It could take just one move to overturn the whole of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series lineup and Kyle Busch is the starting point of that move, according to veteran Corey LaJoie.

Busch has extended his contract with Richard Childress Racing until 2026, however the future is not certain as it might appear. He’s in the middle of one of the longest winless streaks of his career, almost 70 races, with just two top-five finishes and six top-10s so far in 2025. He’s also outside the Playoff picture for this season.

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The Next Gen car has been a problem for Busch and he has cited before the lack of practice in NASCAR as contributing to it. RCR says Busch is staying, though, but things could still change. And according to NASCAR veteran Corey LaJoie, it wouldn’t take much to cause a major shift in the garage.

“Some big dominoes are going to fall,” LaJoie said on Stacking Pennies. “It just takes Kyle Busch leaving, plugging Suárez in.”

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Could Kyle Busch’s exit be the domino that reshapes the grid?

When Busch signed his extension, it quieted the exit rumors, at least temporarily. But as LaJoie pointed out, NASCAR contracts aren’t always set in stone. With the right legal moves, Busch could leave before 2026. That would open up the №8 Chevy and Suárez could be first in line for it.

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“He hasn’t exhibited that speed. But the truth of the matter is he hasn’t had the success over the last three or four years that we’re accustomed to seeing from Kyle Busch,” said NASCAR analyst Jeff Burton, reflecting on Busch’s decline amid younger drivers passing him by.

And if that seat opens, Daniel Suárez makes a lot of sense. Even before Busch rumors picked up, Suárez’s place at Trackhouse was already looking uncertain. The team confirmed recently that he’ll be leaving after 2025.

Why the shift? It likely comes down to 18-year-old Connor Zilisch. He hasn’t officially been announced as the next driver of the №99, but he’s clearly the favorite. Zilisch already has wins in ARCA, Xfinity, and Truck, and he’s gotten Cup experience through Project91.

At 33, Suárez, former Xfinity champ, still has strong ties to Chevrolet and a valuable presence as a bilingual driver with a loyal fanbase. What he wants now is a solid, competitive ride, and Busch leaving could give him just that. And if Busch steps away, Suárez would be a natural fit for Richard Childress Racing.

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If Busch stays, Suárez’s options may be less ideal. He might have to look at mid-level Cup teams, consider a return to Xfinity, or wait for openings at places like Front Row or 23XI. But none of those routes carries the same upside as a Busch departure.

Everything could hinge on Kyle Busch’s next move. If he decides to walk, or RCR decides to cut ties early, it would open the door for Suárez, speed up Trackhouse’s youth movement, and kick off a much bigger shift across the Cup Series.

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The Sonoma Raceway has named celebrity chef and Food Network star Tyler Florence as the grand marshal for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday.

The South Carolina native has been a longtime fixture of the Bay Area culinary scene, with his flagship San Francisco restaurant Wayfare Tavern as well his steakhouse located at San Francisco’s Chase Center, Miller & Lux.

Sonoma Raceway highlighted Florence’s connection to Sonoma County in its Thursday announcement, citing Florence’s advocacy for the region’s farmers, winemakers and artisans often featured in his dishes and public appearances.

In his role this weekend as grand marshal, Florence will deliver the iconic command, “Drivers, start your engines,” ahead of Sunday’s main event at 12:30 p.m.

“Tyler’s infectious energy and deep-rooted connection to Sonoma County makes him a perfect fit to be a part of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 and celebrate NASCAR’s return to wine country,” said Brian Flynn, executive vice president and general manager of Sonoma Raceway, in a news release.

As a television personality, Florence first gained fame in 2000 as the host of the Food Network program “Food 911,” where he traveled the country to help home cooks improve their dishes. He also hosted “Tyler’s Ultimate” in 2003, showcasing his take on classic dishes, and currently hosts “The Great Food Truck Race,” which debuts its 18th season next month. He has also appeared on “Worst Cooks in America” and “Iron Chef America.”

Another celebrity, ESPN personality Marty Smith will serve as grand marshal for Saturday’s Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the raceway announced earlier this week.

A longtime motor sports reporter, Smith co-hosts the popular ESPN radio show “Marty & McGee” and appears regularly to talk college football, basketball, golf and more on the network’s signature programs, including “SportsCenter” and “College GameDay.”

