AUTO RACING: Briscoe earns first win with Joe Gibbs and F1's McLaren looks to bounce back in Austria
Associated Press
All Times Eastern NASCAR CUP SERIES
Challenge Round 1 - Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart
Site: Hampton, Georgia.
Track: EchoPark Speedway.
Race distance: 260 laps, 400.4 miles.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 5:05 p.m.; Saturday, race, 7 p.m. (TNT and MAX).
Last year: Joey Logano earned an overtime victory and his second win of the season after a push from teammate Ryan Blaney vaulted him into the lead.
Last race: Leading the last 34 laps while utilizing a fuel-saving strategy, Chase Briscoe held off teammate Denny Hamlin at Pocono to earn his first win with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Next race: July 6, Chicago.
Online: http://www.nascar.com NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
Focused Health 250
Site: Hampton, Georgia.
Track: EchoPark Speedway.
Race distance: 163 laps, 251.02 miles.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 3 p.m., race, 7:30 p.m. (CW).
Last year: Austin Hill claimed the victory while holding off Parker Kligerman on a late-race restart.
Last race: Connor Zilisch secured his second win of the year in Pennsylvania after a late pass of Jesse Love with four laps to go.
Next race: July 5, Chicago.
Online: http://www.nascar.com NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
LIUNA 150
Site: Lakeville, Connecticut.
Track: Lime Rock Park.
Race distance: 100 laps, 147.8 miles.
Schedule: Friday, practice, 1:05 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 9:30 a.m., race, 1 p.m. (FOX).
Last year: Nascar will make its debut at Lime Rock Park after last years race in Milwaukee saw victor Layen Riggs take the lead from Ty Majeski with 53 laps to go.
Last race: Pole-sitter Layne Riggs snagged his first win of the season at Pocono while leading the last 20 laps and finishing nearly four seconds ahead of second-place Tanner Gray.
Next race: July 25, Indianapolis.
Online: http://www.nascar.com FORMULA ONE
MSC Cruises Austrian Grand Prix
Site: Spielberg, Austria.
Track: Red Bull Ring.
Race distance: 71 laps, 190.4 miles.
Schedule: Friday, practice, 7:25 a.m., practice, 10:55 a.m.; Saturday, practice, 6:25 a.m., qualifying, 9:55 a.m.; Sunday, race 8:55 a.m. (ESPN).
Last year: George Russell took his first win since 2022 after capitalizing on a dramatic crash between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris late in the race.
Last race: Russell held off Verstappen and took hist first win of the season in Canada in a dramatic race that saw McLaren teammates Norris and Piastri collide.
Next race: July 6, Towcester, United Kingdom.
Online: http://www.formula1.com INDYCAR
Last race: Alex Palou took advantage of leader Scott Dixon's late pit stop to secure the victory, giving him the win in six out of nine races so far this season.
Next race: July 6, Lexington, Ohio.
Online: http://www.indycar.com NHRA DRAG RACING
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
Site: Norwalk, Ohio.
Track: Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.
Race distance: 1/4 mile.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 6 p.m., qualifying, 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, noon, qualifying, 2:30 p.m.; Sunday, race, 2 p.m. (FOX).
Next race: July 20, Kent, Washington.
Online: http://www.nhra.com WORLD OF OUTLAWS
Fergus Falls Showdown
Independence Spectacular
Grand Forks Showdown
Independence Spectacular
Norman County Showdown
Minot Mayhem
Next events: July 3 - 5, Spring Valley, Minnesota.
