League News and Notes
Martinsville Recap: Jeremy Steele squeaks out a win at the paperclip
March 30, 2025
Race Recap:
Time passes and one thing always remains the same...Denny Hamlin stays unlikeable. He just can't help himself. Hamlin got his 55th career win this week, tying Rusty Wallace on the all-time wins list. After a very long burnout, Hamlin's team brought out the "11 versus the world" flag. Give me a break. Hamlin dominated the race, and there wasn't a whole lot to write home about. Chase Elliott led some laps early in the race, and looked racey throughout, but like usual was unable to capitalize. The Gibbs/23XI cars were the class of the field all weekend. Elliott was by far the best Hendrick car. The Penske cars weren't really a factor. The soft tire helps, but there really wasn't a ton of passing. Hamlin drove away to an almost 4 second lead at the end.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: C
Best Battle: The Xfinity Series vs. Legitimacy (awful race on Saturday)
Fight Rating: No Fights Sadly
Bonehead of the Race: Austin Cindric intentionally wrecked Riley Herbst because they made some contact. 2nd time this year Cindric has shipped somebody with little provocation.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: COTA
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Another tie in qualifying this week! Nick Prytula and Larry Braswell win the pole. 1st pole of the year for both. Larry's 42nd pole, and Nick's 6th. Larry's 3rd at Martinsville. Nick's 2nd.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Nick Prytula
Stage 2: Jeremy Steele
7 races into the year, and still no repeat stage winner.
Race Results
Your winner this week was Jeremy Steele. Jeremy gets his 1st win of 2025, his 42nd career win, and his 1st at Martinsville (I had to check the stats twice on that. Cannot believe he's never won at Martinsville).
Segment Results
After 3 races, Manish Nagpal takes the lead over Brooks Deaton and Brandon Braswell.
Standings update
We have a change up front. Chris Burfield reassumes the points lead after a bad week from Tucker Lovelace. Manish Nagpal moves into 2nd place.
BFNL Chase
Jermey locks into the Chase with the win.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week: Tim Hodge & Chris House
Track Type Championships
3 races on Short Tracks, and Miranda Brown holds the lead.
The Summer Shootout
Coming this Summer...
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday they will race at Darlington, the final race of the 2nd Segment.
Homestead Recap: Brooks Deaton wins in South Florida
March 24, 2025
Race Recap:
You knew it was only a matter of time until Kyle Larson got back into the winner's circle. Larson attempted to do "the Triple" this weekend, winning the Truck race Friday night, dominating the Xfinity race until a classic late caution and subsequent restart ruined his chances. Sunday he did not dominate, but he was in position to take advantage when it mattered. Bubba Wallace looked strong in the final 3rd of the race, but Alex Bowman was able to get around him with about 30 laps to go. From there it was only a matter of time before Larson would chase Bowman down. Bowman got up into the wall, lost momentum, and Larson easily passed him with a few laps to go. Larson earns his 30th career win.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: B
Best Battle: Ryan Blaney vs. his motor
Fight Rating: No Fights Sadly
Bonehead of the Race: Chase Elliott got popped with another pit road penalty this week, this time for not being single file entering.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: COTA
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
No tie this week. Tucker Lovelace gets his 1st pole of 2025, This was Tucker's 6th career pole, and 1st at Homestead.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Valerie Jacobs
Stage 2: Brooks Deaton
First stage wins of the year for everyone.
Race Results
The winner this week was Brooks Deaton. Brooks gets his 1st win of 2025, his 8th career win, and his 1st at Homestead.
Segment Results
After 2 races, it's Brandon Braswell ahead of Brooks Deaton.
Standings update
No change up front this week. Tucker holds the lead, but Burfield is only 30 points behind.
BFNL Chase
Brooks locks into the Chase with the win.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week: Keith Williams & Andrew Brown
Track Type Championships
2 races into the Intermediates, Brandon Braswell still leads.
The Summer Shootout
Coming this Summer...
