Latest news with #auto racing
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR set for summer stretch March Madness style. Will new tournament end summer schedule malaise?
Chris Buescher walks to his car before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Hermanos Rodríguez race track in Mexico City, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) Chris Buescher walks to his car before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Hermanos Rodríguez race track in Mexico City, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — It's time to bust out the brackets, pick an upset or two, and follow winners on the road — a journey over city streets, concrete and bricks — to the final four and beyond. Totally awesome, baby? Advertisement Forget all the upset specials in March. NASCAR will find out soon enough if its attempt to snap out of a mid-summer malaise with its first in-season tournament is a success with drivers and fans as it strives to boost engagement and build buzz in the staid regular season. The concept has already juiced enthusiasm in NASCAR to levels not seen since the halcyon days when Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough duked it out in the 1979 Daytona 500. 'To be really honest with you,' 2020 NASCAR champion Chase Elliott said, 'I have not paid any attention to it.' Maybe a look at the matchup will get NASCAR's most popular driver pumped! Advertisement Elliott is seeded fifth against No. 28 seed Austin Dillon in the first round of the head-to-head showdown in the race-within-the-race set for this weekend at the track better known as Atlanta Motor Speedway. Here's a refresher for Elliott and any other sports fan who missed out on the specifics of NASCAR joining the in-season tournament party, much like attempts in the NBA, NHL, and, of course, throughout the world in soccer. NASCAR is set to start the engines on a five-race, bracket-style tournament called the In-Season Challenge in the midst of the summer slate, which comes with a $1 million prize to the winner. The final 32-driver field was set by results of the last three races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. The drivers are paired in head-to-head matchups based on seeding, with the winners advancing to the next round in a bracket format that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments. Advertisement Buoyed by a win at Michigan and a runner-up finish at Pocono, Denny Hamlin earned the top seed. He'll square off — race off? — against No. 32 seed Ty Dillon. Pocono winner Chase Briscoe is the No. 2 seed and is pitted against No. 31 seed Noah Gragson. Chris Buescher is third, Christopher Bell fourth and Elliott fifth, among notable names. The format is single elimination with the field cut to 16 at the street race in Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four on the lone concrete track in the series at Dover and the final two over the yard of bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Challenge is part of NASCAR's media rights deal that includes TNT, and the Atlanta-based cable network will broadcast all five races in the tournament, starting with the 400-miler in Atlanta. Advertisement Aside from a shrug from Elliott and a few others, drivers are intrigued by the idea of increasing the stakes in each race beyond a playoff berth, trophy and the winner's purse. 'I love it. I think it's great,' three-time Cup champion Joey Logano said. 'I think it's placed perfectly where it is in the season. This is kind of that moment where the newness is worn off. We're into the rhythm, we're racing every week. It's starting to start a little bit of, who's going to be in the playoffs, who's not, the cutoff line all those types of things. But it's not really the main story quite yet.' Stories are what sell, of course, and the sizzle in Pocono over the weekend had little to do with which drivers or teams are the ones to beat for the 2025 championship. Rather, it was whether two pedestrian drivers were going to fight, the end of Amazon Prime's run of wildly-popular telecasts and Hall of Fame driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win in his first race as a crew chief. 'This really spices up the mid-part of the season,' Logano said. Advertisement So does placing a few bucks on No. 11 to win. But as of Monday afternoon, most sports gambling sites did not offer odds on specific matchups headed into Atlanta. NASCAR is offering $1 million to a winning fan with a perfect bracket in its fantasy game. There are some quirks to the bracket: Shane van Gisbergen won the Cup race in Mexico City and is not in the field while series points leader William Byron is only a No. 9 seed. The tournament boasts matchups in the first-round of past Cup champions (Kyle Busch-Brad Keselowski), former teammates (Briscoe-Gragson), and even best friends (Bubba Wallace-Daniel Suarez). The idea for the challenge was largely championed by Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 champion who floated the idea of a mid-season tournament on his 'Actions Detrimental" podcast. When NASCAR bought into the idea and announced the creation of the tournament last year, Hamlin called the tournament on social media 'such a win for our sport and drivers.' He jokingly added, 'I will collect my 1M royalty next season.' Advertisement Hamlin's on deck and clearly a favorite to win it all, with three wins this year for Joe Gibbs Racing and the top seed. (And let's not haggle over who gets credit in court.) 