Latest news with #No.9
Fox Sports
9 hours ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
NASCAR's Cup Series to debut In-Season Challenge as $1 million backdrop to points race for title
Associated Press HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — The debut of NASCAR's In-Season Challenge in Saturday night's Cup Series race in Atlanta generated differing opinions and expectations from drivers. After all, there's a points race to attend to. Every team's top priority is qualifying for the playoffs and trying to win the championship. Some drivers acknowledge they simply haven't paid attention to the new race within the race. Joey Logano says he sees no reason to view the new tournament as a distraction. 'If there's something to win, you want to go win it,' Logano said Friday. Denny Hamlin is the No. 1 seed in the 32-driver In-Season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament. Chase Briscoe, who held off Hamlin for his first win for Joe Gibbs Racing last week at Pocono Raceway, is the No. 2 seed. A $1 million prize awaits the winner as part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT. Briscoe said Friday he felt 'definitely a sigh of relief, you know, just a weight off your shoulders' following last week's win. He said that sense of relief was shortlived. 'I'm expected to win multiple races, not just one,' Briscoe said. 'It's a sense of relief, but also more pressure because now they know you can win.' NASCAR hopes the tournament generates mid-season interest. The single-elimination format cuts the field to 16 at Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four at Dover and the final two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Many drivers expect their interest in the tournament will increase after Saturday night's race. 'I think some of the drivers have been kind of dismissive over the bracket challenge,' said Brad Keselowski, who enters the race No. 30 in the points standings and in need of a win in Atlanta to earn a playoff spot in his RFK Racing Ford. 'I think it'll become a lot more real, whether it be for the drivers or for the media or the fans, as it progresses into the later rounds over the next few weeks,' Keselowski said. Added Ricky Stenhouse, who is 24th in the points race, of the new tournament: 'It's cool. I think after this weekend you'll have a little better idea of what you have. Our main goal in Atlanta is winning and getting into the playoffs.' Drawing 'Uncle' Noah Briscoe is facing No. 31 seed Noah Gragson in the first bracket. He says it's a difficult matchup, in part because 'he's actually probably my best friend on the circuit … and my son's favorite driver.' Briscoe said his 3-year-old son, Brooks, thinks of Gragson 'like that uncle that just you take your kid to, and he has Pop-Tarts and ice cream and everything else when he's with them.' Added Briscoe: 'Hopefully I'll win. If not I'll never here the end of it from Noah or my son.' Briscoe posted a photo on his X account of his son's bracket. The photo shows the smiling Brooks holding a bracket with his father's No. 19 winning every round of the tournament. Racing for Rhealynn Chase Elliott has a special paint scheme on his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that was designed by 11-year-old cancer patient Rhealynn Mills. Elliott chose Mills' design to highlight his foundation's efforts to raise money for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Elliott said the 'Design to Drive' program has raised $500,000 for the children's hospital. 'The only bad thing is I feel like we've crashed every time we've done it,' Elliott said, adding his sponsor, NAPA Auto Parts, deserved credit 'for giving up the car' so the paint scheme could instead feature Mills' design. New name for Atlanta track EchoPark Speedway is the new name for the track that was still known as Atlanta Motor Speedway in February when Christopher Bell won while leading only the final lap in overtime. It's the home track for Elliott, from Dawsonville, Georgia, and he acknowledged seeing the name change and the new green paint 'was different for me. I think it's fine.' Odds and ends Ryan Blaney is the favorite (+800) to win the race, per BetMGM Sportsbook. Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, each at +1000, were next. ___ AP auto racing: recommended
Indianapolis Star
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
Scott Dixon's 'nothing-to-lose' strategy almost won at Road America. Why it almost worked, but didn't
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — For more than two decades, Scott Dixon's IndyCar rivals have become all too used to the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing crew spearheaded by strategist and team managing director Mike Hull turning a qualifying gaffe, an early race miscue or an otherwise innocuous start to a race into a masterful victory. Sunday afternoon at Road America was a rarity for the six-time series champion duo: a roll of the dice that delivered snake eyes. And with that, for the second consecutive start, a late-race lead turned into an otherwise forgettable top-10 finish for Dixon, who just nine races into his 2025 campaign sits tied for fourth in the championship with six top 10s but faces a 155-point gap to his CGR teammate Alex Palou, who picked up his eye-popping sixth win of the year at Road America. 'We've got nothing to lose. We were going for some race wins. You're pretty much out of the championship, so yeah, nothing to lose, man,' Dixon said on pit lane of the No. 9 Honda team's off-kilter pit strategy that ultimately set the course for their day, needing a late-race caution that never came. 'Once I saw the (fuel) light come on for my second-to-last pit stop (which he took on Lap 38), I knew we were gonna be a couple (laps) short, which was going to make it easy for the guys who pitted just a couple laps later,' Dixon continued. 