The four-inch curbing at Turn 16 is no more, just hours before the start of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series elimination race at Charlotte. The corner apex, which was extended before the race weekend, created a narrower final corner.

Commonly called ‘turtles’ or ‘sausage kerbs’ elsewhere in the world, drivers were aggressively running over the top of the curbs during practice in qualifying, and later complained about how violent the hits were. For example, Martin Truex Jr. compared it to getting a concussion.

As a result, NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports have replaced the red and white curbing with rumble strips that are just 2.25 inches from the track surface. A similar move was made at the bus stop chicane at Watkins Glen between 2023 and 2024 for the same reason. 

Updated rumble strips to Turn 16

Drivers will be held accountable for abusing track limits across the new curbing. Vehicles must run the full course at all times and a driver will be penalized for cutting the final chicane in the following situation: “You will be judged as missing or short-cutting any turn previously described when all four tires on the non-track side of the red and white rumble strips that define the apex of the turns.”

Similar to when drivers miss either the frontstretch or backstretch chicane, they must then come to a full stop at one of the designated locations or face a pass-through penalty. If there’s not enough time left in the race, a 30-second time penalty will be assessed.

Stewart-Haas Racing will be shutting down at the end of the year, and the entire four-car team is rallying around Chase Briscoe as he tries to do the impossible. No one expected the No. 14 Ford to make the playoffs, but a dramatic win in the final race of the regular season made it a reality. Few said he would advance beyond the first round, but again, he did while champions such as Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski were eliminated.

Oh, and his wife Marissa Briscoe just gave birth to twins.

Briscoe now enters the cut-off race last in the playoff standings, 32 points back. His goal is simple: all or nothing.

“I think for us, it’s honestly better that we’re kind of in the position that we are being 32 out or whatever it is versus 15 just because if you’re 15 to even 20, that is doable,” explained Briscoe. “Where we’re 30 (down), at least for us, we’re just looking at it as a must win. You could maybe point your way in, but a lot of things would have to go your way. I think it honestly opens up a lot for us from a strategy standpoint of just going in with the approach of flipping the track position and everything else.

“So yeah, to be below the cut line is obviously unfortunate, but honestly, I would much rather it be 30-something points than 15 just because I think it makes it a little clearer of what you need to do from a strategy standpoint. And out of all the tracks in this round, this is the one where I feel the most confident to come and battle for the win, so hopefully we can do that.”

Race winner Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Mustang

Photo by: Danny Hansen / NKP / Motorsport Images

SHR has 323 employees and many still have uncertain futures. Briscoe is not one of them, as he has already signed with Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 19 Toyota next year. Even still, he was at the shop all week and noted that, “I don’t feel worried at all.” It’s actually a very similar predicament to the one he faced entering the regular season finale at Darlington.

“I honestly feel a lot like I did going into the Darlington week, where I know that we can win here. We’ve done it before in the Xfinity level, but this is a track I feel really good about. Our road course stuff has been really good. If you look at Watkins Glen and things like that. So I’m not really nervous. There’s not a whole lot that I feel like isn’t capable by our team when we do everything right.

“It’s just going to take a good weekend, and with where we’re at in the points I feel like it makes it easier to win the race just because you don’t have to put yourself where you get the points then you restart 20th every single time. You can just flip the track position and you’re gonna start up front every time, so I feel really good about it truthfully.” 

Birth of twins and complications for wife Marissa

However, he has been a bit distracted when it comes to preparing for the battle ahead. Chase and his wife Marissa welcomed twins this week (Cooper Banks Briscoe & Collins Ivy Briscoe), but it was not without complications as his wife went to the ER twice.

“She’s had a lot of issues after,” explained Briscoe. “So hopefully I can get done quick here and get back home. The babies are good. They’re super small. I did not expect them to be as small as they are. But yeah, I’m definitely not getting a lot of sleep. Trying to be the best dad and play mom at the same time just with how bad Marissa has been struggling. It’s been a busy week. I probably haven’t focused a whole lot on racing, truthfully, but I’m excited to get the car today just from that standpoint of trying to zone everything that I’ve had going on all week. I feel feel good about it. Being a father of three has been really cool. It has been cool to see Brooks (oldest child) transition into the big brother role already and just hoping that Marissa will be okay and get back to her.”

