NASCAR drivers use break to watch Olympics, support American athletes in Paris Games

Updated Aug. 6, 2024 1:17 p.m. ET

Associated Press

Turns out NASCAR's best are just like many of us — they like watching the Olympics, too.

From Kyle Busch pulling for U.S. gold medal-winning sprinter Noah Lyles, Chase Elliott eager to watch Olympic golf and Joey Logano shouting out Sha'Carri Richardson, several Cup Series contenders have their eyes on Paris.

And why not, with no racing since the series ran the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 21.

Busch said he couldn't wait to watch Lyles run and when the American outleaned Jamaica's Kishane Thompson for gold, the two-time NASCAR champion posted his congratulations.

“Seems this aged well. Great race, @lylesnoah” with a gold-medal emoji, Busch posted on X.

Logano, also a two-time series champ, supported Richardson's run. “She gets speed, at least in a short distance,” Logano said of Richardson, who took the silver medal in the 100 meters this past weekend.

Jimmie Johnson, who knows something about sustained success as a seven-time Cup Series champion, wished American superstar Simone Biles the best. Like Johnson, Biles delivered with a successful “Redemption Tour,” winning team gold and individual honors with golds in the all-around and vault competitions. Biles also took silver in the floor exercise competition.

Elliott, who won the NASCAR title for Hendrick Motorsports in 2020, has gotten more passionate about golf in recent years and sent his thoughts to the U.S. men's team before this past Sunday's final round.

“What’s up guys Chase Elliott here. Just want to take a second and wish Scottie Scheffler, wish all the guys on USA Golf the best of luck in the Olympics,” he said.

Scheffler rallied to surpass John Rahm on the back nine and take the gold.

Not everyone got their wish. Reigning series champion Ryan Blaney sent his support to defending U.S. Open tennis champion Coco Gauff, urging her to win gold. Alas, Gauff, ranked No. 2 in the world, missed out on the podium in her first Olympics.

Few teams got as inventive as Reaume Brothers Racing, which runs three trucks in the NASCAR series. They created the “RBR Olympics,” a series of racing-themed events like the rear spring shot put and drawing the Circuit of the Americas road course from memory.

It's no surprise that NASCAR took off these past two weeks. TV partner NBC Universal is broadcasting the Paris Games on several of its platforms, including streaming channel, Peacock. NASCAR was off two weeks in the summer of 2021 when the COVID-19 impacted Tokyo Games took place.

The break ends with the Cup and Truck series running at Richmond Raceway this weekend.

Along with following the Olympics, some drivers took the free time for personal milestones. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick married longtime girlfriend, Alexa DeLeon, on July 25. Playoff bound Daniel Suarez also got married, to Julia Piquet in a ceremony in Brazil on July 30. Suarez, who drives for Trackhouse Racing, then competed in a NASCAR Brasil Series road race.

Cole Custer, the Xfinity Series defending champion who leads the standings again this season, is now a father as his wife, Kari, gave birth to the couple's first child, Callahan Brian, during the break.

"It's been a great Olympic Break!” Custer posted on social media.

Some racers went, well, racing.

Besides Suarez, Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson spent last weekend running sprint cars at Federated Auto Parts I-55 Speedway in Pevely, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

And Larson did not disappoint, winning featured races on Friday and Saturday. ““That was a fun race. I hope all of you fans enjoyed that,” Larson said after taking the Ironman event Saturday night.

Ross Chastain made his debut in an IMSA car at Road America last week.

It will get harder for NASCAR drivers to pay as much attention, if any, on the Olympics as they prepare for Richmond.

Points leader Larson, who won at Indianapolis three weeks ago in NASCAR's last race, leads the field into a 14-event flourish — no breaks — to the series championship in Phoenix on Nov. 10.

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AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing