NASCAR heads into 2025 with plenty of storylines

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — NASCAR has no shortage of storylines headed into its 76th season and the biggest one is the federal court showdown between the stock car series and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. Jordan's 23XI Cup Series team that he co-owns with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin didn't like the terms of the take-it-or-leave-it charter offer last fall and, along with Front Row Motorsports, refused to sign as 13 others did. The two teams will race this season — 23XI's driver, Tyler Reddick, was the regular-season champion and a title contender — as the case proceeds. 23XI and Front Row head into the season-opening Daytona 500 this weekend coming off a flurry of courtroom victories, including one that recognizes and compensates their six combined cars as chartered entries. A trial is set for December after the season ends. There are enough positives that everyone seemed excited to get back to racing when they gathered this month for a throwback to the early days of NASCAR at historic Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. — This year marks the start of a new seven-year television package that welcomes Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery to a multi-network deal spanning the February through November season. — NASCAR will take the Cup Series outside the United States for a race that counts for the first time in the modern era. Its two previous points races outside the U.S. were in Canada, in 1952 and 1958, and all other events outside the country were exhibitions. NASCAR will race in Mexico City in June, a chance to stars as Mexican driver Daniel Suarez. NASCAR will use the same track that Formula 1 uses, and the hope is to land younger fans. "I actually think things are in an OK place," said Chase Elliott, voted the most popular driver by fans seven times. The son of Hall of Fame driver Bill Elliott said he believes NASCAR's current leadership group "has been open to more change over the past three or four years" than the past three decades. NASCAR has been owned and operated by the Daytona-based France family since its 1948 inception. "As long as we're willing to say that some of the stuff hasn't been good, then it's fine," Elliott said of competition issues the past few years. "I hope we can continue to go in a good direction." The first speed bump will be at the Daytona 500 Nine drivers will attempt to qualify for one of the four open spots in the Daytona 500. Among the nine are seven-time NASCAR champion and two-time race winner Jimmie Johnson, former Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves in his NASCAR debut. NASCAR last month went public with a new rule that could expand the field to 41 to accommodate a world-class driver. It was earmarked for Castroneves, who, if he doesn't earn one of the four open spots, will race as an extra car not eligible for payment or points. Johnson and Truex could have been considered for the waiver if they asked at least 90 days in advance, language NASCAR said was in the charters signed by teams in September. Trackhouse Racing was the only team to request the waiver, if needed, for Castroneves. "I just think it reeks of desperation," said Hamlin, who as co-owner of 23XI Racing has signed some splashy one-off entrants, including former F1 drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Kamui Kobayashi. "I don't know how nice you can really say it. It just feels like you are really trying to get any kind of headline you can to be relevant and I don't love it," Hamlin said of the provisional. "You are the premier stock car series in the U.S., the premier racing sport in the U.S. — be the big boys and force people to come in here and get their credentials and do it the natural way." The rule will be tested this week at Daytona International Speedway, where two open spots will be awarded Wednesday based on speed and the other two awarded in Thursday's two qualifying races. What to watch for in 2025 — Team Penske has won three consecutive Cup Series championships with Ryan Blaney's win sandwiched between a pair of Joey Logano titles. Logano's third overall title broke a tie with Kyle Busch as the only active drivers with multiple championships. Busch is trying to bounce back from last year, when his record run of 19 consecutive seasons with at least one win came to an end. — Trackhouse, 23XI and Front Row have all expanded into three-car teams with the charters from Stewart-Haas Racing, which ceased operations as a four-car program at the end of last season. Gene Haas will field one car branded Haas Factory for driver Cole Custer. — Spire Motorsports partnered with TWG Motorsports, an operation run by Dan Towriss and Mark Walter. The two were granted expansion with Cadillac onto the F1 grid for 2026 and are the new majority owners of Andretti Global in IndyCar. — William Byron is the defending Daytona 500 winner, and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson is the hottest driver in motorsports right now with offseason wins in big sprint car races in Australia and Oklahoma. — NASCAR will spend 2025 reviewing the playoff structure because fans are showing boredom with the current format and didn't like Logano winning the title. There was also a controversial penultimate race in which NASCAR accused the manufacturers of manipulating the finish to set the championship quartet. — NASCAR vowed to tighten the rule book and warned of penalties for anyone who tries to game the system to determine an outcome. The first test comes with the Daytona 500, a race in which the cars from Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota all work withing an overall strategy for each brand. — The season starts on Fox, which has maintained its long relationship with NASCAR for this new $7.7 billion television deal. Fox Sports will broadcast 12 races this year, while NBC Sports has 14. New partners Amazon and TNT each have five races, and newly inducted Hall of Famer Carl Edwards could return to NASCAR as part of all the new talent. The drivers have to do their part, Logano said, and itstarts with navigating all the new platforms. It is up to the drivers, he said, to make sure viewers can find them. "I think the biggest challenge I see this year is going to be educating our fans where to watch the race, that's my number one concern," said Logano. "I think that's probably the same for everybody in the industry. We've got to communicate with our fans where to watch and how to watch." ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing