Runnin' On Scuffs

  Photo: Ford Authority The Scuff 25 is ready following the Daytona 500.  Just a reminder for readers, each member of the Runnin' On Scuffs crew filled out their Top 25 drivers for the week, and those rankings were averaged into a collective Top 25.  This is the Runnin' On Scuffs version of AP collegiate style ranks for NASCAR.  The drivers will be listed by their current rank and in parentheses they will have their spot on the ranking from last week. Scuff 25: Daytona 500 1. Joey Logano (#3) 2. Christopher Bell (#1) 3. Ryan Blaney (#9) 4. Kyle Larson (#4) 5. Kyle Busch (#10) 6. Alex Bowman (#12) 7. Martin Truex Jr. (#5) 8. Denny Hamlin (#7) 9. Chase Elliott (#2) 10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (NR) 11. Ross Chastain (#6) 12. Chris Buescher (#22) 13. Brad Keselowski (NR) 14. Aric Almirola (NR) 15. Kevin Harvick (#14) 16. Austin Dillon (#19) 17. Daniel Suarez (#21) 18. AJ Allmendinger (#18) 19. William Byron (#11) 20. Austin Cindric (#20) 21. Tyler Reddick (#8) 22. Austin Hil...

Photo: Tampa Bay Times Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the 65th Daytona 500 Sunday evening after a couple of overtimes led to a caution-ended race.  The victory was the third of his career and was by far his biggest accomplishment to date.  Stenhouse comes from Olive Branch, Mississippi, a small town just a few miles out of Memphis, Tennessee.  This Daytona 500 victory means a lot, not just to Stenhouse, but to the state behind him. Mississippi is one of 23 states in the United States that does not have a professional sports team across the major sports in the country.  Many Mississippians take their sports interests to the collegiate level, supporting the University of Mississippi or Mississippi State University or even the University of Southern Miss.  For the fandoms of Mississippians in professional sports, some will become fans of a surrounding area such as New Orleans or Atlanta or Nashville.  Others will cheer for teams that hold Mississippi college alumni....

  Photo:WYFF Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins the 2023 Daytona 500.  This was Stenhouse Jr.'s third career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.  Stenhouse won the race in double overtime after a caution came out on the last lap.  The 65th Daytona 500 was the longest distance run in the race's history, with 12 laps of overtime added to the scheduled 200 laps.  The results of the 2023 Daytona 500 are below: 1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - #47 2. Joey Logano - #22 3. Christopher Bell - #20 4. Chris Buescher - #17 5. Alex Bowman - #48 6. AJ Allmendinger - #16 7. Daniel Suarez - #99 8. Ryan Blaney - #12 9. Ross Chastain - #1 10. Riley Herbst - #15 11. Travis Pastrana - #67 12. Kevin Harvick - #4 13. Zane Smith - #36 14. Cody Ware - #51 15. Martin Truex Jr. - #19 16. Corey Lajoie - #7 17. Denny Hamln - #11 18. Kyle Larson - #5 19. Kyle Busch - #8 20. Bubba Wallace - #23 21. Aric Almirola - #10 22. Brad Keselowski - #6 23. Austin Cindric - #2 24. Noah Gragson - #42 25. Ty Gibbs - #54 26...

  Photo: NASCAR.com Austin Hill wins the Beef. It's What's For Dinner 300 at Daytona.  Hill managed to go from back to front multiple times, including in Stage One after surrendering the pole position to fix a radio issue.  The #21 RCR team has locked themselves into the Xfinity series playoffs with this win.  The final results of the Beef. It's What's For Dinner. 300 are below: 1. Austin Hill - #21 2. John Hunter Nemechek - #20 3. Justin Allgaier - #7 4. Parker Retzlaff - #31 5. Myatt Snider - #19 6. Riley Herbst - #98 7. Joe Graf Jr. - #39 8. Ryan Sieg - #38 9. Cole Custer - #00 10. Justin Haley - #10 11. Jeb Burton - #27 12. Chandler Smith - #16 13. Stefan Parsons - #45 14. Brandon Jones - #9 15. Josh Williams - #92 16. Parker Chase - #24 17. Jeremy Clements - #51 18. Joey Gase - #53 19. Sammy Smith - #18 20. Gray Gaulding - #08 21. Kyle Sieg - #38 22. David Starr - #02 23. Parker Kligerman - #48 24. Anthony Alfredo - #78 25. Jade Buford - #5 26. Josh Berry - #8 2...

