NASCAR playoffs go to Watkins Glen, IndyCar finale at Nashville, F1 returns to track in Azerbaijan
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
Go Bowling at The Glen
Site: Watkins Glen, New York.
Schedule: Saturday, practice, 11:30 p.m.; qualifying, 1 p.m.; Sunday, race, 3 p.m. (USA Network).
Track: Watkins Glen International.
Race distance: 90 laps, 220.5 miles.
Last year: William Byron won his first-ever Cup Series road course event, leading 66 of 90 laps and finishing nearly three seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin. Two more Joe Gibbs Racing drivers rounded out the top five with Christopher Bell third and Ty Gibbs fifth. Kaulig Racing's AJ Allmendinger was between the JGR drivers in fourth.
Last race: Two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano began his try for a third title in strong fashion with a win in Atlanta and advanced him into the round of 12. Logano got a push from Team Penske teammate and defending champion Ryan Blaney on a final restart and took the checkered flag in overtime when a crash on the last lap ended the race with Logano out front. Daniel Suarez was second, Blaney third and Christopher Bell fourth.
Fast facts: Blaney's strong showing put him atop the driver standings after Atlanta. Bell is second with regular-season champion Tyler Reddick third. ... 2022 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson led in playoff points entering Atlanta, but he was involved in an early wreck with another playoff participant, Chase Briscoe, and finished 35th in the race. Larson is 10th in the playoff standings, 15 points above the cut line. ... Those on the wrong side of the bubble include past champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. Keselowski is one point in back of 12th-place Ty Gibbs. Truex, retiring after this season, is 19 points behind Gibbs.
Next race: Sept. 22, Bristol, Tennessee.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
Mission 200 at the Glen
Site: Watkins Glen, New York.
Schedule: Saturday, practice, 9:30 a.m.; qualifying, 10 a.m.; race, 3 p.m. (USA Network)
Track: Watkins Glen International.
Race distance: 82 laps, 200.9 miles.
Last year: Sam Mayer bumped Ty Gibbs on the final restart to take the lead and win at Watkins Glen. Gibbs led a race-high 70 of the 86 laps and won the first and second stages at the 11-turn road course. But he could not escape Mayer's aggressive move. Sheldon Creed finished second, followed by Parker Kligerman and Ross Chastain, who, like Gibbs, was a Cup Series regular racing in Xfinity.
Last race: Austin Hill grabbed the lead 11 laps from the end to sweep both Xfinity races in Atlanta this season. It was Hill's fourth Xfinity win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track. Hill received a push on the final lap from Corey Heim, who was making his first superspeedway start in the Xfinity Series. Chandler Smith tried to pass Hill low on the last lap and nosed in front of Hill's bumper. But Heim stayed high behind Hill and both cleared Smith. Heim tried a pass of his own before brushing the wall to lose momentum.
Fast facts: Two races remain in the regular season, with Bristol following Watkins Glen to set the 12-team playoffs. ... Xfinity's postseason starts in Kansas on Sept. 28 with Talladega and the Charlotte Roval making up the rest of the first round. The field will be cut to eight drivers after those three races. ... Justin Allgaier hold the regular-season points lead by 34 points over defending Xfinity champ Cole Custer. ... Chandler Smith is third and Austin Hill fourth. ... Sammy Smith has the 12th and final playoff spot, leading Ryan Sieg by 44 points. A pair of first time winners, though, in the final two regular-season races could push Smith outside the postseason.
Next race: Sept. 21, Bristol, Tennessee.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
NASCAR TRUCK SERIES
Last race: There was an unexpected winner in the Truck Series’ opening playoff race with 22-year-old Layne Riggs winning his first ever race at the Milwaukee Mile three weeks ago. Riggs was not part of the 10-team playoff chase, but he held off championship contender Ty Majeski for the victory.
Fast Facts: The series is off until Bristol next week. ... The playoff field will be cut from 10 to eight after races at Bristol and Kansas. ... Christian Eckes, who finished third behind Riggs, leads the playoff standings. After one race, Ben Rhodes and Rajah Caruth are behind the cut line, ninth and 10th in the standings. ... Riggs, the son of former NASCAR driver Scott Riggs, dislocated his shoulder celebrating his landmark victory. The team popped it back in place.
Next race: Sept. 19, Bristol, Tennessee.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
FORMULA 1
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Site: Baku, Azerbaijan.
Schedule: Friday, practice 1, 5:30 a.m.; practice 2, 9 a.m.; Saturday, practice, 4:30 p.m.; qualifying, 8 a.m.; Sunday, race, 7 p.m. (ESPN).