Briscoe admitted he’s only been getting about four or five hours of sleep every night leading into this pivotal race, detailing just how ‘chaotic’ the week has been off the track and how he’s been able to deal with it all.

Chase Briscoe and wife Marissa Briscoe

Photo by: NASCAR Media

“I think for me, my faith is a big one and then just having a really good support system, between Marissa’s parents and my parents doing everything they can to just make it easier for both of us,” said Briscoe. “It’s chaos, I’m not gonna lie. Just, you know, with Marissa being at the ER right now, not wanting to bring four-day-old twins into the ER, so they’re out in the parking lot with my mom and she’s pumping and running milk out there, so, you know, then I’m going back and forth.

“So, I mean, it’s chaotic, but without that support system and without that family support, it would be way harder. That being said, as chaotic of a week as it’s been, it could be a lot worse, right? There’s a lot worse things that we could be going through, and it could be a lot harder for us. We’ve got it pretty good still. I think just my faith and then having that support system definitely makes it a little bit easier to just not get lost in the chaos.” 

Briscoe starts further back than any of the 12 playoff drivers after qualifying 25th at the Roval. However, as he won’t have to go after stage points, he can perhaps gain some easy track position over those around the bubble who are forced to points race. He’ll also have to contend with blistering fast ringers such as Shane van Gisbergen and A.J. Allmendinger, who both start at the very front of the field.

The Round of 12 opened with another spoiler as Ross Chastain took the checkered flag at Kansas. The field then raced into Talladega where yet another non-playoff driver stole all the glory with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. winning the race. This means no one got to automatically advance into the Round of 8 via a win this round, but that doesn’t mean no one is locked in.

Locked in or feeling good

William Byron actually earned enough points over the last two races to clinch a spot mathematically, so he has nothing to worry about at Charlotte. While not technically locked in, Christopher Bell at +57 and Kyle Larson at +52 are in a really strong spot to move forward. You will be seeing these drivers in the Round of 8 which is interesting, as all three made the Championship 4 last year.

Just keep it clean

After his cautious approach backfired at Atlanta, Denny Hamlin did it again at Talladega, but this time, it paid off in a huge way. When over half the field crashed on the backstretch, he was nowhere near the chaos and gained a mountain of points as a result. He now enters Charlotte +30 to the cut-line and just needs to avoid any catastrophic setbacks this weekend. Alex Bowman at +26 and Ryan Blaney at +25 are in similar positions. Collect some stage points, finish the race, and everything should be okay. However, history tells us that it never ends up being that easy.

On the hot seat

Regular season champion Tyler Reddick is just +14 points above the elimination zone and NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver is in the same boat. Chase Elliott is sitting on the bubble at +13. And remember, it doesn’t matter how many points you have if any of those four drivers below you go and win the race. As the bubble driver, you will be out.

Fortunately for Elliott, he’s not only won at the Roval but he’s the only active driver to have won it more than once. Reddick is also a very capable road racers with the second-highest average finish at the Charlotte Roval, as well as race wins at COTA, the Indy RC and Road America. At the end of the day, they may be racing each other on Sunday. Should a Briscoe or Cindric find their way into the lead and the drivers above these two don’t get into trouble, you have to avoid being the driver on the chopping block. Because of this, Elliott and Reddick will be keeping an eye on each other, just as much (if not more) than those behind them.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has a strange pattern he would like to continue year — he has made the Championship 4 in alternating years since the current format’s introduction (’14, ’16, ’18, ’20, ’22) while missing out the rest of the time. Unfortunately, unlike those he is chasing, he hasn’t had much success on road courses. He does have a pole and two top-five finishes at the Roval, but he will need to have his best showing yet to avoid elimination. Expect Logano to go for as many stage points as possible as he tries to bridge that gap to those ahead.