Photo: American Racing Network Austin Hill has captured the pole for the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at Daytona. Hill ran a lap time of 49.298.  Hill will lead the field to green Saturday evening.  The results of qualifying are below: 1. Austin Hill 2. Parker Kligerman 3. Cole Custer 4. Sheldon Creed 5. Justin Allgaier 6. Daniel Hemric 7. John Hunter Nemechek 8. Chandler Smith 9. Riley Herbst 10. Anthony Alfredo 11. Brandon Jones 12. Jade Buford 13. Myatt Snider 14. Sam Mayer 15. Sammy Smith 16. Parker Retzlaff 17. Caesar Bacarella 18. Josh Berry 19. Justin Haley 20. Jeb Burton 21. Brennan Poole 22. Ryan Sieg 23. Gray Gaulding 24. Jeffrey Earnhardt 25. Josh Williams 26. Kyle Sieg 27. Blaine Perkins 28. David Starr 29. Joe Graf Jr. 30. Bayley Currey 31. CJ McLaughlin 32. Brett Moffitt 33. Kaz Grala 34. Parker Chase 35. Ryan Ellis 36. Joey Gase 37. Jesse Iwuji 38. Jeremy Clements **Dexter Stacey, Josh Bilicki, Garrett Smithley, Timmy Hill, Ryan Vargas, and Alex Labbe all f...

  Photo: Motorsports Tribune Zane Smith goes back-to-back in Daytona in the Craftsman Truck Series.  Zane Smith won the 2023 season opener after the race was shortened due to rain.  The defending series champion picks up his first victory of the 2023 season and locks himself into the Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs.  The race was called after 79 of the scheduled 100 laps had been completed.  The final results are below: 1. Zane Smith - #38 2. Tanner Gray - #15 3. Christian Eckes - #19 4. Colby Howard - #9 5. Grant Enfinger - #23 6. Ty Majeski - #98 7. Tyler Ankrum - #16 8. Corey Heim - #11 9. Matt Crafton - #88 10. Chase Elliott - #35 11. Ben Rhodes - #99 12. Carson Hocevar - #42 13. Travis Pastrana - #41 14. Sammy Smith - #17 15. Jason A. White - #1 16. Timmy Hill - #56 17. Chase Purdy - #4 18. Derek Kraus - #20 19. Josh Reaume - #22 20. Matt DiBenedetto - #25 21. Jason M. White - #34 22. Kris Wright - #01 23. Corey Lajoie - #7 24. Mason Massey - #33 25. Chris ...

  Photo: KickintheTires.net The starting lineup for the NextEra Energy 250 for the Craftsman Truck Series is set.  Nick Sanchez earned his first career pole award with his new team at Rev Racing.  The full lineup for the Truck Series opener at Daytona is below: 1. Nick Sanchez 2. Ty Majeski 3. Jack Wood 4. Christian Eckes 5. Corey Lajoie (i) 6. Matt Crafton 7. Jason A. White 8. Matt DiBenedetto 9. Carson Hocevar 10. Chase Purdy 11. Derek Kraus 12. Hailie Deegan 13. Corey Heim 14. Chase Elliott (i) 15. Zane Smith 16. Grant Enfinger 17. Rajah Caruth 18. Dean Thompson 19. Tanner Gray 20. Sammy Smith (i) 21. Colby Howard 22. Bret Holmes 23. Stewart Friesen 24. Parker Kligerman (i) 25. Travis Pastrana (i) 26. Ben Rhodes 27. Tyler Ankrum 28. Codie Rohrbaugh 29. Daniel Dye 30. Kris Wright 31. Clay Greenfield 32. Timmy Hill 33. Chris Hacker 34. Josh Reaume 35. Mason Massey 36. Jason M. White Lawless Alan, Bryan Dauzat, Todd Peck, Spencer Boyd, Kaden Honeycutt, and Norm Benning fa...

