NM Motor Sports Report March 2023

ByBenShelton

Photos By Pug’s Graphics / Wild West Shootout

The 17th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts drew to a close on Sunday evening at FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park, and it was Bobby Pierce, Kris Jackson, and Tyler Wolff who claimed the finale victories.

Bobby Pierce needed a moment to collect himself before discussing his victory in Sunday night’s 50-lap Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout at Vado Speedway Park. Emerging triumphant in a frenetic race that saw him outduel NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson in the closing circuits and then celebrate by bellowing “Let’s go!” twice certainly took a lot out of the 26-year-old standout from Oakwood, Ill.

“After the sliders and screaming,” Pierce told FloRacing pit reporter Trenton Berry, “I’m out of breath.”

Indeed, Pierce earned the $25,000 first-place check he received for his second win in the last three events of the six-race miniseries. He lost the lead three times but kept fighting back, finally regaining command from Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., on lap 43 and then turning back furious challenges from Elk Grove, Calif.’s Larson to secure the checkered flag. Pierce crossed the finish line 1.159 seconds ahead of Larson in a wildly competitive feature that included six lead changes among four drivers.

The exciting trajectory of the race was essentially set in its initial moments when front-row starters Pierce and Davenport swapped the lead each of the first four laps — Pierce leading the first and third circuits, Davenport surging ahead on the second and fourth tours. The action at the front of the pack never cooled off. Pierce rallied to regain command from Davenport on lap 18 only to lose the position on lap 34 to Marlar, who rose up from the ninth starting spot as he sought to close the WWS with back-to-back victories.

Pierce fell to third place when Larson followed Marlar past him, prompting him to wonder if he might be resigned to missing out on the biggest payday of the miniseries. But he kept plugging away and ultimately slid past Larson for second on lap 41 and sailed around the outside of Marlar off turn four to move in front on lap 43. Pierce seized the opportunity to overtake Marlar, pushing his Longhorn Race Car — a machine he debuted in Jan. 7’s WWS opener — into the lead. He had to survive a relentless barrage of sliders from Larson over the remaining circuits, including a deciding exchange on lap 47 in which Pierce crossed over to Larson’s inside off turn four to stay ahead in what Pierce felt was a Race of the Year candidate.

“That was so much fun,” said Pierce, who recorded his eighth career win in Wild West Shootout competition. “Kyle raced me so clean. It takes a guy like that to know exactly where he’s gonna put his race car and and know exactly where I’m gonna put my race car afterwards.

“This place has become a very, very good racetrack,” he added, praising the 3/8-mile Vado oval. “When I first came here (two years ago) we didn’t know what it was gonna be like. I like the shape and everything, but they had to work out a couple bugs, and once they got a hang of things they’ve really done a good job.”

The 30-year-old Larson was disappointed to fall short of victory once again — his six WWS starts in the K&L Rumley Enterprises Longhorn car included three runner-up finishes and no run worse than sixth — but still bubbled with enthusiasm.

“That was the most fun Late Model race I’ve ever been a part of,” said Larson, who has been driving the iconic Rumley No. 6 in selected Dirt Late Model events since the summer of 2020. “What a race, what a week of racing,” he continued. “I mean, every night, except for J.D. stomping us the first night, was good. So much fun. I definitely can’t wait for next year. This was definitely more fun than I anticipated, and I’m sure with all the races that we’ve had night in, night out, the crowd is just gonna continue to get bigger.”

Davenport, meanwhile, wasn’t a factor during the race’s second half, leaving him to be satisfied with the WWS points title.

“We just over-adjusted really,” Davenport said. “We was too tight from the get-go, and then we bicycled pretty hard there on the cushion (on lap 25) and I don’t know if I bent anything or not but it just wasn’t the same after that.”

Kyle Larson Makes First Trip to Vado Speedway Park

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DAVID SWOPE

PHOTOS BY PUG’S GRAPHICS & AUTORACING1.COM

The 17th Annual Wild West Shootout rolled into Vado Speedway Park with open practice on Friday January 6th. The premier racing drivers in Super Late Models were able to compete in 6 cash and points paying races over 9 days starting on Saturday January 7, 2023. A bonus payout for $25,000 went to the driver who won 4 out of 6, a bonus $100,000 to a driver who won 5 and a super bonus of $250,000 to a driver that sweep all 6 victories and a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado – just for fun!

2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Kyle Larson, decided to make a run at the Wild West Shootout. “The 2022 / 2023 off-season has been different than any other offseason I’ve had before,” said Larson during an interview for the NM Motor Sports Report. “I wanted to support the Shootout because it’s a tough region to get fans to, especially in early January. It’s typically cold but I wanted to come and support it.”

The promoter of the Wild West Shootout, Chris Kearns, and Vado Speedway Park Owner, Royal Jones, added star power to the 17th Annual Event by bringing in the dirt phenom and former NASCAR Champ, Kyle Larson. “They really support the teams, the competitors and the fans,” said Larson. “The purses are strong. I want to see if I can help attracting more people there so this event doesn’t go anywhere. I would hate to see the event shrink in size financially. I would hate to see it disappear. I love what Chris Kearns and Royal Jones are doing to help grow events and I definitely wanted to be a part of that.”

Kyle Larson has followed in the footsteps of Jeff Gordon to NASCAR coming from the dirt tracks of California. During Larson’s suspension from NASCAR in 2020, Larson tore up the dirt tracks around the United States. Larson’s support from the dirt track community found ‘their driver’ winning the 2021 NA-

SCAR Championship with 10 victories on the season. However, winning the Chili Bowl in 2021 was almost a larger accomplishment to “Yung Money” than his Cup Championship.