Online: http://worldofoutlaws.com
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Fox Sports
3 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Kansas City Chiefs' strategy to expand UK fandom: cultural connections and mascot diplomacy
Associated Press LONDON (AP) — In an offseason huddle at the NFL's London headquarters, the Kansas City Chiefs are drawing up a game plan to win over fans in a crowded UK market. They're getting input from the locals, and there's good news. "There is something about that younger generation, in the UK specifically, they are really into U.S. sports at the moment,' says Louise Johnson, chief executive of marketing agency Fuse. 'There's a moment in time that you can really capitalize on.' Chiefs executives visited London after the team added the UK to its list of countries in the NFL's global markets program, which puts teams in the driver's seat to increase fandom overall — as well as land commercial partnerships individually. A day that began meeting with local agencies in the NFL's glass-enclosed eighth-floor office overlooking Leicester Square ended along the banks of the Thames, where a 'Chiefs cab' was the meeting point to surprise a local fan with a ticket giveaway. 'The UK is another puzzle piece in the larger globalization of the brand,' said Lara Krug, the team's chief media and marketing officer, echoing a franchise theme of becoming the ' world's team.' Krug led the team's delegation that included business, social media and public relations representatives. Besides marketing agencies, they also met with NFL officials. The takeaways were clear for growing the Chiefs' fanbase. 'One, that 12-to-24 (aged) audience is where there is the biggest opportunity,' she told The Associated Press. '(They're) very much into the cultural part of the NFL and the Americana of it all.' Second, find creative ways to connect to local fans. The Chicago Bears did soccer-style jerseys last year for their London game. 'The league and the clubs have done a great job on growing the game,' Krug said. 'We see the opportunity of reaching more fans and doing it from a cultural lens.' Mahomes, Kelce and KC Wolf Expanding your fan base is much easier when your quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is the face of the league, and your star tight end, Travis Kelce, is dating global pop star Taylor Swift. Kelce was the UK's top-selling NFL jersey in 2024. The Chiefs have also played in five of the last six Super Bowls and won three of them. Still, there are eight other NFL teams with the same rights the Chiefs have in Britain — and six of them have been there longer. Social media content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram are crucial, especially because NFL fans in the UK over-index on daily social media use compared to other fans, the Chiefs said. But some old-school methods work too. Hello, KC Wolf. 'We know mascots do really well in the markets, it becomes an ambassador,' Krug said. KC Wolf was on hand in Frankfurt, Germany in 2023 when the Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins 21-14. They'll soon be looking for 'multiple European-based mascots of our KC Wolf,' Krug said. 'That will be something that we launch later this year," she said, "so having KC Wolf show up in a few of our markets more frequently.' Meetings aside, being on the ground in London was helpful in other ways: Krug noted the long line at a Formula One promotion in the Lego store in Leicester Square. The Chiefs have experimented before. Last year the team partnered with Hallmark — headquartered in Kansas City — on ' Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story. ' Going international In the NFL's global markets program, Kansas City has rights in seven countries — only the Los Angeles Rams have as many. All but one — Mexico — of the Chiefs' markets are in Europe. The team added the UK, Ireland and Spain this year. The team's brass believes the best way to gain fans in foreign markets is to play games there. The Chiefs won their only London game, back in 2015. They are 3-0 overall in regular-season international games. Dublin, Madrid and Berlin are all new host cities this season. The Chiefs will play internationally this season — but not in Europe. They open in Brazil on Sept. 5 when they face the Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo. That's the first of seven international NFL games in 2025 — the most ever in one season — and Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to eventually get to 16 games per year. Goodell has also floated the idea of creating a European division and staging a Super Bowl outside the United States. One theory is the league will package the international games into a billion-dollar rights deal. Team and league data show that the Chiefs are already popular internationally. They have the largest overall German-language social media following at nearly 150,000. For consumer products sales, the Chiefs rank No. 1 in the 'DACH' region of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and No. 2 in Mexico. In international Game Pass viewing, the Chiefs were the most-watched team in DACH and Mexico last season. NFL says UK still has room to grow The Chiefs brought several British 'influencers' to a game at Arrowhead Stadium last season. They included ' Formz,' a Tottenham fan who raps Premier League weekly recaps and sings about heartbreak; he has 1 million followers on TikTok. The league saw 'significant growth' in UK fandom last year, said Henry Hodgson, the NFL's general manager for the UK and Ireland. Confidence is high enough that three teams — the Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers — applied for and were awarded UK rights starting this season, joining the six others already in the market. 