LONG BEACH, Calif. Jim Dunn Racing and Funny Car driver Buddy Hull will start the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series with the return of Florida-based True Brand as their primary sponsor for the historic Gatornationals March 7-9 at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway.

Last year True Brand made their primary debut with Jim Dunn Racing at the Texas Fall Nationals and the success of that promotion led to an expansion of the program.

True Brand will be a season long partner with the team and primary partner at multiple events.

I am thrilled to be in the True Brand Funny Car for Jim Dunn Racing, said Hull. They are amazing partners. Last year we did a ton of great things around the Texas Fall Nationals with the National Breast Cancer Foundation. We have big plans for 2025, and I cant wait to wheel this True Brand Funny Car into the staging lanes on Friday of the Gatornationals.
True Brand performance additives and treatments can be used in all types of engines, fuel systems, gear/transmissions and hydraulic systems.

Additionally, joining Jim Dunn Racing at the Gatornationals will be Tillamook Country Smoker.

AMARILLO, Texas New Mexico native Stormy Scott is looking forward to getting back to his racing roots this season, having moved his racing operations to Amarillo, Texas, with a returned focus to the modified ranks.

Ive had a lot of fun in the super late model ranks over the past several years, but the time has come for me to turn my focus. Im currently shifting my attention back to where it all started for me in the Modified ranks, Stormy Scott shared.

For the New Mexico native several factors played into the decision.

Everybody knows that super late model racing has gotten really expensive, so its a factor, but honestly its not the biggest factor in me making this change. Ive spent a lot of time away from home the past several years, and Im looking forward to being home more with my wife Ashley and my stepdaughter Zoe. Modified racing within a six-hour radius of our home in Amarillo gives me countless options to race throughout the year, while sleeping in my own bed a lot of nights, Scott continued.

While Stormy has relocated from Kentucky to Texas, any Category 5 Race Cars clients needing equipment, repairs, or support can still get what they need at Jason Durhams shop in Kentucky.

Turning over a new leaf with his return to modifieds, gives Scott a chance to finally work with a great friend.

Cade Dillard and I have been good friends for a long time, and Im excited to finally get to race one of his CDR Race Cars. Hes a sharp dude and has a great product, and this is cool to see it all come together, Scott said.

Scott plans to run a mixture of American Racer Modified Series, Touring Outlaw Modified Series, and United States Modified Touring Series events throughout the 2025 season.

AUSTIN, Texas Eighteen-year-old Connor Zilisch will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut Sunday at Circuit of The Americas driving the No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.

Zilisch competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series full time with JR Motorsports.

Zilisch made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut last fall at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Intl and won in his debut.

With a background in road racing, Zilisch could be a contender in his Cup Series debut.

Going into my first Cup race at COTA, its going to be a big challenge for me, Zilisch said. A lot of question marks, but I just want to go in and enjoy it and have fun. You only get to make your debut in the Cup Series once.

I feel like its going to be a good experience for me to go learn and run all the laps. I think thats what Im honestly looking forward to the most, just running all the laps and making the most of the experience.

23XI Racing announced a multi-year expansion of its relationship with Upper Deck, the worldwide leader in sports and entertainment collectibles.

Last year, the collaboration debuted with Upper Deck featured on the No. 45 Toyota Camry at Darlington Raceway, as Tyler Reddick raced his way to the regular season championship. The expanded collaboration will continue to see Upper Deck highlighted on-track with 23XIs drivers and feature Upper Deck Authenticated memorabilia and race-used collectibles.

Upper Decks first race will be this coming weekend at Circuit of The Americas with Corey Heim in the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

Heim, who was recently announced as 23XIs first development driver, will be making his first start at COTA in the Xfinity Series. Later in the summer, Upper Deck will be featured on the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE when Tyler Reddick competes at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

For the third consecutive year, Kaulig Racing has teamed with Blacks Tire Service to celebrate grassroots racing in NASCAR.  BTS, a longtime partner in NASCAR, will be the primary sponsor onboard Kaulig Racings No. 16 Chevrolet with driver Christian Eckes for the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) races at Darlington Raceway and Rockingham Speedway.

Michael McDowell made up seven laps in the process of posting a 13^th-place finish in the Spire Motorsports Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

That was an eventful day for the No. 71 Group 1001 Chevy team. We had an issue early on with the power steering pump. We actually lost the hose; came in the garage and went down seven laps, McDowell explained. We got all of our laps back, nothing short of miraculous, and capitalized there at the end.

The NASCAR Cup Series will utilize the venues shorter track layout, the National Course as opposed to the Full Course, which had been used in previous years. The new layout will consist of 20 turns with a total track length of 2.4 miles. Additionally, 27 laps will be added, making the total number of laps 95, 27 more than in previous years.

Officials from Track Enterprises and FirstHealth of the Carolinas, the private, not-for-profit health care system, headquartered in Pinehurst, N.C., announced FirstHealth will serve as the Official Health Care Provider for NASCARs highly awaited return to Rockingham Speedway.

The worlds top-ranked decathlete and Olympic medalist Leo Neugebauer, who starred at the University of Texas at Austin, will serve as Honorary Starter for Sundays Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas.

