AUTO RACING: NASCAR moves to Texas after Cindric captures photo-finish win in Talladega
All Times Eastern NASCAR CUP SERIES
Würth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY
Site: Fort Worth, Texas.
Schedule: Saturday, practice, 11:05 a.m., qualifying, 12:10 p.m.; Sunday, race, 3:30 p.m. (FS1).
Track: Texas Motor Speedway.
Race distance: 267 laps, 400.5 miles.
Last year: Denny Hamlin survived a late surge from Kyle Larson to take the checkered flag, earning him his 54th career Cup victory.
Last race: Austin Cindric's last-lap overtake of Ryan Preece secured him a photo-finish win in Talladega.
Next race: May 11, Kansas City, Kansas.
Online: http://www.nascar.com NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
Andy's Frozen Custard 300
Site: Fort Worth, Texas.
Schedule: Friday, practice, 5:05 p.m., qualifying, 6:10 p.m.; Saturday, race, 2 p.m. (CW).
Track: Texas Motor Speedway.
Race distance: 200 laps, 300 miles.
Last year: Sam Meyer inched ahead of Ryan Sieg a mere .002 seconds for a neck and neck win that was confirmed by photo review.
Last race: Connor Zilisch spun out and hit the wall on the last lap giving the lead to Austin Hill who crossed the line in three-way sprint to a photo finish.
Next race: May 24, Concord, North Carolina.
Online: http://www.nascar.com NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
SpeedyCash.com 250
Site: Fort Worth, Texas.
Schedule: Friday, practice, 2:35 p.m., qualifying, 3:40 p.m., race, 8 p.m. (FS1).
Track: Texas Motor Speedway.
Race distance: 167 laps, 250.5 miles.
Last year: Kyle Busch took the lead with 8 to go holding off a challenging Corey Heim for his record-tying sixth win at the Motor Speedway.
Last race: Tyler Ankrum broke his 130-race winless streak at Rockingham in a fuel-saving push to the finish line.
Next race: May 10, Kansas City, Kansas.
Online: http://www.nascar.com FORMULA ONE
Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix
Site: Miami.
Schedule: Friday, practice, 12:25 p.m. sprint qualifying, 4:25 p.m.; Saturday, sprint race, 11:55 a.m., qualifying, 3:55 p.m.; Sunday, race, 4 p.m. (ABC).
Track: Miami International Autodrome.
Race distance: 57 laps, 191.5 miles.
Last year: Lando Norris earned his first-ever F1 win after capturing the lead from Verstappen and successfully defending his position.
Last race: Oscar Piastri takes his second win in a row and first ever lead in the standings after capitalizing on Verstappen's five-second penalty in Jeddah.
Next race: May 18, Imola, Italy.
Online: http://www.formula1.com INDYCAR
Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix
Site: Birmingham, Alabama.
Schedule: Friday, practice, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday, practice, 11:30 a.m., qualifying, 2:30 p.m.; Sunday, warmup, 10 a.m., race, 1:30 p.m. (FOX).
Track: Barber Motorsports Park.
Race distance: 90 laps, 207 miles.
Last year: Scott McLaughlin managed to hold off teammate Will Power, giving him his second consecutive win in Birmingham.
Last race: Kyle Kirkwood led a race-high 46 laps, ending Alex Palou's hot streak in a dominant performance at Long Beach.
Next race: May 10, Indianapolis.
Online: http://www.indycar.com NHRA DRAG RACING
Next race: May 18, Elwood, Illinois.
Online: http://www.nhra.com WORLD OF OUTLAWS
Dairyland Showdown
Site: Fountain City, Wisconsin.
Track: Mississippi Thunder Speedway.
#LETSRACETWO
Site: Rossburg, Ohio.
Track: Eldora Speedway.