'For now, we don't want to cap it,' Hodgson told the AP. 'We see the benefit of these teams being involved in the market. It's something that the NFL will monitor, not just in the UK but in all the markets that the global markets program exists in and make sure that all of the clubs can be successful in all the markets they're in.' Eleven teams have rights in Germany. Mexico is next highest with 10. ___ AP NFL: recommended
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Ryan Blaney on how he got better, how to fix the racing and more: 12 Questions
Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske. This interview has been edited and condensed, but the full version is available on the 12 Questions Podcast. New this week: The podcast is now available as an RSS feed, not just The Athletic app. 1. What was one of the first autographs you got as a kid, and what do you remember about that moment? Mark Martin signed my shirt. I was at driver intros with Dad (driver Dave Blaney) somewhere and I asked Mark to sign my shirt. I loved Mark Martin, and I just thought it was super cool. I was really fortunate to be at driver intros with my dad when I was younger and get to meet all the guys. I had Mark sign it, and that was one of the most sought-after autographs in my book. Advertisement 2. What is the most miserable you've ever been inside of a race car? Phoenix fall race, 2019. We were in the Round of 8, trying to get to Homestead. Essentially had to win. We ran third, but I had the flu and obviously I didn't feel good at all. I was hydrating all day, but then in the car I didn't sweat anything out — so I had to pee really bad. Not only was I sick as a dog, I had to pee really bad. I thought my bladder was going to burst and I felt like crap. Those two things compounded on each other definitely doesn't make for a fun race. 3. Outside of racing, what is your most recent memory of something you got way too competitive about? Golf. Playing with your buddies, got some money on the line. That's really the only thing outside of racing I get really competitive about. Didn't you say before The Masters you went to Augusta and shot like an 80? I think my best score out there was 82. You don't want to get too competitive there. The most competitive is like when you're at your local muni with your buddies and there's $100 on the line. You can't toss your clubs at Augusta. No, you don't want to do that. You won't be invited back. 4. What do people get wrong about you? I do it to myself a little bit, but if I have a little thing on the radio and I get frustrated, people are like, 'Oh, he's losing his mind.' That's not really the case. I have my 10 seconds of frustration, and I just have to let it out. Listen to other guys, man. There are guys way worse than me. And it's not me losing my mind. I just have to get it out, and it's how I move on past things. If I don't get it out, it just bundles up. It's weird, because I'm not like that out of the car. Like at home, I don't ever get to that point. I don't really ever get frustrated with much stuff outside the car. But when I'm competing, people get that wrong. It's not really losing my mind. It's my own way of getting everything out in the open that I need to. I wish people didn't hear it, but everyone does it to their own extent. Advertisement It's your pop-off valve. Yeah, man. The steam is building up, something happens and I just have to let it out. People are like, 'Don't push the (radio) button.' It feels way better when you push the button. You have to let someone else hear it. But I just get it out, and then I'm back to where I need to be. If I don't, I just think about it too much. 5. What kind of Uber passenger are you and how much do you care about your Uber rating? I don't ever cause problems. I'm appreciative for this person picking me up and giving me a ride, because most of the time you Uber, you're under the influence, so you need a ride home and you're thankful to that person for getting me home safe. I always try to be grateful to that person, be polite and respectful. If I'm with buddies and they're raising hell, I'm like, 'Dude, calm down. This person is helping us out.' I have a really good Uber rating. You didn't have to come pick me up. 6. I'm doing a wild-card question for each person. So for awhile you were getting one win a year, one win a year, one win a year. Then you burst out into three a year, three a year. Now on a weekly basis, you're one of the biggest regular threats, no matter where we go. So what do you think was the most important thing for you to unlock the next level of your