  Photo: NASCAR.com Joey Logano and Aric Almirola captured victories Thursday night in their respective Duel races.  With the completion of the BlueGreen Vacations Duels at Daytona, the field for the Great American Race is officially set.  The lineup for the 2023 Daytona 500 is below: 1. Alex Bowman 2. Kyle Larson 3. Joey Logano 4. Aric Almirola 5. Christopher Bell 6. Austin Cindric 7. Ryan Blaney 8. Chase Elliott 9. Chris Buescher 10. Brad Keselowski 11. Michael McDowell 12. Corey Lajoie 13. Kevin Harvick 14. Todd Gilliland 15. Bubba Wallace 16. Martin Truex Jr. 17. Zane Smith (Open Car) 18. Denny Hamlin 19. Harrison Burton 20. Ryan Preece 21. William Byron 22. Noah Gragson 23. Ross Chastain 24. Daniel Suarez 25. Erik Jones 26. Tyler Reddick 27. Austin Dillon 28. Justin Haley 29. AJ Allmendinger 30. Chase Briscoe 31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 32. BJ McLeod 33. Ty Gibbs 34. Conor Daly (Open Car) 35. Cody Ware 36. Kyle Busch 37. Ty Dillon 38. Riley Herbst 39. Jimmie Johnson (Ope...

  Photo: GM Authority Alex Bowman captured his 3rd Pole in the Daytona 500 Wednesday Night.  The pole award was the eighth for team owner, Rick Hendrick, in the last nine seasons.  Bowman had a lap time of 49.536, nearly two tenths of a second faster than his teammate, Kyle Larson, in second.  Bowman and Larson are locked into their starting positions barring any inspection issues or having to go to a backup car.  Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana have locked themselves into the Daytona 500 with their qualifying speeds. The lineups for each of Thursday's Duel races are below. Duel 1: 1. Alex Bowman 2. William Byron 3. Joey Logano 4. Ryan Blaney 5. Harrison Burton 6. Bubba Wallace 7. Chris Buescher 8. Ross Chastain 9. Kevin Harvick 10. Ty Gibbs 11. Christopher Bell 12. Jimmie Johnson (Locked-In) 13. Michael McDowell 14. Erik Jones 15. Zane Smith (Open Driver) 16. AJ Allmendinger 17. Austin Dillon 18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 19. Cody Ware 20. Ty Dillon 21. Chandler S...

  Photo: Toyota Racing Throughout the 2023 season, the Runnin' On Scuffs Team is going to try their hand at comparing NASCAR rankings to a College style AP Top 25 Poll.  Each Scuff fills out their Top 25 for each week and then the averages are given a ranking.  With that said, allow me to introduce the first ever "Scuff 25".  This week will cover the driver's rankings through the offseason as well as after the 2023 Busch Light Clash.  Our rankings will be posted weekly every Wednesday so be sure to tune in for our updated rankings after the weekend's racing in Daytona. Scuff 25 Rankings: 1. Christopher Bell 2. Chase Elliott 3. Joey Logano 4. Kyle Larson 5. Martin Truex Jr. 6. Ross Chastain 7. Denny Hamlin 8. Tyler Reddick 9. Ryan Blaney 10. Kyle Busch 11. William Byron 12. Alex Bowman 13. Bubba Wallace 14. Kevin Harvick 15. Chase Briscoe 16. Ty Gibbs 17. Erik Jones 18. AJ Allmendinger 19. Austin Dillon 20. Austin Cindric 21. Daniel Suarez 22. Chris Buescher 23. ...

Hello Readers!   As an avid NASCAR fan, there is nothing more exciting than the upcoming DAYTONA 500. As of the writing of this article, there are 25 days (about 3 and a half weeks) to the Daytona 500. I for one, am extremely excited to bring you an exclusive look at the upcoming race from a stats perspective. In the sixty-two Daytona 500’s, only SIX drivers have ever won more than twice. Out of those six, only one of them is active today. The all-time leaderboard looks as follows: 1.       Richard Petty-7 wins 2.       Cale Yarborough-4 wins 3.       Bobby Allison-3 wins 4.       Dale Jarrett-3 wins 5.       Jeff Gordon 3-wins 6.       Denny Hamlin-3 wins   Now, to look at who has the best chance to win in 25 days (about 3 and a half weeks), I am including stats from all races at Daytona, not just the 500. ...