Next events: May 6, May 9, Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Online: http://worldofoutlaws.com
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NBC Sports
23 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Long: Austin Dillon's win gives Richard Childress something to celebrate in challenging year
RICHMOND, Va. — Richard Childress smiled and celebrated Saturday night. It was a contrast from recent weeks when the Hall of Fame owner has railed against his team's cars and NASCAR's decision makers. There were no controversies this time. In what has been a challenging year for Richard Childress Racing, Austin Dillon's victory at Richmond showed that the team's retooling has moved it in the proper direction. But work remains. At the center of this project is Childress, who will turn 80 next month. While he could let others run his team and recede into a ceremonial role, Childress remains a key figure. 'You look at our organization,' Dillon said after his sixth career Cup victory. 'There's one rock in the middle of it. That's my grandfather. He's always been there. He's always the guy on top of the truck and trailer giving his all. You don't see that from every owner out there.' Molded by his early days in the rough-and-tumble atmosphere at Bowman Gray Stadium, Childress carried a fighter's stubbornness and mettle into a racing career as an independent driver. His pairing with Dale Earnhardt created one of NASCAR's most successful driver/car owner combinations and made RCR a team for the everyman. That remains at Childress' core. Nate Ryan, Last month at Indianapolis, he defended Xfinity driver Austin Hill after NASCAR penalized Hill five laps for wrecking Aric Almirola. When asked if NASCAR should suspend Hill a race — the sanctioning body later did — Childress erupted with a 'hell no' and said he didn't feel his team was viewed as others were. 'It's who you are,' Childress said. 'We're a blue-collar team. They (NASCAR) give us trouble all the time.' Saturday night's win was the organization's first Cup victory since Dillon's controversial victory last year at Richmond that saw him wreck Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap. NASCAR allowed the victory to stand but stripped Dillon and the team of the playoff eligibility that went with it — a decision that cost RCR millions of dollars in lost chartered revenue. Dustin Long, While joyous with his grandson's win Saturday, Childress displayed an edge about NASCAR's decision from a year ago. 'I'll never forget last year,' he said. 'But today winning the race, I want to focus and concentrate on it.' Success has been fleeting in recent years for Richard Childress Racing, which won the last of its six Cup titles in 1994 and hasn't had a driver place in the top 10 in points since Ryan Newman was second in 2014. The organization has won two races since last year but none by Kyle Busch, whose career-long winless streak stretched to 82 races after he placed 16th. Until Saturday — when Dillon led 107 laps — the organization had led only 70 laps this year. The team still has fewer top-five finishes this season than at this point a year ago when it had four. Childress has been outspoken about his team's performance in recent years. Last summer, he said he was 'more involved' as the team sought a turnaround. A focus has been engineering. The organization brought in Richard Boswell, who had been at Stewart-Haas Racing until it shut down, to be Dillon's crew chief this season. The hires also included John Klausmeier, a former crew chief and technical director at SHR who joined RCR last November as technical director. It often takes time to see the results of change. Childress expressed his frustration with the pace of progress last month after the Dover race, which saw both team cars place outside the top 10. 'We've got to get some damn race cars,' Childress said on the radio of Dillon's team. 'I've seen enough out of our drivers and teams. We've got to work on this (expletive). Period.' Childress delivered a similar message on Busch's radio channel after that race, saying: 'We've got to get some race cars. We are in trouble. Period.' What changes to make hasn't always been easy. Dillon plays a key role in the organization's direction — a role that will grow when his driving career ends — and he admits that discussions with his grandfather gets heated at times. 'We get into arguments to the point of frustration,' Dillon said. 'It's very hard when he's your grandfather to have an argument with him because you don't want to argue about it. There's certain directions we have to go to move this boat forward, right? 'I'm constantly pushing him. My brother (Ty) has stepped in now and trying to help as well. Between the two of us, we want to try to take some of the load off of him as we but he's very loyal to a fault almost. He really takes great care of those that are around him. We just push him to try and make change at some point in time. 'He usually has a way about it where you tell him one thing and he's going to get upset about it. Then two weeks later (he'll) turn around (and say), 'What do you think about this?' That's a great idea, man. I love that.' Saturday, after the team's 118th Cup victory, Childress was as happy as after many other wins. 'You never take winning for granted,' he said. Watch highlights from the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Listen to the best soundbites from the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.
