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Charlotte's CIAA bid taking shape

Charlotte's CIAA bid taking shape

Yahoo20-03-2025
Organizers of a local bid to bring back the CIAA Tournament want to shift many of the tie-in events to Spectrum Center as a way of possibly unlocking more state government incentives funds while boosting attendance at games, CBJ has learned.
READ MORE: CIAA bid priorities coming into focus
The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority is leading the bid effort with help from city government, the Charlotte Sports Foundation and representatives from several major employers, among others.
The CIAA, a conference of historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, told CBJ last month that incumbent basketball tournament site Baltimore and Charlotte have confirmed their intent to submit bids by April 15. The CIAA has said it plans to select one city as the tournament host for three years beginning in 2027.
On Monday, Charlotte City Council will discuss the CRVA's efforts to bring back the CIAA Tournament. The city hosted the tournament from 2006-2020. It will be played in Baltimore through 2026 @wsoctv
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) March 20, 2025
Two people involved in the talks confirmed that Charlotte's bid is likely to seek three consecutive years starting in 2028 because the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament and NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament are already scheduled for Spectrum Center in 2027.
Read more about the effort on CBJ's website here.
VIDEO: CIAA tournament not returning to Charlotte any time soon
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Bubba Wallace becomes the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval
Bubba Wallace becomes the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval

Chicago Tribune

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  • Chicago Tribune

Bubba Wallace becomes the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval

INDIANAPOLIS — Bubba Wallace climbed out of the No. 23 car Sunday, pumped his fists, found his family and savored every precious moment of a historic Brickyard 400 victory. He deserved every minute of it. The 31-year-old Wallace overcame a tenuous 18-minute rain delay, two tantalizing overtimes, fears about running out of fuel late and the hard-charging defending race champ, Kyle Larson, on back-to-back restarts to become the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. No Black driver has won the Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1 raced on the track's road course. 'This one's really cool,' Wallace said. 'Coming off Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there — unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn't crying like a little baby.' His third career NASCAR Cup victory delivered Wallace's first victory in the series' four crown jewel events, the others being the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. It also snapped a 100-race winless streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas and locked up a playoff spot. His only other win came at Talladega in 2021. The final gap was 0.222 seconds, but that was no measure of the consternation he faced. Larson cut a 5.057-second deficit with 14 laps to go to about three seconds with six laps left as the yellow flag came out for the rain. The cars then rolled to a stop on pit lane with four laps remaining, forcing Wallace to think and rethink his restart strategy. 'The whole time I'm thinking are we going? Are we not?' he said. 'I will say I leaned more towards 'I know we're going to go back racing. Be ready. Don't get complacent here.' Wallace made sure of it. He beat Larson through the second turn on the first restart only to have a crash behind him force a second overtime, forcing his crew to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to finish the race or whether he needed to surrender the lead and refuel. In Wallace's mind, there was no choice. 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Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race at Indianapolis' oval with Brickyard 400 victory
Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race at Indianapolis' oval with Brickyard 400 victory

NBC News

time2 hours ago

  • NBC News

Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race at Indianapolis' oval with Brickyard 400 victory

