The ENTIRE 2025 NASCAR $1 Million Tournament Explained
What’s Happening? In 2025, NASCAR will try something different by incorporating an in-season tournament. Here is how the entire format…
On Wednesday, a social media post on X by “NASCAR Leaks” made the rounds, showcasing a potential leaked 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Could this actually be the 2025 schedule? Unfortunately, some problems indicate it is not.
What’s Happening? In 2025, NASCAR will try something different by incorporating an in-season tournament. Here is how the entire format…
The most glaring issue with this schedule is that TNT is allotted six races when it should have five. This means the in-season tournament also has six races on this rumored schedule when it should be five, and NBC’s portion has only 13 races instead of 14.
One could write this off as a simple typo on a rough draft of the schedule, but given that this was a leak and not an official announcement, that’s tough to believe. It’s also not the only strange change to the 2025 schedule.
Many fans are hoping to see the Charlotte fall race move back to the oval from the Roval. However, seeing it happen in 2025 seems incredibly unrealistic. This comes after Charlotte Motor Speedway announced a major change to the Roval for the 2024 race in hopes of improving the racing.
Why would Charlotte make such a major change to the Roval only to abandon the project before even seeing the change in action? If they’re seriously considering moving back to the oval layout, they theoretically could switch to the oval if the 2024 race is a flop. Even then, that could be a stretch.
What’s Happening? One race track that many fans want to see a return to NASCAR in some capacity is Rockingham…
In the wake of the return of North Wilkesboro Speedway to the 2025 NASCAR schedule, many fans are clambering for Rockingham to return to the NASCAR schedule. While Rockingham is on this potentially leaked schedule, it seems like a stretch.
First off, nothing has indicated that Rockingham will return in 2025 aside from a potentially joking remark from Carson Hocevar on a Twitch stream and Dan Lovenheim telling the Charlotte Observer that, by the end of 2024, the track will be “NASCAR-ready.” On top of that, Rockingham would replace the spring Darlington date, which might not go over well with fans
Overall, this schedule, while not impossible, has some questionable changes on it that question its’ legitimacy. More than likely, this isn’t a true schedule leak.
Bubba Wallace shared a message on X following the death of a close friend, writing about the weight of the news over the weekend.
“Makes you think about life and how precious it is… That tune… Nutshell- Alice In Chains Love yall,” he continued.
While Wallace did not name the friend in his post, one day before, reports confirmed that Chase Pistone, 42, had died. Pistone competed on short tracks and in NASCAR’s national ranks and later owned a Legends car. His family asked media outlets to share the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number, 988. His brothers, Nick and Tom Pistone, confirmed the news to LegendsNation.com.
Pistone, who was the grandson of NASCAR driver “Tiger” Tom Pistone, built his racing career in Legends cars and Late Models before stepping into NASCAR competition.
Apparently, Wallace and Pistone raced each other in Legends cars around 2005. Pistone won four Summer Shootout Championships at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with two titles in the Semi-Pro and two in the Pro divisions. Wallace competed in both Bandolero and Legends categories during that period, winning 35 of 48 Bandolero races in one season.
Both drivers were regulars at the Charlotte Summer Shootout. From there, their paths moved toward the national touring series.
Pistone made starts in ARCA and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2005 and 2006, including an appearance with Green Light Racing at Martinsville Speedway. Meanwhile, Wallace moved into the K&N Pro Series East by 2010.
In 2006, Pistone made a start in the Nationwide Series at Martinsville, finishing 37th. After failing to qualify for the ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona in 2007, he stepped away from NASCAR competition until 2014.
He returned that year for eight combined starts in the Truck and Nationwide Series. In his final season at the national level, Pistone recorded a P9-place finish in the Truck Series race at Gateway, the best of his NASACR Truck career.
Beyond driving, Pistone owned CP Inc., building Legends and Late Model stock cars and offering leasing programs that included equipment, crew, and transport.
Magic Johnson, who faced Michael Jordan 18 times on the NBA court, including 13 regular-season games and 5 games in the 1991 NBA Finals, recently offered public praise for 23XI Racing’s rise in the 2026 NASCAR season.
The two former NBA players built their rivalry on NBA courts before competing together on the 1992 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Team, known as the “Dream Team,” where the pair were known as both friends and fierce competitors. In fact, Magic Johnson played a central role in recruiting Michael Jordan and Larry Bird to join the 1992 U.S. Olympic squad.
The defining clash between Johnson and Jordan came in the 1991 NBA Finals, a season that was the shift from the Los Angeles Lakers’ “Showtime” run to the rise of the Chicago Bulls. And now, years later, Johnson turned to social media to compliment MJ’s stock car venture.
The presence of Michael Jordan in the garage has not only drawn fresh eyes to NASCAR, but also widened the sport’s reach beyond its base and placed it on platforms fans haven’t seen in years, like ESPN. The network has not held NASCAR broadcast rights since 2014, and since then, its focus has centered on properties under its umbrella, including the NBA, NFL, and WNBA. But now, even without rights, NASCAR headlines tied to MJ and 23XI Racing’s run have found space throughout their coverage.
MJ’s 23XI Racing team has opened the season with three straight wins with their No. 45 driver, Tyler Reddick. The run began with a win in the Daytona 500, the organization’s first success in that event since its launch in 2021.
Reddick followed with a win at Atlanta and then completed the sweep at the Circuit of the Americas, becoming the first driver in Cup Series history to win the opening three races of a season.
The accomplishment also placed the 23XI Racing team alongside one of the most successful organizations in NASCAR, Petty Enterprises, which last won the first three Cup races of a season in 1963.
When Reddick’s Toyota crossed the start/finish line at COTA, MJ was seen celebrating on pit road with the crew. In post-race remarks, Jordan acknowledged the pressure Reddick carried entering COTA with a chance to sweep the opening stretch. He praised the No. 45 crew and crew chief Billy Scott, and credited co-owner Denny Hamlin as the “mastermind” behind the roster build, citing Hamlin’s role in identifying Reddick’s talent and bringing him into the team.
Lionel Racing finally confirmed the first wave of 2026 NASCAR Authentics 1:64 scale diecast for Monday morning, with the line of retail-exclusive diecast featuring a new look for the new year.
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