2025 NASCAR

[220]

Interesting race so far with the speed difference between old and new tires only around 10 laps to get a lap back.
Around half race distance before the first yellow, SVG has been putting in one of his better oval performances, slowly working his way forward, started P27 and was up to P15 when the last pit cycle started. After 40 laps on tires he is turning laps as quick as anyone on track, looks like his ability to look after tires on road courses is translating to Richmond and these soft tires.

[220]

A win for Austin Dillon sees him into the playoffs becoming the 14th winner for the year.
I will await all the social media outrage over him making the playoffs given he sits behind SVG in regular season points.
SVG had a bit of pit drama, contact with another car getting into his pit box, still managed to finish P14.
Bubba actually lead quite a bit of the race but lost a wheel in pit lane, he pulled into I think it was #19 cars pit box, they grabbed a new wheel nut picked up the lost wheel and fitted it for him. First time I can remember another team servicing some else's car.

[cooperhawk]

Bubba actually lead quite a bit of the race but lost a wheel in pit lane, he pulled into I think it was #19 cars pit box, they grabbed a new wheel nut picked up the lost wheel and fitted it for him. First time I can remember another team servicing some else's car.

I'm not a big Dillon fan but he did win this one clean.
Bubba's Toyota team is supported by the Gibbs group, so why not help if you can. Besides, he blocked their pit for their car.

[220]

I really dont understand the no practice at a lot of tracks with Nascar.
In play again this week at Daytona, already Xfinity qualifying has been cancelled so cars will be starting the race without having run a single lap, I dont see how it benefits anyone from a competition or safety perspective.

[Vaquero]

Nascar being Nasxar

RP

[220]

Another Xfinty race and another win for Conor Zilisch but with a big asterisk
With no qualifying he was awarded the pole position but not having turned a lap and racing with a plate on his broken collar bone and no idea if he could actually race elected to start from the rear of the grid. Drove 10 laps until the first caution got out and Parker Kligerman took over for the next 90 laps. Parker worked his way to the front in the final stage and held the lead with an overtime restart before another caution on the last lap and took the checkered flag. Only after 122 Xfinity starts dating back to 2009 he is still officially winless, the record books will show a win Zilisch as he started the race.
Second time this year he has taken the checkered flag as Daytona without a win, he crossed the line first in the Feb truck race only to be disqualified in post race.

[Sir Henry]

Nascar being Nasxar

RP

Yep.

[220]

Play offs starting this weekend at Darlington, can SVG make it out of the first round?
It is 50/50 for mine, if he has 3 clean races I think he has made enough improvement on ovals but the schedule does not help him, has never raced WWT and he says himself Bristol is probably his worst track.
Historically and statistically you need around 2070 points to make it out of the 1st round, SVG is starting with 2022 meaning around 50 points should see him advance. Even without stage points a 20th place finish gives you 17 points. He finished 20th earlier in the year and with the improvement he has been making a finish around 10th and a handful of stage points isnt out of the question.
When you look at the results from the past 4 years at Darlington, Elliott Bowman and Dillon are the only drivers in the play offs not to have lead a lap and Larson Bowman Dillon and Berry all have average finished worse than 20th.
I think if SVG wants to earn his way to the next round instead of relying on others having bad days he needs to leave Darlington with a good points haul a 15th place or better finish and some stage points would go a long way towards achieving that.

[220]

Qualifying run and done for Darlington, Hamlin and Briscoe will start from the front row, SVG will start from P20. His previous starts at Darlington were P34 for a 26th and P36 for a 20th, P20 is certainly an improvement and he will start ahead of other playoff drivers including Elliott, Bowman and Keselowski.
Xfinity are racing at Portland with practice qualifying and the race latter today, reigning supercars champion Will Brown is making his Xfinity series debut with Kaulig, he has made a couple of cup starts and is the man RedBull picked to replace SVG in supercars, former supercars driver Jack Perkins will also make another start with JGR.
We will wait and see how they go Perkins was a DNF in his previous start after Qualifying P4 while Browns 2 cup starts have been from P19 and P24 before trouble has put him out.