“I’ve just started to race dirt late models the last couple years and have really enjoyed them,” said Larson. “It’s a good stretch in racing for me. You know, I haven’t done much offseason racing at all this year. I’ve only ran one time this off-season so for me to get six races in in a week and a half, that’s going to be really good to help me get ready for the NASCAR season.”

“I believe the first time I met him (Jones) was at a kind of a Sprint Car version of the Wild West Shootout. I can’t remember what the name of it was, something like Winter Heat. It was in Yuma,” said Larson of his meeting of Royal Jones. “I remember meeting him in the casino. I thought that was really cool because he’s a guy who’s supported a lot of racers throughout the years, a lot of Legendary Hall of Famers and he has his own tracks. He’s a great ambassador for the sport.” Larson said. “I’ve heard Royal owns a couple golf courses in the area, definitely bringing my golf clubs and thankfully kill some time during the day.”

“I’m gonna go find some good Mexican food too,” Larson said with a smile. When asked the State question of Green or Red, “I like green sauce on my enchiladas. I’m definitely looking forward to the Mexican food. That’s my favorite. The closer you get to the border, the better the food gets. I’m excited to get there and eat a lot of greasy, Mexican food, a lot of chips and salsa and probably come back, five or so pounds heavier than when I got there.”

Kyle Larson did not win any of the races during the Wild West Shootout, but he had a great time with three second place finishes. Royal Jones has confirmed the Larson will be back in 2024.

Mark your calendars for January 5 -14, 2024 for the 18th Annual Wild West Shootout! WildWestShootout.Net

2023 Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout By The Numbers

The 17th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts drew to a close less than two weeks ago at FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park.

The mega miniseries featured phenomenal racing action in all three divisions and was once again a great success, including some of the following statistics:

- 191 drivers entered at least one event

- 58 Super Late Model drivers entered at least one event

- 68 Modified drivers entered at least one event

- 65 X-Mod drivers entered at least one event

- 20 different states were represented by the driver roster

- 9 different drivers visited Hoker Trucking Victory Lane over the course of the event

- 2 countries and 2 Canadian provinces were represented

2024 Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout Dates Set for Jan. 6-14

Sandi Raila

By Drew Garcia

Larry Plake’s Fugitive framed Sandrail is powered by a 1991 Mustang 5.0 HO motor. It is fuel injected with a T76 turbo. Plenty of power, with A-arms and power steering handling the frontend. Although this rail is street legal it still sees the dirt.

As a member of the Dezert Dogz Buggy Club the off-road trips include Jemez Mountains, Rio Puerco, Elephant Butte Lake, Mescalero Sand Dunes near Roswell, and the San Juan area in Colorado. You may have seen it in a few of the Albuquerque parades, even dressed up as a functioning Snow Globe for the Twinkle Light Parade one year. Its unique splatter painted frame was done via nail polish.

Some like it, some don’t, either way the off-road scratches are easy to repair. The balance between street and dirt makes for an exciting life for Sandi Raila

KEN BROWN UTV RACER

Albuquerque UTV Racer Ken Brown got his start and off-road racing by happenstance. He had just purchased his first off-road vehicle since moving to New Mexico in 2005, on his way back to Albuquerque, he passed by a race in Southern Colorado with the vehicle he had just purchased from Kansas City Missouri.

“The organizer asked if I was here to race, I told him I just purchased the vehicle and knew nothing about offroad racing! He asked me do you have a helmet? I said I do, he said then you can run what you’ve brung! I finished the race on all fours and was hooked from that point forward. I started looking into off-road racing venues near Albuquerque but didn't find a lot. I finally got in touch with a few guys that were running the Pure Offroad Racing Series in Cal City, California. That first vehicle was a Joyner Sand Viper 800. Underpowered, incorrectly set up, and barely race legal! I completed only two laps, while losing three tires and rims, and blowing the motor. Since that first race, I’ve managed to back up several class victories, with a first overall.”

David Swope: I got to ask you, what are the first 90 days look like for you? What are your goals?

Jim Guthrie: Well, I wish I knew the answer to that. You know what? I have got so many things. People have reached out and there's so many things that we want to do. So, this next couple of weeks were going to be lining them up and then figuring it out. Okay… here's the low-hanging fruit. This is what we need to be doing, but just to give you a quick idea of what some of our bigger plans are, and don't know if I'm going to get them all done, in 90 days but, you know, starting with the asphalt track; we want to make it SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) legal and to do that, we've got to bring in some K-rails and some dirt and some more tires and bring that up to their safety level. On the dirt track, we're going to do a lot to the track. At least we're planning to. We're planning to get rid of some of the bank by flattening out the track. It'll be safer for watering; the water will stay on the track longer and I think it will provide some better racing because it will be more about a driver and the setup rather than a big motor. So, we’re

excited about that. We've got all kinds of different promotional opportunities; people have been reaching out to us to bring more events to Albuquerque. We’re looking for big, big things like that in the future.

Dave: That's fantastic. And of course, there are plenty of infrastructure, things. Other infrastructure things, you probably must address. But, first off, talk about the dayto-day operations. There's an announcement on Facebook, David Tanner is going to be your GM. What are some of the tasks that you're going to have him off doing initially?

Jim: You know, I think our dirt track needs a lot of focus and we're going to be focusing a lot of our time and efforts there. Dave is going to handle that and then one of my partners, Dan Brockett, is going to help us on the asphalt side. So, we're all going to kind of take the reins, to go in different directions. At the end, hopefully we accomplish more by doing that. We're going to kind of divide and conquer so to speak.