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday they will race at Martinsville
Las Vegas Recap: Brandon Braswell gets the win at Vegas
March 17, 2025
Race Recap:
Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. We have officially hit the 1.5 mile portion of the schedule, with three 1.5 milers in the next 4 races. The spring Vegas race is usually the Hendrick/Kyle Larson show. Early on yesterday, it looked like that might continue, but the field got mixed up in the middle of green flag pit stops. Chase Elliott seemed poised to take advantage, coming out in 2nd place, but he was popped for his 2nd speeding penalty in the last 3 races. Larson, Cindric, Logano, Wallace, and others took turns leading. No one really dominated. On the final restart, Daniel Saurez and Josh Berry found themselves out front. They had a solid, mostly clean battle with Josh Berry ultimately pulling ahead. It was obvious that whoever got the lead was going to run away, and that's exactly what happened. Berry cruised to his 1st career Cup Series victory.
The last time the Wood Brothers won races in back to back seasons was 1986 & 1987, with Kyle Petty behind the wheel. Harrison Burton seemed overmatched in the 21 car the last two years, only lucking into a plate win last season. Josh Berry seems like he is comfortable, and making the 21 a contender each week.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: B+
Best Battle: Berry vs. Suarez for 2 laps before Berry pulled away.
Fight Rating: No Fights Sadly
Bonehead of the Race: Chase Elliott popped for speeding when he came out 2nd with all the fast cars trapped at the back.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: COTA
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Another tie this week. This time a three way Steele tie. Tiffany Steele, Mason Steele and Kevin Steele all tied for the pole. Tiffany gets her 2nd pole of the season to take the early lead. Tiffany joins the 20 Pole Club. Kevin gets his 27th pole, and Mason his 5th. All 3 were first time pole winners at Las Vegas.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Tiffany Steele, Mason Steele, Kevin Steele
Stage 2: Brandon Braswell
First stage wins of the year for everyone.
Race Results
Your race winner this week was The Commish. Brandon Braswell gets his 1st win of the season, his 53rd career win, and his 1st win at Las Vegas.
Segment Results
Segment 2 has started. Brandon leads after 1 race.
Standings update
First points lead change of the season. Tucker Lovelace supplants Chris Burfield for the lead.
BFNL Chase
Brandon locks into the Chase with the win.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week: Tim Laney & Justin Braswell
Track Type Championships
1 race into the Intermediates, Brandon leads.
The Summer Shootout
Coming this Summer...
Looking ahead...
Another 1.5 miler next Sunday. Homestead returns to the spring.
Phoenix Recap: Mirana Browns wins at PHX
March 10, 2025
Race Recap:
Phoenix was the first non-plate oval of the season, so you could call the the start of the "real" season. It went about like you would expect, honestly. Penske won the pole, Penske and Gibbs cars dominated the race, and Hendrick filled in the rest of the spots. NASCAR and Goodyear brought the "option" tire this week to give the teams something to play with. It was a good wrinkle for the race, but for the most part, everyone followed the same strategy. That's the problem with these binary A or B choices. The teams are going to figure out what the most optimal strategy is, and for the most part everyone is going to employee it. The option tire was good though. Tire wear is a good thing. No, we don't want failures, but requiring the driver to actually drive and not just run qualifying laps is what most racing series are about.
Christopher Bell edged Denny Hamlin at the line, in the 2nd closest finish in Phoenix history. It wasn't quite a photo finish, but it was pretty close. A couple late cautions helped Hamlin get within striking distance of Bell. Bell has now won 3 straight races, becoming the first driver since Kyle Larson in 2021 to do so. 4 straight is the modern day record, held by several drivers, including Harry Gant, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon. Richard Petty has the all-time record of 10 straight, which haha.
