Author Archives: PressBox

August 8, 2026

Chase Briscoe Buys Brent Marks Racing, Launches New Team

Chase Briscoe has acquired Brent Marks Racing, rebranding the team as Chase Briscoe Racing in the High Limit Sprint Car Series and setting it up as a full-time operation with 410 winged sprint cars. Brent Marks will remain the primary driver and serve as general manager, and Magical Vacation Planners has signed on as the organization’s first new sponsor.

Briscoe said the purchase brought him back into sprint car racing, connected to his family’s 50-year, three-generation history in the sport and gave him a chance to build a national team and create opportunities for developing racers. He also said he wanted an ownership stake because winged sprint car racing has room to grow commercially, pointing to High Limit’s TV exposure on FS1, Amazon Prime and Flo, along with its charter model. Briscoe called the move a childhood dream and said it gave him an established elite organization and a full-time car on a national tour.

Marks said he initially thought Briscoe’s interest was a joke before deciding to sell after losing business support from Allen Murray last year. He said the move would ease the burden of running the family team and let him focus more on driving. Marks finished third in the 2025 High Limit standings with five wins, and he has won marquee races including the Kings Royal, the Historical Big One and the Williams Grove National Open. Briscoe first contacted Marks in the spring, and Christopher Bell praised the deal as good for dirt-track racing.
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August 8, 2026

C.J. Leary wins Iowa 100 in Silver Crown return

C.J. Leary won Saturday night’s Iowa 100 at Iowa Speedway, giving the event its first USAC Silver Crown race since 2015. Leary started fifth, moved to second by lap 24 and took the lead when Chase Cabre’s car lost power on lap 47. Leary then led the final 54 laps to beat teammate Mario Clouser for a Team AZ Racing/Petty-Rossi/Curb-Agajanian 1-2 finish. It was Leary’s first career visit to Iowa Speedway and his seventh career USAC Silver Crown victory, tying Jerry Coons Jr., Rick Hood and George Snider for 18th on the all-time wins list.

The win also stretched Leary’s championship lead from 36 points to 45. Iowa Speedway’s return to Silver Crown racing came during a busy weekend at the track, which also featured NASCAR national series competition on the 7/8-mile oval in Newton, Iowa.
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August 8, 2026

Schuchart Earns Second Ironman 55 Title at Pevely

Logan Schuchart won the Federated Auto Parts Ironman 55 on Saturday at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park in Pevely, Missouri, leading all 55 laps to collect the $25,000 winner’s purse and the dumbbell trophy. The Shark Racing driver earned his second Ironman 55 title, after also winning the race in 2018, and became the fifth multi-time winner of the event. The victory was Schuchart’s second World of Outlaws win of the season and the 46th of his career, while he and Shark Racing extended their run to 17 top-10 finishes in the last 18 races.

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid charged from 18th to finish second, holding off Carson Macedo, who was third. Donny Schatz finished fourth and Spencer Bayston was fifth, with Emerson Axsom sixth. The 55-lap feature was slowed by cautions, including a lap 11 incident after Schuchart made contact with lap car Danny Dietrich. Dietrich climbed the wall and rolled across the track before exiting his car.

The Ironman 55 capped a weekend at Pevely that began Friday night with Chris Windom’s victory in the 40-lap Night Before the Ironman feature. Windom won his first World of Outlaws race in the event that preceded the $25,000-to-win Ironman 55 at the same track.
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August 7, 2026

F1 plans more Sprint weekends in 2027, Domenicali says

F1 plans to expand its Sprint weekend schedule in 2027 beyond the six Sprint weekends set for 2026, and CEO Stefano Domenicali said the change is expected, with more details to be announced soon. He said F1 wants more Sprint weekends because they boost Friday and overall weekend attendance, while still keeping the format scarce enough to feel like a bonus. In the same discussion, Flavio Briatore argued for a Sprint on every weekend, while Juan Pablo Montoya pushed for a full 24-race Sprint schedule.

The comments came in a recent interview with The Race and after Liberty Media’s second-quarter 2026 results, when F1 reported revenue of $764 million for the three months ended June 2026, down 38% because there were four fewer races. Domenicali also said the new U.S. broadcast deal with Apple lifted viewership and total hours watched by 13%.
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August 7, 2026

Joe Gibbs Racing Extends William Sawalich Through 2027

Joe Gibbs Racing said William Sawalich signed a contract extension that will keep him in the No. 18 SoundGear Toyota GR Supra for the 2027 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season. The 19-year-old will return for what will be his third full-time season with the team, and JGR said longtime sponsor SoundGear will continue to back the entry.

Sawalich earned his first O’Reilly Series victory earlier in 2026 at Rockingham Speedway, where he led 80 laps. One source identified that win as the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 on April 4. He has put together a strong 2026 campaign with six top-five finishes, nine top-10 finishes and one pole, though he also has four DNFs and remains below the Chase cutline, seven points behind Taylor Gray for the 12th and final spot and 29 points behind Sam Mayer in 10th. He ranks ninth among full-time drivers with 131 laps led and has improved his average finish from 18.9 as a rookie to 16.6 this season.