Dave: If people were wanting to get involved with resources, time, energy. What's the best way to reach you?

Jim: Dan Brockett is setting up a Facebook page, just for that. So that people who have services that they either want to donate or let us know that they're capable of doing like dirt moving, asphalt crack repair, all kinds of things like that, we'd love to have people sign up for that on Facebook and I'll reach out to them. We’ll have a chat with them and see what we can

do. Obviously, there's a lot of as you said, infrastructure things that we need to take care of and that's definitely going to be our priority. To the racers and to the spectators, we've got a lot of work to do. You know, I'll bet that it's going to take us three years to get all the things done that we want to do. We've set aside $350,000 for the beginning to do our fixes. If we need more, we will get more but we definitely have a desire to make it as good as the original founders had ever wanted it to be, or better. So that's our goal.

It'sNotCrazy,It'sDanBrockett

David Swope: Let me be the first to announce that there will be a No Coast Drift 13. Dan, did you have your brain checked? Because Dan running a speedway, who would have thought?

Dan Brockett: Yeah, about that. Yeah, yeah, it's not something that I ever dreamed about, but it is definitely a part of my reality as of this week. So here we are.

Dave: First off, congratulations. With No Coast, as an owner, do you feel a little bit different about that risk management now (questioned the bonfire)?

I'mGuthrie:ASitDownwithJimGuthrie

Dan: Absolutely not! We're still gonna be awesome. That's part of the whole experience. So, we're going to keep that going.

Dave: I have seen you on social media, you were able to make the announcement. Let people know what's going on. Tell me a little bit about your buddy, Mike Ossell.

Dan: Yeah, it's crazy because Mike and I go back to before I was into cars. I used to go up to Durango to snowboard a lot and he was my good buddy’s roommate back in like, 2000-2001. That's when I first met Mike. Mike had a clothing company called DVLP. He was young and had already started a business of his own. DVLP went on and got bought by some big conglomerate. Anyway, fast forward. He became a mechanic shortly after that and opened his own shop with a specialty in Subaru and Toyota repair in Denver. They just smash out work with two lifts and he's built his business up from there. Got into drifting about six years ago. We reconvened totally on accident, it was crazy. We've been hanging out and doing things like Drift Week and he came down to almost all the events for the last two seasons and the last three No Coasts. It's been good to reunite that flame. He had some cash socked away. He's doing his business and decided that maybe investing in a racetrack would be a wise choice. So, we'll see if that actually pans out, but that's a little bit of history about Mike. He's a fantastic human and I'm absolutely 100% thrilled to have him on the team.

Dave: What are some of the things that you wanted to do on your short list? Are we going to see an expansion of the drift series? Will the Whiskey Garage Drift Series will see some bigger names come in or what are some of your thoughts at least initially?

Dan: Now that I know that I'm part owner, I have a little bit more say about the schedule and I can kind of pull rank and have things done when I need to have it because before I was always kind of last pick. We would fill in all the empty slots with drift events, not able to pick and choose what I wanted. Now, I have the pick of the litter. I do have two more events, bringing us to a total of eight including No Coast. So, normally we only have six including No

Coast. So, we've already expanded this season and I'm pretty excited about that.

Dan: As for other stuff, this is something that I've been trying to do for a long time - get other larger events. Because of the way the track wouldn't do full day rentals, that automatically turned off any large event that wanted to go there. We're going to change that. We're going to have large event full day rentals. I can get things like LS Fest, Gridlife and things like FuelFest and stuff like that to come out because that could be huge for us, especially Albuquerque. When you can get 10 to 15 thousand people out there instead of the, the most that I think I've ever had been 2,000. I think utilizing that space for what it has potential for is going to be our prime directive. Expanding the track is going to kind of come secondary to fixing the skid pad and filling in all the cracks. Hopefully, profitability may lead to a repave at some point. We're going to test out doing some things like a sealant around the small oval because the drift guys are really the only ones that use that if it holds up to us, and it makes the track grippy and it wears on less tires, maybe that's something we can do every two years. It'll still be cheaper than a repave.

To hear the full interviews from February 4th, go to NMMotorsportsReport.com

MeetDavidTanner,SandiaSpeedwayGM

David Swope: A big cleanup last weekend (at the track). How are things how things going out there?

David Tanner : Good. We've got a show coming up with the Legends (Legend Cars) and we're still kind of finishing up to make it raceable, but we'll be ready.

Swope: What are some of your first priorities, maybe the first 90 days, that you're trying to work on?

Tanner : Well, on the dirt side, the first priority is safety. We've got to add more cables to the to the catch fence on both sides. The Scoring Tower, it's like a gauntlet to get up into that. We’ve got to make that a lot safer for the scorers and the announcer.

Swope: Jim Guthrie mention that you may be taking some of the banking out of the

track. Is that more long-term?

Tanner : We talked long and hard about that. He still wants to do it but there just wasn't enough time this year. Things just took longer to finalize than they had thought. (Referring to the purchase of the track) We're going to take the banking out and move the mini sprint track more into the infield and actually make it bigger. The micro sprint track has always been kind of a point of interest for me growing up.

Swope: Moving that to the infield, would that mean that you're not going to have to share the front straightaway anymore?

Tanner : That's the reason for it.

Spencer Hill: Are we going to see nonwinged sprint cars on the schedule?

Tanner : Sprint Cars are coming back, definitely.

Swope: David, I do want to know how did this whole position come together for you. What were the talks like to get you into the general manager position?