[Vaquero]

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RP

[Sir Henry]

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RP

I’ve heard of guys blowing an engine and changing it to go on to win.

[GeoBoy]

Conor Zilich wins again, 8 wins already this season.

[220]

Disappointing day for the Aussies in Xfinity, Jack Perkins slowly worked his way forward all race and was in 3rd with 4 laps to go when a driver error put him out. Will Brown's race just never got started, broken gearbox in practice that needed replacing effected qualifying and meant starting from the rear, passed 12 cars in the first two laps, then seemed to stall out drifting backwards and forwards a place or two for the rest of the time he was running before eventually parked it with mechanical issues.
If I was to guess I would say they had mechanical issue from very early if not the start. Brown is one of the elite drivers in supercars at a similar level to SVG, him struggling to pass at the back while Perkins who was a midfield driver in supercars at best was passing cars at the front makes me think something was wrong with the car. Dont get me wrong Perkins is a good driver just by supercars standards he wouldnt even be considered if you were making a list of the 100 GOAT.

Cup in a few hours, I am genuinely excited to see what SVG can do, might be the first playoff race but I think it will decide if SVG advances, a top 15 finish and I think he makes it to the round of 12.

[markiver54]

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RP

Yeh, when NASCAR was real!

[220]

Terrible weekend for SVG last race, qualified P20 but changes to the car between quali and the race saw any pace they had evaporate. Every pit cycle the changes they made went the wrong way and the car lost pace. Looked to be on for a P20-25 finish until they gambled on strategy and made the call to 1 stop the final stage. Only time he appeared to have pace was on 40 lap old tires and most were pitting after around 35 laps. Caution could not have come at a worse time for him a few laps after his final pitstop, the rest of the field made their 2nd stop so he had lost track position, lost laps and the rest of the field were on fresher tires.
No stage points and P32 in the end, somehow still 3 points above the cut line. Interesting a P18 finish would have seen him end last week being as many points above the cut as he started the race.
Qualifying for this weekend at WWT raceway latter today, I can not see him doing much at all, first time he has ever been to the track. A big ask to even run top 20 so any chance he has of progressing is now almost entirely dependent on multiple drivers having worse races than he does.

Taken a little while and have been a few aborted plans but conformation this week of the first Nascar driver making a one off start in supercars. Austin Cindric will be racing the final race of this years Supercars championship driving a Tickford racing mustang on the streets of Adelaide.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Christopher Bell wins another !!

Crazy but interesting night there in Bristol.

[220]

Tires that wear out certainly make for some exciting racing.

I was right with SVG a top 15 finish in the first playoff race would have been enough to get him through the first round.
He had essentially 3 of his worst races of the season with a P32 P25 & P26 with zero stage points and was still only 16 points below the line. An average finish of P22 would have seen him make it even without a single stage point.
The 3 trackhouse cars were just garbage for all 3 playoff races, Chastain scrapped through with an average finish P18 and some stage points, SVG ended up with a P28 average and Suarez P32. As a team there average finish was 27th so almost identical to SVG's.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Good to see Chastain still in it.

[220]

Playoff pressure or something else I dont know but Josh Berry and SVG who probably had the worst 3 races of everyone in the first playoff round and were eliminated both qualified inside the top 10 at New Hampshire.
Both were inside the top 10 on average lap speed in practice as well, Berry was near the top in single lap speed while in practice SVG was back in the mid 20's on single lap pace but found some single lap pace in qualifying.

[220]

Interesting couple of races for SVG, after qualifying 10th at New Hampshire drove up to 5th and ran 5-7 for the first half of the race before a slow pitstop dropped him outside the top 10 and 4 wide contact put him into the wall.
Kansas qualified mid 20's but forced to start from last, serve a green flag stop and go penalty and had his crew chief suspended for the race, ran at the back until early in the second stage when he got the lucky dog and back on the lead lap in 35th. Drove up to 19th by the end of the stage and then drove inside the top 10 for the final part of the race, stayed there for multiple restarts and the final overtime restart to record his first top10 oval result.
Looks like things are finally starting to click for him, a little late for this years championship but with the Roval next round will probably get his 5th win of the season and with the speed he is showing is taking points of those still fighting for tittle.