{"id":242405,"date":"2025-09-20T21:57:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T21:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/242405\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T21:57:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T21:57:15","slug":"blake-lothian-fulfills-racing-dream-with-homecoming-at-the-new-hampshire-motor-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/242405\/","title":{"rendered":"Blake Lothian fulfills racing dream with homecoming at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many New England kids who grew up camping out at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway dream of driving the fast, colorful cars that race across the track. <\/p>\n

23-year-old Blake Lothian of Wellesley, Mass., will fulfill that dream this weekend.<\/p>\n

Lothian will drive the No. 22 Eastern Bank F-150 for Reaume Brothers Racing in the truck series race on Saturday. He said the smell of burning rubber and the rumble of the stands have been engraved in his mind since his first time at the track when he was just seven years old, and he could not be more excited to return as a pro.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first track I ever raced at in karting. I grew up watching my idols of the sport racing on the big track at New Hampshire. Getting to race where I watched my first ever\u00a0NASCAR\u00a0race is a full circle moment for me,\u201d Lothian said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Blake Lothian\u2019s promotional handout, signed for fans in Concord. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP \/ Monitor<\/p>\n

The rising star started his career in the F1 Boston Series and the New Hampshire Karting Association Series, which he won in 2017.<\/p>\n

He was announced as a member of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development Program a few years later, and in 2022, he made his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway.<\/p>\n

Lothian said he still comes back to flag events at the speedway and is a big supporter of more New England kids becoming involved in racing.<\/p>\n

When he first jumped into the sport, he and his father did not know much about all the intricacies of becoming a pro driver. This weekend, he\u2019ll get the chance to show what he\u2019s learned in front of a crowd full of family, friends and mentors who helped him along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been incredible being able to be like, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m racing up at the Speedway this weekend,\u2019 and I haven\u2019t been able to say that since I was in high school,\u201d Lothian said.<\/p>\n

The race on Saturday will be a Round of 10 playoff race in the Craftsman Series, and although Lothian won\u2019t be in the running for the championship, he expects to have a strong homecoming performance.<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP \/ Monitor<\/p>\n

This will be the first time a truck series race has been held at the Speedway since 2017, and many of the drivers will be going in with a clean slate and unknown asphalt. Lothian thinks this could play to his advantage, although he hasn\u2019t raced a truck around the speedway before either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we should have a really solid truck this weekend, I feel like a top 25 to 27 is well within reach,\u201d he said. \u201d Obviously, with it being a cut-off race as well for the first round of playoffs, I think it\u2019s gonna cause a lot of chaos as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eastern Bank, based in Massachusetts, will sponsor his truck, and representatives expressed excitement over having a local driver in this year\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlake Lothian developed his passion for racing here in New England and as a local community bank, we\u2019re proud to support him as he chases his dream and his return in New Hampshire,\u201d said Quincy Miller, the bank\u2019s vice chair, president and chief operating officer.<\/p>\n

At an event in downtown Concord on Thursday, Eastern Bank showed off Lothian\u2019s truck while he met fans on the street to answer questions about the race and sign some cards.<\/p>\n

Lothian\u2019s parents, Dan and Cindy Lothian, were there watching, accompanying Blake as he prepared for one of the biggest races of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent a lot of time here in New Hampshire on weekends in the summer,\u201d Dan Lothian said. \u201cThis is like our second home, so we love it here, and it means a lot to have him on that track.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Blake Lothian\u2019s No. 22 Eastern Bank F-150 for Reaume Brothers Racing on Main St. in Concord. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP \/ Monitor<\/p>\n

The action will start on Friday, Sept. 19, with practice and qualifying sessions for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and SIG SAUER Academy Dirt Duels at The Flat Track.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the Whelen Modified and Craftsman Trucks will race back-to-back starting at 9 a.m. before practice and qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race.<\/p>\n

The Mobil 1 301 Cup Series playoff race is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. on Sunday and will be televised on the USA Network.<\/p>\n

In usual race weekend fashion, the Speedway will also feature concerts, family activities and plenty of entertainment, including a concert by \u201cDraw the Line,\u201d an Aerosmith cover band.<\/p>\n

Lothian will drive in the 2025 Team EJP 175 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 12 p.m. His race will be broadcast live on FS1.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mass. native Blake Lothian in his No. 22 Eastern Bank F-150 for Reaume Brothers Racing. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP \/ Monitor<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat to Read Next<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many New England kids who grew up camping out at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway dream of driving…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":242406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[129332,105,126840,1406,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-242405","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-concord-nh","9":"tag-latest-news","10":"tag-loudon-nh","11":"tag-nascar","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115238865922022087","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}