New York Times
an hour ago
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Why there's so much we don't (quite) know about college QBs in 2025
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There's nothing resembling a clear Heisman favorite this year — though looking for a value pick is fun — and this moment in quarterbacking explains why. The floor is high. The ceiling may be low. A few teams have multiyear starters who are definitely good but have left a little meat on the expectation bone. (Of the QBs at the top of The Athletic's QB Tiers, Clemson's Cade Klubnik and Penn State's Drew Allar fit here.) South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers, Florida's DJ Lagway and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier are clearly good, but also either young (Lagway) or fresh off a breakout that didn't make them a Heisman-type player yet (Sellers, Nussmeier). SMU's Kevin Jennings and Boise State's Maddux Madsen are good-ish, but you will recall the combined six interceptions they threw to Penn State defenders in the playoff. And there is a long list of hopefuls: Oh, and the No. 1 team in the country will start a Manning scion who happens to be the most famous QB prospect maybe ever. 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Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
A Year After Controversial Richmond Victory, Austin Dillon Wins With No Drama
NASCAR Cup Series A Year After Controversial Richmond Victory, Austin Dillon Wins With No Drama Published Aug. 17, 2025 12:05 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link RICHMOND, Va. — Austin Dillon didn't face any questions about whether he crossed any line other than the finish line Saturday night. Just one year ago, Dillon's Richmond Raceway victory stirred a huge controversy and resulted in NASCAR ruling that his contact with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin was too egregious to award a playoff berth for the win. But this year, Dillon won with absolutely no controversy, as he beat Alex Bowman by 2.47 seconds at the finish. Austin Dillon celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond "I'm too tired to be angry," Dillon said. "I got a little cold, a broken rib, a lot of adversity. Some things you don't understand at the time come back around. "God has a way of putting that timing together. I feel like I was probably the calmest I've ever been tonight in the car winning the race. I didn't act a certain way. I was just thankful for the opportunity." Dillon entered the race 28th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings but now will be one of the 16 drivers in the playoffs when they start in two weeks at Darlington Raceway. Two spots remain in the playoff field. Tyler Reddick and Bowman would gain those spots if the regular-season finale doesn't have a new winner. If there is a new winner, one of those two drivers would get the final spot, with Reddick entering the race 29 points ahead of Bowman. ADVERTISEMENT Tyler Reddick greets fans as he walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond. Dillon doesn't have those worries, as he no doubt has a playoff spot. Last year, the team lost its appeal to the NASCAR decision to withdraw the playoff berth in the wake of the last-lap fracas. "I'll never forget last year," said Dillon's grandfather and team owner, Richard Childress. "But today, winning the race — I want to focus and concentrate on it. "I was not happy with the way things went down with the way things were called on us. But that's history. Let's look at tonight. Tonight was a great night." Dillon and Ryan Blaney gave a great battle for the lead in the final 100 laps, with them side-by-side and at times swapping the front spot. Dillon made his final pit stop about four laps before Blaney and Blaney could never catch him, eventually wearing out his tires enough that Bowman passed him for second. Ryan Blaney and Austin Dillon race during the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway "He raced door-to-door with a Cup champion," said Richard Boswell, who came to RCR to crew chief for Dillon this season after the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing. "He beat him at the end." For Dillon, it marked his sixth win in his 433rd career Cup start. Driving the famed No. 3 that Dale Earnhardt made famous while racing for Childress, Dillon faces questions about whether he deserves the privilege of driving such an iconic car number. That only increased when many questioned how he won the race at Richmond a year ago, a race where Dillon had a comfortable lead until a caution set up a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag. Dillon said it was hard for his grandfather to get over it. "Last year ... it stung to him because he felt like NASCAR kind of let him down in a way," Dillon said. "They had to make a call. I got over it. He doesn't get over those type of things. "Hopefully this lets him sleep at night again … because this sport is special. It's given our family a living and a lot of other families a living." And the win at Richmond was special, a track where Dillon struggled early in his career but also a track where RCR has had some great moments. Dillon also raced for the third consecutive week with a broken rib, suffered when he fell off a ladder at home. When Dillon arrived on Friday at Richmond, he said he didn't arrive with an angry feeling from last year and the term redemption didn't really seem to apply. The circumstances were just different this year. "This is what I wanted last year," Dillon said. "It's not how I wanted to end it last year [when] I felt like I had to with my back against the wall kind of deal." FINAL LAPS: Austin Dillon wins Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway Dillon had led just one lap in any race since winning a year ago and before leading 107 Saturday night at Richmond. "If you would have told me we would come back a year later and sitting in Victory Lane after all we went through?" Dillon said. "I cried in our appeal process because that win meant a lot to me to be able to race with Denny and Joey. "Before that period, we didn't have a good run. I was so pumped to just be up there racing for a win. Then to come back this year, everyone is telling you, 'Go get it done. You can get the redemption here. Show them what it means to win.'" The 35-year-old Dillon made the playoffs for the first time in three years. He finished 29th and 32nd in the standings the last two seasons. "We're kind of like a fighter," Dillon said. "We don't go away. I think a lot of people think that guy is going to go away at some point. We're able to claw, chip, find ways. "I like that underdog mentality a little bit." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. What did you think of this story? share
