Lots going on in NASCAR Land

I’m back again and as Chicago famously sings, “Feeling stronger every day.” A lot of stuff’s been going on, so let’s get to it:

Remember when I said high-expectation drivers Hailie Deegan, Thad Moffitt and Jimmie Johnson were struggling? And I wondered how long they would keep struggling. Well, in one case we know.

After an abysmal 17-race Xfinity Series stint with AM Racing, Deegan was fired last month and temporarily succeeded by Joey Logano and Josh Berry (other replacements TBA). Her average starting position was 29th, her average finishing position 28th, with only four lead-lap finishes and 27th in points. The firing, it’s assumed, was not a difficult call.

Despite all that — and similar struggles in the Craftsman Truck Series — there’s talk she might get a 2025 Xfinity ride with the revamped Haas Factory Team. If so, team owner Gene Haas must be more enamored with looks, media attention, social media followers, popularity and possible sponsorship than with on-track results.

As for the other two …

Moffitt, in the Craftsman Truck Series, isn’t getting it done, either. Going into Richmond this weekend, the grandson of NASCAR icon Richard Petty doesn’t have a single top-5 or top-10 in 14 starts. His average starting and finishing positions are about the same: 29th. He hasn’t led a lap, has only four lead-lap finishes and is 30th in points. Not very Petty-like, is it?

When it comes to Johnson: Pundits say great drivers don’t forget how to drive, so nobody thinks Mr. 7-Time has forgotten anything. But the numbers are grim: four finishes in the high 20s and two in the 30s in six appearances as owner/driver at Legacy Motor Club. He has two lead-lap finishes and hasn’t led a single.

He co-owns LMC, so he won’t be fired. Even so, the question remains: At 48 and with everything he’ll ever need the rest of his life, why is he out there stumbling around like some overmatched rookie? Maybe his upcoming starts at Kansas City, Las Vegas and Phoenix will finally convince him that enough is enough.

We can only hope.

Some personnel changes coming for 2025:

As noted, Deegan is gone, but not forgotten. Also: Corey LaJoie is done at Spire, where championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers will land now that Stewart-Haas Racing is closing; most of its drivers have new ’25 rides: Josh Berry to Wood Brothers/Team Penske, Noah Gragson to Front Row, Chase Briscoe to Joe Gibbs and Cole Custer from Xfinity back into Cup at Haas Factory Team; Jason Burdett and several crewmen were recently let go from LMC; Justin Haley may leave Rick Ware Racing to join Michael McDowell (currently at Front Row) at Spire; nothing yet for Ryan Preece and Riley Herbst, although both 23XI and Trackhouse will need drivers for the Cup charters they bought from SHR.

Stay tuned, for there certainly will be more.

The recent two-week break while NBC televised the Summer Olympics was Cup’s first breather since the rain-rescheduled Daytona 500 back on Feb. 19.

Teams raced for 22 consecutive weekends — 23 if you include the All-Star race. They face 14 more before the season finale near Phoenix on Nov. 10. Television has dictated most starting times and broadcast platforms since they call most of the shots nowadays.

The 10-race Playoff Series begins Sept. 8 near Atlanta. By points or victories, the original 16 Playoff drivers will be reduced to 12 after Bristol on Sept. 21; to eight after Charlotte on Oct. 13; then to the Championship 4 after Martinsville on Nov. 3.

The best finisher among the Championship 4 at Phoenix will be this year’s champion, regardless of where he finishes that afternoon. Nine of the last 10 Cup champions did so by winning the season finale. The only exception was last year, when “outsider” Ross Chastain won at Phoenix and Ryan Blaney became the champion by finishing second.

Starting this weekend, NASCAR’s marketing people will breathlessly remind you about the Playoff “bubble.”

Twelve regular-season winners already have Playoff spots: Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Blaney, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez and Austin Cindric.

Former champion Martin Truex Jr. seems in good shape if points are needed to fill the field after Darlington next month. With regular-season races remaining at Richmond, Michigan, Daytona Beach and Darlington, he’s 108 points above the top-16 cutoff line. Ty Gibbs is 42 points above, Chris Buescher is 17 above and Chastain is up by seven.

Bet on this: NBC’s upcoming coverage will dwell on those “bubble drivers.” Broadcasters will repeatedly flash up graphics and call your attention to Chastain and Bubba Wallace, separated by just seven points for the last (as of this weekend) Playoff spot.

That’s the beauty of the elimination system: Every race for the next four weekends is crucial to someone. What’s not to like about that?

This weekend’s inaugural “Just Shut Up And Drive Award” goes to the aforementioned Blaney. The 2023 champion looked silly saying Larson shouldn’t have moved to Row 1 for the last restart in the Brickyard 400 last month. Larson was originally positioned inside on Row 2, directly behind leader Brad Keselowski.

What should Larson have done when Keselowski went to pit road just before the restart? Quite correctly, Larson moved forward to fill the spot Keselowski had just abandoned. On fresher tires, he easily beat Blaney into Turn 1 and drove away to the victory. Blaney repeatedly said it wasn’t right that Larson could move up Row 2 to Row 1 for the restart.

Officials may have mishandled Ryan Preece’s last-lap backstretch accident — did they hold the yellow flag too long? — but they got it exactly right in the Larson-to-Row 1 call. Do you think Blaney would have complained if he’d been in Larson’s position?

You know that answer as well as I do.