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Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
In Daytona, a motorsports hall that has it all, from land to sea to air
DAYTONA BEACH — There's an Earhart (Amelia) and an Earnhardt (Dale). A Roberts (Fireball) who raced on four wheels and another (Kenny) who preferred two. A Ford (Henry) and two Chevrolets (Louis and Gaston), a France (Big Bill) and another France (Bill Jr.). A Humpy (Wheeler) and a Smokey (Yunick). The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America might not be the most famous hall devoted to the competitive motorized world, but it's certainly the most diverse — it honors men and women who competed or participated in various ways on asphalt and dirt, in water and air, in uniform or business attire. It's located, conveniently, at the World Center of Racing, just outside Turn 4 at Daytona International Speedway. But it's not just a hall of fame. It's also a museum, a showcase of machinery and artifacts highlighting competitive achievements and sheer ingenuity — from a mammoth hydroplane to a simple sewing machine. From the reigning Daytona 500 winning car to Sir Malcolm Campbell's block-long Bluebird that once lifted Daytona Beach's legend as the early-20th Century's Birthplace of Speed. A museum visit is included as part of the Speedway's daily tram tours across the entire property. Each tour ends with visitors dropped off at the museum's northeast corner, practically on the quarter-panel of the winning car from the most recent Daytona 500. That car sits there for a year, complete with any dirt, oil and confetti it gathered from its day of glory. The car — currently it's William Byron's No. 24 Chevy — sits in the shadow of a mammoth hydroplane racing boat that hangs from the ceiling just steps away. 'That's the neat thing about us here. When they get off the tram that takes them around the Speedway, they come in here and they think all they're gonna see is NASCAR,' says Don Cooper, the museum's operations manager. 'Then the first thing they see is that hydroplane. "Then they see drag cars and boats and airplanes and motorcycles … and most people who come here, the cool thing is, they've never been this close to a real race car.' The Motorsports Hall has now been here for a decade The Motorsports Hall opened in the mid-'80s in the Detroit suburb of Novi. It moved to Daytona Beach and the Speedway's ticket-and-tours building 10 years ago, replacing an interactive racing attraction first known as Daytona USA and then the Daytona 500 Experience. Some of the racing artifacts remain from the Daytona USA days, including an eye-catching replica of the Speedway's famed 31-degree banking, filled with a variety of racing vehicles. Plaques honoring the long list of hall inductees are spread across the walls. While there are other halls of fame honoring various racing disciplines — including the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte — the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America honors giants in all forms of automation. The first class of inductees, in 1989, featured some obvious racers — including Richard Petty, A.J. Foyt and Phil Hill — but also war hero and aviation pioneer Jimmy Doolittle, as well as the man who injected competition into coast-to-coast car and motorcycle adventures, Cannon Ball Baker. This year's class of nine included three men who built much of their fame in Daytona Beach, on sand and asphalt, in straight lines and with turns: William K. Vanderbilt, who was among the early beach visitors chasing the land-speed record, which he first achieved in 1904 (92 mph!); motorcycle champ Miguel Duhamel, who won five Daytona 200s; and former NASCAR champ Dale Jarrett, whose career included three Daytona 500 victories. The 2026 class, announced last month and to be inducted next March, is headlined by Dale Earnhardt Jr., and also includes sprint-car champ Sammy Swindell and powerboat legend Dave Villwock. Daytona Museum offers a wide range of displays and racing machinery For the race fan, hardcore or casual, the museum is the attraction. Many of the exhibits are on loan — drag-racing god Don 'Big Daddy' Garlits, part of the inaugural hall class in '89, has donated several cars from his own museum's collection in Ocala. The displays often rotate in and out. A current one pays tribute to hall inductees who also served in the armed forces. Another honors the late Don Panoz, a pharmaceutical giant who along the way became a major player in sports-car racing. A small replica of Big Bill France's old Main Street filling station is an original display that remains, as is the Bluebird and a relative newcomer, one of Tony Stewart's sprint cars. Also on the floor are a pair of Paul Newman's old race cars — reportedly the only two not owned by podcaster Adam Carolla. Newman, who won road-racing championships in his spare time, was a 2024 inductee. A Josef Newgarden Indy car, looking very much like it could double as a rocket ship, is part of the main floor display, and serves to remind you that those cars look so much bigger in person than they do on TV. And speaking of fighter jet-inspired automation, one of Panoz's old DeltaWing racers ('an odd duck,' Cooper says), which entered three Rolex 24s, sits in a rear showroom that will soon transform. 