SAXTON: It is still voting season — for NASCAR

Voting for the 2024 National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver Award opened on Oct. 28.

Voting will remain open until Thursday, Nov. 21. The winner will be announced Friday, Nov. 22, during the annual NASCAR Awards Ceremonies in Charlotte, N.C.

Fans may cast five votes for a single driver once a day, per email address at www.NASCAR.com/mostpopulardriver or on the NASCAR mobile app.

To be eligible for the award, a driver must have declared for NASCAR Cup Series points. A driver also must have been eligible for championship contention during the 2024 season.

The award was first presented to Curtis Turner in 1949 after NASCAR’S inaugural Strictly Stock (now Cup) season. It has been administered by the NMPA and presented annually by the organization since 1983. It remains the only major NASCAR award determined solely by fan vote.

NMPA Hall of Fame member and 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott possesses the record for Most Popular Driver awards with 16: 1984-1988, 1991-2000, and 2002. Dale Earnhardt Jr., inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame in 2020, won the award for 15 consecutive seasons, 2003-2017. I can remember sitting with Bill at the NASCAR Awards gathering in New York when he was getting ready to announce that was no long running for the award.

Chase Elliott has received the honor the past five years.

Len Sammons Productions has announced the dates for the 38th annual Motorsports Racecar and Trade Show, as well as the Indoor Auto Racing Series’ three indoor race weekends for January and February 2025.

The Pioneer Pole Buildings Motorsports 2025 will once again take place at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. The show will be held on Friday, January 24th, from 2 PM to 9 PM, and Saturday, January 25th, from 10 AM to 7 PM. This will mark the 17th time the event has been hosted at this venue.

The 2025 Indoor Auto Racing Series will kick off with two weekends of thrilling competition on the concrete floors of arenas in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The series, featuring TQ Midgets, Champ Karts, and Slingshots, will begin with its traditional opener at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA, on January 3rd and 4th. Ironton Global will sponsor this event, which will include feature races for all three divisions each night.

In a notable upset, 15-year-old Tanner VanDoren of Slatington, PA, won the Friday night feature in 2024, while Ryan Flores of Mooresville, NC, who would go on to win the overall Indoor Series championship, claimed victory on Saturday night.

For the 23rd year, Len Sammons Productions will host the series at Atlantic City’s historic Boardwalk Hall. The NAPA Know How weekend in Atlantic City is scheduled for January 31st and February 1st, 2025.   Tickets for the 2025 Atlantic City event, go on sale Friday, October 4, with special pre-sales taking place leading up to the public on sale.

In 2024, Ryan Flores won Friday’s Black Jack 21, and Andy Jankowiak of Tonawanda, NY, captured the prestigious Gambler’s Classic 40 on Saturday night for the third time.

Next on the calendar is the only LSP Indoor Series event held on a clay surface: the East Coast Indoor Dirt Nationals at Trenton, NJ’s CURE Insurance Arena, scheduled for February 21st and 22nd.

The event, first held in 2017, will feature wingless 600 Sprints with qualifying races and main events on both Friday and Saturday evenings. Anthony Perrego of Walden, NY, who won the 2024 event in his debut 600 Sprint start, will be a notable competitor.

Pioneer Pole Buildings, sponsoring the Motorsports show for the 14th year, will showcase a significant display at the event’s entrance. Based in Schuylkill Haven, PA, PPB is a major supporter of auto racing. Their exhibit will feature many of the race cars they sponsor and offer opportunities for driver autographs.

A special showcase display and other notable appearances will be announced soon. The show will also include a large Hard Core Racer section, speedway, racing series, and collectible displays, along with a full schedule of free racer seminars.

The Aqua Duck Water Transport-sponsored Ms. Motorsports competition will cap off Friday’s activities at 8 PM. Additionally, the Little Miss competition is planned for Saturday afternoon, along with the annual RAACE Foundation-sponsored Big Wheel races.

Dover Motor Speedway hosts the only First State stop on Wreaths Across America’s annual trek to honor America’s heroes at Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, Dec. 12.

Wreaths Across America’s 60-vehicle convoy of tractor-trailers, Patriot Guard riders, veterans, Gold Star Families first responders and the Dover Motor Speedway pace car will parade to the Monster Monument at Victory Plaza for a ceremony before making its way to Arlington.

The Thursday, Dec. 12 schedule includes (all times approximate):

9 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Veterans Fair – Free and open to all veterans and their families. The Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit will also be set up at Dover Motor Speedway to give free tours.

12:15 p.m.: Convoy featuring 14-15 tractor-trailers, Patriot Guard rides and other law enforcement, Gold Star family members, first-responders and the Dover Motor Speedway pace car arrives on U.S. 13 at the Scarborough Road intersection.

12:45 p.m.: Convoy arrives at Dover Motor Speedway via Leipsic Road.