potential? We really turned the page in '21. I was in this (situation) of just one win a year and only showing signs of being competitive a handful of weeks a year. It was like, 'All right, what do I have to change about myself and how I approach and run these races to be better? I have to take the next step forward.' It was really just talks with myself like, 'Hey, I don't like the way you do this. This needs to be better. You're stuck in your ways and you need to get better at that.' It's a tough thing to do … but it's necessary to do. In the winter of '22, I had to look and be like, 'All right, I need to change this up.' And then we went and won the championship the next year. 7. This is my 16th year of doing these 12 Questions interviews, so I'm going back to an early interview I've done with each person. (In 2014), I asked you: 'If someone let you design a new racetrack with an unlimited budget, what would you build?' You said a road course with crazy banking. Is that still what you'd build? Yeah, I think you could have a road course with a ton of different style corners. Like Turn 4 (in Mexico City), that long right-hander, if you bank the top lane where it's like a progressive banking. Charlotte (Roval) is somewhat that way (with the banking), but it's not like a corner. At Charlotte (on the banking), you're running wide open. It's not part of a technical lifting point, and it's like a sharper corner. That'd be neat (to have one). Advertisement Then you have your Talladega Superspeedway-style long corner to where you're drafting up a little bit. Then you have some tight hairpins and stuff. So I'd stick with that design of the road course with some crazy banking in it and a bunch of different styles. A decade later, I'd say the same thing. 8. Other than one of your teammates, name a driver who you would be one of the first people to congratulate them in victory lane if they won a race. I always go to victory lane if I'm still in the race for when Bubba (Wallace) or Chase (Elliott) wins. I always try to go there. And it's vice versa for them, which is always neat. We've always just done that with each other. But then if you go get your first Cup win, that's kind of cool. I'll go up there and congratulate you. Like when (Daniel) Suárez got his first one at Sonoma, I walked down there and congratulated him. And there's been a few like Ricky (Stenhouse) when he won the (Daytona) 500, you go congratulate those guys. 9. How much do you use AI technology, whether for your job or your daily life? Man, not a lot. I think I've used ChatGPT twice. I actually asked it a question last week. I had a question on this home thing. I said, 'Hey, Chat, my wife and I just bought this house.' I (had) a question about cleaning service or inspection. … And it was super nice. It was like, 'Hi Ryan, congratulations on your new home! Here is what is typically done.' … You've got to be friendly to it. You don't want it to come bite you in 10 years. If you're kind of a jerk to Chat, if you're a jerk to AI, you've got to keep them on your side when they take over everything. 10. What is a time in your life that was really challenging, but you feel proud of the way that you responded to it? The most recent one was the '24 championship race. We ran second. Really close. Bummer. You're bummed out. But Joey (Logano, his teammate) and the (No.) 22 (team) won it, Roger (Penske) won another championship. I'm not tooting my own horn, but those are easy ones to brush off and be like, 'Damn it. That sucks.' And it does stink. But in the post-race stuff, I was pretty good and congratulated all those guys — which I was happy for them and Roger. If we're gonna lose to anybody, it's your teammates. 11. What needs to happen in NASCAR to take this sport to the next level of popularity? We're starting it (in Mexico City). I've always been a big advocate of international to some extent, whether it's north, south, head east — that's a big thing. Advertisement But it's hard, man. How do you draw people in? That's a job I don't want to have: How do you draw people to your sport, no matter what it is? Just showing a good product is important. And explaining the product — racing is hard to explain to a lot of people who didn't do it growing up, because you can't go to a park and drive a race car, unlike basketball or football or baseball. There's not a lot of traveling rec leagues. So it's a really hard position to explain the technical side and how these cars are not what you buy off a lot and you're just driving them around in circles. There's so much behind the scenes and backstory. So how do you explain that? We've been doing a good job of doing that with Netflix to an extent, and showing drivers' personalities more. Amazon has been doing a good job of showing more ins and outs of it. So continuing to show more in-depth about it is really important, along with going into places that you haven't been before. 