TC Daily Pit Stop: NASCAR to Debut Bracket-Style Tournament on TNT in 2025; Almirola Joins HRE for Wilkesboro Truck Race; Larson Flips Wildly at Komoko; Plus Wilkesboro Entry Lists
TC Daily Pit Stop: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
NASCAR Introducing $1-Million Bracket-Style Tournament on TNT Sports in 2025
The first year of NASCAR’s new television rights agreement, set to commence in 2025, will feature some mid-season flair, with the announcement Monday of a first-of-its-kind in-season tournament for the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025.
Seeding for the bracket-style head-to-head event, which will take place across TNT Sports’ complete five-race schedule, will be set by results from the final three races that will air on Amazon’s Prime Video.
“With the launch of our new media rights partnerships in 2025, we were excited to partner with Prime Video and TNT Sports to collaborate on fan engagement concepts that driver storylines in our sport and innovation from a production perspective,” said Brain Herbst, NASCAR Senior VP of Media and Productions. “The idea of an in-season tournament has been discussed within the NASCAR industry and as we started to focus on adding promotional elements that drive interest throughout the season, we were excited by the opportunity to leverage the marketing weight of Amazon and TNT Sports to bring this concept to life.”
READ MORE
Aric Almirola to Drive Hattori No. 16 Truck at North Wilkesboro
For the first time this year, Hattori Racing Enterprises (HRE) is returning to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, entering the No. 16 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in the Tyson Brand 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Aric Almirola, a part-time Xfinity Series competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing, will get behind the wheel of the HRE-prepared entry at the historic 0.625-mile facility. The event will mark the first Truck Series start for the Tampa, Florida-native since 2012.
“North Wilkesboro is a unique track, and it was definitely different last year with the old and worn-out racing surface,” Almirola said. “I think it will be a completely different experience this year with the new pavement.”
Sponsorship for the effort will come from Toyota Tsusho, which contributes to local economies all over North America via our expertise in multiple industries, including supply-chain management, logistics, importing, and exporting.
Richie Wauters, a former crew chief in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will be atop the pit box of the No. 16 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro at North Wilkesboro, calling the shots in a NASCAR event for the first time in seven years.
READ MORE
Ty Gibbs Falls One Spot Short of Maiden Cup Victory at Darlington
It’s just a matter of time before Ty Gibbs breaks through for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory.
The 21-year-old driver came up just short once again in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, finishing runner-up to Brad Keselowski after making a spirited charge at the eventual race-winner in the closing laps of the event.
“I think I just honestly needed track position; that would be great. Getting out front before those guys started racing,” Gibbs said post-race. “It was really hard to pass today, and that middle is super, super slick and honestly really gummy and slick. It was just really hard to pass, and it’s just really important to keep track position.”
It’s a career-best for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who is currently contesting his second full-time campaign in the NASCAR Cup Series. Before Sunday, Gibbs had a best finish of third, twice, both of which came earlier this season at Phoenix and Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
READ MORE
Video: Kyle Larson Wildly Tumbles Down Backstretch at Kokomo Speedway
As Kyle Larson was attempting to work his way into a position to advance to the Main Event in Monday night’s High Limit Racing Series event at Kokomo Speedway, the Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series racer slid up the track into Cale Thomas’ No. 23 machine.
As contact was made with five laps to go, Larson’s No. 57 machine got very upset and went for a wild barrel roll.
After rolling three times, Larson’s car came to an abrupt stop on its wheels. Luckily, Larson would be okay, physically. His pride, on the other hand, would take a bit of a hit with the incident.
WATCH VIDEO
Entry List: NASCAR Cup All-Star Race and All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro
There are 37 NASCAR Cup Series cars heading to North Wilkesboro this weekend for the NASCAR All-Star Race and NASCAR All-Star Open — 17 of which are locked into the big show, and 20 of which will be trying to get themselves in.
All-Star Race Notables: 16 AJ Allmendinger
All-Star Open Notables: 15 Kaz Grala, 66 Timmy Hill
ENTRY LIST(S)
Entry List: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Wright Brand 250 at N. Wilkesboro
There are 38 trucks [for 36 spots] on the preliminary entry list for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at North Wilkesboro Speedway — the 10th race of the 2024 NASCAR Truck Series campaign.
Notable entries in the event include No. 1 Brendan “Butterbean” Queen, 04 Clayton Green, 7 Sammy Smith, 14 Trey Hutchens, 16 Aric Almirola, 22 TBA, 26 Dawson Sutton, 66 Conner Jones, 75 Stefan Parsons, 90 Justin Carroll, and 91 Jack Wood.