Tanner : Well, honestly, it was out of the blue. I didn't expect it at all. I got a phone call and we talked about it and a week later, we decided that I was going to be the guy.

Spencer : Have you started to put a staff together?

Tanner : Yeah, we're trying to contact all the people that were involved with the track before and have reached out to a lot of them while still trying to get numbers for others, but most everybody's happy to come back.

Swope: Well, there is a facility side. That's different than the racing side and the promotion side too.

Tanner : It (promotions) was never my strength. I don't know anything about clay, you know. I don't, all I know is what isn't working when people who drive on it, tell me about it.

To hear the full interview from February 11th, go to NMMotorsportsReport.com

BY DAVID SWOPE

Saturday February 4, 2023 was our 10 Year Anniversary Celebration at Yearwood Performance. As one of the original presenting sponsors, it was an honor to broadcast from their location at 341 Eubank Blvd NE. Yearwood also had an Open House which brought out supporters and car enthusiast. Music was provided by Steve’s Cruising with the Oldies and food by Pizza Castle.

The New Mexico Motor Sports Report (NMMSR) started as the Sandia Racing Update in 2010. The show ran for 9 months on an AM radio station that no longer exists. It is estimated that we did 35 shows and it set the format used for NMMSR.

The first show was broadcast LIVE at the Super Nationals Car Show on the first Saturday in February of 2013. Original sponsors were Albuquerque Dragway, Yearwood Performance, R&S PowerSports, The Unser Racing Museum and the Rods & Rides Magazine. It was the first of 520+ shows done to date.

Our first guest was Al Unser Sr, 4-Time Winner of the Indy 500. It was a recorded interview, but he was there in spirit and Al Jr’s #31 Penske Marlboro Car was sitting right in front of our broadcast location. Matt Torres with Super Nationals, Yearwood’s Jim Costa and the New Mexico Rods & Rides owner and publisher, Mark Hellyer were all on the show LIVE.

For our 10 Year Anniversary show we were able to have Jim and Matt join us, none of us have aged a bit. Al died in 2021 and he had been on the show several times including an Indy 500 show we did with Al, Jr, Bobby and Rick Galles all in the same show. Robert Costa with Albuquerque Dragway was on the show as well as one of our pinch-hitter hosts, Steve Haydu.

During the 10-year run, we have been blessed with talented producers. Ray Montano got us started and intern, Christian Naranjo, ran the board for several years. Kelly Watson put up with all our shenanigans for the longest stretch until Dan Watkins took over about 18 months ago. RJ Lees showed up one day 5 years ago and never left! RJ brings us the event calendar every week so we would be lost without him.

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS ON ESPN RADIO 101.7 THE TEAM

The New Mexico Motor Sports Report has been on the road and broadcasted LIVE from several sites. The Daytona 500 in February of 2016 was the closest finish in Daytona 500 history, and we were there. Our broadcast was LIVE from the infield stage with guests, NASCAR Hall of Famer, Bobby Allison, and the long-time voice of NASCAR, Ken Squire. We have been to the NASACR Championship Race in Phoenix, The Indianapolis 500 with IndyCar and the Circuit of the Americas with Formula One.

The interviews are what every journalist wants on their resume. Al, Al Jr. and Bobby Unser have all been guests. In NASCAR, we got Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Sebastian Vettel in Formula One. Our latest was Kyle Larson in a One-on-One. We have been fortunate enough to have had Henry Winkler, The Fonze, and Butch Patrick, Eddie Munster, on the show. We have brought our followers informational and timely interviews on both a local and National level.

There have been several partners that have helped grow the reach for our fan base. Dominic Aragon with the Racing Experts has been a long-time contributor and road buddy to the races for the show. Brooklyn Green was our first UNM intern and John Haverlin has been a writing contributor and our website manager for years. Spencer Hill has been a vital part on NMMSR as a host, co-host and often a combatant with host David Swope, they just seem to disagree on everything. We hope you have enjoyed the weekly broadcasts and hope you have enjoyed the magazine too.

We will close with this, if you are passionate about something – just do it. There are other people out there that feel the same way you do and are glad you did something about it. Hopefully, we can keep this thing going for another 10 years!

Continuing the Legacy of Uranium Capitol Speedway Jason Bodley & Codi Orozco

Uranium Capitol Speedway was established in 1969 and is one of the oldest tracks in New Mexico currently running. Unique in the fact that the track is member owned, “the track will be open as long as someone pays the property tax,” said Jason Bodley, President of the newly renamed track. Legacy Speedway “is really fan base and driver based. If you're a member, you can attend our board meetings, you can put yourself on our agenda to talk about issues at the track and I think that's what makes it really unique,” said Codi Orozco, secretary and PR representative. “I mean, I myself started as a spectator and now I'm a secretary and run their social media so anybody can step in and help. If you know you love racing, come on out and help us because it's a great place to be.”

Uranium Capitol Speedway became Legacy Speedway in late 2022. “People from all over New Mexico have raced here in Grants. A lot of people grew up here, so we wanted to keep that Legacy in our name and somehow to honor the past with moving into the future - so Legacy,” explained Codi. “We talked about a lot of

names that were thrown out there but that's what ended up sticking.”

A typical Saturday night will include Cruisers, Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars, Micro Sprints and X-Mods. “We have a Hobby Stock Division. That class is very interesting because we had Albuquerque Stock Cars, which is a Hobby Stock with headers,” explained Jason. “And then we had the Grants Hobby Stocks which are the same car with stock exhaust and then there is the IMCA Hobby Stock. So, we've kind of put togeth-

and we are moving forward with sanctioning.”

