Cars in field: 37
Pole: William Byron (24)
Outside Pole: Ty Gibbs (54)
Stages: 130-130-240
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 55°F, Feels like 57°, Feels like (shade) 56°, Wind E 3 mph, Wind Gusts 4 mph
Tuning in on lap 271 of 500.
Paying attention at lap 464 of 500.
Caution on lap 482 of 500 for a spin by Carson Hocevar (77).
William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24) beats Ryan Blaney (12) off pit road.
Restarting on lap of 500 with William Byron (24), Ryan Blaney (12), Ross Chastain (1), Chase Elliott (9), Kyle Larson (5), Josh Berry (21), Todd Gilliland (34), Joey Logano (22), Ryan Preece (60), Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20) up front.
William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24) wins his way into the final four.
Kyle Larson (5) will also advance into the championship four.
Championship Four
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- Denny Hamlin (11)
- Chase Briscoe (19)
- William Byron (24)
- Kyle Larson (5)
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I have no interest in the championship race. Of those involved, I hope Kyle Larson wins the championship. None of the others are championship material. They are representative of the issues with NASCAR that have caused me to go from a rabid fan to someone who finds myself asking if I will watch next season. The 2025 champion will definitely not be the best driver of the season. The best drivers have been eliminated. Each year that I question if I will watch NASCAR, I find myself watching fewer and fewer races each year.
I didn’t watch most of the race. I had some business that I needed to attend to which occurred during the race. I listened to the radio broadcast of the early portion of the race. I listed to the final dozen laps of the second stage. I watched the final three dozen laps. It wasn’t interesting or engaging, in spite of an enthusiastic call by MRN. The visuals were lacking. It appears William Byron was on track alone at the front of the field as he approached cars to lap. Though Blaney did not appear far behind on the leaderboard, his car wasn’t included in the camera shot. There was also another car shown racing in traffic. The relevance of the driver’s progress was unclear from the video. I had no idea if his situation would improve if he passed cars, or, really why we were watching him. Effectively the NASCAR season is over for me. I will likely check out the Daytona 500 to see if FOX’s coverage improves, then decide from that point which additional races I will try to catch throughout the season. I have had hope that NASCAR would improve. The on-track racing appears to have improved. I have to say ‘appears to have’, because the television cameras spend little time showing the on-track racing. They spend a lot of time showing the track surface, the walls, bumpers and hoods of cars, the sky, the view of the track property from very high above, people watching the race in pitboxes, grandstands, and the infield. The one thing it is difficult to see during the television broadcast is on-track racing from a viewpoint that allows the viewer to identify and follow the cars and the action. Either the viewer is looking at a weird shot of the side of the car, or car bumpers, or hoods, or doors, or the view is from an angle so that the viewer can’t see the car numbers, or the camera shot is so high it looks like a collection of toy cars, and of course that’s when the viewer isn’t stuck looking at someone drive. Since most people drive, and have ridden with drivers, I think everyone knows what that looks like, so it is a mystery to me why the television broadcasts spend so much time on something so visually boring. The televised races have become boring and frustrating because I, as a fan, can’t actually SEE the race. I listen to the MRN broadcast to hear a decent call. The PRN broadcasts are sub-par, but much better than the television broadcasts’ audio. I’ve avoided the NBC Cup series audio for years due to it’s steady decline, following it’s substandard start. The televised race needs a lot of help and year over year it has taken four steps backward for any positive progress. I will find out in February if I will continue to watch NASCAR, or if it will be abandoned like IMSA. I grew to love IMSA, then NBC. I rarely catch any portion of the races now.
Get caught up on the latest racing news.
Motorsport News:
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- Marcos Ambrose survives colorectal cancer, undergoes liver transplant.
- William Byron wins pole position for NASCAR Cup elimination race at Martinsville.
- ‘One of us is on a suicide mission’ says Hamlin of lawsuit.
- William Byron makes championship field with 11th-hour win at Martinsville.
- Martinsville post-race inspection.
- Ryan Blaney comes up one spot short at Martinsville in must-win race: ‘I’m not going to Phoenix’.
- Commercial breakdown: 2025 Xfinity 500.
- Brandon McSwain expected to crew chief for Ross Chastain next season.
- NASCAR and Words + Pictures announce RISING â a new docuseries following the next generation of NASCAR stars, debuting on YouTube.
- More court filings made in antitrust lawsuit.
- Leaving IndyCar for F2 sets Herta up for F1 — if he ever gets the call.
- Bubba Wallace’s son has helped turn his dad’s NASCAR career (and life) around.
- Mexico GP: Lewis Hamilton fumes at ‘kind of nuts’ F1 penalty.
- Mexico GP: FIA explains controversial late virtual safety car.
- F1 title leader Lando Norris shrugs off boos from Mexico GP fans.
- Lawson: ‘Could’ve killed’ Mexico GP marshals in ‘dangerous’ near-miss.
- Mexico Grand Prix recap: F1 results, highlights as Norris takes championship lead.
- Sergio Pérez: No driver can survive as Max Verstappen’s teammate.
- Mexico GP: McLaren rookie Pato O’Ward drove FP1 with food poisoning.
- FIA confirms ‘hackers’ breached Verstappen’s personal information.
- Verstappen has turned McLaren’s duel into three-way title fight.
- Sainz handed 5-place grid drop at Mexico GP for Antonelli collision.
- Verstappen makes history with U.S. GP win.
- U.S. GP: Piastri defends ‘racing incident’ collision with Norris.
- George Russell confirms clauses in contract, key to Mercedes F1 future.
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