'I'm a sports guy, so I'm going to be engaged with it," Hamlin said. "I'll know who I will have to beat next week. I've told the team, we are going to try and do what we can. We are going to be up against it because we are going to tracks that aren't very favorable to me. But we are going to try to do our best to beat that one car for the next four to five weeks.' NASCAR will present the tournament winner at Indianapolis with a ring, jackets, trophy and — oh yeah, a million bucks. Advertisement That's enough cash to get anyone's attention — even Elliott's. 'I don't know what you get. You get anything,' Elliott asked. 'Oh, a million dollars to the winner? Then yeah, we want to win.' ___ AP auto racing:
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Denny Hamlin earns No. 1 seed in NASCAR's first In-season Challenge
Denny Hamlin celebrates his victory in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Denny Hamlin earned the top seed in the inaugural version of NASCAR's In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament set to kick off next week in Atlanta. The tournament, which comes with a $1 million prize to the winner, is part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT. Advertisement The final 32-driver field was set by results of the races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. Chase Briscoe won the Cup race Sunday at Pocono Raceway to finalize the field. The drivers will be paired in head-to-head matchups based on seeding, with the winners advancing to the next round in a bracket format that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments. Hamlin goes head-to-head next week against the 32nd seed, Ty Dillon. Briscoe earned the second seed, Chris Buescher is third, Christopher Bell fourth and Chase Elliott fifth. The format is single elimination with the field cut to 16 at Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four at Dover and the final two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The tournament is patterned after in-season tournaments that are staged by soccer leagues around the world and even brought to the NBA. ___ AP auto racing:
Associated Press
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
South Africa's Kyalami circuit says the FIA has approved upgrades which would let it host Formula 1
MIDRAND, South Africa (AP) — Formula 1 could be a step closer to holding a race in Africa again after the owner of the Kyalami circuit in South Africa said Wednesday that the sport's governing body had approved upgrades to the track. A statement from the circuit said that the FIA had 'accepted final design proposals' for work which would upgrade Kyalami from the FIA's Grade 2 to the Grade 1 status required for F1. It added that Kyalami has been given three years to complete the upgrades and that 'selected works' will be carried out only once Kyalami has been selected to host F1. 'Today, we turn the page to a bold new chapter for Kyalami. We are ready for the return of Formula 1 to African soil,' circuit owner Toby Venter said. Kyalami hosted the most recent F1 race in Africa in 1993 but other countries are also interested in bringing the series back to the continent. Rwanda is working on its own project and Morocco reportedly has plans too. ___ AP auto racing:
Associated Press
08-06-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Alex Bowman hits wall at Michigan as his rough stretch continues in NASCAR Cup Series
Chase Elliott, from left, team owner Rick Hendrick, Alex Bowman, and William Byron talk before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Alex Bowman hit a wall with the front end of his No. 48 Chevrolet as part of a multi-car crash in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan on Sunday. Bowman got out of the car on his own and walked to an ambulance that transported him to the infield for an evaluation, which he passed. 'That hurt a lot,' he said. 'I've taken a lot of hits.' Austin Cindric's No. 2 Ford made contact with Cole Custer's No. 41 Ford and Daniel Suarez's No. 99 Chevrolet, leading to Bowman colliding with the wall on lap 67 of the 200-lap race. Bowman, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, came to Michigan 12th in points and will drop in the standings after this latest setback. He has finished 27th or worse in seven of his last nine starts and didn't finish for a third time during the rough stretch. Bowman was in the top 10 in five of the first six races this year, including a runner-up finish at Homestead-Miami in March. He earned his eighth career Cup Series victory last year at Chicago. ___ AP auto racing:
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ross Chastain returns to Nashville after a thrilling Coca-Cola 600 victory
Joey Logano stands on his car to celebrate after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson) Denny Hamlin (11) and Chase Briscoe (19) head down the front straightaway during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley) Joey Logano stands on his car to celebrate after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson) Denny Hamlin (11) and Chase Briscoe (19) head down the front straightaway during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley) LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — Ross Chastain is ready to get back behind the wheel of a race car after a busy week celebrating going from worst to victory lane at the Coca-Cola 600 for the first time in his career. He also knows only too well how humbling racing can be. Advertisement 'We put ourselves at a lot of high risk getting back on track that the success could be hard again,' Chastain said Saturday still wearing the Coca-Cola 600 winner's ring on his right hand. 'The cars don't know what happened last week.' Chastain has had three top-three finishes over his past four races, and he goes into Sunday night's Cracker Barrel 400 very familiar with Nashville Superspeedway. Music City is home to his Trackhouse Racing team, and Chastain won here in 2023. He also has finished second and fifth, and had a chance to win last year. This also will be Trackhouse Racing's 300th Cup race. Chastain credited his crew chief Phil Surgen and Trackhouse Racing but said he doesn't know why he's been so successful at this track. Chastain said he doesn't feel like he does anything different down to his preparation. Advertisement "We have really, really good race cars,' Chastain said of his No. 1 Chevrolet. This race now is a month earlier than the past four years, and the Cracker Barrel 400 comes exactly halfway through NASCAR's regular season. Chastain is among the eight drivers already locked into the playoffs with a victory. No repeat performance This race took a record five overtimes to finish a year ago with Joey Logano surviving for his first Cup win of 2024. He had saved just enough gas to pull out that victory, so of course it merited a look back just in case. 'You don't know that opportunity will ever present itself again,' Logano said. "It's a pretty rare opportunity for it to end up like that. But because we were ready for it and we were prepared that day that's what helped us win. So yeah, you're always kind of looking at that stuff' Advertisement Concrete challenge Brad Keselowski, currently 32nd in the standings, won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race here in 2008. He walked the D-shaped track Saturday and marveled at how Nashville, which hosted its first races in 2001, has aged since his career-changing victory. 'It's kind of aged like fine wine," Keselowski said. "When I was doing the walk I was thinking about it. The surface is 25, 26 years old, and it's in great condition. The facilities are in great condition. It's just really a kind of walk back in time for me.' Start of new In-Season Challenge Nashville kicks off NASCAR's new In-Season Challenge involving 32 drivers and a single-elimination over five races starting June 28 at Atlanta. The top 32 drivers in points after Sunday night's race in Nashville will make up the field for the three seeding races. Advertisement Those races start at Michigan on June 8, and conclude at Pocono on June 22. Drivers will be seeded by their best finish over those three races for the competition starting at Atlanta. The field will be narrowed to 16 at Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four at Dover and finally two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The tournament comes with a $1 million prize to the winner and is part of a new media rights deal including TNT. Odds and Ends Denny Hamlin at +350 is the betting favorite to win Sunday night, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by Kyle Larson (+550), Christopher Bell (+650) and William Byron (+725). If Hamlin makes the starting line Sunday night remains to be seen. His fiancee is expecting their third child, a boy, with Sunday the due date. Hamlin said he has an eight-hour window to race and get home but hadn't set a timeline to make a final decision before qualifying. 'I can't miss it,' Hamlin said of his new son's arrival. ... This race has had a different winner each of the first four years at this track. ... Country music singer Chase Rice, a former NASCAR pit crew member, will be the honorary pace car driver Sunday night. Rice has sold more than 2.8 million albums and had more than 2.9 billion total streams. His hits include 'Eyes on You,' 'Drinkin' Beer. Talkin' God. Amen.' and 'Lonely If You Are.' ___ AP auto racing:
