This is the final report for the 2025 racing season and we want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in a month for the Rolex 24 Hours. At the bottom I have listed the 2025 champions along with my Christmas Wish List.
The racing world is mourning the loss of former NASCAR star Greg Biffle, who was among seven people killed last Friday when a Cessna C550 crashed while attempting to land at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina. Biffle, 55, died alongside his wife Cristina Grossu Biffle, his daughter Emma Elizabeth, and his young son Ryder Jack. Also killed were longtime NASCAR motorhome driver Craig Wadsworth, pilot Dennis Dutton, and Dutton’s teenage son Jack Dutton.
NASCAR confirmed the deaths in a statement expressing profound grief, calling Biffle, “a champion on the track and a generous, committed member of our community whose loss leaves an immeasurable void.” The organization also extended condolences to all seven families affected by the tragedy.
Biffle, a 19 time Cup Series winner and one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers, had remained a respected figure long after stepping away from full time competition. In 2024, he drew widespread admiration for his humanitarian work following Hurricane Helene, using his personal helicopter to deliver supplies, rescue stranded residents, and support devastated communities across western North Carolina – efforts that relief workers described as quietly heroic.
The crash occurred shortly after 10:15 a.m., when the aircraft struck lights and trees while attempting to return to the runway. Families of the victims released a joint statement describing their heartbreak and remembering each of the seven as deeply loved and irreplaceable.
The loss of the Biffle family and their companions has the racing community and those beyond its scope grieving the passing of a person remembered not only for his racing accomplishments but for his remarkable generosity. Condolences to all of their families and friends.
Stock car builder Wight Motorsports, of St. Thomas, has been sold to Velocity Race Cars… also of St. Thomas. Velocity president Pete Vanderwyst, a longtime successful racer at Delaware Speedway and in the CASCAR Super Series and the APC Series takes over the company from Dave Wight.
Pete has added Terry Simpson as VP, Operations and Competition Director. Jamie Dyson has been retained as Parts, Sales and Marketing Manager. Dave Wight will be retained as an advisor.
While the big trial is over and a settlement was reached, I must admit that after reading the testimony from the NASCAR vs. 23XI and Front Row Motorsports case, a few NASCAR top-level executives should be summoned to the NASCAR trailer for a ‘stern talking to’! A reverse of the age-old adage – ‘you need us more than we need you’!! Wow, I can’t believe how dumb these guys are to put some of that stuff in writing where it could be used in a trial. I’m not saying that what they said is wrong, just that it makes them look very unprofessional.
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The Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo Presented by eBay Motors returns to Toronto’s International Centre March 13, 14 & 15, 2026. Canada’s biggest and best indoor auto-enthusiast and motorsports show will feature more than 400 incredible vehicles throughout four huge halls. Custom cars, hot rods, classics, trucks, tuners & modifieds and racing vehicles of all kinds will all be represented. Add in celebrity guests Dave Kindig and Mike Hall, along with 200 exhibitors, feature displays, two dozen car clubs, awards presentations and non-stop action on the Hagerty Stage and it’s an event you won’t want to miss! Click HERE for tickets and show info. We’ll see you in March at Motorama!
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Wow again! The ‘new and improved’ IHRA has announced plans to add stock car racing to its portfolio. They have released an eight-race schedule, running once a month March to October mainly in the southeast (TN, VA, IN, GA and SC), as well as a very comprehensive and complete rule book.
The headline announced a two-million-dollar purse, although I couldn’t find any breakdown on how that works ($250,000 per race maybe?). I’m reminded of the time when NASCAR decided to go drag racing many years ago (I still have a copy of the Official NASCAR Drag Racing Rule Book!!). Good luck. It looks promising.
AMC is developing a drama series about NASCAR called ‘Thunder Road’. Am I the only one to see how ironic the title really is? In 1985 Tom Curley and NASCAR had a falling out over who was the winner of the NASCAR North championship. If memory serves, Tom said it was Robby Crouch while NASCAR contended it was Randy LaJoie. Curley went on to create the successful American Canadian Tour. The ironic part, you ask? The late Curley’s race track in Barre, Vermont is named ‘Thunder Road’!! Is Curley still poking NASCAR from the grave?
