taking two tires on the next stop under yellow.

The first stage ran caution-free, but chaos ensued in the second stage.

First, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun out and hit the wall, bringing out a caution. On the next restart, Alex Bowman got loose and hit Noah Gragson, effectively ending both drivers’ nights. Kyle Larson was also involved but recovered to finish eighth.

Truck series regular Corey Heim brought out the next caution after making contact with Brad Keselowski.

Blaney, Hamlin, and Byron battled for the lead late in stage two, each holding the lead for multiple laps. Blaney prevailed and won the second stage.

Logano, though, became the leader in the final stage after a great pit stop from his crew. Blaney quickly took the spot when the race went green and did not look back.

Blaney led 129 of the race’s 300 laps after starting in 15th.

The NASCAR Cup Series is next in action at the Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, June 8. Tyler Reddick is the defending race winner.

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Motorsports

Ryan Blaney races to first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year at Nashville | National News

LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — Ryan Blaney gave fans a burnout to celebrate kicking off the second half of the NASCAR season by running away down the stretch for his first Cup Series victory of the year Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway. “I’m ready to go celebrate,” Blaney said. The 2023 Cup champ had been racing […]

Published

3 hours ago

June 2, 2025

Your Sports Nation

“I’m ready to go celebrate,” Blaney said.

The 2023 Cup champ had been racing well with five top-five finishes over the first half of this season. He finally got to victory lane in the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske for his 14th career victory and first since Martinsville in November.

“I never gave up hope that’s for sure,” Blaney said. “We’ve had great speed all year. It just hasn’t really been the best year for us as far as good fortune. But (No.) 12 boys are awesome. They stick with it no matter how it goes.”

He became the ninth different winner this season and the fifth driver to win in as many races at Nashville. He also gave Team Penske a second straight Cup win at Nashville’s 1.33-mile concrete track.

Blaney, who started 15th, quickly drove his way to the front as he won the second stage. He easily held off Carson Hocevar by 2.83 seconds. Hocevar matched his career-best finish at Atlanta in February after complaining during the race that his No. 77 Chevrolet was undriveable.

“Either I’m really dramatic or they’re really good on adjustments,” Hocevar said. “Probably a little bit of both, but, yeah, proud of this group proud of this car. A place that is really, really difficult to pass, we’re able to go 26th to second.”

Denny Hamlin finished third in his 700th career Cup Series race, matching the third-place finish by Jeff Gordon at Darlington in 2013 for the best finish in a driver’s 700th race. Joey Logano, who won here last year, was fourth and William Byron fifth.

Hamlin was hoping for one more caution that never came after seven cautions for 35 laps.

“Just couldn’t run with the 12 (Blaney) there in the super long run,” Hamlin said. “After 40 laps, I could maintain with him. But then after that, he just pulled away and stretched it on us.”

There was a sprint to the finish under green forcing teams and drivers to pick and choose went to pit. Blaney had led 107 laps when he went to the pits under green flag on lap 248. Hamlin took the lead before going to pit road on lap 256.

Brad Keselowski had the lead when he went to the pits on lap 269, and Blaney took the lead for the final 31 laps.

Waiting on a call

Hamlin raced Sunday night hoping to take advantage of his starting spot spot beside pole-sitter Chase Briscoe. Whether Hamlin would chase his third win this season had been in question with his third child, a boy, due the same day.

Hamlin practiced and qualified well, so he drove his No. 11 Toyota even as Joe Gibbs Racing had Ryan Truex on standby in case Hamlin got the call that his fiancee was in labor. Hamlin won the first stage.

Tyler Reddick beat his boss Hamlin, a co-owner of his 23XI Racing team, to new parent status, which Reddick announced on social media earlier Sunday.

His family welcomed their second son at 2:20 a.m. on May 25, then Reddick followed up hours later by finishing 26th in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

Early night

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t finish his first race this year. He was the first out when Hocevar tapped his No. 47 Chevrolet, spinning Stenhouse into the wall between Turns 3 and 4 for the second caution of the race on lap 106.

