2023 nascar truck series paint schemes

Watch the trailer for the new NASCAR video game

Motorsport Games Inc. (NASDAQ: MSGM) and Live Fast Motorsports have teamed up for the race at Daytona International Speedway. The NASCAR Rivals paint scheme will be fitted to the No. 78 Ford Mustang for the race on Saturday, August 27, 2022.

View the NASCAR Rivals paint scheme below.

NASCAR Rivals is the official video game of NASCAR. It can be played on the Nintendo Switch™. Pre-orders will begin on Wednesday, August 24.

NASCAR Rivals is an evolution of the NASCAR Heat and NASCAR 21:Ignition franchise. However, this game is built on the Unity platform. The new platform brings an updated physics model.

Game Price:
$49.99

New dirt track racing game coming to console in 2022

BJ McLeod comments

“Our team is super excited to be back at the track with Motorsport Games,” said driver and team co-owner, B.J. McLeod.

“This fall Daytona race is special for two reasons. One, the LFM No. 78 Ford Mustang will be boasting MSG’s new NASCAR Rivals game. This exciting game features the 2022 official teams, drivers, cars, and regular season and playoff schedule.”

“I look forward to its release on Oct. 14. Second, I earned my top NASCAR finish at Daytona International Speedway’s 2021 Cup Series race last fall, P9. I’m eager to hit the track again and aim for another incredible finish.”

McLeod is in his 7th year of NASCAR Cup Series racing. He has 1 top-10 in a 104 starts.

Dale Earnhardt Jr won on iRacing while backwards & upside down (Video)

NASCAR Video Game Trailer

Links

Live Fast Motorsports | NASCAR Rivals | Daytona International Speedway | NASCAR

NASCAR and Stanley Black & Decker, the world’s largest tool company and a leader in outdoor equipment, announced Friday that Craftsman will return as the title sponsor of the NASCAR Truck Series beginning in 2023. After serving as the series’ title sponsor from its inception in 1995-2008, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will make its homecoming at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 17, 2023.

In addition to the Truck Series title sponsorship, Stanley Black & Decker will further expand its presence in the sport, entering into a multi-year partnership designating the company and its iconic brands as the “Official Tools Partner of NASCAR” and “Official Tools” of all NASCAR-owned and operated tracks.

 “We celebrate the return of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with our customers, distribution partners and employees,” said Doug Redpath, President of Hand Tools, Accessories and Storage for Stanley Black & Decker, in a statement. “From proud homeowners and homebuilders to auto enthusiasts and master mechanics, Craftsman has been the brand generations have trusted to get the job done.

“The Truck Series represents authentic, bold and proud drivers and fans, which embody the same characteristics of our Craftsman brand. We look forward to our return in Daytona in 2023 to reunite with our loyal fans as we begin this new chapter in NASCAR history.”

NASCAR Cratsman Truck Series title sponsorship includes exclusive brand integrations on vehicles, crew uniforms, tracks and more in addition to the branding of the Triple Truck Challenge and Championship Race entitlement. It will also serve as a platform to support the launch of new products, amplify seasonal promotions, and highlight the many ways Craftsman is building pride.

Craftsman replaces Camping World as Truck Series sponsor.

How to describe these Cup playoffs? 

Well, Kevin Harvick came up with a slogan to explain why he’s no longer competing for a championship. He put it on a T-shirt. For $20 you can have one.

But there are other ways to look at what’s transpired and what could come in the second round at Texas, Talladega and the Charlotte Roval. 

Three races in, these playoffs have seen fire and rain (both at Darlington) and much, much more. 

All four playoff drivers with ties to Richard Childress Racing past, present or future have been eliminated. Two former champions are gone. A playoff newcomer with one top-10 finish in the last five months (!!) advanced to the second round. The series leader at the end of the first round is now tied for the final transfer spot entering the second round after the points reset.

“As far as the cutline goes, nobody is safe,” said former champion Chase Elliott, who enters this round as the points leader. 

Oh yeah, each of the first three playoff races were won by a driver not in the playoffs: Erik Jones (Darlington), Bubba Wallace (Kansas) and Chris Buescher (Bristol).

That’s never happened before. 

“Imagine if the playoffs started a couple weeks later,” Joey Logano said. “Holy cow. What a crazy year, which is what we expected. We expected this year to just be very unpredictable and no one really being able to figure this car out, and it really seems like there are still so many questions.”

Yes there are. 

Will the chaos continue? Will non-playoff drivers keep winning? Who is the next former champion eliminated? Who is the next surprise to advance? How will the Next Gen car further impact these playoffs?

“This car has reset that whole thing,” Ross Chastain said. “Like you can’t bring different headers here. You can’t bring a new aero package. 

“You’re trying to maximize everything, but we all have the same parts. You can’t build a new right front spindle and save it for the playoffs. You can’t bring different brake pads that they’ve found in testing to be better and bring them now. There’s nothing else to bring. We all order the same stuff.

“This has been the greatest reset that this sport has ever seen.”

With Talladega in the upcoming round — where anyone can win — and the Charlotte Roval as a cutoff race — imagine if it rains there — the second round could be more volatile than the first round. It makes Sunday’s race at Texas critical for teams because of the uncertainty of the following two races.

Logano noted how much will be different this time from when NASCAR held its All-Star Race there in May. 

“The car has developed and changed,” he said. “It’s gonna be different than where we were last time. Weather will be different. Resin and how it’s applied – those type of things – will be different. IndyCar has raced there since we’ve been there, so there is a lot of change that can happen, but this next round is a pretty tough one. 