12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next person. The last one was with Christopher Bell. He says: 'What are your thoughts on the current rules package — aero and horsepower, all three track types — and what should we go to if you want something different. Oh God! (Laughs.) What are my thoughts? Obviously, I wish it was a little bit better. You're always going to want something better. Obviously, the horsepower thing is a no-brainer. I wish we got back up in there. But the Xfinity (Series) cars have less horsepower than we have, and I wish we could (do what they do) — and we could do this with the old car. I wish you could get people loose on the left rear again. Kind of drive the car in front of you where if you're close, you can get on the left rear quarterpanel and get them loose, get them off the bottom and go on. … Getting loose underneath somebody right now, the inside guy actually has the advantage because he just uses that guy up on the top and the top guy gets tight. End of story. That's why you see a ton of dive bombs; people use them up because the inside guy doesn't really get loose anymore. It affects the outside guy more. The next interview I'm doing is with your buddy, Chase Elliott. Do you have a question I can ask Chase? When are you ever going to get better at golf, and what is it going to take for you to get to a point where you can compete with me? How many hours do you have to put in to get to my level? (Top photo of Ryan Blaney celebrating his win in the Nashville Cup Series race in early June: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
Fox Sports
5 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Euro 2025: What to know about the Women's European Championship
Associated Press Spain's star-packed squad is bidding to follow up on its World Cup success with a first triumph at the Women's European Championship. Defending champion England is aiming to retain its continental crown, and Germany is hoping for a record-extending ninth title. Euro 2025 kicks off on Wednesday of next week with the first two of 31 matches to be staged across eight cities in Switzerland. Here's a look at what you need to know leading up to tournament: When does it start? The Euros kick off on July 2 with a match between Iceland and Finland in Thun before host Switzerland plays Norway at Basel. When is the final? The final will be on July 27 at St. Jakob-Park in Basel. Who is the favorite? World Cup finalists Spain and England are widely considered the favorites. England secured its first major title since the men's team won the 1966 World Cup when the women's team triumphed at the last Euros, which was postponed to 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Lionesses then made it all the way to the final at the 2023 World Cup but were beaten by Spain. Germany, which lost to England after extra time in the 2022 final, won six straight editions of the women's Euros from 1995 to 2013 and has lifted the trophy in eight of the 13 finals overall. The German women's team has also won two World Cup titles. What is the format? The tournament begins with four groups of four teams in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, followed by overall goal difference and then goals scored. From the quarterfinals the tournament becomes a straight knockout competition through the semifinals and final to determine the champion. Euro 2025 brackets Group A: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Finland Group B: Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy Group C: Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden Group D: France, England, Wales, Netherlands Host stadiums and capacity St. Jakob-Park, Basel (34,250) Stadion Wankdorf, Bern (29,800) Stade de Genève, Geneva (26,750) Stadion Letzigrund, Zurich (22,700) Arena St. Gallen, St. Gallen (16,300) Allmend Stadion Luzern, Lucerne (14,350) Arena Thun, Thun (8,100) Stade de Tourbillon, Sion (7,750) Previous champions Germany has won the women's Euros eight times. The only other multiple winner is Norway with two. England, Netherlands and Sweden — inaugural champions in 1984 — have one title each. Tournament newcomers Poland and Wales have qualified for the first time. Record attendances and rewards The last Euros, in England, smashed all records with more than 87,000 people attending the final at Wembley Stadium and a total of nearly 575,000 fans attending the 31 matches — more than double the previous record. As of last month, more than 550,000 tickets had been sold for Euro 2025. There will also be a record 41 million euros ($47 million) in prize money, more than doubling the 16 million euros ($18.3 million) received by national associations in 2022. How to watch on TV — In the U.S.: FOX Sports, ViX. TSN will show it in Canada. — Other countries are listed here. Who to watch Spain and Barcelona duo Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas headline the list of star players. Bonmatí has won the last two Ballon d'Or titles, following in the footsteps of her teammate Putellas, who also won back-to-back awards for the world's best female soccer player. Their Barcelona teammate Caroline Graham Hansen finished second in the Ballon d'Or voting last year and the Norway winger will also be among the players to watch. Euro 2022 player of the tournament Beth Mead will be back for England, and Spain teenager Vicky Lopez will be hoping to have a Lamine Yamal-style impact. ___ AP soccer:
