Over the decades, NASCAR’s annual awards banquet has been held in Daytona Beach, New York City, Las Vegas and Nashville.
Beginning this year, they opted for convenience and held it this past weekend in Charlotte, where most drivers and teams are based.
Some news was made during the weekend, some was made just prior, but all of the blow was made since we last gathered here a week ago.
Let’s go through the gears and make up some ground …
First Gear: RFK not immune to expansion; 23XI also adds a third wheel
A pair of two-car teams have officially announced expansion plans for the 2025 season.
Ryan Preece, freshly out of work due to the closing of Stewart-Haas Racing, will become a teammate to Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher at Roush Fenway Racing.
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Preece, a 34-year-old Connecticut native, previously raced three full-time seasons with JTG-Daugherty Racing (more on that group shortly) and the past two with Stewart-Haas.
Jack Roush, the R in RFK Racing, hasn’t had a three-driver lineup since 2016. Do you remember that trio? Answer below.
Meanwhile, Michael Jordan, part-owner of 23XI Racing, took a timeout from legal proceedings to add Riley Herbst as a third driver for that team next season. Herbst won the Xfinity Series’ season finale in Phoenix, his third win in five full-time seasons in that series.
Why add a third team during ongoing litigation? Well, this isn’t just a sport, but also a business, and Herbst brings the coveted Monster Energy sponsorship with him to a team already swimming in marketing leverage due to Jordan and another co-owner, Denny Hamlin.
Herbst is from the family that owns the “Terrible Herbst” chain of nearly 200 service stations in the West, mostly in Nevada. We’re guessing there’s possibly a Monster-Terrible Herbst business connection. That’s racin’, more often than not.
Oh, the Roush trivia. Jack’s last three-man lineup in 2016: Greg Biffle, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. More Biff news below, too.
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