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Who is NASCAR's most popular driver? A familiar name wins again at annual awards banquet.

Sports / Auto Racing /

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chase Elliott is NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver — again.

It’s the sixth straight year that Elliott, the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, has won this honor. But this might have been his most unlikely yet.

Elliott missed six races due to a leg injury and was briefly suspended for his role in a wreck at ...Read more

Sean Gardner/Getty Images North America/TNS

NASCAR announces historic media rights deals with Fox, NBC, Amazon and Warner Bros.

Sports / Auto Racing /

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR announced historic media rights deals on Wednesday.

Starting in 2025, five Cup Series races will be exclusively streamed on Amazon Prime Video. The bulk of races will continue airing on Fox and NBC networks, while TNT Sports will also broadcast five races.

“We want to meet race fans where they are,” NASCAR ...Read more

Ed Graney: F1 star Max Verstappen was right about everything

Sports / Auto Racing /

LAS VEGAS — I was ready to fit Max Verstappen with a big red nose and floppy shoes. Maybe even some noise makers, puppets and stickers.

But then a suggestion caused me to pause.

As in, what if the Formula One star was right about everything?

The horror.

Now, I’m all for global events such as F1 making Las Vegas home for an annual race. ...Read more

F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix hit with class action lawsuit

Sports / Auto Racing /

LAS VEGAS — A class action lawsuit has been filed against the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix after fans were forced to leave Thursday’s practice session following an hourslong delay.

Dimopoulos Law Firm and co-counsel JK Legal & Consulting filed the suit Friday in Nevada District Court on behalf of 35,000 fans who purchased tickets to ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Want to watch the Las Vegas Grand Prix in luxury? All you need is $12,000.

Sports / Auto Racing /

LAS VEGAS — Mary and Troy Trimble, Formula One fans from the Pacific Northwest, pushed the accelerator to the floor this week for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

They didn't just want to experience the event from the grandstands, a pricey endeavor in its own right. No, they paid about $12,000 each to watch the three-day race in luxury.

The couple ...Read more

Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

F1 resumes practice overnight after repair to Las Vegas track

Sports / Auto Racing /

LAS VEGAS — Among plunging ticket prices and surprisingly low hotel occupancy, the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix got off to a rough start Thursday night.

Fans got to see eight minutes of the first practice session before racing was stopped when an issue on the course led to the damage of multiple vehicles.

A water valve cover on the course ...Read more

Mark Thompson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Max Verstappen says he looked 'like a clown' at F1 opening ceremony

Sports / Auto Racing /

LAS VEGAS — Max Verstappen, the three-time world drivers’ champion, isn’t in Las Vegas for the show. All the Red Bull driver wants to do is race, again making known his annoyances with the spectacle of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix.

“I think it is 99 percent show, 1 percent sporting event,” Verstappen said Wednesday at an opening...Read more

Formula One's return to Las Vegas makes for a unique spectacle

Sports / Auto Racing /

LAS VEGAS — Sin City is ready for a Formula One redo.

After 41 years, Formula One racing is back in the splashiest of ways with the Las Vegas Grand Prix and a course that runs down the Las Vegas Strip, as opposed to the flop of a first try from 1981-82.

That version was held in the parking lot of Caesars Palace and in sweltering heat.

There...Read more

Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images North America/TNS

Las Vegas loves a winner? Then meet reigning king of Formula One.

Sports / Auto Racing /

LAS VEGAS — Max Verstappen, the three-time Formula One World Drivers’ Champion, isn’t particularly excited about coming to Las Vegas.

The undeniable favorite for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, Verstappen doesn’t plan to spend much time in the city once the race is complete.

“I think we are there more for the show than the racing...Read more

L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

How a Netflix show helped bring Formula One back to Las Vegas

Sports / Auto Racing /

LAS VEGAS — Formula One is returning to Las Vegas for the first time in more than four decades. A reality show on Netflix is a major reason why.

F1, considered the pinnacle of worldwide motor sports, has a long history in the United States. Yet F1’s American viewership stagnated for decades until the debut of Netflix’s “Formula One: ...Read more

Chris Graythen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Now that Ryan Blaney is crowned NASCAR Cup champion, a too-early look ahead to 2024

Sports / Auto Racing /

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Not two hours after Ryan Blaney celebrated with a burnout on the frontstretch of Phoenix Raceway as NASCAR’s newly minted champion, he was asked about the future.