'We're gonna make a new open-wheel exhibit in here,' says Cooper, who then points to several old wooden doors leaning against a wall. 'Those are sets of original Indianapolis garage doors from Gasoline Alley in the '40s and '50s. We'll make a mini-garage in here,' he says. Want some Daytona 500 on-track action? There's now a simulator for that The museum recently installed a modern racing simulator, which allows 'racers' to get a real feel for taking laps around Daytona — at speed and in traffic. For the non-gamer, it'll probably take some time to literally get up to speed. 'It's a professional-grade machine,' Cooper says. The next major change will transform a relic from the old Daytona USA days. A back room is still filled with 'gondolas,' which seated visitors in front of a large movie screen and gave them a feel for racing around Daytona, complete with bounces and side-to-side movement. They'll soon be gone. 'That room, we're gonna take that and make it a research area,' Cooper says. 'It'll be filled with historic materials, pictures, everything. It will be open to the public for anybody doing research.' Only by appointment, however. The Speedway says the museum sees between 100,000 and 110,000 visitors a year. Daily tram tours, which last about an hour, begin at 9:30 a.m., with the last departing at 3 p.m. Prices are $24.42 for juniors (ages 5 to 12) and $29.97 for others, with free admission for kids 4 and under. It's rare, but some visit the museum without taking the Speedway tour. Those tickets are $8.88 for ages 5 to 12, $14.43 for others, free for 4 and under. Allow an hour or more for a proper tour of the museum, which closes at 5 p.m. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: In Daytona Beach, a motorsports hall of fame covers earth, water, air
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR points leaders: Cup Series points leaders, NASCAR playoff picture after Dover
The NASCAR schedule took us to Dover Motor Speedway this weekend, with Sunday's Cup Series race representing the 21st points race of the regular season. The conclusion of the EchoPark Automotive 400 means there are only five races left before the playoffs. Following the NASCAR results today, here are the Cup Series points leaders heading into Indianapolis. Let's dive into the NASCAR Cup Series points leaders after Dover. As always, we use to indicate the driver would make the playoffs if the season ended today and (*) indicates the driver won a race this season. Related: NASCAR points leaders after today Position Driver Points Behind 1 Chase Elliott* (P) 702 — 2 William Byron* (P) 685 -17 3 Kyle Larson* (P) 664 -38 4 Denny Hamlin* (P) 663 -39 5 Tyler Reddick (P) 640 -62 6 Christopher Bell* (P) 635 -67 7 Ryan Blaney* (P) 576 -126 8 Chase Briscoe* (P) 570 -132 9 Alex Bowman (P) 547 -155 10 Chris Buescher (P) 528 -174 11 Joey Logano* (P) 524 -178 12 Ross Chastain* (P) 517 -185 13 Bubba Wallace (P) 500 -202 14 Ryan Preece 484 -218 15 Kyle Busch 461 -241 16 Ty Gibbs 448 -254 17 Michael McDowell 423 -279 18 AJ Allmendinger 420 -282 19 Austin Cindric* (P) 417 -285 20 Erik Jones 411 -291 21 John Hunter Nemechek 400 -302 22 Josh Berry* (P) 399 -303 23 Ricky Stenhouse Jr 392 -310 24 Zane Smith 388 -314 25 Carson Hocevar 375 -327 26 Shane van Gisbergen* (P) 374 -328 27 Brad Keselowski 360 -342 28 Austin Dillon 353 -349 29 Daniel Suarez 341 -361 30 Ty Dillon 337 -365 31 Justin Haley 337 -365 32 Todd Gilliland 333 -369 33 Noah Gragson 272 -430 34 Cole Custer 263 -439 35 Riley Herbst 251 -451 36 Cody Ware 148 -554 Related Headlines Report: NASCAR to Race in San Diego in 2026, Location Revealed for Street Race WNBA All-Star Broadcast Controversy: ESPN Host Shocks With Risqué Remark NASCAR: Winners, Losers from Denny Hamlin's Echopark Automotive 400 Win at Dover NASCAR results today: EchoPark Automotive 400 winner, NASCAR Cup Series stage results today
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Winners, losers from NASCAR Cup race at Dover won by Denny Hamlin in overtime