Track: Baku City Circuit.
Race distance: 51 laps, 306.049 kilometers (190.170 miles).
Last year: Sergio Perez took advantage of a fortunately timed safety car to beat Max Verstappen to the victory, adding it to the sprint event he secured there. Pérez took the lead when he managed to save time pitting during a safety car period after Verstappen had come in a lap earlier. The two didn’t fight for position after that, but Pérez said they “pushed to the maximum” as he fought to keep the lead. Verstappen finished second and Charles Leclerc third.
Last race: One pit stop turned out to be enough for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari, which earned a rare victory in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Leclerc held off Oscar Piastri and McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who started on the pole. Ferrari’s one-stop strategy paid off for Leclerc as he won his second race this season. Max Verstappen’s struggles continued with a sixth-place finish that extended his longest drought since 2020 to six races.
Fast facts: Defending series champion Max Verstappen has a 62-point lead over Lando Norris with eight races left. Charles Leclerc is 86 points behind in third. ... F1 racers head to Singapore next week before a month-long break until resuming the series in the United States with a a race in Austin, Texas, in mid-October. ... Verstappen had won seven of the first 10 races, the last which came in Spain in late June. But Verstappen has had only two podium finishes in the past six races.
Next race: Sept. 22, Singapore.
Online: http://www.formula1.com
INDYCAR
Big Machine Music City Grand Prix
Site: Lebanon, Tennessee.
Schedule: Saturday, practice 1, 11 a.m.; qualifying, 2:15 p.m.; practice 2, 5:15 p.m.; Sunday, race, 3 p.m. (NBC).
Track: Nashville Superspeedway.
Race distance: 206 laps, 267.8 miles.
Last year: Kyle Kirkwood won the event, which was a held down at the Nashville Street Circuit. Kirkwood led 34 laps to finish ahead of pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin. Alex Palou was third, followed by Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon.
Last races: Scott McLaughlin and Pato O’Ward took 250-mile twin races two weeks ago at the Milwaukee Mile. McLaughlin, a New Zealand native, steered his Team Penske Chevy to victory on Sunday, holding off the Honda of countryman and Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon by .4558 seconds for his third win this season. Penske teammate and two-time series champion Will Power appeared to have wiped out a 43-point deficit to series leader Alex Palou before spinning out and finishing 10th, blowing a huge chance to snatch control first place from Palou with the CGR driver sidelined by an electrical issue. The night before, O’Ward dominated for 133 of 250 laps in his Arrow McLaren Racing Chevy for his third win this season.
Fast Facts: Alex Palou holds a 33-point lead over Will Power heading into this year's season finale. Palou is looking for a second straight championship and third in four years. ... IndyCar is running at Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2008 because of construction downtown. ... Scott McLaughlin is 50 points behind in third. ... The event at Nashville Superspeedway will mark IndyCar’s first finale on an oval in a decade. Nashville has hosted eight IndyCar events.
Online: http://www.indycar.com
NHRA DRAG RACING
Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, Mohnton, Pennsylvania.
Last event: Clay Millican won the Top Fuel class while Austin Prock won Funny Car at the prestigious U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Millican qualified 13th in his dragster but beat Steve Torrance (sixth), covering the track in 3.792 seconds at 327.82 mph for his first win this season and seventh overall. Prock outdueled Ron Capps for his fifth win this season.
Fast facts: Doug Kalitta leads Justin Ashley by just 36 points with Shawn Langdon 50 back and Torrance 55 behind. Prock leads Funny Car by 348 points over Bob Tasca III, followed by Matt Hagan, J.R. Todd and Capps.
Next event: Sept. 20-22, Concord, North Carolina.
Online: http://www.nhra.com
WORLD OF OUTLAWS
Nashville West Showdown, Bakersfield, California; Federated Auto Parts Yosemite Showdown, Merced, California.
Last events: Michael "Buddy” Kofoid passed leader Shane Golobic and held on through heavy lapped traffic to win at Stockton Dirt Track. The victory followed up Kofoid's success at Huset's High Bank Nationals in Brandon, South Dakota, a week earlier. On Saturday, Carson Macedo won the Tom Tarlton Classic at Kings Speedway in Hanford, California. Macedo's win came in an event that honors Tarlton, Macedo's great uncle. The Tarlton family gave the teenage Macedo a chance to run in their No. 21 car to learn his craft.
Fast facts: Macedo's eighth win of the season pushed him to second in the driver's standings, where he's 110 points behind leader David Gravel. Donny Schatz is third, 134 points behind Gravel.
Next events: Sept. 20-21, Tulare, California.
Online: http://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars
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