About who he’d be racing against for the sport’s top prize next year.

About a new generation.

“It’s nice that these younger drivers, the newer guys, ...Read more

Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Ryan Blaney wins the NASCAR Cup Series championship in Phoenix

Sports / Auto Racing /

AVONDALE, Ariz. —Ryan Blaney has won the NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Sunday’s championship race at Phoenix Raceway came down to the wire. Christopher Bell was eliminated after a brake rotor failure early in Stage 2, and Kyle Larson, William Byron and Blaney ran in the Top 10 for most of the race.

That trio held down the second to ...Read more

Sean Gardner/Getty Images North America/TNS

With youngest Championship 4 field, NASCAR's Cup Series future will be on display

Sports / Auto Racing /

AVONDALE, Ariz. — It took Christopher Bell a second to remember the age of the youngest driver in the NASCAR Cup Series — a field that seems to get younger and younger by the year.

It didn’t detract from his larger point, though.

“I love this sport because you have guys like Ty Gibbs, who — I think he just turned 21, right?” Bell ...Read more

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images North America/TNS

What NASCAR president said about 2024 media rights, charter deals as deadlines loom

Sports / Auto Racing /

AVONDALE, Ariz. — There are three obvious questions hanging over NASCAR when it comes to the end of its media rights deal in 2024 and the dawn of its new one in 2025 — and sanctioning body president Steve Phelps addressed them right off the bat.

“What it looks like? I don’t know,” Phelps said Friday. “Are we getting toward the end ...Read more

Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS

Christopher Bell wins Homestead's 4EVER 400, punches spot in Cup Series Championship 4

Sports / Auto Racing /

Christopher Bell has punched his ticket into the NASCAR Cup Series’ Championship 4.

Bell, the 28-year-old driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota Camry, edged Ryan Blaney by nearly 1.7 seconds to win the 4EVER 400 at Homestead Miami-Speedway on Sunday that featured a hectic, caution-filled finish over the final 55 laps that knocked out ...Read more

MATIAS J. OCNER/Miami Herald/MATIAS J. OCNER

Martin Truex Jr. wins pole for Homestead's 4EVER 400. Full start list after qualifying.

Sports / Auto Racing /

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Martin Truex Jr. will start in pole position for the NASCAR Cup Series’ 4EVER 400 on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Truex, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota Camry, ran the fastest lap in the final round of qualifying on Saturday, completing the one-and-half mile track in 32.256 seconds, barely ahead of Bubba ...Read more

Henry Payne/The Detroit News/TNS

Henry Payne: Penske, Cadillac vie for title this weekend in new era of hybrid sportscar racing

Sports / Auto Racing /

Two of Metro Detroit’s highest-profile business brands will be vying this weekend to bring home America’s most prestigious sportscar trophy.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Team Penske (aligned with its manufacturing partner and European racing legend, Porsche AG) and General Motors Co.’s Cadillac division go into the final race of the IMSA...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Paul Sullivan: Welcoming back NASCAR's Chicago Street Race and hoping for a new course to showcase the city

Sports / Auto Racing /

CHICAGO — NASCAR fans are rejoicing over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s decision to welcome the sport back to Chicago next summer for another shot at finishing their race.

As some may recall, the inaugural Chicago Street Race, the first street race in Cup Series history, was mired by historic rain that forced organizers to delay the start by about...Read more

HYOSUB SHIN / AJC/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

From Mexico to Huntersville: Daniel Suarez reflects on journey to NASCAR Cup Series

Sports / Auto Racing /

One Saturday in Monterrey, Mexico, an 11-year-old Daniel Suarez saw a go-kart attached to a trailer.

It belonged to a customer at his father’s restoration shop, and prompted a young Suarez to become enamored with cars. When that customer’s son was unable to race at a nearby track one week, Suarez was invited to fill the open spot. He loved ...Read more

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images North America/TNS

Love him or hate him, Denny Hamlin is in NASCAR Cup Series playoff contention -- again

Sports / Auto Racing /

Denny Hamlin has never felt his car was faster.

Whether he’s racing at a short track or a road course, Hamlin finds himself routinely driving down pit road looking to break even or gain points.

Since his late wreck at Darlington that dropped him to 25th in the first NASCAR Cup Series playoff race, no driver has been better than Hamlin. He ...Read more