NASCAR Hauler Catches Fire on Tennessee Interstate

What’s Happening?

The No. 55 hauler of ARCA Menards Series team Venturini Motorsports caught fire on I-40 West in Jefferson County, TN.

  • According to a report from WBIR Channel 10, the hauler caught fire at approximately 11 a.m. on Thursday. The Dandridge Fire Department claimed a blown tire started the fire, which caused minimal damage to the hauler’s floor but not the race car before being put out.
  • This hauler and the car inside belong to a long-time staple of the ARCA Menards Series Venturini Motorsports. The hauler was likely headed from the team’s shop in Concord, NC, to Elko Speedway in Elko New Market, MN, for this weekend’s ARCA race at the 0.375-mile short track.
  • The No. 55 car is driven full-time by TOYOTA GAZOO Racing prospect Isabella Robusto. The team has yet to comment on the fire. This year is the 20-year-old driver’s first full-time season racing in ARCA. She currently sits sixth in season points with one top-five, three top-tens, and a best finish of third through three races.
  • This year also marks the end of an era for Venturini, as the ultra-successful ARCA team is set to sell its operation to fellow Toyota team Nitro Motorsports at season’s end.

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HAMPTON, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 20: Harrison Burton, driver of the #24 AIRBOX Toyota, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at Echo Park Speedway on February 20, 2026 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Rumor Mill: Is This Former Cup Series Driver a Top Candidate for Legacy Motor Club’s Third Car?

What’s Happening?

With the NASCAR team Legacy Motor Club set to expand, there are many names in the rumor mill as to who will drive the team’s third car in 2027, but one new name entering the rumor mill could be the biggest surprise yet.

During the 2025 season, Legacy Motor Club, which missed the opening to buy one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s three Charters for sale at the end of the 2024 season, was aggressively pursuing a third charter for its NASCAR Cup Series team.

This mission took the team to court, where it battled Rick Ware Racing over a Charter sale gone awry, with hopes of getting this charter ahead of the 2026 season.

While this goal never came to fruition, per a settlement between the two parties, LMC will have a third Charter for 2027, as RWR will sell the charter currently leased to RFK for their No. 60 at year’s end.

Now that all the excitement has leveled off, it’s decision time for LMC, as they search for a driver to fill this new seat ahead of the 2027 season.

What Was the Latest?

The rumor mill concerning this third seat is heating up, as two names floated through the NASCAR community earlier this week, when a post from a well-known rumor mill account listed Riley Herbst and Jesse Love as potential candidates to drive for LMC in 2026.

Herbst, for one, is facing the loss of his ride at 23XI Racing with the rumored (and all but confirmed) promotion of top prospect and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Corey Heim to full-time status in 2027.

Love, on the other hand, seems destined for a Cup Series ride as the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion, alongside this rumored spot at LMC, could see a spot open up at his current home, Richard Childress Racing, depending on how Kyle Busch’s 2026 season shapes out.

But, not even three races into the 2026 season, the rumor mill is still spitting out potential candidates for this third car.

Back to Cup?

This time, the online rumor mill is heating up for a potential return to the Cup Series, with rumors pointing to former Wood Brothers Racing driver Harrison Burton as another potential candidate to join LMC in 2026.

Burton, the son of former Cup Series standout turned NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton, most recently raced full-time with WBR in the Cup Series in 2024 before losing his ride at year’s end, moving to AM Racing for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, and eventually jumping to Sam Hunt Racing (and Toyota) for the 2026 NASCAR OAP Series season.

While Burton’s return to NASCAR’s second-highest division has not produced any wins, the 25-year-old still maintained a solid effort in 2025, granting AM Racing its first-ever run in the playoffs on points alone.

Much like Herbst, Burton has a winning resume in the OAP Series, and, most important of all, loyal sponsorship, with brands like Dex Imaging sticking with him throughout most of his development, time in the Cup Series, and his return to the OAP Series.

