Author: Crown Jewel Staff

Ushering in a new era: How the MCRL became Crown Jewel

A new era has arrived – but how did we get to this point? What have we learned? And how can we be the best version of ourselves moving forward?

How did we arrive here?

The Sunday Night Showdown held its inaugural race on September 11, 2022 – the Never Forget 165 (how many current league members can you spot?). The SNS was an early success, with an average of 13 drivers per race in the entirety of Season 0. As the SNS expanded to running on multiple days, the name no longer fit the league. The decision was made at that point to rebrand to “THE SHOW” – a slight modification to the SNS.

At this point, the community saw rapid expansion. Season 1 saw great success – with an average of 22 drivers per race in the season, and a top car count of 33 racers taking to the track at Talladega that season. But not all good things last…

MORE: Cup standings / Trucks Schedule

The Season 2 implosion came on the back of the biggest league expansions the league had ever seen. But the expansion was too rapid. The administration team was split, race craft was subpar, and the community was in chaos. With no fallback plan in place, the league had to back out of everything and enter a rebuilding phase. And thus, the Moving Chicanes Racing League was born from the ashes.

The Moving Chicanes era found the rebuilding from scratch, only maintaining a handful of original members from THE SHOW era. A three-month period was spent rebuilding including an invite-only Cup Series to clean up the Cup Series race craft, while incorporating our now second most popular series – the Sportsman Truck Series. These would be the building blocks for the MCRL 2024 project announced in September of 2023 which would see an Indy Car, IMSA, and Touring Car series added to expand the league into a significant amount of road racing for the first time. After some internal struggles relating to participation however, the road racing was later removed in the early parts of the 2024 season. This – however – was the beginning of the end of the nomenclature “Moving Chicanes Racing League”.

READ MORE: (Changes Article)

Why the change?

Competing leagues and disgruntled members would use the league’s own name against itself in times of trouble. This led to an overall negative connotation to the league name and made it an easy target for nay-sayers and competing leagues.

Ah, I see why it is called “Moving Chicanes” now.

Disgruntled League Member c. 2024

In an attempt to move away from negativity, we have decided it would be best to rebrand the league to a name more befitting of the racing we perform. During the brainstorming process, we gathered many ideas about past league events and phrases that related to the league. But, one always came back to us no matter where else we looked – Crown Jewel.

There’s another one of those “Moving Chicanes” again!

Former League Member, c. 2024

When assessing the potential names, Crown Jewel became the obvious choice due to the type of schedule we run in the Circuit Cup Series currently. However, we wanted it to become more than that. We wanted to surpass just the NASCAR Cup Series “crown jewel” events and take a look at motorsports as a whole – so that’s what we did. By implementing the “Crown Jewel” schedule across multiple disciplines of racing, we will be able to provide a taste of all famous motor racing events such as the Rolex 24, Daytona 500, Indy 500, 24 Hours of Les Mans, and many more.

READ MORE: (2024-2025 Crown Jewel Schedule)

Moving into the future, we are looking to bring a more positive outlook to the league and build strong, lasting relationships with the iRacing community. Having a general set of ideas and principles to work around as well as a strong brand that ties into those principles will ensure long-term success for the community as a whole. We hope you enjoy the rebrand, new look website, and all of the other cool features we are “ushering in” with this process!

OFFICIAL: Bob Henry’s BBQ Sauce joins Nextel Cup as title sponsor

Bob Henry’s BBQ Sauce – a Fraley family company – has officially locked in as the title sponsor for the remainder of the 2004 Nextel Cup Series.

Long standing league members Robert Fraley, Gordon Fraley, and Trey Fraley have signed a historic deal to put the Bob Henry’s BBQ Sauce brand on the 2004 Crown Jewel Nextel Cup Series. With the new sponsorship, the league will receive new name, branding, and contingency package for the remainder of the 2004 season.

The 2004 Bob Henry’s Cup Series has received an overhaul in the graphics department to represent the new title sponsor.

The 2004 Bob Henry’s Cup Series is currently 9 races into a 23-race schedule. The schedule follows the schedule of the history 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Season with duplicate races removed. The remainder of the season features historic tracks such as Charlotte Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, and more. Cory Mott currently tops the standings with 1,495 points, followed by Joe Gibbons (1,281) & Jonathan Leger (1,193).

READ MORE: USHERING IN A NEW ERA: HOW THE MCRL BECAME CROWN JEWEL

Not only does the league follow the historic schedule from 2004, but it also follows the ruleset from that era as well. Say goodbye to double file restarts, and hello to lapped cars lining back up on the inside! No NASCAR Overtime to save the end of a race – once it hits the scheduled distance, the race is over! This adds a completely different dynamic to the racing found in this division. Add in a racecar that has 900+ horsepower and you are bound to get a fun and exciting racing experience.

Bob Henry’s is excited to support the future growth of the Crown Jewel community and support the Nextel Cup Series. We hold this era of racing close to our hearts and are excited to see the 2004 Bob Henry’s Cup Series finish out the season. Make sure to buy Bob Henry’s!

Gordon Fraley, Bob Henry’s BBQ Sauce & Rubs

REPORT: TRD to enter Crown Jewel in 2025 with Top Tier and WRL Racing as flagship teams

World renowned racing brand, Toyota Racing Development has signed a deal to enter all Crown Jewel series in 2025. Top Tier and WRL will be the operation’s flagship teams, with alliances branching off with others as well.

Toyota has had a small presence during the 2024 season, but that will soon change as two of the top teams in the Crown Jewel Community look to link up under a Toyota Racing Development primary alliance. There is no telling who will be powering the cars yet in 2025. Top Tier currently has a deal with Team Conti Sim Performance signed through the end of 2024, while WRL Racing has a deal with VRS signed through the end of 2024. It is being reported that Team Conti is currently the front runner to land this deal, however – their ties to Chevy may make it difficult to see that through. We anticipate more information to be released at the conclusion of the 2024 Circuit Cup Playoffs.

Top Tier is currently sitting third in the 2024 Circuit Cup Series Team Standings, with a total of 1,135 points and two wins. WRL is currently sitting sixth in the Team Standings, with a total of 1,003 and zero wins on the season. Team owner/driver Cody Leach sits atop the WRL drivers at fifth place in the points, just 97 out from the top of the board where Top Tier owner/driver Cory Mott currently stands with a total of 603 points.

READ MORE: REPORT: CIRCUIT MOTORSPORTS CLUB TO EXIT CROWN JEWEL FOLLOWING 2024 SEASON

Top Tier is expected to field 4 cars next season, 3 of which are already confirmed with all current full-time drivers currently signed through the end of the 2025 season – Cory Mott, Jim Mott, and Zach Johnson. The fourth car, however, is still currently up for grabs. No leading candidates are currently known, but it is to be expected that part-time driver Sam Bennett should be under consideration due to his long-term relationship with the team.

WRL on the other hand, may have some gaps heading into the 2024 offseason. Current driver Cameron Romano has voiced his displeasure in recent weeks regarding the performance of the #55 Dubby Ford Mustang Darkhorse. Could he be on his way out to make room for new talent as WRL heads to Toyota? All is speculation right now, as WRL has not made any final decisions regarding car count and drivers other than Cody Leach.

Crown Jewel silly season has just begun. The talk of the return of the charter system has many teams and drivers buzzing to find their landing spot for what will be the largest season in Crown Jewel history. Stay tuned for more updates as we progress closer towards the 2024 Circuit Cup Series playoffs.