Justin Allgaier enters the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase as the No. 1 seed after a six-win regular season, and his 229-point cushion over JR Motorsports teammate Carson Kvapil was reset to 25 points for the start of the nine-race postseason. The Chase opens Saturday night at Darlington Raceway with the Fleetio 200, the first Darlington race in the series to be run under the lights. Allgaier, a four-time winner at Darlington, said the track is fun to race on and that his team is ready to start strong. He also said the schedule fits the No. 7 car well, and he won at Darlington, Phoenix and Martinsville this season.
More-
Verstappen says Red Bull must be realistic at Monza
Max Verstappen said he had fully recovered from the flu-like illness that left him feeling very unwell during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend at Zandvoort. He said the week between races gave him time to rest after several days of illness, which he described as an “awful” weekend. He felt unwell from qualifying onward, before his race ended on the opening lap when he was caught out on a drying track at the final corner.
Looking ahead to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Verstappen said Red Bull had to be realistic about its chances. He said the team first needed to understand the energy-management demands of the high-speed circuit and did not expect “miracles” from a car that must balance engine and battery use in a 50-50 format. Verstappen also said other teams were bringing upgrades and that Red Bull was trying to learn more about the car for next year. At Monza, the FIA said Red Bull again had the best power unit under the second ADUO period, which means the team cannot develop it. Ferrari is also expected to bring an upgraded power unit to Monza. Red Bull is set to run Liam Lawson alongside Verstappen again, with Isack Hadjar still sidelined by a wrist injury.
More -
Marquez Seeks ‘New 100%’ After Seven Shoulder Surgeries
Marc Marquez has laid bare the physical toll of his right shoulder and arm injuries, posting photos that showed a visibly sunken right arm and saying he is still dealing with the aftermath of the crash-related damage from the 2025 Indonesian Grand Prix. Marquez said he is searching for his “new 100%” after seven operations on the right shoulder, with the latest surgery in May to remove two screws that had been compressing his radial nerve. He said the nerve is now working normally, but the arm looked clearly different from his left side in the images he shared.
Marquez has said the arm will never be the same as it was in 2019, or even a year ago, and that he must adapt to the condition. His comments followed a British MotoGP weekend in which he finished seventh and said he had “no control” of his right arm and was not physically able to push at full intensity for an entire weekend. He said he had to manage his effort on Fridays so he could be stronger on Saturdays and Sundays, and he has become frustrated when asked about his physical limitations.
Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi said doctors had been too optimistic about Marquez’s recovery and warned that he may still struggle at some tracks because of the lingering effects of the injury. Even so, Marquez has kept himself in the title fight. He won both the sprint and the Grand Prix at Aragon, extending his unbeaten record there with Ducati since 2024, and moved into second in the standings, 19 points behind Jorge Martin.
More -
Houshmand Beats Medina at Fiji Pro, Rejoins Top-22 Hunt
Cole Houshmand won the men’s final at the Fiji Pro at Cloudbreak, defeating Gabriel Medina despite Medina’s perfect 10-point ride. Houshmand backed up an 8.5 barrel score with an 8.37 in the final, earned his third career Championship Tour victory and moved from 27th to 17th in the rankings, putting him back into the top-22 requalification range.
Erin Brooks won the women’s event after Isabella Nichols withdrew with a high ankle sprain. Brooks had already posted the event’s only other 10-point ride in round one, then defeated Caroline Marks, Vahine Fierro and Carissa Moore. The victory gave Brooks her second consecutive Championship Tour win and lifted her from 18th to eighth in the season standings.
Italo Ferreira, Leo Fioravanti and Yago Dora were atop the men’s title race after the Fiji Pro, while Carissa Moore took the women’s lead heading into the Trestles Pro on Sept. 11.
More -
All 10 PBR Teams Head to Ridgedale for Thunder Days
Bass Pro Shops PBR Thunder Days presented by DoorDash will run Sept. 4-6 at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri, as the sixth event of the 2026 PBR Teams season. All 10 PBR Teams will compete in five-on-five bull riding, and the Missouri Thunder will host their first home-state event of the year. The weekend also will feature concerts by Chris Janson and Miranda Lambert at the Missouri venue.
Coverage begins Friday at 7:45 p.m. CT and Saturday at 6:45 p.m. CT, with both nights streaming live on Paramount+. Sunday’s event is set for 2:15 p.m. CT, with the first game streaming exclusively on The CW App at 3:30 p.m. ET before coverage moves to The CW channel for Games 2-5.
Additional Western sports coverage will be available on RidePass and the PBR App, including the PBR Stockyards Showcase and the Stockyards Championship Rodeo.
More -
Monza Tests F1 Energy Limits on Long Straights
F1 returns to Monza for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, and drivers expect the new cars to expose the limits of energy management under the FIA’s reduced 4MJ-per-lap harvesting cap. Lewis Hamilton said the cars will likely be 20 to 30 km/h slower at the end of the straights, and the familiar engine scream into the braking zones may be missing. The lower cap is intended to reduce super clipping and lift-and-coast.