A look at the winners and losers from Dover. WINNERS Denny Hamlin — Fends off the field on a pair of overtime restarts despite being on older tires to win his fourth race of the season. No driver has won more Cup races this season. Dustin Long, Chase Briscoe — His runner-up result gave Joe Gibbs Racing a 1-2 finish. Briscoe has scored back-to-back runner-up results the past two weekends. Sunday's finish was his eighth top-five finish in 21 races this season. Briscoe had 13 top-five finishes in 144 Cup starts before this season. Alex Bowman — His third-place finish is his third top-five result in the last six races. He moved from 12th in the points to ninth after Sunday's result. Chase Elliott — His sixth-place finish, along with William Byron's crash in overtime, put Elliott into the points lead with five races left in the regular season. Elliott also led 238 of the 407 laps and won a stage Sunday. That is his first stage win of the season. Bubba Wallace — His seventh-place finish snapped a five-race streak of results outside the top 10. Wallace also scored his best Dover finish in 11 Dover starts. Wallace remains on the playoff cutline but expanded his lead on Ryan Preece from three points to 16. Ty Gibbs — His fifth-place finish marks his seventh consecutive top-15 finish. Gibbs has gone from 27th in points to 16th in that stretch. He also advances to the finals of the In-Season Challenge and will race for $1 million next week at Indianapolis. Ty Dillon — He finished 20th, scoring his fourth consecutive top-20 finish to advance to the finals of the In-Season Challenge. He'll race Ty Gibbs for $1 million next week at Indianapolis. LOSERS William Byron — He was collected in a crash in overtime and finished 31st. Byron also lost the points lead. Byron had led the points since the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend. Christopher Bell — While he won a stage and led 67 laps, his most laps led in a race since his Phoenix victory in March, Bell spun twice and lost a chance to win Sunday because of those incidents, particularly his spin in overtime. He finished 18th instead of possibly scoring his fourth victory of the year. Carson Hocevar — His 35th-place finish due to a mechanical issue is his third consecutive finish outside the top 30. It's also the fifth time in the last seven races he's placed 29th or worse.
USA Today
5 days ago
- Automotive
- USA Today
23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports vs. NASCAR lawsuit: Status ahead of Dover race
Sunday marks the 21st race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Hendrick Motorsports drivers William Byron and Chase Elliott lead the championship standings as the drivers prepare for the Monster Mile in Dover. Sunday's race is also the penultimate round of the NASCAR in-season challenge with four drivers still in contention for the prize: Ty Gibbs, Ty Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick. This season's seen plenty of intrigue on-track, most recently with Shane van Gisbergen's dominant run on non-ovals with wins in Chicago and Sonoma. But there's been a recent development in the sports' biggest off-track storyline: 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports' lawsuit against NASCAR. Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin co-own 23XI Racing, while Tennessee-based businessman Bob Jenkins owns Front Row Motorsports. Jenkins also owns a number of restaurant franchises belonging to Yum! Brands, including many KFC and Taco Bell locations. It's been nine months since the two teams initially filed a lawsuit accusing NASCAR of restraining fair competition and violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. The two teams and their six drivers – 23XI Racings' Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst as well as Front Row Motorsports' Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith – will be racing as open teams for the first time after a recent ruling and the loss of their charter status. There's been a lot of motions, counterclaims, denials, appeals and rehearings since the start of the 2025 Cup Series season. Here's a recap and timeline of all the developements: NASCAR lawsuit latest 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports will be racing as open teams because they were denied a temporary restraining order which would've kept NASCAR from revoking their chartered status. As open entries, the teams are not guaranteed spots on the starting grid because they do not have charter status. Open teams must qualify on time to make each race, unlike charter teams, who still participate in qualifying to earn the best starting position for each race but would take the green flag on race day regardless even if they failed to qualify. Open entries also make less than a third as much money per race than chartered teams. That won't be a concern this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway, however, as less than 40 cars are entered. But it could become a problem later in the season should 41 cars show up. U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Bell said in his ruling there was no threat of the two teams' drivers not making races in Dover and Indianapolis (the next race on the 2025 calendar), so there was no irreparable harm. So far this season, only two races have had more than four open cars enter. 