Further bad news has been released as a result of the now completed NASCAR/Front Row and 23XI lawsuit. Derogatory comments were made by ‘senior officials’ about Richard Childress. Lawsuits are being considered.
Childress really helped to make the series what it is today by hiring a young upstart named Dale Earnhardt way back 44 years ago in 1981. What’s coming out next, bad words about Richard Petty? My position is that the series has suffered since Bill France, Jr. died. Bill was at EVERY race and talked to everybody and anybody. I looked forward to talking to him in the garages at several tracks. He told me he wished he could get U.S. car dealers to run similar reports to my Motion Motorsport Report that we ran weekly in the London Free Press. He didn’t have to tell anybody that he was the boss. His presence said everything.
It has been announced that the popular Superstar Shootout put on by The Professional Racers Organization (PRO) will be ‘paused’ for 2026. The event, staged at Bradenton Motorsports Park over the last two years, will now be replaced by a private PRO members-only test session at Gainesville Raceway two weeks prior to the Gatornationals. The official PRO position was that the event was too time-consuming for its members and stated that they were not a production company. Could the resurgence of the IHRA have anything to do with the decision? It’s sad to see the event go away. Hopefully the ‘pause’ will only be for one year.
Qualifying for the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton saw 32 Pro Mods qualify within 0.058 seconds. This is the class that NHRA still treats as second class. And there were 65 cars vying for the 32 spots. Think about THAT!! Sixty-five cars are more than the total number of Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock cars COMBINED at almost every NHRA race. Pro Mod is the only class where almost anything can be run – ’49 Mercury, 2025 Corvette, ’69 Camaro, ’67 Mustang, etc. And the class is NOT controlled by two or three owners in each class but rather by a bunch of ‘owner/operators’, just the way Wally Parks envisioned NHRA from the very start.
Formula One – the series dropped into Qatar for the penultimate race of the season and, for once, a very tight championship battle. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) was quickest in FP1 while also grabbing the pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race over George Russell (Mercedes) and teammate Lando Norris. The Sprint Race was actually quite boring with Piastri grabbing the win over Russell and Norris, the same order they had been running at the halfway mark. Canadian Lance Stroll finished 19th.
In qualifying for the main event Piastri topped Norris and Verstappen. Stroll started 19th. Once again Verstappen NAILED the start, getting around Norris for second on the very first corner. Piastri in his McLaren, on the other hand, had a perfect launch and got out to a two-second advantage very quickly. On lap 7 Nico Hulkenberg (Stake) had a major off after contact with Esteban Ocon, bringing out the safety car. Ocon received a five-second penalty for his action. Almost every team, with the exception of McLaren, took the opportunity to pit for one of the two mandated tire-change pit stops. That decision would haunt McLaren!!! At the halfway mark it was Piastri over Carlos Sainz and Nico Antonelli (Mercedes).
Verstappen gained the lead on lap 29. At the flag it was the resurgent Verstappen over Piastri and Sainz (yup – Williams!!). Norris finished 4th and Stroll was 17th.
The final race of the season was held at Abu Dhabi. Lando Norris (McLaren) was quickest in FP1 and FP2 while George Russell (Mercedes) topped FP3.
In qualifying Oscar Piastri (McLaren) was quickest in Q1, Russell tops in Q2 while Max Verstappen (Red Bull) grabbed the pole over Norris and Piastri. Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) started 15th. On lap 2 Piastri was able to get around Norris to get into second. On lap 14 the stewards issued Liam Lawson (RB) a five-second penalty for ‘driving erratically’???
At the halfway mark it was Piastri over Verstappen and Norris. On lap 30 the stewards issued Yuki Tsunoda (RB) a five-second penalty for ‘making more than one change of direction’??? At the flag it was Verstappen over Piastri and Norris. Stroll finished 10th in the points. Norris is the 2025 Champion.
