Blake Koch Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Leavine Family Racing will end its 10-year run in the NASCAR Cup Series at the conclusion of the 2020 season, team owner Bob Leavine said in a statement released on Tuesday. Citing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on his team, Leavine noted that the organization would not be in a position to compete after this season, leading to the sale of the No. 95 team to a new owner and his exit from the sport when the final checkered flag falls at season’s end.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The rollercoaster ride that has been the offseason for Ross Chastain continued on Thursday as he was confirmed to have a full-time schedule in the Xfinity Series for 2019 with both JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing. Chastain was originally scheduled to race full-time for Chip Ganassi Racing in their No. 42 entry, but sponsorship woes forced the team’s closure and left the Alva, Florida native without a ride in NASCAR’s second tier series. Fast forward to Thursday when Blake Koch, who was going to drive theRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer After sponsorship sidelined Blake Koch in 2018, the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver will return with sponsorship from his own company, FilterTime in 2019. He will drive the JD Motorsports No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro SS that Ross Chastain put in the 2018 Playoffs. Koch famously put the up-start Kaulig Racing into the 2016 and 2017 Xfinity Series Playoffs. In an upset, he positioned the team to make the second round of the Playoffs in its’ inaugural season. In those two seasons, Koch earned 10 top-10 finishesRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer In the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kaulig Racing will welcome Austin Dillon in a second Chevrolet Camaro SS. This will be the first time that the organization, which is in its’ third year, will have two entries in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and have a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver behind the wheel. Dillon will drive the No. 10 Phone Skope / Berry’s Bullets Chevrolet Camaro SS at Indianapolis. In the Xfinity Series, the 2018 Daytona 500 winner has two startsRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer One of the two remaining teams from the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season has shut its’ doors. Jim Rosenblum’s FDNY Racing made its final start in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway. FDNY Racing never scored a victory, or a top-10, but were always a feel-good story in the Truck Series. The team was always one of the many under-funded teams, made up primarily of part-time employees and volunteers. Rosenblum’s team was not as competitive as their peers, but usuallyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Less than a week after news broke that he would not be returning to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with Hattori Racing, Ryan Truex has landed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the upcoming 2018 season. On Tuesday, Kaulig Racing announced that Truex would be joining the team to take over their No. 11 Chevrolet on a full-time basis. “I’m extremely excited to be making the move back into the Xfinity Series,” said Truex. “In just two years Kaulig Racing has proved to beRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – With a pickup pit crew, at the track that cost him a shot at the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title last year, William Byron won Saturday’s Ticket Galaxy 200 to advance to the Championship 4 race in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Behind him, JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler also qualified for the title race with finishes of 10th and 18th respectively. The JRM trio will join Daniel Hemric in an all-Chevrolet finale, after Hemric ran fifth andRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Two hundred is not only the distance of this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen, the Zippo 200, but when the engines are fired, it will also be the number of career starts for Blake Koch. Once again, Koch is looking to put his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro in the Playoffs for the second year in a row. In five previous starts at Watkins Glen International, Koch has a best finish of 18th in 2015. His best start at theRead More

By Rob Gray, NASCAR Wire Service NEWTON, Iowa — Ryan Preece’s short-lived, but ambitious 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule began three weeks ago at his de facto home track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It ended Saturday in the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway — as confetti swirled and soared to highlight his first career series triumph in Victory Lane. Preece, held off a hard-charging Kyle Benjamin in a green-white checkered finish that came after the third restart in the race’s final 17 pulse-quickening laps. “I thought this race wouldRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As is the case anytime NASCAR visits the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega, the chance of a multi-car crash is high and in Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega, the first multi-car crash of the day struck early, sweeping several contenders up in the melee. Heading down the backstretch on lap 20, last year’s runner-up at Talladega, Brennan Poole, who had already sustained some front-end damage earlier in the race, tried to move into the outside lane, but there was no room toRead More