'We are disappointed that the court declined to grant 23XI and Front Row Motorsports a temporary restraining order to allow the teams to continue racing as chartered teams,' the teams' attorney Jeffrey Kessler said in a statement. 'We remain confident that our motion for a preliminary injunction is legally warranted and necessary, and we look forward to the court's full review.' 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are seeking another injunction to remain chartered through the end of the season. NASCAR has agreed not to sell their charters until a ruling on that injunction, per Bell's ruling. NASCAR lawsuit timeline Here's what's happened since the start of the Cup Series regular season in February. To see a timeline of events prior to the 2025 Daytona 500, click here. NASCAR claims that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports violated antitrust laws during negotiations for a new charter agreement. These claims include that the teams colluded to get better terms, and 23XI Racing's co-owner Curtis Polk tried to boycott a qualifying event. Chris Yates, lead attorney for NASCAR in this case, stated that they believe the two teams misused antitrust laws to force a renegotiation. "NASCAR has no intent and no interest in renegotiating the terms of the 2025 charter," Yates said. "We're not going to let 23XI and Front Row misuse the antitrust laws to try to renegotiate the terms of the charter. That's not going to happen. So I don't see a great path to settlement, but we will participate in the court-ordered mediation process." This response is to NASCAR's appeal to a prior ruling requiring the sanctioning body to allow 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to race as chartered teams in 2025. NASCAR's appeal centers on the judge's reasoning that the Cup Series is its own market rather than a part of the wider motorsports landscape. The teams argue that NASCAR creates an environment that doesn't allow them to make as much money as they could. The two teams argue that there's no evidence of an attempted boycott and that teams work together in negotiations, just like in other sports, seeing as they are all entered in the same sport. "NASCAR's retaliatory counterclaim is an act of desperation that cannot withstand a motion to dismiss," 23XI Racing said in a statement. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports subpoenaed Formula 1 as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL teams to provide evidence on how other sporting bodies and their teams operate. NASCAR makes this request claiming it has more evidence that will prove teams colluded during charter negotiations. A three-judge panel heard the appeal by NASCAR to an injunction ruling on Dec. 18, 2024 allowing 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to race as chartered teams in 2025 while this legal battle plays out. Judge Kenneth Bell's Dec. 18 ruling was based largely on NASCAR's charter agreement including a clause that teams can't sue NASCAR. His reasoning was the teams felt like they couldn't both sign the agreement and pursue the lawsuit, hence why the injunction was necessary. Judge Paul Niemeyer pushes back in questioning Kessler, specifically that the teams cannot "have [their] cake and eat it too," referring to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports both suing NASCAR and being chartered competitors at the same time. 'If you don't want the contract, you don't enter into it, and you sue," Niemeyer said. "Or if you want the contract, you enter into it, and you've given up past releases." He and other judges reasoned that the teams could sue and race as open teams, not chartered ones. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of NASCAR and revoked the Dec. 18 injunction. The judges note in their ruling that there is no precedent for this case and Kessler's antitrust argument "is not supported by any case of which we are aware." They also reason that there's no indication that the teams will likely be successful in their lawsuit. This gave the teams 14 days to ask for a rehearing and the ruling took effect a further seven days after that. Up until this point, the two teams haven't clearly stated what they're looking for if they win this lawsuit against NASCAR. A hearing gave some general ideas. In a hearing for a motion to throw out NASCAR's counterclaim of collusion, Kessler outlines the teams are looking for: In a new filing for NASCAR's March 5 counterclaim, NASCAR asks for chartered teams in the Cup Series grid to turn over financial documents, calling some of these "critical to NASCAR's defense." As expected, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports asked for a rehearing following the June 5 ruling overturning the injunction which allowed them to compete as