“Our X-Mod Division will be sanctioned as well,” said Jason. “We have received a lot of A-Mod drivers reaching out to us. We do not schedule A-Mods, because quite frankly, the division has dried up locally.” Codi added, “We just added the Mini Sprints, so they have been added to the (new) schedule.”

Legacy Speedway may have the best sunset view from the grandstands especially since “racing starts at sundown.”

er a rule that encompasses them all so that our entry-level racing will allow these guys to come and compete. We have a Stock Car division,

It’s just a quick drive from Albuquerque, west on I-40, to enjoy some local hospitality and a track that is still a classic!

LegacySpeedway.com

BY JOHN HAVERLIN

TheNTT IndyCar Series returns to the streets of St. Petersburg on March 5 to begin its 2023 season. Will Power enters as the defending series champion, but expect the competition to be as strong as ever when the green flag waves on Florida's Gulf Coast.

There will be 27 full-time entries this year on the grid. Among them are the Team Penske trio of Power, two-time champion Josef Newgarden, and Scott McLaughlin, who looks poised to be a championship contender after a three-win campaign in 2022.

Chip Ganassi Racing should also be a title contender as Alex Palou returns for another season after a controversial summer around his plans to join Arrow McLaren versus his existing contract with Ganassi. He won the season finale at Laguna Seca and looked like one of the drivers to beat in the Indianapolis 500 along with teammate Scott Dixon. However, Dixon,

IndyCar's new season brings in raw, youthful talent and seasoned veterans; Meyer Shank wins Rolex 24 again.

the six-time series champion, got burned by a heartbreaking speeding penalty while leading during the final round of pit stops at the 500 last year and ended up finishing 21st after leading 95 laps.

And then there's Marcus Ericsson, who won the 500 with Ganassi. The Indy triumph was the most significant victory of the former Formula 1 driver's career. Due to the double-points system at the race, he led the championship for most of the summer.

But one of the rules IndyCar changed for the 2023 season is the double-point format for its marquee event. It has been abolished by the sanctioning body to help teams be rewarded for season-long consistency.

"While double points at the Indi-

anapolis 500 has not altered who won the season-long championship, occasionally it has had a negative effect on the final position of the full-time teams," IndyCar president Jay Frye said. "As our entry list grows, this move will provide consistency for teams competing for championship positions while not diminishing the importance of 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.'"

There will be a delicate balance between raw rookie talent and seasoned veteran experience this season. Four drivers will run for Rookie of the Year honors, including Benjamin Pedersen, Sting Ray Robb, Marcus Armstrong, and Agustin Canapino. Veterans such as Alexander Rossi, who embarks on his first year as a McLaren driver, Tony Kanaan, who will retire

after the 500, and "Spider-Man" Hélio Castroneves will appear on the grid, too.

Speaking of Castroneves, the 47-year-old Brazilian driver has been continuing a career renaissance. He won the 2020 overall IMSA championship with Penske, the 2021 Indy 500 (his record-tying fourth), and three straight Rolex 24s at Daytona.

Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud were teammates at the 24-hour event as they are in IndyCar. They won the overall race with Meyer Shank Racing again, alongside British drivers Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis.

It was a historic weekend for sports car racing as the top prototype class (GTP) was reintroduced as a car that competed for the overall wins at Daytona and Le Mans. The

DPi era may have ended, but it didn't stop the No. 60 MSR Acura from earning the Rolex watches after the clock made two full rotations.

Newgarden ad McLaughlin made their debuts in the endurance race classic. They competed as teammates for the Tower Motorsports LMP2 entry and finished fifth in class. Finishing sixth in the class was Rick Ware Racing, which also featured an IndyCar driver -- Andretti Autosport's Devlin DeFrancesco -- and NASCAR driver Austin Cindric.

Jimmie Johnson spent two years racing in an Ally Financial-sponsored DPi in IMSA's four endurance races and two seasons with Ganassi's IndyCar team, but he's returned to his bread and butter of NASCAR as a team co-owner and driver of the newly named Legacy Motor Club (formerly Petty GMS Motorsports.)

As a seven-time champion in America's most popular series, it felt unusual to see him struggle so mightily in his brief IndyCar career. But let that be a testament to the skill and difficulty of IndyCar racing as the series embarks on the 102nd full year of U.S. open-wheel racing.

Can2023NHRACompetitionBeEvenMoreBrutalThanLastSeason?

BY SUSAN WADE

It’s hard to imagine what Josh Hart, the third-year NHRA Top Fuel team owner-driver, could be envisioning for the 2023 Camping World Drag Racing Series.

STORY CONTINUES ON PAGE 28

STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26

“It’s going to be even better than last year,” Hart predicted. It has become cliché to say the competition in any season is more fierce than the year before. But in 2022, his class saw four different winners (including relatively new part-timer Tripp Tatum) to start the schedule. And Austin Prock, who squeaked into the Countdown via the “perfect attendance rule” rather than a top-10 performance, was the lone racer to win more than once in the playoffs. Steve Torrence, aiming for a fifth consecutive crown, stayed in the top five for all but the final event but never seemed to be a factor. He had an enviable season and finally hushed his doubters by winning at Brainerd and later at St. Louis, but his streak slipped away from him by midseason.

The Funny Car scenario was more predictable – or was it? Robert Hight won eight times in 12 final-round appearances – the best in the class since John Force won 13 of 18 outings in 1996. Hight led the standings for virtually all season. However, he lost the championship to Ron Capps by three points. And it wasn’t until the 12th race of the year that someone –Bob Tasca III – broke the HightMatt Hagan-Capps winners cycle.