-Rebel Bourbon the Official Bourbon of Richard Childress Racing announced the limited-edition release of Kyle Busch 108 Single Barrel Bourbon. Every barrel was selected by two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Rowdy Busch and bottled at 108 proof (54% ABV) in honor of Rebels sponsorship of RCR.

BARBERVILLE, Fla.  Questions and fear swirled in Bill Balogs mind as he sat upside down in his sprint car.

Hed just flipped while running fourth at Volusia Speedway Parks DIRTcar Nationals. Pain burned in his right ankle. He feared the worst. But like most racers, his thoughts were only on the next race.

When I was in the car kind of upside down, I was trying to think if I could run the throttle pedal with my left foot on the next race because I thought my foot got ripped off, honestly, Balog explained. Or I wondered, Who am I going to hire to drive this thing?

World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car officials carefully removed Balog from the No. 17b, and the North Pole Nightmare headed to the hospital. He expected his foot to be broken at the very least, but good news came from the doctor. Tissue damage and swelling was the extent of the injuries.

They did all the x-rays, and it wasnt broken, Balog said. It looked like a softball, and its still big. I mean, Im walking around fine on it and working. Its just a little bit sore.

It was a rapid, positive turn of events for the Hartland, Wis., resident. From thinking his foot was gone to learning there were no breaks. Fortunately for Balog, the only break was in the World of Outlaws calendar following the night of his crash. Three weeks off have allowed him enough time to rest and heal. Now, the season is set to resume, and Balog is ready to roll.

The Greatest Show on Dirt heads back to Volusia for the Bike Week JamboreeMarch 2-3.

Before his flip, the Balog and his team had ample reason for encouragement.

Balog qualified second quickest in his flight during the first full points night of the season. That led to a heat win and a personal best Volusia result of sixth in the feature. The following evening, he timed in seventh quickest before securing another top 10 in the main event. Saturdays finale looked as if it may be the highlight of his week. Despite drawing the very last pill for qualifying, Balog qualified second in the flight. He won his heat with a thrilling last-lap pass and finished third in the dash to line him up on row two of the feature. Then the crash ended a potential top five.

I feel like we learned a lot last year on the practice night, basically everything not to do, Balog said. We basically just rolled that setup into this new car with what we learned at Volusia, and it was really good. The car that we started with was a brand-new Triple X, and it scaled out really nice. Everything measured really good. We had some confidence that way.

The focus is fully back on Florida this week. Four-wheel and two-wheel worlds will collide as the countrys best sprint car drivers invade Bike Week at Volusia, kicking off a stretch of 17 consecutive weeks of racing for the World of Outlaws.

Balog had the window to heal. Now its time to hit the road again.

Im really looking forward to it, Balog said. I feel confident with what were doing with the car, definitely going in the right direction, and we want to carry that on to the other tracks.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Dennis Hauger proved Friday afternoon why hes one of the more heralded rookies in recent Indy NXT by Firestone history.

Hauger, from Norway, led the first practice for the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, turning a top lap of 1 minute, 5.2225 seconds in the No. 28 Rental Group car fielded by Andretti Global.

Haugers best lap was more than a half-second quicker than his closest pursuer, veteran Caio Collet at 1:05.7885 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car.

I got a good lap in the last run, but overall, theres still some things to work on, Hauger said. Its my first time out here in St. Pete, so Im still getting up to speed and figuring everything out on this track.

I think Andretti did a good job as a team and started the season in the right way. I just need to keep working with what I know now and focus on having a good day tomorrow.

Hauger joins the IndyCar development series this season after winning the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2021 and earning five wins and 13 podium finishes in FIA Formula 2 the last official ladder step before Formula 1 in the last three seasons. He also served as a Red Bull Junior Driver for six years and was named a Red Bull Reserve Driver for the 2022 and 2023 Formula One season.

Myles Rowe was third at 1:05.9760 in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy car. Teammate and fellow series veteran Jordan Missig turned heads by ending up fourth at 1:05.9886 in the No. 48 Abel Motorsports car. Missigs best finish in five starts last season was ninth at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Veteran Salvador de Alba rounded out the top five at 1:05.9962 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car fielded by Andretti Global, which matched Abel Motorsports with two drivers in the top five.

While Hauger built a gap out front, the rest of the 21-driver field was tight. Less than a second separated second-place Collet the top returning driver in the series this season and 13th-place Liam Sceats in the No. 30 HMD Motorsports car.

The red flag flew three times during the session, all for contact in separate incidents by rookie drivers.

Sophia Floersch did a quarter-spin in Turn 4 and backed into the tire barrier in her No. 24 HMD Motorsports car 29 minutes into the session. Floersch was unhurt, but the rear of the car suffered moderate damage.

Hailie Deegan then brushed the tire barrier in Turn 4 with the No. 38 HMD Motorsports car 35 minutes into the session. She drove to the pits after the incident and was unhurt.

Tommy Smith clipped the barrier in Turn 10 in his No. 16 HMD Motorsports car with two minutes remaining in the session, ending the session. Smith was unhurt, but the front of his machine suffered moderate damage.