Photo: NBC Sports Lebron James officially sits atop the NBA mountain as the All-Time Leading Points Scorer. The Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder last night, but it was Lakers star, Lebron James, that stole the show. Some fans are still in debate as to whether or not this statistic makes James the “GOAT” of the NBA. However, this stat certainly adds to an already Hall of Fame worthy career in the NBA. There has been a lot of talk recently about GOAT performers across the sports world from Lebron’s impressive stat to Tom Brady announcing his retirement from the NFL last week. The GOAT debate spans across almost all sports and in many sports, there is not a clear cut answer as to who that one player is. NASCAR is no different in this respect. Fans go around and around arguing who they believe to be the Greatest of All Time.  But who really is NASCAR’s GOAT? In this article, I will present five drivers that have been considered by at least some fans to be the GOAT of NASCAR. I ...

  Photo: TobyChristie.com Martin Truex Jr. captured his first win in the NASCAR Busch Light Clash last night at the L.A. Coliseum.  Truex joins Joey Logano as one of only two drivers to win at the quarter-mile football shaped oval.  While this was not a points race for NASCAR's top series, this win gives Martin Truex Jr. and the #19 team a much needed momentum boost after coming off a rough season in 2022. But does one win at the Clash automatically make MTJ a favorite to win the championship?  Joey Logano was able to bookend the 2022 season with a Clash victory and a championship.  Who's to say that Truex could not do the same in 2023?  I am determined that 2023 is shaping up to be an outstanding year for the driver of the #19 Toyota. It's an odd numbered year.  That may not sound like much of a reason to some but Martin Truex Jr. has not missed the Championship 4 in an odd-numbered year since NASCAR introduced an elimination style playoff format....

  Photo: TobyChristie.com Jimmie Johnson will run the Chicago Street Course race in 2023.  Jimmie Johnson announced during the Busch Light Clash broadcast that he will compete in the inaugural running of the Chicago Street Course in the NASCAR Cup Series. Johnson announced late last year that he would be joining PettyGMS Racing as a co-owner of the team.  With this announcement, Johnson announced he would run a partial schedule with the team, beginning with the 2023 Daytona 500. PettyGMS rebranded to Legacy Motor Club early in 2023 and Johnson will pilot the #84 Chevy Camaro ZL1 during his part-time schedule.  Other races have not been announced for Johnson, but Johnson did say he had multiple options.

  Photo: NASCAR Media Group Kevin Harvick announces that he will be joining the FOX Booth to commentate on NASCAR events beginning in 2024.  He will join Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer as a full-time member of the FOX Broadcast team. Harvick announced his retirement from full-time NASCAR competition after the 2023 season.  It was speculated that Harvick could join the FOX Booth in 2024.  Harvick confirmed the news during the broadcast of the Busch Light Clash.

  Photo: LA Times Martin Truex Jr. wins the 2023 Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.  This win is his first victory in the event's history.  The win, while not a points paying race, was the first time Truex has won a NASCAR event since September 11th, 2021. Martin Truex Jr. entered 2023 coming off of his statistical worst year since 2014.  Truex went winless in 2022 and failed to qualify for the NASCAR Playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. Truex becomes the first winner, albeit non-points, of NASCAR's 75th season.  After getting out of his car, Martin was elated to finally get another checkered flag. "Last year was a pretty rough season for us," Truex said. "Tonight was just persevere, not give up, and just battle through and we found ourselves in the right spot at the end."  NASCAR will take a weekend off before heading down to Daytona, Florida to officially kick off the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season with the 65th running of the Daytona 500 on Febru...

  The following is the official results from the 2023 Busch Light Clash for the NASCAR Cup Series: 1. Martin Truex Jr. - #19 2. Austin Dillon - #3 3. Kyle Busch - #8 4. Alex Bowman - #48 5. Kyle Larson - #5 6. Tyler Reddick - #45 7. Ryan Preece - #41 8. Ross Chastain - #1 9. Denny Hamlin - #11 10. William Byron - #24 11. Justin Haley - #31 12. Kevin Harvick - #4 13. Christopher Bell - #20 14. Noah Gragson - #42 15. Chase Briscoe - #14 16. Joey Logano - #22 17. Ryan Blaney - #12 18. Aric Almirola - #10 19. Daniel Suarez - #99 20. AJ Allmendinger - #16 21. Chase Elliott - #9 22. Bubba Wallace - #23 23. Todd Gilliland - #38 24. Michael McDowell - #34 25. Austin Cindric - #2 26. Ty Gibbs - #54 27. Erik Jones - #43