Race Rating: B-
Race Finish: A-
Best Battle: Hamlin and Bell on the final restart
Fight Rating: No Fights Sadly
Bonehead of the Race: Ty Dillon was positioned to score maybe a top 5 finish by saving his option tires, but a pit road violation put him out of the running.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: COTA
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
We had a tie for the pole this week. Tom Kerr and Chris House get their first poles of the season. It was Tom's 10th career pole, and Chris' 2nd.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Bob Francis
Stage 2: Roger Harris
First stage wins of the year for Bob and Roger
Race Results
5 races so far, and 5 winners. Miranda Brown returns to victory lane this week. This was Miranda's 1st win of 2025, her 5th career win, and her 2nd at Phoenix (she also won this race last year).
Segment Results
Segment 1 is in the books and Roger Harris gets the win. This is Roger's 7th Segment win.
Standings update
Chris Burfield is still hanging onto the points lead, but Alan is not far behind.
BFNL Chase
Miranda locks herself into the Chase with the win.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week: Jason Hollingsworth & Jennifer Braswell
Track Type Championships
Miranda Brown rockets to the lead in the "Short Tracks" after Phoenix.
The Summer Shootout
Coming this Summer...
Looking ahead...
On to Segment 2. Next Sunday is Las Vegas, and the start of a 1.5 mile heavy segment.
Circuit of the Americas Recap: Tucker Lovelace wins on the new, more competitive COTA layout
March 3, 2025
Race Recap:
I have to admit, the new layout at COTA was much better for NASCAR. The shorter layout, cut over a mile of track off, but really helped make the race more competitive and interesting. Combined with the restart zone changes, there was less chaos going into turn 1 (Ross Chastain not withstanding), which made the race feel like an actual race. So kudos to everyone involved in those changes.
Kyle Busch dominated most of the race, but was unable to hold off Christopher Bell in the final 10 laps. Bell gets his 2nd straight win of the season, and cements himself as the extremely early Championship favorite. Super prospect Conner Zillisch made his cup series debut. It was a mixed bag for CZ. He was fast in practice, got into an incident on Lap 1 of the race, ran some really fast laps as he tried to make up ground, and ultimately crashed into his teammate, Daniel Suarez ending his day early and earning a last place finish. Zillisch is an incredible talent, and is also incredibly young. He won the Xfinity race on Saturday, and will likely contend for the Xfinity Championship.
So speaking of lap 1. Going into turn 1 on lap 1, Ross Chastain (shocker) divebombed the corner and slammed into Chase Elliott, spinning him out. Elliott started 3rd, in a rare show of qualifying speed from the 9. In the span of 1 turn, Elliott was relegated to 37th place with damage. The 9 team did a great job adjusting their strategy all day, making repairs, salvaging some stage points, and taking tires on the last caution. The fresh tires allowed Elliott to go on the offensive and drive through the field. He restarted 21st, and drove all the way to a 4th place finish. Not that Fox seemed to notice. The didn't even mention Elliott until he was already in 7th place. The big question was what would Elliott do when he got back to Chastain (again, which Fox did not cover). Chastain got the message that Elliott was coming, and pulled over out of the way, giving him the track. Chastain has made a career of making bad moves and creating enemies. It's not the first time Chastain and Elliott have had contact. Elliott and Hamlin harrassed Chastain at Gateway a couple years ago, and Chastain spun Elliott in the Championship race a few years ago. Elliott still owes Chastain one for today.
Race Rating: A
Race Finish: A
Best Battle: Kyle Busch trying to hold off Christopher Bell on older tires
Fight Rating: No Fights Sadly
Bonehead of the Race: Chastain wrecking Elliott in turn 1 of Lap 1.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: COTA
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was Tiffany Steele. Tiffany gets her 19th career pole, and first at COTA.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Manish Nagpal
Stage 2: Tucker Lovelace
First stage wins of the year for Manish and Tucker.
Race Results
Tucker Lovelace is your race winner this week. Tucker gets his 1st win of 2025, his 4th career win, and his 2nd win at COTA. Tucker is the first repeat winner at COTA.
Segment Results
3 races down in Segment 1, and Alan Ross leads Tucker Lovelace and Andrew Brown.