“There are going to be a lot of people who are going to try to redeem their performances, and I think there are going to be a few people who want to make their own stamp on things. There’s going to be a lot of hungry people this year,” Hart said.

The Top Fuel category doesn’t have many new faces this year, but Hart and a handful of veterans have stocked their arsenals during the winter. Hart has a pair of brandnew Morgan Lucas Racing-built dragsters, ones he said are “the first I’ve ever had built for me, all designed the way we wanted it from scratch. I think we’re a top-five car, no matter what. We’re a little bit more ahead of the curve now than we were last year. We’ll be right there with ’em.”

Three-time champion Antron Brown came alive toward the end of the summer and ended up winning three races and ended as runner-up to two-time titlist Brittany Force. With that momentum, he’s sure to be more of a factor out of the gate. Justin Ashley, in contention until the final weekend, is, by consensus, a champion in waiting, and Mike Salinas has been coming on stronger every year since he broke into the pro ranks. Torrence wants to get back into his pulver-

izing-the-competition groove. But the driver to keep an eye on in Top Fuel just might be eight-time king Tony Schumacher. With Joe and Cathi Maynard getting comfortable in taking over the decorated Don Schumacher Racing operation and bringing in Mike Neff, Jon Schaffer, and Phil Shuler as tuners, their Top Fuel headliner is planning to wake up the echoes cheering his fame.

Hight, Capps, and Hagan each have three Funny Car titles and are just as ravenous for a fourth championship. But don’t be surprised if cagey Cruz Pedregon joins them in the class stratosphere. He has his dream-team crew plus legendary tuner Lee Beard hovering over the set-up, and this combination, headed by John Collins with help from Rip Reynolds, quietly goes about setting records and pulling off surprises. Tim Wilkerson has joined forces with the Maynards and looks to be an even more potent contender. Of course, John Force easily could add to his unprecedented 155

victories. Joe Morrison has made the switch to Funny Car from Top Fuel, as has Alex Laughlin in the Jim Dunn entry.

In Pro Stock, five-time champions Erica Enders and 101-time winner Greg Anderson will top the lineup. But this could be the year “The Kids” start taking over. Dallas Glenn, Kyle Koretsky, Aaron Stanfield, Troy Coughlin Jr. remain aggressive, and young Mason McGaha is improving all the time. Camrie Caruso, the 2022 rookie of the year, has teamed with newly reorganized KB Titan Racing (with Eric Latino partnering with Anderson). So she’s poised to start earning trophies, catching up with teammates Glenn and Koretsky.

A new look and new rider (Gage Herrera) give Vance & Hines a fresh shot at another title, as fourtime champ Eddie Krawiec is eager to be back on top. Current and six-time champion Matt Smith isn’t slowing down, either.

Daytona 500 win breaks recent struggles for Stenhouse, JTG-Daugherty

By Jonathan Fjeld (Photos Courtesy Getty Images / TRE)

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and JTG-Daugherty Racing capped off years of hardship and hard work with a win in Sunday’s 65th Daytona 500.

Stenhouse and JTG-D won in their 12th and 15th attempts, respectively. They started 31st but Stenhouse made it from the rear to the front twice on a day where track position was essential. The second time was after a speeding penalty under green, followed by a miraculous caution that allowed him to move from 22nd to 4th within 11 laps.

In the first overtime, Stenhouse moved from 6th to 1st and fended off a challenge from Joey Logano to win the Daytona 500 under caution in double-overtime.

Stenhouse broke a 199-race winless streak, dating back to the July 2017 Coke Zero Sugar 400, also at Daytona. JTG-Daugherty Racing also broke a 302-race winless streak, dating back to their first win as an organization in August 2014 at Watkins Glen.

GETTING TO THE 500 WIN

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s NASCAR career has been defined by bursts of promising speed here and there.

With Roush, he won the 2011 and ’12 Xfinity titles after nearly being fired for wrecking so many cars as a rookie in 2010. In those two championship years, Stenhouse won 8 races – many of them featuring close battles with Cup drivers. Then, in Cup, he struggled for four years until he broke out with 2 wins and a Round of 12 berth in 2017.

In 2018 and ’19, however, his performance slumped enough for Roush to let him go for 2020. JTG-Daugherty picked him up and, again, Stenhouse showed hope but never a consistent season from start-to-finish or even a win. JTG-D has also experienced similar glimmers of hope and chances at wins since they won in 2014, but haven’t elevated into a weekly contender for wins.

Above all else, the organization battled outside factors, like the COVID pandemic. Co-owner Tad Geshickter remarked that they had to go “back to Ramen noodle cups and sleepless nights” at the beginning of the pandemic.

“COVID was not a good time for a tem of our size. There was a lot of back and forth and people wanting to change contracts, and it was a tough two years,” Tad Geshickter said. “During COVID, there were lines at the gate and people saying, ‘hey, we could buy your charter and we want to grow our team,’ and we all talked about it. But we all decided it was not the right thing to do.”

Through it all, Kroger stuck behind

JTG-Daugherty – and Tad and Jodi Geshickter didn’t give up on Stenhouse.

“Personally, I feel like he’s got the spirit of a winner and I like what he represents

as a person. I see flashes of brilliance in what he does. I felt like he could do it. I felt like he could get the job done, and I never questioned that,” co-owner Jodi Geshickter stated.

Hill Validates Charge to the Front

By Jonathan Fjeld

Photos by Erick Messer/TRE

Austin Hill

proved, in many ways at Daytona, why he is one of the best superspeedway racers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and possibly NASCAR.

