Lionel Racing Hits Pause On Diecast Pre-Orders
The current market uncertainties tied United States fiscal policy mean you might have to wait a bit (and pay more) for your favorite driver's next diecast.
The Morning Warmup
April 30, 2025
Good morning, race fans.
I’ll be honest, I was half-tempted not to have any top stories in today’s newsletter. It hasn’t been a particularly newsy open to the week. The things that have trickled out are largely supplemental. In truth, the biggest story is probably a small bit of hope for change to the FIA’s controversial swearing rules.
I want to respect your time, so I thought about keeping this as brief as possible. But I did see one story that caught my eye because it’s unique, intriguing and relevant to the current times.
We’re going to talk about diecasts for a second.
Let’s dive in.
Today’s Top Story
1) Lionel Racing hits pause on pre-orders amid tariff uncertainty (NASCAR)
If you weren’t concerned about the wait time for Lionel Racing’s NASCAR diecasts before, you definitely should be now.
Citing uncertainty surrounding the ongoing tariff policies instituted by President Donald J. Trump and his cabinet, Lionel has elected to halt availability for pre-orders and announced an impact to shipments of some new merchandise. Race-winning diecasts from the past two Cup races are unavailable, though the company has posted a picture of Austin Cindric’s winning car to indicated that a model will come in the future.
Lionel Racing has been NASCAR’s diecast licensee since 2010. The company had previously increased prices due to the tariffs, with its standard 1:24 race win diecsts going up by 18%. Its wares are primarily made in China, the primary target of U.S. tariffs in recent weeks.
It’s uncertain when it will make business sense for Lionel to resume standard operations. President Trump indicated an intention to lower the Chinese tariffs last week, but said the timeline for relief depended on Beijing.
(Source(s): Nick DeGroot / Motorsport, Al Jazeera)
News and Notes
NASCAR
Making an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, former Spire Motorsports crew chief Rodney Childers detailed his exit from the team. Long story short: Many small things added up. (Kelly Crandall / RACER)
Today in random NASCAR beefs, we have a clapback from Joey Logano to… Chipper Jones? (Matt Weaver / Sportsnaut)
A Talladega disaster has left Brad Keselowski with a deep playoff hole to climb out of heading into May. (Jeff Gluck / The Athletic)
NASCAR has penalized a pair of Xfinity Series teams for rear bumper cover violations in Talladega. (Nick DeGroot / Motorsport)
I don’t often recommend podcast listens, but Dirty Mo Media has a pair of good ones this week.
Denny Hamlin’s discussion of the racing at Talladega Superspeedway and the owner side of the kiboshed “run what you brung” All-Star Race concept are worth a listen.
“Door Bumper Clear” also supplied a memorable listen. with veteran Kyle Busch discussing Talladega in memorable fashion.
The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi gained more information about teams’ distaste for the All Star concept for a story shared Tuesday.
Numerous drivers, including Hamlin and Kyle Larson, were left with a feeling of helplessness in Talladega, (Bob Pockrass / FOX Sports)
Chase Elliott will run with a special gold scheme for NAPA Auto Parts’ 100th anniversary at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. (Jenna Fryer / Associated Press)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams were set to venture to Carolina Motorsports Park on Tuesday for a Goodyear tire test. (Lee Spencer / Catchfence)
IndyCar
It was a busy two days with picture-perfect weather for testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week. But what did teams take away from the pre-May track time? (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is rebuilding Takuma Sato’s car after his vicious testing crash. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
Don’t believe race car drivers are elite athletes? Just try to complete one of their workouts. (Jim Vertuno / Associated Press)
A couple Indy NXT announcements:
Bryce Aron has moved from HMD Motorsports to Chip Ganassi Racing, replacing Jonathan Browne. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
That opens a spot with HMD, which has been filled by Evagoras Papasavvas. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
F1
The oft-maligned new driver guidelines surrounding swearing could soon be changed, according to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. (Scott Mitchell-Malm / The Race)
Ferrari has its sights set on the front of the field. The company’s bringing major updates starting at Imola and planning to make a leap in performance relative to its rivals.
Lando Norris remains right in the hunt for the 2025 F1 title. But he believes he’s been putting too much pressure on himself early in the season. (Chris Medland / RACER)
In an exclusive interview with The Race’s Edd Straw, Norris discussed his struggles to keep from costing himself laptime with the current car.
Given their position as championship rivals this year, McLaren understandably expects Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri to clash at some point. (Scott Mitchell-Malm & Edd Straw / The Race)
It’s early days for Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull Racing, but the Japanese star has already learned some things alongside title-contending teammate Max Verstappen. (Gianluca D’Alessandro / Motorsport)
Williams has in issue it can’t remedy this year, but it has a “series of sticky plasters” to try to cover it up moving forward. (Scott Mitchell-Malm / The Race)
With Formula 1’s Miami trip come brand collaborations. Here’s a look from Mercedes and Adidas.
