Hi! Alanis King here. I'm at the U.S. Grand Prix this weekend, driving the new Honda Civic Type R beforehand and playing pingpong with Pierre Gasly. We'll cover the weekend's happenings when the dust has settled. Today we'll focus on NASCAR. It was a dramatic week for the sport. |
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| Sean Gardner | Getty Images NASCAR Suspends Bubba Wallace for a Race About 100 laps into last weekend's NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, drivers Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson were racing side by side. Larson squeezed Wallace up the track and into the wall. Their cars bounced off each other and kept going (for a few feet, at least). Wallace then shot down the track, hitting Larson's right rear and slamming himself, Larson, and innocent bystander Christopher Bell into the wall at speed. All three drivers were done for the day. This was particularly bad for Bell, the only one of the three still competing for a Cup championship this year. Wallace then tried to fight Larson, who said the "steering was gone" after his contact with the wall, which caused the crash. (In NASCAR, the precedent is that once a driver admits to a move being intentional, penalizing them is far easier.) NASCAR deemed the wreck to be intentional and suspended Wallace for one race. It's the first suspension of a Cup driver for an on-track incident in seven years. Last time, NASCAR parked Matt Kenseth for two races after he wrecked race leader Joey Logano. A suspension was NASCAR's only option. While its penalties for intentional contact have been wildly inconsistent this year, two other drivers are currently sidelined because of concussions or concussion-like injuries sustained in the Cup Series's new race car. No one wants to risk wrecking that car accidentally; NASCAR must make sure its drivers aren't doing it intentionally either. |
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images NASCAR Gets One Step Closer to Racing in the Rain on Ovals My good pal Bozi Tatarevic broke the news for Road & Track earlier this week: NASCAR is closer to using rain tires on oval short tracks. NASCAR currently uses rain tires only on road courses, meaning many oval races suffer from weather delays when it rains. NASCAR has tested rain tires on its shorter ovals for a while now. Sources say that for the 2023 season, rain tires will be available at certain short tracks, including Phoenix Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which range from half a mile to a mile in length. The tires are aimed at use on wet surfaces, rather than true rain racing, but the availability of any wet tire represents a huge improvement. Currently, NASCAR parks the field at the slightest hint of rain on ovals. Then the drying trucks come out, and tens of thousands of fans are left sitting on their hands. If teams can just slap rain tires on the cars and get back out there when the weather lightens up, races can restart sooner while the track dries naturally. |
Sean Gardner | Getty Images Kurt Busch Steps Away from Full-Time Racing In his hometown of Las Vegas last Saturday, longtime NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch announced that he wouldn't return to full-time racing next year. Busch recently turned 44, which is close to the normal retirement age for many top NASCAR drivers. But his situation isn't normal. Busch hasn't raced since July, when he crashed during qualifying at Pocono Raceway and got a concussion. It was a single-car wreck that didn't look awful, but he hit the wall at a specific angle: the right-rear corner of NASCAR's Next Gen car, which is new for this year. Drivers have reported more pain in Next Gen crashes, and impacts to the right-rear corner of the car have been particularly hard. Alex Bowman had a similar hit to Busch's in September and hasn't raced since because of concussion-like symptoms. Now NASCAR plans to change the car's rear crash structure to soften impacts next year. Bozi broke down the changes for Road & Track here. Busch didn't blame the Pocono crash or the Next Gen car for his stepping away, but he did say he's not fully back to normal from it. "There's not one moment or one circumstance that has led to this decision," Busch told reporters Saturday. "It's a layer of things. I've wrecked a lot of shit in my life—old cars, new cars—and over the years, things add up. "Different wrecks this year have made it tough. Then with the accident at Pocono, it's, again, part of everything that's kind of added up. I know I'm not 100 percent in my ability to go out and race at the top level in the NASCAR Cup Series." Busch got choked up making his announcement, and I did too. He's had a real comeback arc in NASCAR, from young hothead to older guy everybody really likes, and it's sad that he didn't get a proper retirement tour. But he said he's at peace with it. "I was close to the end of my contract and that full drive for a championship run; it just happened a little sooner," Busch said. "But to race part-time and to enjoy things with a little less pressure, I think that will help fulfill things and close that door." |
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What's Coming Up This Weekend? |
Hello! Motorsports editor Fred Smith here with this weekend's racing schedule. F1 and NASCAR highlight the weekend, with two very different sets of stakes: NASCAR Cup Series: Homestead-Miami Speedway
Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC This round, the Round of 8, is the heart of the modern NASCAR Cup Series championship format. Elite teams and drivers expect to make the playoffs, survive two rounds of elimination, and effectively begin fighting for their championship in these last four races. This year, however, many of those elite drivers did not make it this far. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and reigning champion Kyle Larson are among the former series champions who missed the final two rounds of the playoffs this season, leaving room for five drivers who have never made a Championship 4. With former champion and expected contender Joey Logano already locked in for the Championship 4 round at Phoenix, seven drivers are fighting for three remaining spots over the next two races. Two of those drivers, Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott, are more than 15 points clear of the cutoff line as it stands today. One, Christopher Bell, is more than 15 points behind it. In both cases, the gaps are relatively insignificant; strong stage finishes can erase deficits, and poor finishes can exacerbate them. This is an all-out brawl, with Elliott and Denny Hamlin serving as the only perennial contenders in the group. At least one driver (but maybe two or three) who was never expected to contend for a title will head to Phoenix with an even shot at one. That makes Homestead a very significant race. If Sunday's overall winner comes from that group of seven, that driver will both secure a spot for the forthcoming championship round in Phoenix and cut the line down to six drivers grappling for just a pair of championship spots in the Championship 4. Winning at Homestead puts a driver in the proverbial driver's seat, sowing chaos for the two other drivers they'll fight for a championship in Martinsville next weekend. In modern NASCAR, there is no understanding it: This stretch of races determines who will win the series championship. Formula 1: United States Grand Prix
Sunday, 3 p.m., ABC The modern United States Grand Prix was already a successful event before Drive to Survive, but Formula 1's newfound popularity in the U.S. has taken the race to another level. Another expected sellout should make for an unforgettable atmosphere again at the race. The championship, however, is no longer in play. With Max Verstappen already crowned after the Japanese Grand Prix two weeks ago, the USGP stands out as the first event of the season without F1's highest honor at stake. That does not mean the season is over, though. Many major prizes are still available, including second in the drivers' championship, which is currently separated by just one point after 18 races. Red Bull's Sergio Pérez currently leads Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. A top-three finish will be a career high for both. There's also the matter of next season's roster changes. Several drivers are fighting for their future in the sport, with finishes in the points critical to their survival in Formula 1.
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