The ENTIRE Alex Bowman Rumor Mill Saga
What’s Happening? Alex Bowman has had a rather unusual 2024, on and off the track. However, the rumor mill of the…
It seems like once a year, fans gather to throw their hats in the ring to change the Hendrick Motorsports lineup. While HMS seems set with its current line, if they were to make a change in the coming years, what options would they have waiting in the wings?
If HMS were to make a move in the coming seasons, they would have options beyond those drivers who have clear connections to the team. These three, for example, are closely related to HMS through their current teams.
What’s Happening? Alex Bowman has had a rather unusual 2024, on and off the track. However, the rumor mill of the…
Some rumors this season had Justin Haley sliding all the way from Rick Ware Racing’s No. 51 to Alex Bowman’s No. 48. These rumors were, of course, false. However, Haley landed back in the HMS camp after RWR “traded” him to Spire Motorsports, which has a growing relationship with HMS.
Haley showed tremendous improvement this season in the No. 51 compared to his 2023 in Kaulig Racing’s No. 31. If that momentum were to continue into 2025, perhaps Hendrick may realistically consider him. As of right now, Haley is aging, so that could factor in if Hendrick were to make a move in the coming seasons.
Carson Kvapil moved from late models to the second-highest level of stock car racing in 2024. Following successful part-time starts with JR Motorsports, Bass Pro Shops stepped up to the plate to supply Carson with the sponsorship he needed to compete in 2025.
While Carson is by no means for sure in the HMS system, he is. However, with his early promise and age, if he were to become a superstar, he could be the type that replaces an established driver. For now, the NASCAR world appears to be Kvapil’s proverbial oyster, but that comes with the asterisk that he must first prove he is the real deal in 2025.
Another Carson is Carson Hocevar, the young talent who boldly leaped from Neice Motorsport’s Truck program in 2023 to a full-time Cup Series competition in 2024. Up against talent like Josh Berry and teammate Zane Smith, Hocevar walked away easily with the 2024 Cup Series Rookie of the Year award.
There are no rumors that Carson might race for HMS next season. However, much like Kvapil, he is slowly looking like a future star of the series. Maturity will go a long way for Carson, but after his 2024 season, you would think that Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon noticed his performance.
These drivers are definitely involved with Hendrick Motorsports. In fact, both of them race with Hendrickcars.com in their race cars. For now they appear to be the next step for HMS, however, when that could be is unknown.
What’s Happening? Following the conclusion of the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, Chase Purdy confirmed that he will not return…
Following the trail of HMS’ Kyle Larson, Corey Day may be the most overlooked young prospect in all of NASCAR. Not that Day is underrated; the young driver, however, could be even better than most expect him to be. After hopping over from the dirt track scene to the NASCAR scene in 2025, there appears to be a future for Day in NASCAR.
Should this be with HMS? We don’t know yet. We do know that Day made two ARCA starts and four Truck Series starts in 2025 with Rick Hendrick’s Hendrickcars.com on the hood of his Chevrolet. Day could take longer to develop than others on this list, but with Hendrick’s packed house right now, that could be what HMS needs.
Rajah Caruth may be one of the best stories in NASCAR right now. After making his start in iRacing, Rajah raced for the late GMS Racing last season before, seemingly out of nowhere, Rajah got a one-off start with HMS in the Xfinity Series.
Following this, Spire signed him full-time for a sophomore season in the Truck Series. To sweeten the deal, Hendrickcars.com would be a part-time sponsor. However, following great runs early in the year, Hendrickcars.com went full-time with Rajah. Since this extremely successful 2024 campaign, Rajah became the focus of all sorts of rumors about his future with HMS.
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On February 17, Ubisoft released a trailer that confirmed that NASCAR would be included in The Crew Motorfest’s next season update. Details were limited at the time, but in a press release issued today, Ubisoft revealed the full details of the update ahead of its March 4 launch.
