During last year’s season finale, Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece revealed pranks they had been playing on one another since September, and they haven’t stopped midway through 2026.
This year, Preece worked with the folks at EchoPark Speedway to feature his RFK Racing teammate on I-75 billboards promoting the July NASCAR Cup Series race. One of the billboards features Buescher wearing a red wig that he wore for a Minute Rice promotion.
“Ironically, I did have that same haircut when I was a kid, but it just wasn’t that red,” Buescher commented. “I think he’s just jealous I got the Minute Rice ride this year and he didn’t, so that’s why he used that photo.”
Another billboard resembles a Buc-ees billboard. It states: “VISIT PROSPER, TX 843 MILES.”
“Ryan is back to shenanigans, which is fine because I’m currently in the process as well and I look forward to unveiling that before too terribly long,” Buescher said with a grin. “We’re gonna keep having fun with it. I do realize that everybody here at EchoPark Speedway had a role in this, so we will have to figure out how to return that favor somewhere along the way.
“Apparently, he (Preece) was asking around trying to get baby photos of me and things of that nature, but I’ve got enough friends around here that they didn’t release those. It’s not too out of hand yet.”
Buescher said what he has planned for Preece is “equally as much fun if not just a little bit more rewarding on a psychological level.”
Preece said he developed the billboards when he visited the track to promote the race. He casually asked one of the track employees if they worked with a billboard company in the area.
“One thing kind of led to another,” Preece said. “I really appreciate the company that has the billboards because they made it extremely easy to work with, giving them the photos, kind of what our vision was to make it happen. There’s four billboards, two going north and two going south on I-75. Pretty neat stuff.”
“I think he’s just jealous I got the Minute Rice ride this year and he didn’t, so that’s why he used that photo.”
Last year’s pranks started in September during the Kansas race weekend and continued through the season finale at Phoenix. They involved the removal of car doors, industrial shrink wrap and zip ties. First, Buescher removed the doors on Preece’s rental vehicle. At Phoenix, Preece used three rolls of industrial shrink wrap to wrap Buescher’s car in the hotel parking lot. He also zip tied the driveshaft.
Four Races for Elliott at North Wilkesboro
No matter which race fans attend at North Wilkesboro Speedway the weekend of July 17-19, they’ll be able to watch Chase Elliott compete.
Elliott is racing in the two zMAX CARS Tour Late Model events July 17, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on July 18, and then the NASCAR Cup Series event on July 19.
Elliott will drive Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Late Model car in the CARS Tour events.
“That’s not a car that I’ve really had a lot of experience racing,” Elliott said. “But both that race and the Truck race, as well, they were meant to be for Kyle (Busch). I think Dale was going to get him to drive that Late Model stock, as well, so it will definitely be special for that reason. I would love to go and get a win in honor of him (Busch), his career and the friend he was to me over the years. I don’t know how my name got drawn, asked, or what it was, but I appreciate them thinking of me and letting me have that honor to go run those races.”
Elliott won the 2014 Nationwide Series (now O’Reilly) championship driving for JR Motorsports.
Earnhardt co-owns the CARS Tour with Kevin Harvick, Justin Marks, and Jeff Burton.
Cautions Breed Cautions
There’s an adage in racing that cautions breed cautions, and that was true in the Focused Health 250 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race won by Justin Allgaier.
In the race’s final 60 laps Saturday night, there were four red flags for track cleanup and eight of the event’s 13 caution flags. The red flag time totaled 29 minutes 40 seconds.
Meg Oliphant//Getty Images
Lavar Scott (#45) and Jeremy Clements crash during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race in Atlanta.
The largest crash occurred on lap 152, the second lap after the restart following the 10th caution period. Involved in that 11-car crash were Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love, William Sawalich, Brent Crews, Brandon Jones, Dean Thompson, Jordan Anderson, Nick Leitz, Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman Jr., and Parker Retzlaff.
The final caution period on lap 166 sent the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race into double overtime. Ironically, Allgaier was involved in that frontstretch accident with Jeremy Clements and Lavar Scott. When the race restarted, Allgaier charged to the front with sparks flying from underneath his car due to its damaged nose to capture his 34th career victory and his sixth this season. He led four times for 15 laps in the race that had 13 caution flags for 76 laps.
“I could feel it dragging after all the damage there at the end,” Allgaier said. “That last lap, when we took the white, it was such a wild chain of events. With the damaged nose and the things we had going against us, there’s no way we should have won the race. Tonight (Saturday) was one of those resiliency nights.”
With only three races remaining before the series starts its post-season, Allgaier has already clinched the regular season championship. He leads the second-place Love by 240 points. The top 12 drivers advance into the post-season. Taylor Gray, who is 12th, leads the 13th-place Rajah Caruth by 17 points.
Annunziata Escapes Truck Fire Without Injury
A day after winning the Lime Rock Park ARCA 100, Thomas Annunziata found himself at a local hospital for examination after his truck caught fire during the LiUNA 150 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the 1.53-mile road course.
Annunziata’s truck caught fire after being involved in a lap 51 crash that included Landen Lewis, Connor Mosack and Ben Rhodes. After being taken to the care center, he was checked and then transported to a local hospital. TRICON Garage, which fielded Annunziata’s truck, reported on social media that their driver was “cleared and released” from the hospital.
“I’m OK,” Annunziata posted on X. “I really appreciate all the messages and concern after yesterday (Saturday) – just swallowed a little fire, that’s all.
“On the racing side, what a weekend. TRICON Garage gave me a race-winning ruck. We qualified up front, ran up front all day, and were lining up on the front row with a shot to win before our day came to an early end. Not bad for my second Truck Series start – we’ll be back.”
Grant Enfinger won the 100-lap race, leading twice for five laps, including the final four. It was Enfinger’s 13th career victory but his first this year. He’s ninth in the standings with only four races remaining in the regular season. The top 10 advance into The Chase. Lane Riggs leads the standings, possessing a 44-point advantage over Kaden Honeycutt in second.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.