Punishment and more penalties possible?

AJ Allmendinger started at the back of the field and served a stop-and-go penalty after the green flag for an unapproved adjustment to the splitter during Saturday’s practice. His No. 16 Chevrolet was sent back to the garage and then the scanning station before practice and qualifying.

The No. 66 Ford of Chad Finchum failed inspection twice leading to engineer Austin Webb’s ejection. The Garage 66 team also lost pit stall selection.

Up next

NASCAR heads to Michigan International Speedway for the Cup Series on June 8.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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Motorsports

NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville

Ryan Blaney emerged victorious in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway as he defeated Carson Hocevar for the win by 2.830 seconds. For Blaney, it’s his first win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Denny Hamlin finished the race in third, and he was followed by Joey Logano, and William […]

Published

3 hours ago

June 2, 2025

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Denny Hamlin finished the race in third, and he was followed by Joey Logano, and William Byron inside the top-five.

Here are the complete race results from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Race 14 of 36.

Fin	Car	Driver	Laps	Diff
1	12	Ryan Blaney (S2)	300	—
2	77	Carson Hocevar	300	2.830
3	11	Denny Hamlin (S1) (X)	300	3.193
4	22	Joey Logano	300	5.365
5	24	William Byron	300	5.890
6	23	Bubba Wallace	300	6.777
7	43	Erik Jones	300	8.122
8	5	Kyle Larson	300	9.112
9	45	Tyler Reddick	300	10.567
10	20	Christopher Bell	300	11.029
11	1	Ross Chastain	300	12.766
12	8	Kyle Busch	300	13.292
13	38	Zane Smith	300	15.431
14	17	Chris Buescher	300	17.966
15	9	Chase Elliott	300	18.848
16	99	Daniel Suarez	300	19.413
17	19	Chase Briscoe	300	19.442
18	2	Austin Cindric	300	20.481
19	41	Cole Custer	300	23.434
20	16	AJ Allmendinger	300	23.702
21	71	Michael McDowell	300	26.713
22	34	Todd Gilliland	300	28.201
23	6	Brad Keselowski	300	28.978
24	35	Riley Herbst #	300	29.449
25	88	Shane van Gisbergen #	300	30.379
26	10	Ty Dillon	299	1 lap
27	42	John Hunter Nemechek	299	1 lap
28	60	Ryan Preece	299	1 lap
29	3	Austin Dillon	299	1 lap
30	21	Josh Berry	299	1 lap
31	54	Ty Gibbs	299	1 lap
32	7	Justin Haley	299	1 lap
33	51	Cody Ware	297	3 laps
34	44	JJ Yeley * (i)	297	3 laps
35	66	Chad Finchum *	288	12 laps
36	48	Alex Bowman	188	112 laps
37	67	Corey Heim * (i)	130	170 laps
38	4	Noah Gragson	112	188 laps
39	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	110	190 laps

# indicates Rookie of the Year contender
* indicates “Open” entry
(i) indicates the driver is ineligible to score points
(S1) indicates Stage 1 winner
(S2) indicates Stage 2 winner
(X) indicates Xfinity Fastest Lap

Motorsports

Results, winner of Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville

College World Series; Women’s College World Series; NFL OTAs | 2MD College baseball’s 64-team tournament is set to begin; the Women’s College World Series is down to 8 teams; Dolphins, Jaguars, Bucs OTAs. Ryan Blaney returned to Victory Lane for the first time in 2025 Sunday. The 31-year-old led a race-high 139 laps during the […]

Published

4 hours ago

June 2, 2025

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Ryan Blaney returned to Victory Lane for the first time in 2025 Sunday.

The 31-year-old led a race-high 139 laps during the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. It’s the 14th win of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion’s career. He had not won since the penultimate race of last year’s playoffs at Martinsville.

So far this season, nine different drivers have taken checkered flags and punched their postseason tickets.

Behind Blaney, Carson Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and William Byron filled in the rest of the top five. Here’s the full finishing order: