Latest news with #In-seasonChallenge
Boston Globe
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Boston Globe
Denny Hamlin survives rain delay, overtime to win fourth NASCAR Cup Series race of season
'Winning here at Dover is super special to me,' Hamlin said. 'This is a place that I've not been very good at the first half of my career. To go back-to-back here the last two years is amazing.' Advertisement Hamlin took the checkered flag days after he suffered a setback in court with his own 23XI Racing team's federal antitrust suit against NASCAR. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up On Thursday, a federal judge rejected a request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to continue racing with charters while they battle NASCAR in court, meaning their six cars will race as open entries this weekend at Dover, next week at Indianapolis, and perhaps longer than that in a move the teams say would put them at risk of going out of business. Hamlin vowed this weekend 'all will be exposed' if the case goes to its scheduled Dec. 1 trial date. The courtroom drama hasn't affected Hamlin's performance on the track. Hamlin held off JGR teammate Chase Briscoe for the victory. Hendrick Motorsports drivers took the next two spots, with Alex Bowman third and Kyle Larson fourth. Advertisement 'I thought I did everything I needed to,' Briscoe said. 'I thought I had him there for a second. I wish the Camry, the back, was about 3 inches shorter. I was so close to clearing him. I just couldn't do it. Obviously, racing a teammate, I wanted to make sure at least a JGR car won.' Hamlin held off Larson down the stretch last season to earn the second of his three career wins at the Monster Mile. The first July Cup race at Dover since 1969 started with steamy weather and drivers battled the conditions inside the car during a relatively clean race until rain fell late and red-flagged the race with 14 laps left. Hamlin said during the break he planned to change his firesuit — temperatures inside the car soared to 140 degrees. He also returned to the car after the 56-minute delay with old tires. Hamlin — who was the betting favorite to win, per BETMGM Sportsbook — had enough to win on cool tires at Dover and park the Toyota in victory lane. 'We've got a lot left,' Hamlin said. He became the 19th Cup driver to win three times at Dover and the 13th driver to win consecutive races on the mile concrete track. 'I just studied some of the greats here,' Hamlin said. 'I was very fortunate to have Martin Truex as a teammate. Jimmie Johnson, watching him win (11) times here. You learn from the greats and you change your game to match it, you have success like this.' Advertisement … It's Ty Gibbs vs. Ty Dillon next week at Indianapolis to decide the first winner in NASCAR's $1 million mid-season tournament. NASCAR seeded 32 drivers for the first In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments. Both drivers are winless and Dillon made it as the No. 32 seed. Gibbs finished fifth Sunday for JGR. John Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick were eliminated. … Joey Logano finished 14th for Team Penske in his 600th career start. Logano has made every start since the 2009, 597 straight, putting him within striking distance of Jeff Gordon's Cup record of 797 straight starts. Logano was 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hit No. 600, making him the youngest driver to reach that milestone. He topped seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months. Petty is the only driver to have won his 600th start.
San Francisco Chronicle
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
Denny Hamlin earns No. 1 seed in NASCAR's first In-season Challenge
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. 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. ___
Fox Sports
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Denny Hamlin earns No. 1 seed in NASCAR's first In-season Challenge
Associated Press 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. 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: recommended
Winnipeg Free Press
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Winnipeg Free Press
Denny Hamlin earns No. 1 seed in NASCAR's first In-season Challenge
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. 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:
Fox Sports
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Carson Hocevar living the dream back home in Michigan as aggressive, headline-grabbing NASCAR driver
Associated Press BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Carson Hocevar grew up 80 miles west of Michigan International Speedway, where he attended his first race at the age of 5. As a kid in Portage, he dreamed of becoming a NASCAR driver that people talked about. The 22-year-old Hocevar got his wish. He knocked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of last week's race at Nashville and his aggressive style has created a buzz in a sport that traditionally has young drivers trying to find the line between aggressive and reckless driving. 'It's cool to be talked about,' Hocevar said Saturday, a day ahead of the FireKeepers Casino 400. 'Obviously, you want to be talked about maybe in a different light. "But I mean, at least they're talking, right? And, I think that's big for me.' Hocevar called Stenhouse earlier in the week to discuss their contact on Lap 106 of 300 at Nashville, where Stenhouse was bumped from behind and sent into a wall. Both said the conversation was productive. 'I don't think he crashed me on purpose,' Stenhouse said. "But I think he was super impatient. 'We've never had any issues. He's had plenty of issues with other people.' Hocevar, in his second full Cup season, was behind only winner Ryan Blaney at Nashville to match the career-best, second-place finish he had earlier this year. At the race in Atlanta, several drivers complained about Hocevar over the radio or some addressed their concerns face to face in pit lane. Blaney, who got turned by Hocevar in the final stage of the race, and Ross Chastain confronted him in February. Chastain sounded frustrated that Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, has not appeared to learn from his mistakes. His latest move was reckless, Chastain said. 'Yeah, 47 spun off his front bumper,' he said. 'Been there, done that.' Blaney has, too. 'You can say you're sorry all you want, but if you don't learn from them and make a change, then everyone thinks you're lying,' Blaney said. A new wrinkle NASCAR's 'In-season Challenge' will begin seeding drivers Sunday and at the following two races in Mexico City and at Pocono. The results will create a field of 32 drivers, who will race for a $1 million prize over a five-race competition starts June 28 at Atlanta. Single elimination will reduce the field to 16 in Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four in Dover and the final two on July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The NBA has had success with a similar format. 'It's like the March Madness bracket,' said Blaney, whose No. 12 Ford finished first last week at Nashville. "You want to do well to seed yourself against an easier opponent. "It could be big. It could grow. I think it's a great idea. Why not try it? You're still going to have racing. It's just going to be a race within the race between all the guys.' Pressing priorities Denny Hamiln is prepared to leave his No. 11 Toyota behind this weekend to join his fiancé, Jordan, who is due to give birth to a baby boy — their third child — at any time. Hamlin, who is also juggling his role as the co-owner of a team suing NASCAR, said he would skip next week's race in Mexico City if necessary to witness the birth of his boy. Hendrick's drought Hendrick Motorsports has won a record 316 Cup races, but hasn't finished first at Michigan in more than a decade. Jeff Gordon's third win on the track was the team's ninth and that was way back on Aug. 17, 2014. 'It's just kind of surprising because I don't feel like it's a track that we struggle at by any means,' said Kyle Larson, who drives the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick. "Every time we've been here, we've been one of the fastest and up front. 'It's not a track like Nashville, where where we struggle.' Odds and Ends Larson at +300 is the betting favorite to win Sunday, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by points leader William Byron (+375), defending race champion Tyler Reddick (+500) and Christopher Bell (+550). ___ AP auto racing: recommended