chartered teams during the 2025 season. This request delays when the two teams would lose their charters. "If upheld, the ruling would set a dangerous precedent, allowing monopolists to shield themselves from legal challenges simply by requiring release language as a condition of doing business with the monopoly," Kessler said in a statement. Judge Bell denied 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports' motion to dismiss NASCAR's counterclaim, stating that the sport had done enough to continue its counterclaim. But he also narrowed the amount of financial information other chartered teams had to provide NASCAR. Chartered teams only had to provide anonymized top-line financial data (total costs, revenue, net profits/loss) dating back to 2014. NASCAR was looking for more detailed information, including driver salaries and sponsorship revenue. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard the two teams' argument for reversing the June 5 decision which would revoke their charters during the 2025 season and denied their request. This makes it very difficult for the teams to race as chartered outfits for the rest of the 2025 season. "We are disappointed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to deny our request for a full rehearing," Kessler said in a statement. "We are committed to racing this season as we continue to fight for more competitive and fair terms for all teams to ensure the future of the sport and remain fully confident in our case." Ahead of this weekend's race in Dover, the two teams looked for a potential way to remain chartered and decided on filing for a restraining order and new preliminary injunction. "New information surfaced through the discovery process that overwhelmingly supports our position that a preliminary injunction is legally warranted and necessary," Kessler said in a statement. The teams argued NASCAR informed them they'd "immediately move to sell or issue Plaintiffs' charters to other entities," which could keep the teams from getting their charters back. NASCAR said in a statement that they have attempted to end this legal battle before trial but the two teams haven't been willing to work with them. 'It is unfortunate that instead of respecting the clear rulings of the Fourth Circuit, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are now burdening the District Court with a third motion for another unnecessary and inappropriate preliminary injunction," NASCAR said in a statement. "We have yet to receive a proposal from 23XI or Front Row, as they have instead preferred to continue their damaging and distracting lawsuit," the statement continued. "We will defend NASCAR's integrity from this baseless lawsuit forced upon the sport that threatens to divide the stakeholders committed to serving race fans everywhere. We remain focused on collaborating with the 13 race teams that signed the 2025 charter agreements and share our mutual goal of delivering the best racing in the world each week, including this weekend in Dover.' The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR driver power rankings: Denny Hamlin rolls on; William Byron falling like a rock
Stop me if you've heard this before: It just might be Denny Hamlin's year. Did you see who finished fourth in Chicago? That's right, it was Denny, who hadn't finished better than 14th in his previous seven road-course starts. Advertisement In fact, it was just his second top-10 in his last 19 roadies. This week will tell us more, but if he's going to start handling right-hand turns without issue, he's definitely on all cylinders. Things are going well for Denny Hamlin, who posted a rare top-10 on a road course this past weekend in Chicago. On the other end of the spectrum, what in the world is wrong with William Byron? Here are his last five finishes: 28, 9, 27, 37, 40. This week's power rankings: 1. Denny Hamlin Congrats on that fourth-place in Chicago. It was just his second top-10 in his last 19 road races. 2. Chase Elliott Often leads at Sonoma, but hasn't won there. 3. Kyle Larson Seven straight races without a bonus point, which seems weird. 4. Ryan Blaney 0-for-32 on road courses since winning the Roval in 2018. Advertisement 5. Christopher Bell Mr. Hunch says he's the man to beat this weekend. 6. Alex Bowman Finding decent form in time for a shot at the million-dollar bracket battle. 7. Chris Buescher Still collecting points in steady fashion, but you can't put points on the mantel. 8. Ross Chastain Ross the Boss generally holds his own at road courses. Not great, not bad. 9. William Byron You thought it couldn't get worse, then he finished 40th in Chicago. It's a full-blown mini-slump now. 10. Chase Briscoe It was a toss-up between him and Ryan Preece for our 10th spot. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Power Rankings: Is William Byron reaching for the rip-cord yet?