“Marty’s love for the sport and his authentic connection with fans make him the perfect person to kick off what promises to be an action-packed day at the track,” Flynn said in a Monday news release.

The jam-packed weekend also features live music, driver meet-and-greets and more in the Sonoma Raceway Fan Zone.

Get more information and tickets at sonomaraceway.com.

Friday was supposed to be a rather tame day at the track as the Sonoma race weekend got underway. There was practice and qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Shane van Gisbergen earning pole position, ending the day with an ARCA West race.

Well, despite William Sawalich dominating most of the event, the race ended in one of the most dramatic finishes ever seen at the historic California road course.

When Kyle Keller stalled on the frontstretch, it pushed the race into overtime and set-up a one-lap dash to the checkered flag.

Sawalich was in control with Alon Day directly behind him. Day is an Israeli driver and a four-time champion of the NASCAR Euro Series, but this was just his second start in any ARCA event.

He shoved Sawalich off into the first corner, sending the race leader completely off the track. Day ended up following him into the dirt, skidding back across the track and slamming fenders with Christian Eckes.

Sawalich got back onto the pavement still in the lead, only to have both Day and Eckes split him, moving Eckes into the race lead. Day remained in hot pursuit for the rest of the lap, setting him up for what most thought was about to be a classic bump-and-run.

Instead, Day went to the outside as they approached the hairpin, drawing even with Eckes under braking. Sawalich, who had recovered from his off-track excursion at the start of the final lap, was right there with them. He got into the back of Eckes, pushing him wide and cutting under him as the trio exited the final corner in a contact-filled battle to the line.

Eckes and Sawalich slammed doors and both drivers got into the wall on opposite sides of the track. As they raced to the line, they fanned out in a thrilling three-wide photo finish for the ages.

Sawalich was ultimately victorious with Eckes second and Day finishing a very close third. 

Video of the finish

Sawalich, who competes full-time in the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing, now has four wins as an ARCA West driver. After the dramatic victory, he told Flo Racing: “That was definitely our race. It just sucks that it had to happen that way. We did what we could to to get our car into Victory Lane.”

When asked about the final lap, Sawalich added: “I don’t know what happened in (Turn) 1. I don’t know if I overshot it or — I’m pretty sure I got ran into. It is what it is. It was a good race.”

At the checkered flag, Sawalich was just 0.066s ahead of Eckes with Day within 0.156s of the win.

ARCA Menards Series starting positions for Sonoma Raceway

Later today, the ARCA Menards Series West takes the green flag in Sonoma, California. Now, the field rolls to the track for a round of qualifying to set the starting grid.

View the Sonoma Starting lineup for the ARCA Menards Series below.

Sonoma Menu
ARCA: Prac/Qual | Race
Xfinity: Prac/Qual | Race
Cup: Prac/Qual | Race