INDIANAPOLIS — Bubba Wallace climbed out of the No. 23 car Sunday, pumped his fists, found his family and savored every precious moment of a historic Brickyard 400 victory. He deserved every minute of it. The 31-year-old Wallace overcame a tenuous 18-minute rain delay, two tantalizing overtimes, fears about running out of fuel late and the hard-charging defending race champ, Kyle Larson, on back-to-back restarts to become the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. No Black driver has won the Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1 raced on the track's road course. 'This one's really cool,' Wallace said. 'Coming off Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there — unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn't crying like a little baby.' His third career NASCAR Cup victory delivered Wallace's first victory in the series' four crown jewel events, the others being the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. 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'The first thing that went through my mind was, 'Here we go again,'' he said. 'But then I said, `I want to win this straight up. I want to go back racing.' Here we are.' He beat Larson off the restart again and pulled away, preventing Larson from becoming the race's fourth back-to-back winner. The victory also alleviated the frustration Wallace felt Saturday when he spent most of the qualifying session on the provisional pole only to see Chase Briscoe claim the No. 1 starting spot with one of the last runs in the session. On Sunday, he made sure there was no repeat, providing an added boost to the 23XI Racing team co-owned by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week's race winner, Denny Hamlin, as it continues to battle NASCAR in court over its charter status. 'Those last 20 laps there were ups and downs and I was telling myself 'You won't be able to do it,'' Wallace said. 'Once I'd seen it was Larson, I knew he won here last year and he's arguably the best in the field. So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.' The other big race — the In-Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs finished 21st o win the inaugural March Madness-like single-elimination tournament and collect the $1 million prize. Dillon, a surprise championship round entrant after making the field as the 32nd and final driver, finished 28th. 'They brought me money guns and they jammed so I decided to take all the money and throwing it to the fans and they were all wrestling and fighting over it,' said Gibbs, who also received a title belt and a ring. 'But it's super cool. It's a cool opportunity.' Tire troubles At different points, Austin Cindric and three-time Cup champion Joey Logano appeared to be in control of the race, but tire problems took them out of contention. Eric Jones also was knocked out of the race when his right front tire came off between Turns 3 and 4, sending him hard into the outside wall on Lap 91. They weren't the only drivers who made early exits. Ross Chastain was the first out after just 18 laps when a tap from Michael McDowell sent Chastain's car spinning into the third turn wall and caused heavy damage. The others who were out before Lap 100 were Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cody Ware. Weathering the storm Series officials were concerned enough about the threat of rain that they moved up the start time by 10 minutes. Fifteen minutes probably would have eliminated the rain delay. But the threat of rain impacted the race long before the delay. Early in the second stage, some teams informed drivers rain was expected near the midway point and it seemed to increase the aggressiveness earlier in the race than expected. Monster advice Cookie Monster made it to the track Sunday, too. The beloved Sesame Street character, who served as the Brickyard's grand marshal, attended driver introductions and took a handful of questions before the race and even offered some advice to the drivers. 'Don't stop and ask for directions,' the furry blue character said. Up next

Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval
Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval

Fox Sports

time4 hours ago

  • Fox Sports

Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval

Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bubba Wallace became the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval, surviving a late rain delay, two overtimes, concerns over running out of fuel and a hard-charging Kyle Larson on Sunday in the Brickyard 400. The third NASCAR Cup victory of Wallace's career was also his most significant — his first win at one of the series' four crown jewel races. It snapped a 100-race winless streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas. He also won at Talladega in 2021, but this milestone victory also gave him a playoff spot. No Black driver has won the Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1 raced on the track's road course. 'Unbelievable,' Wallace shouted on his radio after crossing the yard of bricks. And while the final gap was 0.222 seconds, he didn't reach victory lane without some consternation. Larson trailed by 5.057 seconds with 14 laps to go but the gap was down to about three seconds with six remaining when the yellow flag came out because of rain. The cars rolled to a stop on pit lane with four to go, giving Wallace about 20 additional minutes to think and rethink his restart strategy. But after beating Larson through the second turn, a crash behind the leaders forced a second overtime, extending the race even more laps as Wallace's team thought he might run out of gas. Wallace risked everything by staying on the track then beat the defending race winner off the restart again to prevent Larson from becoming the fourth back-to-back winner of the Brickyard. It also alleviated the frustration Wallace felt Saturday when he spent most of the qualifying session on the provisional pole only to see Chase Briscoe surpass with one of the last runs in the session. He made sure there was no repeat Sunday, giving an added boost to the 23XI Racing co-owned by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week's race winner, Denny Hamlin, as it continues to battle NASCAR in court over its charter status. The race inside the race — the In-Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs finished 21st o win the inaugural March Madness-like single-elimination tournament and collect the $1 million prize. Dillon, a surprise championship round entrant after making the field as the 32nd and final driver, finished 28th. Three-time series champ Joey Logano appeared to have the edge with 26 laps to go until his right rear tire went flat. Though he was able to drive it into pit lane for a tire change, he lost power and struggled to get back on the track, knocking him out of contention. Ryan Blaney held off Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin to win the second stage, giving Blaney his fifth stage win of the year. Pole winner Chase Briscoe won the first stage, finishing ahead of Bubba Wallace and William Byron. It was Briscoe's second stage win of the season, his first since Pocono. Up next Cup drivers will continue their brief Midwestern tour next Sunday when they race at Iowa. ___ AP auto racing: recommended Item 1 of 3

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