Supercars
After nearly two months of travel associated with the tour’s New Zealand trip, Supercars teams have gotten their cars back and gotten back to work. (Stefan Bartholomaeus / Speedcafe)
Based on the success of its 2025 product, Dunlop is open to developing another new Supercars tire. (Connor O’Brien / V8 Sleuth)
Walkinshaw Andretti United has its newest signing. Teenager Lincoln Taylor has joined its academy and will compete in the Toyota GR Cup Series. (Stefan Bartholomaeus / Speedcafe)
Sports Cars
Silverstone is keen to secure a slot on the FIA World Endurance Championship calendar. But with expansion unplanned in the near future, that prospect is looking unlikely. (Gary Watkins / Motorsport)
BMW has begun talks with prospective LMDh customers for as early as next season. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
The company also presented its new entry-level BMW M2 Racing car during the DTM season opener at Oschersleben. (Daily Sportscar)
Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours class winner Darren Turner is returning to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship garage next week with The Heart of Racing Team. (R.J. O’Connell / RACER)
There are 34 cars on the entry list for GT World Challenge Asia’s first trip to Mandalika. (Jamie Klein / Sportscar365)
Earl Bamber Motorsport will compete in Super GT at Petronas Sepang International Circuit, running with Li Kerong and Jazeman Jafaar, (Daily Sportscar)
Dirt
Keeping up with the tour’s top stars is a challenge, but Garrett Alberson is learning from the frontrunners in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. (Kyle McFadden / FloRacing)
Short Tracks
Saturday was a special night for Layne Riggs and his father Scott, returning to their stomping grounds at Orange County Speedway. (James Jackson / Frontstretch)
Frontstretch’s Chase Folsom shared his takeaways from Saturday’s CARS Tour round at Orange County, including a championship shakeup and Ryan Newman’s series debut.
Moto
Pirelli plans to test MotoGP tires at Spain’s Aragon circuit as it works toward its 2027 debut ad the tour’s sole tire provider. (German Garcia Casanova & Owen Bellwood / Motorsport)
MotoGP held a big test in Jerez on Monday. Here are six key takeaways from the midseason run. (Valentin Khorounzhiy & Simon Patterson / The Race)
Electric Racing
Formula E’s continual expansion will see it run a doubleheader at Monaco this year. But this move has been accused of watering down one of the tour’s biggest race weekends. (Sam Smith / The Race)
Race director Scot Elkins signed off from his post in Formula E’s Miami round early in April. Various drivers and teams paid respect to Elkins at the end of a favorable era. (Sam Smith / The Race)
Sim Racing
One I missed last week: The FIA has launched a new Women in Motorsports Esports Cup aiming to find the 10 quickest women in sim racing. (Thomas Harrison-Lord / Traxion)
The Morning Warmup is fueled by our supporters. They include:
Primary Sponsor: David Colyer
Affiliate Sponsors: Bob and Sally Wichert, Cat Hicks, Jory Fleischauer, Mary Dzuro, Nathan K. Thomas, Spencer Pullins, Tyler Sorenson.
Paddock Supporters: Allison Bodiford, Billy Rowlee, Buzz Baylis, Contessa Nyree, Hannah Landvater, Jeff Brown, John R. Wilson Jr., John Wimmer, Matt Call, Michael S. Lee, Nathan A. Ulery, Seth Whitsel and Sue Parzych.
Want to see your name here? Support Motorsports Beat on Patreon.
On Track
If you’re looking for some entertaining midweek racing, you’ll want to head to the High Limit room this week. The dirt sprint car series will have a race on each of the next two evenings. Of course, there’s also a World of Outlaws Late Model race on Thursday if you prefer fenders.
All Times ET
Wednesday, April 30
Dirt
High Limit Racing (Texarkana 67 Speedway): 7:00 p.m., FloRacing
Weekly Racing (Millbridge Speedway): 6:15 p.m., DirtVision
-
Thursday, May 1
Dirt
High Limit Racing (Texas Motor Speedway): 7:15 p.m., FloRacing
World of Outlaws Late Models (Mississippi Thunder Speedway): 7:15 p.m., DirtVision
Drag Racing
PDRA Mid-Atlantic Showdown (Virginia Motorsports Park): 5:00 p.m., FloRacing
Bama Outlaws (Alabama International Dragway): 7:00 p.m., FloRacing
Number of the Day: 16
There have been two consistencies for the NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway in the Next Gen Era: Cautions and Chevrolet winners. Bowtie drivers have claimed all three Cup points races at Texas in the Next Gen car (and four of the past five races dating back to 2020). Those three races have averaged 14.3 cautions, with two of the three years seeing 16 yellow flags. For comparison, no other Cup race in the track’s history had more than 13 cautions.