Ubisoft says drafting will affect car speed and help save fuel, implying that drafting will be a huge factor in the game, at least with these cars. You can check out this and much more on Ubisoft’s official post linked below
Earlier this Tuesday, the official The Crew Motorfest account clarified confusion around the NASCAR bundles. The Crew Credit (CC) bundles only include cosmetic team liveries, not additional cars. The 3 base Next Gen cars (Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Toyota Camry XSE, and Chevrolet ZL1) are part of the free Season 9 update and can be purchased separately.
Mitch Rasmussen, NASCAR’s Senior Director of Interactive, said in the press release:
We’re excited to bring our iconic brand to life in The Crew Motorfest. This collaboration represents another important step in our strategy to bring NASCAR into the digital spaces and places where next generation fans spend their time, giving players new ways to interact with the culture and communities they love.
The content arrives as part of Year 3 Season 9 and is officially licensed by NASCAR. You can watch the first trailer and learn more in the article linked below
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Four road courses on the schedule, and somehow that’s enough to spark one of the biggest debates in the garage. After recent comments from Brad Keselowski questioning the business value of road racing, the conversation has picked up serious steam. Is NASCAR leaning too far into it, or is the current balance about right?
There are valid points on both sides, from sponsorship realities to fan traditions to competitive diversity. Some tracks have gained traction. Others have struggled. The question isn’t just whether road courses belong, but how many make sense within a 36-race season. It’s less about extremes and more about direction. And with future schedule changes always looming, this debate probably isn’t settled anytime soon.
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Corey Day’s run-in with Connor Zilisch at Circuit of the Americas became one of the most discussed incidents from Saturday’s race, even drawing a response from Denny Hamlin as well, who this week talked about his support for Zilisch.
During the race, Zilisch dealt with brake trouble on his No. 1 Chevrolet but worked his way forward from the rear of the field, advancing from P29 to P4 in the closing laps. With five laps remaining, he engaged in a battle with Hendrick Motorsports driver Corey Day as they exited Turn 2, holding the outside line. But as they contested the position, Day moved up behind him, contact occurred, and Zilisch spun off course to finish the race in P21.
After the contact, frustrated, Connor Zilisch initially referred to Day as an “absolute hack” on his radio, describing the clash as part of the latter’s racing pattern. But the JR Motorsports driver later tempered his comments, simply saying he expects an apology from the young Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Given that Zilisch declined to escalate the situation, on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin credited him for calmly managing his response after the race, saying,
“Zillich was smart about this. He in his interview, he’s like, “I looked over at him thinking, come on over here. Come apologize.” And he said he just looked at him with a stare like, I don’t know what it is with these guys. Why, Why can’t they… youth?”
However, he questioned Day’s failure to issue an immediate apology. In fact, he said he was “floored” by Corey Day’s reaction, which involved staring at a frustrated Zilisch rather than apologizing.
The No. 11 JGR driver also raised questions about how Hendrick Motorsports evaluates developing drivers. Organizations invest with the expectation of returns measured in wins and titles, but when a driver continues to make visible mistakes, fans and especially other drivers will start to scrutinize. Hamlin pointed to the balance between development and production, asking how long it would hold.
The COTA incident was not the first time Day’s racing antics were questioned. Last week, during the Atlanta race, Day was involved in a multi-car crash on lap five after attempting a three-wide move that resulted in contact with Ryan Sieg. The move triggered a chain reaction that collected several cars.
Sieg responded over team radio, questioning both the decision and Day’s presence in the series.
Hamlin argued that drivers are allowed to make mistakes as part of growth. At teams with front-running equipment and title ambitions, time frames are shorter. But he questioned whether Day faces a deadline by season’s end or whether the assessment extends into the following year.
In Day’s case, results have not offset the incidents that have drawn attention. Hamlin referenced Kyle Larson as an example, noting that aggressive driving can lead to contact as well as wins.
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