“When you think of Texas being maybe the most normal race and then you have the Roval and Talladega on top of that, it’s definitely gonna be a unique round for sure, as it always has been.”

While there remain questions about safety aspects of the Next Gen car and it has been criticized for how it races on short tracks, the new car has worked best on 1.5-mile tracks. Sunday’s race at Texas returns to the focus on such tracks. 

Three of the next five playoff races will be on 1.5-mile tracks (Texas in the second round and Las Vegas and Homestead in the third round). That could make an impact on who advances.

Another key is the points reset.

Christopher Bell had an average finish of 4.0 in the opening round and was the points leader when the checkered flag waved at Bristol last weekend. 

The remaining 12 playoff drivers had their points changed to 3,000 and then had their playoff points added. While Bell won a stage at Bristol to collect a playoff point, he’s not scored as many playoff points as others. The result is that he’ll start this round tied with Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney for the final transfer spot.

The four drivers outside the transfer spot entering this round are Chase Briscoe (-4 points from the cutline), Alex Bowman (-6), Daniel Suarez (-6) and Austin Cindric (-7).

Briscoe advanced despite having one top-10 finish in the last 21 races, dating back to early April. He finished 27th (Darlington), 13th (Kansas) and 14th (Bristol) in the opening round. That was good enough to place 14 points ahead of Tyler Reddick, the highest driver in points eliminated in the first round.

“Guys are gonna keep eliminating themselves,” Briscoe said. “We’ve just got to limit our mistakes. If we do that, we know we’ve got to have a little bit more speed, but if we can just eliminate our mistakes, it gives us a chance to go to the next round.”

Anything is possible in these unpredictable playoffs.

Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed Monday that the pit crews for Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch will swap teams beginning this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

The change comes with Busch eliminated from the playoffs last weekend at Bristol, while Hamlin advanced to the second round.

Going into the Bristol race, Busch’s pit crew ranked second in the series based on average four-tire stop times, according to Racing Insights. The average time for Busch’s pit crew was 11.7 seconds. That was three-tenths of a second faster than Hamlin’s pit crew, which ranked seventh, according to Racing Insights.

Pit crew changes between a team not in the playoffs and one in the playoffs within the same organization is not uncommon in the series.

Changing pit crew members also not new this season for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace switched some pit crew members in early July before the Atlanta race. Joe Gibbs Racing provides pit crews also for 23XI Racing. The change was made to strengthen both teams. Bell had an average finish of 4.0 in the first round of the playoffs. Wallace won the Kansas playoff race.

Four drivers are gone in the Cup playoffs, including former champions Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, as the Round of 12 begins Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).

While Christopher Bell finished the first round as the points leader, the points are reset and Bell, due to lack of playoff points earned throughout the year, finds himself tied for the final transfer spot with Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney. Chase Elliott, who finished the opening round in fourth, is back atop the standings after the reset because of his 40 playoff points.

This round has the potential for even more tumult for playoff drivers. The round has races at Texas, Talladega and the cutoff event at the Charlotte Roval. Anything can happen at Talladega. The Roval can present its own challenges as the final road course on the schedule (racing in rain?).

XFINITY SERIES

The Xfinity playoff field was set at Bristol. Ryan Sieg earned the final spot. Now, the field prepares for the start of the playoffs Saturday at Texas (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).

Noah Gragson, who won six races in the regular season, leads the field with 2,051 points. Ty Gibbs, who won five races in the regular season, is next at 2,038 points. The opening round features races at Texas, Talladega and the Charlotte Roval.

CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

Ty Majeski’s win last week at Bristol earned him a spot in the Nov. 4 championship race at Phoenix. Two races remain in this round: Oct. 1 at Talladega and Oct. 22 at Homestead.

A look at the winners and losers from Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway:

WINNERS

Non-playoff drivers — Chris Buescher made it a clean sweep of drivers not in the playoffs winning each of the three first-round races. Erik Jones won at Darlington, Bubba Wallace won at Kansas, and Buescher won at Bristol. It is Buescher’s second career Cup victory. He led a race-high 169 of 500 laps.

RFK Racing — Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski combined to lead 278 laps. Keselowski, who won a stage, finished 13th after a tire went down while leading. Buescher gave the team its first points win since Keselowski became a part owner at the start of the season. 

Christopher Bell — Finished fourth and won a stage to collect a playoff point for the second round. Had an average finish of 4.0 in the first round. 

William Byron — After scoring one top-10 finish in the last 18 races of the regular season, Byron scored top 10s in each of the three races in the first round. He was eighth at Darlington, sixth at Kansas and third at Bristol. 

Austin Cindric — Was four laps down less than 100 laps into the race but kept going. He was helped by trouble to others to secure the final transfer spot to the second round despite finishing 20th, seven laps behind the leaders. 

LOSERS

Next Gen car on a short track — Some durability issues created issues for teams, and drivers said the cars are going too fast to race well at Bristol. Work remains on this car. 

Kevin Harvick — A fire ended his race at Darlington. A crash, when two cars in front took the air off his note, ended his race at Kansas. In position to challenge for the lead late at Bristol, his left front wheel came off and forced him to back into his pits to have it put back on. That cost him a chance at a win and ended his title hopes. Fire, crash and wheel coming off — that aptly describes some of the major issues this year with the new car.

Richard Childress Racing — All four playoff drivers with connections to this team, whether past, present or future, all failed to advance. RCR drivers Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon failed to advance, as did Kevin Harvick, who raced for RCR in Cup from 2001-13, and Kyle Busch, who will join the team in 2023. 

Kyle Busch — Two engine failures in the first round ended his last chance to win a third Cup championship with Joe Gibbs Racing.