Hill came from the back to the front, quickly. Twice. Then, he held off four hungry JR Motorsports cars to claim his third win in the last seven Xfinity superspeedway starts.

The Richard Childress Racing driver qualified on pole position Saturday afternoon but didn’t get to reap the benefits. Radio issues put him to the rear of the 38-car field to start Saturday’s Beef. It’s What for Dinner 300 at Daytona.

However, he didn’t stay there for long.

then 11th within two laps, 7th within three laps, 4th within four laps and then the lead within five laps. Hill led 4 laps before Justin Allgaier led JR Motorsports’ challenge to the Richard Childress Racing driver.

Allgaier led 7 times for 36 laps, only topped by Hill leading 5 times for 40 laps. Allgaier commanded the lead from Laps 59 to 74 with teammate Josh Berry who then led from Laps 79 to 95. Teammate Sam Mayer also led for 14 laps. JRM was in control until a caution on Lap 88 changed everything. Hill took the lead on Lap 95, just after the subsequent restart, with the 4 JRM cars behind him. Berry was behind Hill and, on several occasions within the last 10 laps, backed up to Allgaier to prepare a move.

Then, Allgaier and Brandon Jones jumped the gun and hung out Berry with 4 to go. Berry had to fight to get back to the front, come hell or high water or spinning a teammate. With two laps to go, Berry challenged Jones for third with a big run on the backstretch that Jones blocked too late. Jones spun and set up overtime.

Hill jumped from 38th to 25th by Lap 2, then to 18th by Lap 3, 13th by Lap 4 and finally 9th by the Lap 7 caution.

He wasn’t done, either.

Hill took the lead on Lap 27 for the first time and was challenged by Chandler Smith for the Stage 1 win. Smith was nipped by Hill by just 0.019 seconds to win the first stage of the season.

In Stage 2, on Lap 42, Hill faced near-calamity when teammate Sheldon Creed was bumped into him by Parker Kligerman. Hill pitted and dropped to 30th again for the Lap 45 restart but, again, he jumped from 22nd to 16th within a lap,

Mayer pushed Allgaier to the lead during overtime, then Mayer tried to pull out in turn 2 on the final lap and forced Allgaier to move up. Mayer moved down to side-draft Allgaier but it may have inadvertently cost both of them the win. Hill made contact with Mayer as he came down, causing Mayer to flip, Allgaier to lose his momentum and Hill to lead at the time of caution and win.

It’s the second straight win for Hill in the Daytona Xfinity opener and his third superspeedway win in his last seven starts. In all of those starts, he has led double-digit laps and the most laps in the two Talladega races in 2022 and Saturday night’s race.

Hill also boasts finishes of 2nd and 14th at Atlanta in March 2022 and Daytona in August 2022.

Fire and Rain at Daytona Ends with Smith’s Two-Peat

By Jonathan Fjeld

Photos by Erick Messer/TRE

Twoquick rain cautions in the first 10 laps may have been a warning for what was to come in Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opener at Daytona, won by Zane Smith.

Rain caused the race to end early at 79 laps, with Smith the winner. He endured 41 caution laps and just 38 green-flag laps to win the Truck opener for the second year in a row after leading 17 laps.

When there wasn’t rain, there was wrecking.

The first wreck knocked Clay Greenfield, Dean Thompson and Hailie Deegan were knocked out of the race in a Lap 30 multi-truck wreck on the frontstretch.

“It was getting kind of crazy and, earlier that lap, I backed out of it but I don’t know if I got touched or what happened. I just hate that happened, we really look forward to races like these,” Greenfield said.

“The wreck happened and I couldn’t do anything. What happened, happened. It’s frustrating because I got an opportunity with Toyota and if you look at where I came from [Niece Motorsports], I wanted to prove myself to y’all. It’s just frustrating,” Thompson said frustratingly, also looking ahead to Darlington, his favorite track.

“I saw the 84 [of Greenfield] get sideways and I made a split-second decision. They bounced back up the track so it is what it is. Daytona is one of those places where you end up in victory lane or on the wrecker.”

After the first wreck, it misted heavily under that caution and provoked two separate red-flag periods. On Lap 41, Stewart Friesen, Parker Kligerman, Brett Holmes and Codie Rohrbaugh were taken out on a backstretch wreck that involved others and ended Stage 2. On Lap 59, a turn 3 wreck finished off Daniel Dye and Rajah Caruth and involved others.

Finally, after 10 laps under a Lap 69 caution for rain, a onehour red flag and a tease to a return to racing, Zane Smith emerged as the winner.

Netflix’s Drive to Survive, Season 5

(2022)PremiersFridayFebruary24th.

"In Formula One, you need to be able to adapt. When you need to be aggressive; you need to be aggressive. When you need to be smooth, you need to be smooth. When I'm in the car, I will never give up."

- Max Verstappen – Season 5 (2022)

The Netflix series has gotten so popular even people that have not followed Formula One or even care about racing are watching. “My mom is watching it. She watches the races,” said Tom McKean, former F1 contributor for ESPN and presently a producer for Sports Center. “Now, she is asking me questions like, ‘what’s going on?’ She’s not interested in sports like, at all. It’s just so far reaching. It’s like a drama.”

Drive to Survive is entering its 5th season. Camera crews follow the teams, drivers and team principals throughout the season and highlight stories on and off the track. Season 5 follows the 2022 season in which Max Verstappen won a record 15 races.

Verstappen, son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen, became the Netherlands’ first World Champion in 2021 at the age of 24. Verstappen was also the youngest Formula 1 driver at 17. He also became F1’s youngest race winner at 18. His aggressive style did not sit well with some drivers.