  The following is the lineup for the NASCAR Busch Light Clash: 1. Aric Almirola 2. Martin Truex Jr. 3. Denny Hamlin 4. William Byron 5. Alex Bowman 6. Kyle Busch 7. Chase Briscoe 8. Bubba Wallace 9. Justin Haley 10. Austin Dillon 11. Tyler Reddick 12. Ross Chastain 13. Noah Gragson 14. Kyle Larson 15. Ryan Blaney 16. Ryan Preece 17. Joey Logano 18. Kevin Harvick 19. Daniel Suarez 20. Erik Jones 21. Michael McDowell 22. Chase Elliott 23. Christopher Bell 24. Ty Gibbs 25. Todd Gilliland 26. AJ Allmendinger 27. Austin Cindric

  Justin Haley was the fastest in Busch Light Clash Qualifying at the LA Coliseum.  Haley had a fastest lap time of 13.413.  Haley will lead the Heat Race 1.  The Heat race lineups are listed below: Heat 1: 1. Justin Haley 2. Aric Almirola 3. Alex Bowman 4. Harrison Burton 5. Joey Logano 6. Noah Gragson 7. Michael McDowell 8. Chris Buescher 9. Ty Dillon Heat 2: 1. Kyle Busch 2. Austin Dillon 3. Kyle Larson 4. Kevin Harvick 5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 6. Martin Truex Jr. 7. Austin Cindric 8. Chase Elliott 9. BJ McLeod Heat 3: 1. Christopher Bell 2. Denny Hamlin 3. Daniel Suarez 4. Chase Briscoe 5. Tyler Reddick 6. Brad Keselowski 7. Todd Gilliland 8. JJ Yeley 9. Ryan Blaney Heat 4: 1. William Byron 2. AJ Allmendinger 3. Ross Chastain 4. Bubba Wallace 5. Erik Jones 6. Ryan Preece 7. Corey Lajoie 8. Cody Ware 9. Ty Gibbs The Top 5 finishers from each Heat will advance to the Main Event.  The others will be entered into one of two Last Chance Qualifying Races.  The ...

  Martin Truex Jr. posted the fastest time in Practice for the Busch Light Clash.  Truex Jr. posted a lap time of 13.361.  The full results are posted below: 1. Martin Truex Jr. - 13.361 2. Bubba Wallace - 13.371 3. Chase Briscoe - 13.383 4. Alex Bowman - 13.39 5. Ryan Blaney - 13.39 6. Ty Gibbs - 13.394 7. Ross Chastain - 13.398 8. Denny Hamlin - 13.403 9. Todd Gilliland - 13.407 10. Justin Haley - 13.408 11. Kevin Harvick - 13.409 12. Michael McDowell - 13.441 13. Kyle Busch - 13.443 14. William Byron - 13.444 15. Aric Almirola - 13.447 16. Christopher Bell - 13.454 17. Tyler Reddick - 13.458 18. Chris Buescher - 13.458 19. Chase Elliott - 13.46 20. Ryan Preece - 13.463 21. Joey Logano - 13.476 22. Austin Dillon - 13.476 23. Daniel Suarez - 13.479 24. AJ Allmendinger - 13.484 25. Corey Lajoie - 13.502 26. Kyle Larson - 13.514 27. Erik Jones - 13.538 28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - 13.553 29. Noah Gragson - 13.567 30. Harrison Burton - 13.604 31. Austin Cindric - 13.637 32. Ty...

We’re already a month into 2023. Just less than 3 weeks from the Daytona 500. Like with life, a new year brings new changes. NASCAR is no different. Drivers with new teams, new sponsors, new crew chiefs, and even new owners joining the sport. So today, we’re going to look at all the changes coming to the teams in the Cup Series. We’ll go in order of the 2022 Cup Series owners standings, from last to first. We’ll begin with the unchartered teams. We have 3 cars that have zero points from last season that will at least attempt the Daytona 500. 13 Kaulig Racing - This is a new third car from this team. Chandler Smith will attempt 4 races plus the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro in this car with Quick Tie Products as the primary sponsor. 67 23XI Racing - Travis Pastrana will attempt the Daytona 500 in this car. If Kurt Busch attempts his bucket list races it’ll most likely be in this car as well. 84 Legacy Motor Club - 7 times Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson is coming back to NASCAR. ...