Burton is the type of driver that fits the LMC mold, as, if he were to return to Cup, he would have taken a similar path back to the top that fellow second-generation driver and LMC Cup Series talent John Hunter Nemechek took before landing with LMC in 2024.

A potential return to the Cup Series would also mark an ironic turn in Burton’s career, as he was once a top prospect for Toyota, even making a Cup Series start with the manufacturer before jumping ship to Ford in 2022.

Of course, many fans would say that, given a choice, they would pick Love over Burton, but, then again, LMC may not have a choice, and a driver as experienced as Burton could be a safe bet to get this third team off the ground at the very least.

As always, these are just rumors, and it’s important to note that neither party has expressed plans for the still very, very far away 2027 season. Furthermore, as most NASCAR fans know, even rumors that may seem like a done deal can change at the very last second.

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AVONDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 31: JGR team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Joe Gibbs looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on October 31, 2025 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Email From Chris Gabehart Claims “Resentment” From Gibbs Family Members Was a “No-Win Situation”

What’s Happening?

An email sent by former Joe Gibbs Racing Competition Director Chris Gabehart claims that resentment towards him from members of the Gibbs family made him feel that the future of JGR was a “no-win situation.”

Last week, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a lawsuit against former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, claiming that the former Daytona 500 Champion had schemed to steal vital information from the team in the lead-up to his departure from JGR for Spire Motorsports.

Not even ten days since JGR filed this lawsuit, the two have continued to trade barbs and accusations back and forth through the court system.

In a filing earlier this week, Gabehart accused the team of misleading him in his duties as competition director in 2025, and specifically calling out JGR’s No. 54 team, driven by Joe Gibbs’ grandson Ty, alleging that the team received “differential treatment.”

Friday, an email sent to JGR CFO Tim Carmichael by Gabehart in November 2025 (released as part of this lawsuit) showed just how uncomfortable he had grown working at JGR during his tenure as Competition Director, with the industry veteran stating that Ty Gibbs and his mother, Heather, held “resentment” towards Gabehart.

The now former Competition Director went on to say in this email that, as the two were the future bosses of JGR, “I’m afraid that leaves me in a no-win situation.”

These exchanges, including the claims made by Gibbs in his filing earlier this week, have swept fans into a whirlwind of sorts, with the two sides even meeting in court today for the lawsuit’s first official hearing.

Of course, Gabehart’s claims about the state of operations at JGR pale in comparison to the accusations made by the Gibbs team in their initial lawsuit.

On Tuesday, the team even added Spire Motorsports, Gabehart’s current employer, as a co-defendant, and requested the court force Gabehart to sit out at least the 18 months since his termination before doing any work in NASCAR similar to his role at JGR.

The team is also asking that any information procured by Spire from Gabehart be returned, though the CEO of TWG Motorsports, which owns Spire, Dan Towriss, told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports Friday that “Spire doesn’t want data from Joe Gibbs Racing. It doesn’t have data from Joe Gibbs Racing. No point in time has it had data from Joe Gibbs Racing.”

Alongside Spire, Gabehart adamantly denied any wrongdoing in a post to social media last week, saying, “I feel compelled to speak out today and forcefully and emphatically deny these frivolous and retaliatory claims.”

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7 Reasons Racetracks Die

A few years ago, I looked at the racetracks preserved on iRacing that no longer exist in real life. After digging deeper, I expected to find one common reason they all shut down. Instead, each one tells a completely different story — from booming cities and land value spikes to ownership changes, broken promises, and even mysteries that still don’t have clear answers.

  • Did Myrtle Beach Speedway simply get swallowed by a rapidly growing city?
  • How did the death of one passionate owner seal the fate of USA International Speedway?
  • Was Auto Club Speedway really closed for a short-track revival — or just prime California real estate?
  • And why did places like Concord Speedway and the Chicago Street Race disappear for completely different reasons?

Some tracks were pushed out by urban development. Some lost the one person fighting to keep them alive. Others faded due to declining support — or were never meant to last forever in the first place. No two closures are the same, and that’s what makes this deep dive so fascinating.

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