Sawalich joined Joe Gibbs Racing in late 2022, won two ARCA Menards East championships and scored 20 ARCA victories before making his O’Reilly Series debut in 2024 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He raced full-time in the series in 2025 and said he was excited to keep building with the organization. Team owner Heather Gibbs said the No. 18 team is expected to build on its success through the rest of 2026 and into 2027.
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August 7, 2026

Bulega tops Mugello MotoGP 850cc prototype test

Nicolò Bulega topped the second and final day of MotoGP’s private 850cc prototype test at Mugello, putting Ducati’s future machine at the head of the two-day run as teams prepared for next year’s major regulation change. Bulega’s best lap was 1:45.859 over 31 laps, a time that was less than two seconds slower than Marco Bezzecchi’s Mugello track record of 1:43.921.

Takaaki Nakagami, who led the opening day on the Honda 850 prototype, finished second on the final day, 1.2 seconds behind Bulega. Lorenzo Savadori was third for Aprilia in 1:47.763, with Dani Pedrosa behind him on the KTM. Reports said no official lap times have been released from the 2027 prototype tests, though sources described Nakagami as the fastest rider on day one and Bulega as the next quickest before he moved to the top on day two.

The two-day test in Tuscany drew test riders from Honda, Ducati, Aprilia and KTM, with Yamaha the only manufacturer not to send a squad. KTM’s day one lineup included Pol Espargaro before he left for Silverstone, and he was due to be absent from the second day for the same reason. VR46 team manager Pablo Nieto said he was pleased that Ducati’s 850cc prototype had been fast in Bulega’s private Mugello test, saying Ducati was doing very good work on the new machine and that the new era would be important for everyone in MotoGP. Test riders are scheduled to continue at Misano at the end of the month.
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August 7, 2026

Bottas Says Cadillac Can Still Turn F1 Debut Into Success

Valtteri Bottas’s first season with Cadillac has been defined by the team’s struggles to score points, but the veteran driver said he still believes the project can turn into a success. Bottas and Sergio Perez became Cadillac’s first Formula 1 drivers, and the U.S. team’s debut campaign has brought a series of firsts that have impressed many people in the paddock. Speaking during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend as the season reached the August break, Bottas said his best years in Formula 1 are still ahead and that he appreciates life in the series more than ever after a year away from the grid.

Cadillac reached the summer break as the only team without a point, though Bottas said the outfit has already improved its pace, reliability and trackside operations. He said the team’s short-term targets are to reach Q2 in qualifying and then score points, but added that the car still needs more speed and reliability. Bottas’s early season was disrupted by five retirements, with his best finish for Cadillac coming in 13th place in China, and brake problems forced him to stop at the Hungaroring. He said he hoped Cadillac would have a fix for Zandvoort after the break.

Bottas, who has 257 Grand Prix starts, 10 wins and 67 podium finishes, said helping build a team from scratch would make any future success more rewarding. He spent 2025 away from full-time racing after losing his Kick Sauber seat and served as Mercedes’ reserve driver. Guenther Steiner has questioned Bottas’s motivation at Cadillac, saying the Finn has “given up a little bit” and could be the driver replaced if the team changes its lineup, leaving Bottas’s future uncertain.
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August 7, 2026

MotoGP honors Barry Sheene before British Grand Prix

Barry Sheene was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame at a special ceremony in central London ahead of the British Grand Prix, with his son Freddie accepting the medal on his behalf. Freddie Sheene called the honor one for the family and said MotoGP was still commemorating his father nearly 50 years after his 1976 world title. Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta praised Sheene for both his results and his connection with fans, while riders Marco Bezzecchi, Pedro Acosta, Ai Ogura, Diogo Moreira and Cal Crutchlow appeared on stage at the event.

Sheene’s legacy was built on back-to-back premier-class championships in 1976 and 1977, which made him the last British rider to win the top-level world title. He finished his career with 19 wins and 40 podiums across nine full seasons, with all but one of his 19 500cc Grand Prix victories coming on Suzuki motorcycles. His rise began with a podium in his first 125cc race in 1971, a MotoGP debut podium in 1974 and his first premier-class win at the 1975 Dutch TT.

His career also featured high-profile comebacks after serious injuries, including a practice crash at Silverstone in 1982 that ended his title challenge. He raced for two more seasons after that and took his final podium with third place in wet conditions at Kyalami in 1984. Sheene died in 2003 after a battle with cancer, and after racing he became a television personality and mentor in Australia.
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August 6, 2026

Tahiti Pro set for heavy swell at Teahupo’o opener

The Outerknown Tahiti Pro Presented by I-SEA 2026 is set to begin at Teahupo’o on Aug. 8, with the Championship Tour event running through Aug. 18. Forecasts already call for plenty of swell at the reef pass, setting up another test at one of surfing’s most demanding venues, known for its power, shallow reef and heavy barrels. The world’s best surfers are expected to test their commitment and skill in the lineup.

The opening heats include Kelly Slater against Eli Hanneman, with the winner due to face three-time world champion Gabriel Medina in round two. Tya Zebrowski is scheduled to meet Erin Brooks in a highlighted opening heat, and the winner will move on to Carissa Moore. Leo Fioravanti is set to face the winner of Ramzi Boukhiam vs. Oscar Berry.

Fioravanti arrives trying to protect his lead atop the rankings, while Sawyer Lindblad is currently third overall. Lindblad is likely to meet local favorite Vahine Fierro in another matchup, adding more intrigue to a field that will open its waiting period with some of the tour’s biggest names and toughest conditions.
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