Christian Eckes is heading to the next level of NASCAR’s developmental ladder. Signing with Kaulig Racing for 2025 in the Xfinity Series, Eckes leaves open the No. 19 Truck at McAnally Hilgemann Racing.
A Veteran option, Lajoie has had a rough 2024. His stats include multiple finishes outside the top 30 and two races where the No. 7 has ended up on its side.
The 32-year-old veteran is now racing without a contract, as he will not return to the Spire Motorsports No. 7 in 2025. Considering all options, LaJoie could slide all the way to the Trucks Series.
If Chevrolet were to keep Lajoie, McAnally Hilgemann could be a landing spot for the second-generation driver. However, McAnally Hilgemann has traditionally held the developmental role, a trend that Lajoie would break.
A major unanswered question in Chevrolet’s Silly Season is Carson Kvapil. The second-generation driver has been a stellar talent in JR Motorsports’ CARS tour.
These efforts led to part-time starts for Kvapil in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Xfinity Series entry. Now, Kvapil looks like a lock for a National Series ride in the near future.
The No. 19 might be the place for Kvapil, a young Chevrolet driver looking for a ride. Unfortunately, drivers like Kvapil coming from Late Model racing have seen sponsor troubles keeping them out of the National Series.
Josh Berry, who, despite skill, needed a major sponsor commitment to race comfortably in the Xfinity Series. If Kvapil had this issue, McAnally Hilgemann Racing has seen the benefit of NAPA, which has been with McAnally for some time.
Detractions could be the relationship between Kvapil and JR Motorsports, as the team has an opening for 2025. Furthermore, Kvapil may skip full-time truck competition entirely, which is something more and more teams are doing.
Vincente Salas is a rising star in NASCAR, though taking an untraditional route. Salas, a late-model racer, got his start on iRacing’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series.
A winner in the NASCAR Advance Autoparts Weekly Series, Salas has had a big 2024. He made his debut in the NASCAR Truck Series at Circuit of the Americas with Young’s Motorsports.
Salas has made a name for himself, and McAnally Hilgemann Racing has noticed. This season at Gateway, the team fielded the part-time No. 91 for Salas, who drove the truck to a 25th-place finish.
Other entries have been made for No. 91, which could keep Salas out of the No. 19 spot next season.
Connor Hall has also raced the No. 91 for McAnally Hilgemann Racing. Entered at Richmond, Hall finished tenth in his series debut.
Hall, while not a household name amongst racing fans, is taking the route of many other drivers like Salas and Kvapil. Hall, racing his Late Model, won the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship last season.
In the past, Hall has made entries in the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East. However, his race with McAnally Hilgemann is his only NASCAR National Series start.
Hall could see benefits from NAPA’s sponsorship of the No. 19. However, one more driver drove the No. 91 this season.
Jack Wood has taken a part-time schedule with McAnally Hilgemann Racing in the No. 91. This season, Wood has driven the Truck more than any of the other part-time entries.
Wood has raced just one full-time NASCAR National Series season in his career. However, he has managed to race at least part-time in the Truck Series since 2021.
Wood has seen minimal results racing for teams like GMS Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports. In fact, the closure of KBM resulted in Wood finding his few starts with fellow Chevrolet team McAnally Hilgemann this season.
Similar to Christian Eckes upon his arrival at McAnally Hilgemann Racing, Wood has still had a difficult time in the Truck Series. The work the team did with Eckes could help Wood, a driver many expect great things from, take that next step in his career.
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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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