1:30 p.m.: Free ceremony begins at the Monster Monument at Victory Plaza, Dover Motor Speedway’s famous 46-foot landmark honoring the Monster Mile’s champions. Special programing with various presentations, live music, color guard, flyover and guest speakers, including Gold Star family members.

Mike Bagley, a SiriusXM NASCAR Radio host, Motor Racing Network and NBC Sports announcer, and Milford, Delaware-native, will emcee the ceremonies.

Additional information and more details on ceremony participants will be shared closer to the event date.

The 31st ANNUAL FARM SHOW REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

The Farm Show is an indoor race held annually at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA. This is a 2-day event, hosted by MCQMRC and BQMRC. This two-day event will be held November 16-17, 2024 with all heats on Saturday and all Features on Sunday.

To register, visit: t.ly/HuOsC

**This event has a cap and once reached registration will close! There will be no late registrations or day-of registrations accepted!

If you have any questions regarding registration please reach out to Rachel Gallagher at info@mcqmrc.com

Forging a new path, Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) and Rackley W.A.R. announced today a partnership for 2025 that will focus on continuing to build and elevate Rackley W.A.R.’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Late Model programs. The partnership will bring together Rackley W.A.R. co-owners, Willie Allen and Curtis Sutton, with NASCAR Champion driver and owner, Kevin Harvick.

Through the partnership, both Kevin and Keelan Harvick will join the driver line up for Rackley W.A.R.’s Super Late Model and Pro Late Model programs. In addition, Harvick will serve as a consultant to Rackley W.A.R.’s Truck Series program where development driver Dawson Sutton will transition to full-time Truck Series competition in 2025.

Through the partnership, Harvick will bring decades of championship winning experience on and off the track to elevate Rackley W.A.R. to the next level of competition. Harvick’s knowledge of team ownership, his competitive nature, valuable racing knowledge and desire to win is unparalleled.

The 2025 NASCAR Truck Series season kicks off at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 14, with Dawson Sutton starting his rookie campaign and first season of full-time NASCAR competition.

Kevin and Keelan Harvick’s Late Model schedule will be announced at a later date.

Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) has announced that its racing division, Toyota Racing, will formally become Toyota Gazoo Racing North America prior to the start of the 2025 motorsports season with all of its motorsports efforts competing under the global Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) banner. TRD, U.S.A., a subsidiary of TMNA, will continue its technical and engineering support across Toyota motorsports efforts throughout the U.S.

“The transition to Toyota Gazoo Racing is an opportunity for our world class racing program to better align with Toyota’s global motorsports efforts while simultaneously continuing the championship-level results we’ve earned under the previous banner here in the U.S.,” said Paul Doleshal, Group Manager, motorsports, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA). “Globally, the efforts of GR Company and Toyota Gazoo Racing, is a philosophy of utilizing motorsports to build ever-better production vehicles, pushing machinery to the limits on track so the production cars are more capable and reliable. We look forward to having our motorsports program continue to be on a global stage and contributing even further to the development and engineering of exciting-to-drive vehicles.”

Toyota has a rich 60-year heritage in motorsports, winning nearly every significant motorsports championship and racing event across the globe under various brand names globally. TGRNA will specifically focus on delivering excitement to motorsports fans while continuously pushing all boundaries on-track to create better driving cars on the road.

Toyota’s NASCAR Cup Series entries will continue to carry the Camry nameplate, while its Xfinity Series entries race in GR Supras. NHRA teams in both Top Fuel and Funny Car already race under the TGR banner as well as Toyota’s Formula DRIFT drivers competing in the GR Corolla Hatchback, GR Supra and the GR86, while GT4 drivers in IMSA and SRO field the GR Supra GT4 EVO. The Toyota GR Cup will begin its third season of the signature spec series in 2025, racing the Toyota GR86. The GR badge on these vehicles represents Toyota’s dedication to producing exciting, race-inspired vehicles.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Toyota Tundras will continue to carry the TRD Pro badge and Toyota Off-Road Racing vehicles will continue to compete with the TRD nameplate.

The 2025 racing season officially kicks off at Daytona International Speedway, first with GR Supras taking the track in a four-hour GT4 race on Friday, January 24, 2025. The NASCAR season kicks off shortly after with the Cup Series Clash, making its debut at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Sunday, February 2, 2025, before the regular season kicks off in Daytona from February 12 to 16, 2025.

Ernie Saxton is an auto racing contributor for MediaNews Group. He co-founded the Eastern Motorsports Press Association, served as public relations director for Grandview Speedway for 47 years, and is in multiple halls of fame for his promotion and journalism related to the sport. He has announced races at more than 100 tracks, and he is the only person to have announced a race at Madison Square Garden. Email him at ESaxton144@aol.com.