Standings update
Chris Burfield remains up front, but he did lose a little ground this week over Alan Ross.
BFNL Chase
Tucker Lovelace is now locked in for the 2025 BFNL Chase
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week: Kyle Zaepful & Dennis Williams
Track Type Championships
Tucker Lovelace takes the early lead on "Road Courses"
The Summer Shootout
Coming this Summer...
Looking ahead...
On to a "regular" track this week. The first non-drafting oval of the season, and the host of the Championship race at the end of season. Phoenix is next Sunday.
Atlanta Recap: Alan Ross wins the Anti-Climatic Finish 400 at Atlanta
February 24, 2025
Race Recap:
Not quite as embarrasing as last week's mess at Daytona, but equally frustrating at the end. The race itself was very good. Atlanta is probably the best track on the circuit right now. It races a lot like Daytona used to, prior to the NextGen car. There were some wrecks, but they were not 30 car pileups. For a little while during the final stage, they were trading the lead back and forth lap after lap. And these were actual passes. One car driving around another car. Not just two lines inching back and forth saving fuel.
And then the finish happened. Kyle Larson took out one of the cleanest drivers on the circuit, Austin Cindric, with his patented "move them up until they run into the wall" move. A move he has used many times over the years, including against his own teammate, Chase Elliott, at Fontana a couple years ago. Denny Hamlin caught a lot of flack last year for giving Larson the same treatment at Pocono. I was not one of those people. Larson considers himself the "best driver in the world", and admittedly, he might be. But he drives like a dickhead, and never gets any negative press about it. The Fox guys are too busy trying to one-up each other with stupid stories to actually say something critical about the race, or the drivers, unless it's Hocevar.
Anyway, on the ensuing G-W-C, there was a wreck on the white flag lap, and NASCAR inexplicably threw the caution. Christopher Bell, Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson were running 3-wide at the time, with clear track ahead. The caution prevented any chance at a repeat of last year's 3-wide finish. It might have stolen a win from Hocevar, who looked like had the momentum. Guys going for their 1st career wins are always a great story. Hocevar seems like he's ready to get a win this year. Contrasted against Ty Gibbs, who looked great early last year, but has not been good since the 2nd half of 2024, and is wrecking a lot. Josh Berry was also strong today for the Wood Brothers. But a Berry win would most likely come on a drafting track.
Race Rating: A
Race Finish: D+
Best Battle: Chastain & Berry trading the lead back and forth
Fight Rating: No Fights Sadly
Bonehead of the Race: Larson walling Cindric
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was defending Champion Thomas Tolbert. Thomas gets his 1st pole of 2025, his 14th career pole, and his 2nd at Atlanta.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Chris Hodge
Stage 2: Chris House
First stage wins of the year for Chris and Chris.
Race Results
Back in the Winner's Circle this week is Alan Ross. Alan gets his 1st win of 2025, his 8th career win, and his 1st win at Atlanta. Alan locks in his 4th consecutive winning season, and claws back some ground he lost during The Clash.
Segment Results
After two races in the Segment (not including The Clash), Alan Ross leads.
Standings update
Chris Burfield goes 3 for 3 in Top 10's this year, and remains at the top of the points.
BFNL Chase
Alan Ross is now locked in for the 2025 BFNL Chase
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week: Gary Bolen & John Regan
Track Type Championships
Alan Ross takes the lead on "Super Speedways"
The Summer Shootout
Coming this Summer...
Looking ahead...
Thankfully no more drafting this week. Now they go to *checks notes* a road course. COTA is back this week, with a shorter layout.
The Daytona 500: Keith Williams wins The Great American Fuel Saving Demolition Derby Race
February 17, 2025
Race Recap:
What happened to the race I loved? Let's ignore the yearly rain delay and associated rain coverage. The Super Bowl of stock car racing is literally just pulling a name out of hat and calling them the winner. It's never the fastest car, or the best driver. The Penske Fords were the best cars all night. Chase Elliott had a good car. Bubba was strong. None of them finished in the top 5. 41 of the 45 cars that were on the entry list sustained some kind of damage across the Duel's and the Daytona 500.