In the final Drivers’ Championship Norris finished with a 2-point lead on Verstappen and 13 points on Piastri. A very close finish, one of the closest in recent history.
In the final Constructors’ Championship McLaren finished an outstanding 364 points in front of Mercedes and 382 in front of Red Bull.
Buxton Speedway – the Buxton Blizzard, Saturday, January 3, 2026. BE THERE!!!
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
NASCAR Cup – Kyle Larson NASCAR Xfinity – Jesse Love NASCAR Truck – Corey Heim
Formula One – Lando Norris IndyCar – Alex Palou IMSA GTP – Penske Motorsports Porsche
IMSA LMP2 – Team AO IMSA PRO – Corvette Racing IMSA GTD – Winward Racing
NHRA Top Fuel – Doug Kalitta NHRA Funny Car – Austin Prock NHRA Pro Mod – J.R. Gray
NHRA Pro Stock – Dallas Glenn NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle – Richard Gadson
NASCAR Canada – Marc-Antoine Camirand
APC Series Late Model – Josh Stade, APC Series Super Stock – Lane Zardo
OSCAAR Hot Rod – Tyler Hawn, OSCAAR Modifieds – Steve Trendell
Ontario Sportsman Series – Connor James
Delaware Speedway – Late Model – Jake Sheridan Delaware Super Stock – Trevor Collver
Delaware Bone Stocks – Charlie Verhoeven Delaware V/8 Stocks – Jordan Morris
Delaware Modifieds – Marshall Schrenk Ohsweken Speedway Sprint Car – Dylan Westbrook
Ohsweken Crate Sprint – Jacob Dykstra Ohsweken Thunder Stock – Ryan Beagle
Ohsweken Mini Stock – Tim DeBoer Buxton Speedway Late Model – C.J. Field
Buxton Thunderstock – Steve Shaw Buxton Mini Mods – Mark Phelan
Buxton Mods – Brad McLeod Buxton Mini Stock – Steve Delisle
Grand Bend Speedway Pro Sprints – Adrian Kemps Bend 9HP Sprints – Carter Nichol
Bend Mini Trucks – Quinn Goertz Bend Junior Sprints – Edwin Hyde
St. Thomas Dragway Top – Drew Buchner Mod – Drew Buchner Bike/Sled – Dorcina Knicely 6.50 – Dave Cooper Jr. Dragster – Emma Pinylo Sportsman – Eddie Adams
Shannonville Dragway Super Pro – Jason Chatwood Pro – Bryan Gilbert Bike – Kevin Curvin
Sportsman – Dustin Baldwin Nostalgia – Kevin Pelletier Trophy – Greg Kloten
Junior Dragster – Carley Parkhurst and Kara Roberts (tied)
PMRA Quick 32 – Rich and Karen Yacos CanAm Stock/Superstock – Chuck Nagy
Note – if your track’s champions aren’t listed here it is because I couldn’t find them.
MY CHRISTMAS WISH LIST
NASCAR – shorten your races. The new fans you want to attract are now being drawn to F1 because their races are MUCH shorter. And come to Canada.
Formula One – go back to the ‘legacy’ tracks. That’s where your true fans are located.
NHRA – please, please, please stop treating Pro Mod as second class.
IHRA – please don’t call every track Darana. While a noble idea, it is poor marketing. You now have tracks with very rich histories and whose names are well known to racers and fans.
IndyCar – try to do more joint races with IMSA.
IMSA – fix your website. FAR too hard to navigate.
NASCAR Canada – fix your website. This has been a recording.
APC Series – get rid of the on-track ‘choose cone’. Just paint a ‘V’ on the track.
Ontario Sportsman Series – get your results posted quicker.
ALL circle tracks including NASCAR and IndyCar – get your races on Race Monitor. You will attract more fans.
ALL local drag strips – post your results and points if you aren’t already doing so.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