The 2021 battle with 7-Time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, came down to the final lap of the final race and a controversial finish. The 2022 season that will be dramatized in season 5 will racing footage and behind the scenes journalism. Whereas the Championship

was not in dispute, there should be some juicy activity in the pits and parlors on the Formula One Circuit.

“I really hope they hone in on the Ferrari debacles week after week. I know they had cameras with them some of those weekends,” McKean pines. “Like Monaco, things like that where it was just a total disaster. Always fun.”

“You know, it's fantastic because one of the things I really like is watching Christian Horner (Red Bull Principal) and Toto Wolff (Mercedes Principal),” said NM Motor Sports Report Host, David Swope. “You know they are going at it. It's just fabulous because the things that go on behind the scenes are at least as good as the things that go on the track. The pressure, the mind games. Can’t wait.”

“Oh yeah, give me all the awkward moments and the team principles usually deliver the best lines,” comments McKean. “I am ready for any of those because some of those you don't even know about during the season. You had no idea, those even happened. There was one with Sebastien Vettel a couple years ago with Ricardo after he made the announcement, he was leaving the team and they're just standing there. Both standing there and it is incredibly awkward and really no one had any idea that interaction even happened until the series ran, it was great.”

Itwas a beautiful fall day in October in Albuquerque and perfect for a car show. The New Mexico Motor Sports Report was proud to present the Hooters Halloween Spooktacular Car Show on Saturday October 29, 2022.

Cars started showing up at 6am with over 160 cars in attendance by 9:30am. We even had a few joined in the fun who didn’t register or even stay the whole show, but fun was had by all.

Games and Trick or Treat was available for FREE to the public. Intellitec College & Dions had booths for games as well as a Selfie Booth created by our talented staff. The GTO Club brought out the Value Cover Track and NAPA Auto Parts provided young and young at heart complimentary Hot Wheels to race on the track.

Clark’s Pet Emporium sponsored a Pet Costume Contest. Yearwood Performance sponsored the Costume

Contest for males & females. Gift Certificates were given to the winner’s, who were judged by public acclaim via cheering, roused on by Steve Haydu. Over $2,000 was raised for “Give a Hoot,” a campaign sponsored by Hooter’s Restaurants worldwide to promote Brest Cancer Awareness. The 50/50 had prizes provided by Swope Real Estate including a floor jack, jack stands, a pancake compressor and more.

Trophies were provided by Advanced Testing Services Inc (ATSI), Albuquerque Dragway, Car Crafters, Jackson Compaction, New Mexico Motor Events and Yearwood Performance. Every entered car was able to vote for their favorite participating vehicle by decade. People’s Choice and Best in Show went to Reggie & Margaret Tibbetts, in that order.

The 2023 Hooter’s Halloween Spooktacular will be Saturday October 25 - same Bat Time, Same Bat Location!

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series enters 14th season in 2023

By Justin Melillo JuniorGamingandEsportsEditor, Traxion.GG

That'skind of crazy to think about right? Didn't we all just learn about this iRacing thing a few years ago, when everything shut down and NASCAR stars were forced on to their computers for our enjoyment? Actually, that's not the case. In reality, simulated racing games have been around since the late 1980s, and one of the companies that manufactured those NASCAR titles, namely Papyrus, evolved into what is now iRacing from the ashes of titles like NASCAR Racing.

While well-known names like Dale Earnhardt Jr and Denny Hamlin were utilizing sim racing back in the early 2000s, it wasn't until 2010 when iRacing and NASCAR decided to put together what we now know to be the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. The very first race included many of the biggest sim racers of that time, but

when the checkered flag flew, it was Earnhardt Jr winning at Daytona.

The Coke Series and the technology alongside it have evolved over time. Today, in its 14th season, 40 of the top sim racers have qualified into the series through a series of ladder systems. Some drivers have been working a while on making it and are finally getting their first shot at it this year. Others were able to get back in after years of being out of it. Everyone else is back from the previous season of competition.

It's crazy when you realize that this is the first season that we won't see the most decorated driver of the series competing. If you've been to a NASCAR Championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway over the last 13 years, you've definitely seen Ray Alfalla accepting his eNASCAR trophies before.The series has gotten so competitive today that not even a four-time champion can be guaranteed a place on the roster.

You'll have regulars returning, guys like Nick Ottinger, Keegan Leahy,

Zack Novak and Ryan Luza, all past champions. The most recent champ, who was crowned in front of a live audience in October at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Casey Kirwan is also back in the game.

Michael Conti, the 2014 Series Champion, is calling it quits after this 2023 season. You know, he's only 25 years old, turning 26 in April. He gets to drive for Earnhardt Jr's JR Motorsports in the series. How could someone give up playing a video game? Well, he won his championship nearly nine years

ago, back when he was around 18, so the majority of his adulthood has been spent competing at the highest level of virtual NASCAR racing. He's got his whole life ahead of him still.

The first race of the season, as you would have guessed it, was at Daytona on Valentine's Day this year. A rookie by the name of Tucker Minter was able to out-maneuver the defending series champion Kirwan as they came to the line. As it is in the real-world NASCAR Cup Series, the rookie Minter is all-butlocked into the 2023 playoffs with that win.

There are still 13 races left in the regular season to grab a win, plus four playoff races that conclude with a familiar Championship 4 setting. Once again, the series will crown a champion live at the NASCAR Hall of Fame later this year. You'll have to tune in to YouTube or Twitch to catch the action, as both iRacing and NASCAR stream the races with live commentary and realistic broadcasts on their respective channels every other Tuesday. Seeyouthere!