'It's just been one of those years, man. Anything we do is just kinda crappy. We'll keep at it. Keep knocking on the door. The car's got good speed.' Dixon started Sunday's race 25th after losing his two fastest laps in Round 1 Saturday for a qualifying interference penalty, just the 14th time he's qualified outside the top 20 in his IndyCar career. The painful penalty pushed the team to opt to pit early after a Lap 1 caution that came for David Malukas' spin into the gravel in Turn 3. In theory, the stop didn't lose the No. 9 crew much, if any, track position while giving them a couple laps more fuel than the rest of the field that stayed out — crucial at a track that measures more than 4 miles in length. An especially elbows-out start to the race led to two more cautions inside the first 10 laps, leading the bulk of the field to make their first stop on Lap 11, handing Dixon his first stint of race-leading laps at the time of the ensuing return to green flag action. He managed to stretch his second stint to 19 laps, albeit six laps of caution helping to pad his stats, but his second stop came on Lap 21. Painfully for the No. 9 crew, the race's fourth caution came out just one lap later, sparking those like Palou to dip in for their second stop on Lap 23 under yellow and at that point only needing one more stop to be able to make it to the checkered flag. Had Conor Daly's caution came a lap earlier and still forced those on a more traditional, conservative strategy to make their next stop at that point, allowing Dixon to pit with Palou and sync up their game plans, the entire race's eventual flow might've been thrown on its head, and the No. 9 team's race might've ended up differently. Instead, with just one other caution falling the rest of the race on Lap 30, the field of contenders were forced to make their final stops all under green at whatever points their tanks were approaching empty. For those like Palou, Santino Ferrucci (third place) and Kyffin Simpson (sixth) who took their second stop on Lap 23, they dove int for the final time on Lap 39 or 40. Those like Felix Rosenqvist (second), Kyle Kirkwood (fourth) or Marcus Armstrong (fifth) had no issue making it to the end without fuel concerns. They opted to stay out during the caution for Daly to preserve track position, and who then pitted under green on Lap 27 or 28 but were then able to bunch back up with Josef Newgarden's Lap 30 caution. Dixon's path proved to be the odd one out. Ultimately, he led a race-high 27 laps, including Laps 45 to 52 of the 55-lap race, but it became clear during that closing stretch to the 44-year-year-old that he'd need one final yellow to save him from a fourth and final stop for a splash-and-go. 'You're throwing pretty wild strategies out there, just to try and make something happen. It looked like actually the conservative one that the others took was the right one to take. We needed to bank on at least another (caution) lap or two,' Dixon said. 'The unfortunate part was the car was super fast, but all day even with our speed today, we were having to save fuel every lap, which was kinda frustrating. 'I think we should've been top 3.' Dixon, the legendary fuel-saver of his generation of IndyCar drivers, lamented the hybrid's impact on what he might've otherwise been able to do on a day like today just a year ago. 'The fuel mileage is way worse with the hybrid, which makes no sense to me,' he said, making light of the fact that the weight impact of IndyCar's hybrid unit burns more fuel than cars did without it, the exact opposite impact the technology is meant to have in road cars. 'But it's the same for everybody. Everybody's gotta carry this lump of weight around. 'But yeah, you would've made it without the hybrid.'
NBC Sports
15-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Daniel Suarez 'living a dream' with NASCAR Xfinity win in Mexico
MEXICO CITY — With his home country fans cheering, Daniel Suarez went from last in a backup car to win Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The crowd roared when Suarez took the lead with 19 laps to go after Ty Gibbs and Connor Zilisch crashed racing for the lead and triggering a 13-car crash. The crowd in the stadium section of the 2.42-mile course cheered every time he drove his black No. 9 — it was supposed to be a green No. 9 but he wrecked that car in qualifying earlier in the day — by them in the lead. 'There were people jumping on the fence for Daniel,' runner-up Taylor Gray said of the atmosphere. 'It was wild. I've never seen anything like it.' When Suarez crossed the finish line, the fans erupted. #NASCAR … Crowd reaction when @Daniel_SuarezG won the Xfinity race It was his fourth career series win. He started last in the 39-car field, the deepest starting position for a road course winner in the Xfinity Series. Behind Suarez and Gray were Austin Hill in third, Christian Eckes and Zilisch.
USA Today
11-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ravens expect big things from a 3rd-year pass rusher and a centerpiece of their defense
Ravens expect big things from a 3rd-year pass rusher and a centerpiece of their defense While talking to reporters after practice, Baltimore defensive line coach Chuck Smith called Tavius Robinson one of "the centerpieces" of the Ravens' defense. Back in March, John Harbaugh made it clear that the Ravens could be an outstanding team if they had to play a game today, but Baltimore still has holes at key positions. The Ravens had the second-most sacks in the league last season (54) and two players in double digits (Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh). They wanted to upgrade the pass rush and landed Marshall's Mike Green in round two after he slid out of the first round. Still, Baltimore has all of its outside linebackers returning, led by Van Noy and Oweh, and young players at the position, including Tavius Robinson and last year's third-round pick Adisa Isaac. Robinson has diligently grown as a player, and on Wednesday, following OTA No. 9, the former Ole Miss star was highly praised by Ravens defensive line coach Chuck Smith. While talking to reporters after practice, Smith called Robinson one of "the centerpieces" of the Ravens' defense. The former Ole Miss pass rusher had 32 tackles (13 solo), including 3.5 sacks, one pass defensed, and 12 QB hits in 17 games last season. The 2023 fourth-round pick out of Ole Miss spent the first half of the season in a rotational role at edge rusher, but he did start in the final six regular-season games. Robinson will likely serve as the Ravens' primary backup edge rusher for the 2025 campaign behind Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh, while potentially sliding inside to defensive end in key schemes that feature Mike Green off the edge.
USA Today
11-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, 'Mr. October' linked up at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is known as one of the NFL's foremost baseball aficionados, and got to meet one of the best players in MLB history on Tuesday night. While the Kansas City Royals were systematically dismantled by the New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium, Mahomes took an opportunity to get a picture with 'Mr. October' — Reggie Jackson. Jackson, who spent the first year of his MLB career with the then-Kansas City Athletics (in 1967, before the A's moved to Oakland in 1968), commemorated his encounter with Mahomes in a post to his official Twitter account on June 10: Though Jackson seems to have been rooting for the Yankees, Mahomes could be seen beaming with pride next to the legendary slugger, who won a total of five World Series championships during his illustrious 21-year career in Major League Baseball. Jackson's No. 44 and No. 9 jerseys are retired by the Yankees and Athletics, respectively.