Williams trackside engineer Paul Williams said energy management will be a key factor because Monza’s long straights, slow chicanes and limited braking zones make electrical recovery difficult. He said low-drag aerodynamics, slipstreaming, power deployment, braking stability, traction and qualifying preparation laps will all matter, while DRS and slipstream trains could blunt Monza’s usual overtaking advantage. Monza is also expected to feature four Straight Mode zones. Mike Krack expects slipstreaming to become critical and predicts a record amount of passing and repassing, but Arvid Lindblad said the lack of energy could leave too little speed difference for much overtaking.
Simulator runs suggest the weekend may be less severe than feared, though still awkward. Kimi Antonelli and Esteban Ocon said it could be less severe than expected, while Franco Colapinto and Lindblad called Monza tricky and slow; Lindblad said speed traps will not approach 350 kph and warned that bigger speed differences between push laps and cool laps could create safety issues in practice and qualifying, especially in traffic. Pirelli has brought its softest compounds, and Williams expects left-side tire wear to be the main limit, with a one-stop strategy likely. Williams also estimates a 40% chance of a Safety Car and a 30% chance of a Virtual Safety Car. Ferrari is targeting a strong home race with a special Michael Schumacher tribute livery and updated power unit, aerodynamic changes and rear wing. Antonelli faces a pitlane start after a Mercedes engine change, Haas is bringing a comprehensive update package, and McLaren’s recent form will be tested on Monza’s low-downforce layout.
More -
Earnhardt wants old Mooresville barn in Thunder sequel
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been working with the filmmakers behind the upcoming “Days of Thunder” sequel and says he wants the project to stay closely tied to the 1990 NASCAR film. He has met several times with the writer to answer NASCAR questions, including visits at a replica western town on his property, and told the writer, “Anything you need, call me.” Earnhardt said he is excited to help shape the movie, but expects some parts of the original may not return. He said fans will still look for Easter eggs and familiar references, and he wants the old barn near Mooresville, North Carolina, where parts of the first film were shot, to appear in the sequel even though it has deteriorated over time.
The sequel, announced by Tom Cruise, is due in theaters in June 2028 and is scheduled to begin filming early next year. Cruise will again play Cole Trickle, and Anne Hathaway is set to co-star as a team owner and engineer. Earnhardt said he has met Cruise three times over the years, including for about 20 minutes at Daytona International Speedway last weekend when Cruise attended after the sequel was announced and spoke to the garage before the race.
Interest in the project also reached NASCAR drivers at Media Day, where several said they would welcome cameos or other involvement after meeting Cruise at Daytona. Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson said they would like to appear in the film, with Logano saying a cameo would earn him major “dad points” with his five children. Briscoe said he would be excited to be included, and Larson said he is not an actor. Briscoe said Cruise spent about 20 to 25 minutes with drivers and owners talking about the film’s direction and how NASCAR has changed since the original, which featured Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett and Harry Gant and included a production role for Hendrick Motorsports.
More -
Winless Kyle Larson leans on consistency in playoff title chase
Kyle Larson entered the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs facing a 50-race winless drought, a seventh-place seed and a 55-point deficit to top seed Denny Hamlin after the regular season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who has not won since May 11, 2025, said he still sees a path to another championship if his team is ultra-consistent over the final 10 races, though he acknowledged he is less confident than in past seasons.
Larson pointed to last year’s title run as proof the format still leaves room for a championship without a late-season victory. The current playoff system places more weight on consistency across all 10 Chase races, which makes his title defense more difficult than it was in 2025, when he entered as the No. 1 seed with three wins, 15 top-five finishes and 22 top-10s. This season, he finished the regular campaign with no wins, nine top-fives, 13 top-10s, 659 laps led and a 17.23 average finish.
The playoffs open Sunday with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, where Larson has one win and seven top-five finishes in 17 starts. He also welcomed the move of the championship race from Phoenix Raceway to Homestead-Miami Speedway, saying Phoenix was one of his worst tracks even though he won both of his Cup titles there. Larson also noted that he is the defending winner at Homestead-Miami.
More -
Monza Heat Triggers FIA Cooling Protocol for Drivers
The FIA declared a heat hazard for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza after forecasts showed temperatures in the Milan-Monza area above 35C and a heat index above 31C during the race weekend. The official forecast called for 36C during Friday’s FP2 session, 35C for qualifying and 33C for Sunday’s 3 p.m. local-time race start. Italy is in its sixth heatwave of the summer, and the FIA said the expected conditions met the threshold in Article B1.5.10 of its Formula 1 regulations.
Race director Rui Marques told teams in a Thursday note that the protocol had been triggered. The declaration means drivers must choose between wearing a cooling vest or carrying 0.5kg of ballast on the car instead, after the FIA left the vests optional following driver concerns about comfort and effectiveness. Under the heat hazard rules, teams must fit driver cooling systems, and the added equipment increases the minimum car weight.
Monza is the first Formula 1 event affected by the heat hazard rule since the Austrian Grand Prix in June. The protocol was introduced in 2025 after driver issues at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. Elsewhere on the Monza entry list, Isack Hadjar was ruled out of the race as he continued recovering from a wrist injury suffered in a training incident, after missing the Dutch Grand Prix the previous month. Liam Lawson filled in for him at Zandvoort.
More