Why is Everyone Talking About Tire Compounds?
What’s Happening? Between the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing, the Charter Agreement, and driver penalties, tire compounds found their way into the…
With the drop of the checkered flag at Phoenix, the NASCAR offseason began. However, many things are up in the air heading into the less-than-100-day offseason. Over the next few months, the future of the sport, its teams, and drivers will be laid out. Here are some things to look out for.
Just when NASCAR thought the Playoff complaints were over, Joey Logano walked the season off.
The complaints began with the Round of Eight finale at Martinsville when Toyota and Chevrolet essentially manipulated the race finish to allow Christopher Bell or William Byron to grab the final spot in the Championship Four. Though tensions slowly cooled off throughout the week, Joey Logano’s win sparked the debate again online.
Logano’s 2024 win is perhaps the statistically worst NASCAR Cup Series championship of all time. Now, a large segment of the fanbase online is begging for a change to the NASCAR Playoff system.
We know the Playoffs won’t go away entirely. In fact NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell said last week, “We’re not going to go away from playoffs.” But fans have their opinions on what to do. The only question is what, if anything, NASCAR will change about the system this offseason.
JTG Daugherty could see major changes heading into 2025. One known change is Kroger’s departure as the team’s main sponsor, ending one of the longest-running sponsor relationships in the cup series.
Following this rumored departure a rumor surrounded the team that they could close up shop and sell their charter. On May 2, the team ended these rumors by resigning driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr, who would go on to win at Talladega in October.
However, in that May 2 press release, team co-owner Gordon Smith, rather than the “JTG’s” of Tad and Jodi Geshickter, was listed as team owner. This follows an early-season rumor that the two Geshickters could depart the team.
While we will see the No. 47 on track in 2025, who the sponsor will be, what the team will be named, and what the team will look like is still a mystery.
What’s Happening? Between the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing, the Charter Agreement, and driver penalties, tire compounds found their way into the…
This season, beginning at the NASCAR All-Star Race, NASCAR began testing softer tire compounds to improve its short-track product. After a poor showing at the All-Star Race, a second go-around at Richmond showed what NASCAR wanted.
This performance was followed up with decent showings at the Watkins Glen Road Course and Martinsville. These tires, while still a work in progress, are slowly improving a racing product that the introduction of NASCAR’s Next Gen car affected in 2022.
NASCAR and Goodyear continued to bring out softer tire compounds throughout the rest of the year. While these tires had ups and downs, expect the two parties to continue their experiments in the offseason and into 2025.
What’s Happening? Zane Smith has had an up-and-down year. While there haven’t been many ups in recent weeks away from the…
The NASCAR free agent market is still pretty packed heading into 2025. With major players scattered amongst the crowd, who stands out the most, and who is likely to find a new home?
In the Xfinity Series, championship contender Chander Smith is shockingly out of a ride as his sponsorship dollars are seemingly drying up. On the other hand, a driver with immense sponsorship, Riley Herbst, is without a full-time ride for 2025.
On the Cup Series side, Ryan Preece, the final unsigned Stewart-Haas Racing Cup Series driver, has not signed with a team. Heavy rumors suggest RFK racing will be his home; however, nothing is confirmed.
Zane Smith, a former hotshot prospect and Truck Series Champion, is another Cup Series driver who has no plan for 2025. However, much like Riley Herbst, his free agentcy might be out of his control.
What’s Happening? The 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit will continue for some time. However, many developments will occur along…
On Nov. 8, Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing were denied their preliminary injunction as part of a larger antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR. This injunction would have allowed them to retain their charters throughout the lawsuit.
While insiders expect them to appeal this decision, it leaves a major question mark looming over the two teams. In court, their lawyer claimed that drivers such as Tyler Reddick could leave if the teams did not possess charters. Furthermore, the teams agreed to purchase two SHR charters.
Without those charters, the rumored drivers of those two chartered entries, Herbst and Smith, may not have a ride next year. There are many things on the line for 23XI and FRM as of right now. The next few months could tell us alot about what that looks like.
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