Sonoma TV Schedule

Sonoma Raceway
Starting Lineup
July 11, 2025
ARCA Menards Series

Pos | Driver

1. William Sawalich
1:17.507

2. Alon Day
1:17.518

3. Corey Day
1:17.948

4. Tyler Reif
1:18.181

5. Christian Eckes
1:18.398

6. Jack Wood
1:18.507

7. Caleb Shrader
1:18.731

8. Trevor Huddleston
1:19.159

9. Eric Nascimento
1:19.168

10. Kyle Keller
1:19.197

11. Dale Quarterley
1:19.234

12. Will Rodgers
1:19.458

13. Tanner Reif
1:20.134

14. Robbie Kennealy
1:20.167

15. Eric Johnson Jr
1:20.901

16. Jeff Anton
1:21.278

17. Todd Souza
1:21.406

18. Ryan Philpott
1:22.299

19. Davey Magras
1:22.954

20. Kaylee Bryson
1:23.089

21. Rodd Kneeland
1:23.172

22. Blake Lothian
1:31.170

23. David Smith
1:31.924

24. Jonathan Reaume
1:35.411

25. Spencer Gallagher
No Time

Sonoma Raceway
Practice Results
July 11, 2025
ARCA Menards Series

Pos | Driver | Best Time

1. William Sawalich
1:17.5

2. Alon Day
1:18.2

3. Corey Day
1:18.2

4. Jack Wood
1:18.7

5. Tyler Reif
1:18.7

6. Will Rodgers
1:18.8

7. Dale Quarterly
1:19.0

8. Christian Eckes
1:19.0

9. Caleb Shrader
1:19.6

10. Kyle Keller
1:19.8

11. Eric Johnson Jr
1:20.0

12. Eric Nascimento
1:20.1

13. Todd Souza
1:20.4

14. Trevor Huddleston
1:20.5

15. Robbie Kennealy
1:20.6

16. Tanner Reif
1:20.6

17. Jeff Anton
1:21.6

18. Rodd Kneeland
1:23.3

19. Ryan Philpott
1:23.6

20. Kaylee Bryson
1:24.6

21. Davey Magras
1:25.7

22. Spencer Gallagher
1:26.4

23. Nick Joanides
1:27.2

24. Blake Lothian
1:30.4

25. David Smith
1:32.1

Links

Sonoma Raceway | NASCAR | ARCA Menards Series

To no surprise, the head-on impact sustained by Cody Ware in the NASCAR Cup Series street course race in Chicago was the hardest in the history of this current generation racing platform.

“Pretty much everything from the interior of the car, as well as my gear, was killed on that impact,” Ware told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “So, thankfully, getting a new helmet, a new HANS, you know, there was a crack in the EPS foam inside the helmet, the HANS device was cracked, steering wheel, you know, got bent up pretty good as well.

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“So, I think it’s just a testimony to all the safety people that are selling us helmets and HANS, as well as steering wheels from Max Papis. And then my interior guys and all the guys at RWR who are building these race cars and keeping them safe.”

One of the biggest safety development challenges of the NextGen car has concerned the rigidity of the front and rear clips that both needed softening after the 2022 season. One such crash was Ware at Texas in 2022.

You know, unfortunately, this isn’t my first time getting into a gnarly wreck in the NextGen car,” Ware said. “I look back at 2022, and that’s all I had in my mind for those five seconds, it felt like the longest five seconds of my life. You know, when I took that frontal impact in the NextGen car back in 2022 at Texas, that was before a lot of updates in the front clip had been made to make sure that the crush zones were more significant and the chassis would definitely deform a lot more on those impacts.

“So, I just think that’s a testimony to the work that was done between then and now. Because I was pretty worried that whole way to the wall that it was going to be another injury-inducing incident like I had where I broke my foot at Texas. So, I think the progress with the safety of the Next Gen cars has definitely come a long way. Obviously, I don’t want to be the test dummy for that, but thankful to see a dramatic difference in what I felt with the frontal impact at Texas versus what I felt on Sunday in Chicago.”

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On Sunday in Chicago, Ware lost a brake rotor and was unable to slow hos car down at over 90 miles per hour approaching a tire barrier. Race control waited over 30 seconds to call a caution and NASCAR later admitted that it was a mistake born from a less than adequate communication process at the Grant Park street circuit.

JR Motorsports has locked out the front row for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway. Once again, Shane van Gisbergen earned pole position, lapping the track in 1:15.259s, over two tenths clear of teammate Connor Zilisch.

These same two drivers finished 1-2 one week ago at the Chicago Street Course in a race where SVG also started from pole position.

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Car is really, really good,” said van Gisbergen. “I was having fun out there … Looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

Van Gisbergen is also the defending winner of the Sonoma Xfinity race. On how the track has evolved since then, SVG said: “It’s hotter than last year, so it’s a bit slippery. The car is quite different from last year. Just trying to get used to that and how the car reacts. At Chicago, they weren’t too different but compared to what I had here last year, they are quite a bit different. Just trying to get it a bit centered but I feel good.”

As for Zilisch, he lamented some mistakes he made during his qualifying run, but added that there are no trophies for pole position as he shifted focus to the race on Saturday.

Behind SVG and Zilisch, Sam Mayer qualified third, Jesse Love fourth, and William Sawalich fifth. Sawalich was also the fastest driver in Group A, but that time was not quite good enough to get him onto the first two rows.

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Sammy Smith, Carson Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed, and Justin Allgaier filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Austin J. Hill was the lone driver who failed to qualify, driving the No. 35 for Joey Gase Motorsports.

In qualifying, there were no major incidents, but several off-track moments. Will Rodgers spun while both Josh Bilicki and Kvapil ended up in the dirt at some point. Nick Sanchez really struggled, going off-track twice during his qualifying runs.

Taylor Gray suffered an engine failure, which means he will start from the rear of the field.

SVG now has five career pole positions in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with all of them coming at road/street courses.

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