Joey Logano, Team Penske, Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

The Trackhouse driver took a bad situation and made it worse at Talladega, crashing himself while trying to aggressively blend into the pack after an early pass-through penalty left him a lap down. This is a difficult points deficit to make up, especially with the caliber of drivers directly in front of him, but it’s not all bad for Suarez. He is an excellent road racer and while success has eluded him at the Roval, Trackhouse has shown an uptick in speed recently and his teammate led half the race at Watkins Glen. He’s also in a difficult spot where he has to decide if going for points is the right play or if he should gamble it all and go straight for the win. Unfortunately, Suarez and the other two remaining underdog stories in the playoffs bring up the rear of the points grid, so it would be quite the upset if he could drag himself out of the elimination zone.

Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Another Team Penske driver in peril, and how different things could have been for the driver of the No. 2 Ford. He was leading late at Talladega and could have absolutely won that race, but a bad push sent him spinning in the middle of the pack instead. While he could still point his way in mathematically, his only real shot is to go straight for the win. He’s never won a road course race at the Cup level, which is a surprise. He has a background in road racing and five of his 13 Xfinity wins came on tracks that go both left and right. He will have to dig deep and find a way to finally do that at the Cup level asap, or his playoffs will be over.

Austin Cindric, Team Penske, Discount Tire Ford Mustang

Photo by: Gavin Baker / NKP / Motorsport Images

Probably the most unique story of the playoffs surrounds this driver. Stewart-Haas Racing is just a few weeks away from shutting down, but Briscoe won the regular season finale and gave them one last shot at NASCAR glory. With the entire four-car organization rallying behind him, he bested champions Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski to advance into this round. Sadly, things have not gone nearly as well here and luck was not on his side at Talladega. Like Cindric, he has to go for the race win at the Roval. It’s his only real hope of keeping this dream alive for SHR. Like Cindric, he is a driver who showed promise on road courses in lower divisions, but he’s yet to find Victory Lane at such tracks in the Cup Series. But when we talk about a driver and group who have literally nothing to lose, there’s no one who fits that better than this No. 14 team.

Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, Rush Truck Centers / Cummins Ford Mustang

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Playoff standings entering Round of 12 elimination race

A full-size clay model of the GEN3 GR Supra Supercar has provided fans with a preview of the four V8-powered cars that will take on the Chevrolet Camaros and Ford Mustangs.

The model is a derivative but not a copy of the two-seater coupe and has been built by the Melbourne-based Toyota Design Australia team.

Walkinshaw Andretti United, the homologation for the Toyota Supercars project that was announced last month, will race two of the cars in 2026, joined by another two Supras run by a yet-to-be-announced team.

“Taking part in the heat of Supercars, as well as other racing and rallying series around the world, provides technical learnings that can be transferred to the development of our entire range of vehicles – not just our sports cars,” said Toyota Australia’s Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Sean Hanley.

“We are looking forward to building on the passion among enthusiasts for our GR range and to generating interest and excitement among motorsport fans, including those who are new to our brand.

“We are also keen to involve our own people, enabling them to improve their skills and acquire new abilities in the high-pressure teamwork environment that is motorsport.

“The experience gained by our local designers, modellers and engineers with their stunning GR Supra Supercar is a perfect example of what motorsport can help us achieve.”

WAU, which switched allegiance from General Motors to Ford ahead of the 2023 season – having run for much of its life as the Holden Racing Team, will continue to run its Mustang Supercars program with Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood while developing the new Toyota during 2025.

A model of the GEN3 Toyota Supra

Photo by: Supercars

Toyota’s initial commitment to Supercars runs for five years to 2030 and development is already underway on an all-aluminium, quad-cam V8 based on the 2UR-GSE, rather than the in-line six-cylinder motor that comes fitted to the road-going Supra models.

With the Japanese manufacturer joining the grid, Supercars will expand beyond two manufacturers for the first time since 2019, when Nissan left the championship. This followed Volvo’s exit in 2017 and that of the customer Erebus Mercedes entry at the end of 2015.

Hayden Paddon clinched the 2024 European Rally Championship title after finishing third at the Rally Silesia season finale.

One-time World Rally Championship event winners Paddon and co-driver John Kennard led the Polish asphalt rally heading into the final day with a 6.8s margin over Skoda duo Andrea Mabellini and co-driver Virginia Lenzi. 

Armed with a 27-point lead over nearest title rival and fifth-placed Mathieu Franceschi, Paddon could afford to relax to some degree to secure the title. 