Yes, they ran 3 wide for long periods of time. They were running fuel conservation mode. You couldn't pull out and pass. 3 lines riding down the highway at 60% throttle. That's not interesting. Even on the final pitstop, the booth was excited they could get fuel and really start racing! And they only took the bare minimum amount of fuel, and some of them still had to save to make the finish. Trak position at Daytona and Talladega used to mean nothing. You didn't need to shave 2 seconds off your pitstop because you could drive through the field if you had a good car. Now you can't.
William Byron won the Daytona 500 for the 2nd year in a row. I don't have a lot of nice things to say about that, haha. He was in the right place at the right time and won. We were also 2 cars away from Jimmie Johnson winning this race, so there's that. At least Byron didn't have to wreck the field this year to win! Oh, and Ryan Preece did a wheelie and flipped, again. It would be cool if NASCAR did something to stop these cars from getting in the air before someone gets killed (probably a fan(s)).
Race Rating: D
Race Finish: C+
Best Battle: Ryan Preece vs. Gravity
Fight Rating: No Fights Sadly
Bonehead of the Race: Tie between Stenhouse and Logano. Stenhouse made a bad block, but Logano tried to make a lane that wasn't there. The result was a huge crash that took out the good cars.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: The Clash
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Daytona 500 pole goes to Jason Hollinsgworth. Jason gets his 1st pole of 2025, and his lucky 13th career pole (2nd pole at Daytona).
Stage Results
Stage 1: Shawn White
Stage 2: Tim Hodge
Shawn and Tim win the first stages of the year.
Race Results
The winner this week was Keith Williams. Keith gets his 22nd career victory, and his 1st Daytona 500. Keith is only missing the Coca Cola 600 and Bristol Night race to complete the full Prestiege Win list.
Segment Results
Keith Williams leads after 1 race.
Standings update
Chris Burfield remains at the top with his 2nd top 10 finish of the year.
BFNL Chase
Keith Williams is now locked in for the 2025 BFNL Chase
BFNL Survivor
First two eliminations of the year: Michael Klaus and Valerie Jacobs
Track Type Championships
Keith is the current Superspeedway leader.
The Summer Shootout
Coming this Summer...
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday is another drafting race, this time on a smaller scale. Atlanta returns.
The Cookout Clash recap: 2025 BFNL season kicks-off with a Chris Burfield win at Bowman Gray Stadium
February 3, 2025
Race Recap:
I have to say I was very pleased with the Clash at Bowman Gray. Compared to the Clashes at the LA Coliseum, this track was much more raceable. There was actually an outside groove occasionally. Hamlin was able to make some passes on the outside, including passing Chase Elliott for the lead. The racing was much better than I anticipated. It got a little rough in the Last Chance Qualifier, but the main race was pretty respectful. Other than Ricky Stenhouse Jr. absolutely punting local favorite Burt Myers into oblivion.
Chase Elliott dominated the 1st half of the race, but Denny Hamlin caught him with 6 laps to go and passed. I give Alan Gustaffson a lot of crap, but he did make some changes to improve the long run and in the 2nd half Elliott re-passed Hamlin for the lead and never looked back. Lucky for Elliott, and honestly for the impression of the race, there were no late cautions. A late caution would most likely have turned into an absolute disaster of caution after caution.
There are rumors swirling about moving The Clash to another track next year, including one rumor about Brazil. I think they should leave it at Bowman Gray for another year or two. It's a great little venue, with strong ties to NASCAR history. It's close to the shops, so it's a heck of a lot cheaper to get to. The racing was good. Why mess with a good thing?
Race Rating: A
Race Finish: B+
Best Battle: Elliott/Hamlin/Blaney
Fight Rating: No Fights Sadly
Bonehead of the Race: Ty Gibbs. Gibbs ramped his car off of Justin Haley, getting airborne, in retaliation during the LCQ.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: The Clash
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
First pole of the year goes to Miranda Brown.
Stage Results
Stage 1: n/a
Stage 2: n/a
No Stage points in The Clash
Race Results
**Note** I originally uploaded results with different winners. After reviewing my spreadsheet, I realized I made a calculation error. Updated standings are posted. Apologies for the mixup**
Chris Burfield starts off the 2025 with a 1-2-3 finish for his team in the Clash. Chris scores the 1st win of 2025, and his 5th career win. He becomes the 1st person in BFNL to win both the Clash and the All Star Race.
Segment Results
The Clash is a standalone race, and not part of a Segment.
Standings update
The Clash is an offical race for BFNL, and as such, our 3 winners are all tied for the points lead after 1 race.
BFNL Chase
Chris Burfield is now locked in for the 2025 BFNL Chase
BFNL Survivor
The Clash and the All Star Race are not part of Survivor
Track Type Championships
Burfield leads the "Short Track" standings.
The Summer Shootout
Coming this Summer
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday is the Super Bowl, so enjoy that if you can. NASCAR returns in 2 weeks for the Great American Race, the Daytona 500.
Phoenix recap: Elishabeth Draughon wins again, but it's Thomas Tolber who wins the championship
November 10, 2024
Race Recap:
Pretty calm race. Phoenix isn't particularly exciting. Joey Logano held off Ryan Blaney on the final 60 lap green flag run, and won his 3rd Cup Championship. There really wasn't any drama. Blaney drove him down and got within a quarter of a second, but Logano is a master of air blocking, and Blaney could never get around him. Logano becomes the 10th driver to win 3 or more Cup Championships. He has a pretty good argument for least deserving Championship season ever. Yes, he won 4 races, but his average finish was terrible. If not for the Bowman DQ, he's eliminated in the Round of 12.
Have to give a shout out to Bobby Allison who passed away this week. Allison was an incredible driver who is so often overlooked because he only won 1 Championship. He was a fierce as anybody on the track, and he ran until he literally couldn't anymore, and never really slowed down. He will be missed.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: B
Best Battle: The Pace Car vs. the Sand Barrels
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Final pole of the year goes to Elisabeth Draughon. Elisabeth ties with several others for the most this year, with 3.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Elisabeth Draughon (3)
Stage 2: Larry Braswell (2)
Manish Nagpal has the most Stage wins this season.
Race Results
Another lady in victory lane this week. Elisabeth Draughon gets her 3rd win of the season, tying her with Miranda Brown for the most wins this year. Her margin of victory this week was the largest all season. Quite a way to finish out the season!
Segment Results
Final Segment of the year goes to Elisabeth Draughon.
Standings update
What a great championship battle. Thomas Tolbert wins his 2nd BFNL Championship, passing Nick Prytula in the final race. Thomas becomes the 5th multiple time champion, joining Brandon Braswell, Justin Braswell, Bob Francis, and Michael Byrom. This was Thomas' first podium since 2017.
Nick Prytula finishes runner-up. By far his best ever BFNL finish. His previous best finish was 17th, last season.
Kevin Steele rounds out the podium with 3rd place. This was Kevin 3rd podium finish, and first since 2006. It was also the first time Kevin finished in the top 10 since 2013.
BFNL Chase
Tiffany Steele wins the 2024 BFNL Chase.
BFNL Survivor
Final Elimination this week: Steele Norman
Alan Ross is the 1st BFNL Survivor winner
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield wins the Short Track Championship
Miranda Brown wins the Intermediates Championship
Manish Nagpal wins the Road Course Championship.
Alan Ross wins the Super Speedway Championship.
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Greg Camden is the winner
BFNL Roto League
Jeremy Steele wins the Roto League, holding off Dustin Draughon and Alan Ross.
Looking ahead...
That's it for 2024. It was a great season. We had a lead change in the final race, and more lead changes than any other season in BFNL history. Thank you to everyone for playing this year. I hope you had a great time.