Paddon and Kennard’s BRC-run Hyundai i20- led the rally until stage 11 where Mabellini overhauled the New Zealanders to grab the lead. Paddon survived a late scare when he briefly went off the road in the penultimate stage, before coming home to finish the rally in third (+19.9s).

Mabellini claimed an emotional first ERC victory while M-Sport-Ford’s Jon Armstrong also fought back emotions after securing his first ERC podium in second, 18.4s adrift. 

“It feels great. The [last]11 kilometres were the longest of my life. I want to thank everybody as it has been an incredible journey. We started in Rally5 then went to Rally4 and then Rally2 last year, so I’m really happy,” said Mabellini.  

Armstrong added: “It is hard not to get emotional as it has been a hard year and I have been trying really hard and it is good to show now that we can finally do the pace.” 

Andrea Mabellini, Virginia Lenzi, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

Photo by: atWorld

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Paddon’s third pace marked a successful defence of the ERC title he won last year, which seemed unlikely at times after a difficult campaign that yielded only one podium from the first six events. 

However, a dominant victory in Wales at Rali Ceredigion last month put him in the box seat to clinch the championship, although budget constraints meant the Kiwi was unsure if he would compete in the Poland finale, before eventually finding the funds. 

“It is a relief, it has been a season of two halves. We haven’t shown the outright speed we wanted to but through determination and grit the whole team just did it,” said Paddon.

“The biggest thing this year was to not give up you know halfway through we were all  bit disheartened as to where we were at so it is massive credit to the team and everyone involved.”

As for the future, Paddon, who has previously stated that this year may be his last in the European Rally Championship, added: “I will take it each day at a time and if this is our last European Championship rally I would like to say a big thanks to all the fans over here that have been supporting us and making us feel at home. 

“It feels like a big family and who knows what the next step is, but we have ticked this one off, so we will enjoy it.” 

Elsewhere, M-Sport-Ford WRC driver Adrien Fourmaux claimed victory at Rallylegend.

Fourmaux and co-driver Alexandre Coria piloted an M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 through the San Marino rally festival’s 12 stages to claim a victory by 1m56.1s from Luca Pedersoli, driving a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. 

The podium was completed by 2008 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix winner Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn shared a Citroen C3 WRC with Esapekka Lappi’s recently retired WRC co-driver Janne Ferm.

Meanwhile, Reigning world rally champion Kalle Rovanpera signed off his first circuit racing campaign in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux by taking his third race win at the season finale at Zolder. The factory Toyota WRC driver had scored victories at Imola and the Red Bull Ring. 

2017 Bathurst winner, David Reynolds, was fifth during the opening laps of the 40-minute qualifying session at Mount Panorama when he lost control of the Team18 Chevrolet Camaro, crunching into the concrete wall at The Esses with 23 minutes remaining.

As a result, he lost his best qualifying lap and dropped out of contention for Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout. By the end of the session, he had dropped to 21st.

Reynolds immediately let his team know he was unhurt and later explained the cause of the crash to the Supercars broadcaster.

“I was pushing really hard, the car was getting better,” he said. “I probably shouldn’t have stayed up for that second lap because the car was starting to go away and everything gets a bit more skatey.

“I should have put the next set on and gone but I was probably pushing too hard for the conditions and got bitten bad.”

Confirming his condition, Reynolds added: “I’m fine, more than fine. I’m actually just really angry that it happened. But we’re pushing the limits and every now and again that happens.

Reynolds’s crash comes 24 hours after his co-driver Warren Luff – who works as a stunt driver – pirouetted the car at the same section of track while only scratching the car.

David Reynolds, Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Photo by: Edge Photographics

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“Obviously, I’m not as skilled as Luffy – he saved it yesterday and I crashed,” Reynolds joked.

Watching from the garage while his team-mate completed the qualifying session, Luff aid of the incident: “He got a little bit offline and when he took the kerb up the top, it just got a bit of an awkward bounce and, unfortunately, he was just a bit of a passenger.

“Not ideal, but that’s Bathurst. The boys will get stuck in tonight and I’m sure we’ll turn the car around and will have a quick car on Sunday.”

Qualifying came to an end when Shell V-Power Racing driver Will Davison became the latest driver to be bitten by The Dipper – damaging all four corners of his Ford Mustang.