Author Archives: PressBox

June 1, 2026

Hoffman earns 17th World of Outlaws win, pockets $100,057

Nick Hoffman won the Blaster 57 Special at Mansfield and claimed a boosted six-figure $100,057 winner’s check after local philanthropists Dan and Brenda Niss increased the top prize mid-program, track owner Matt Tifft announced. The Nisses had boosted Friday’s payout to $100,000 for Tyler Erb the night before. The event was part of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.

Hoffman earned the Simpson Quick Time Award in qualifying after rebounding from struggles on Friday, and he won his heat to start the Feature on the front row outside Bilstein Pole winner Garrett Alberson. Hoffman slipped to fourth early as Josh Rice moved through, executed a three-wide pass to regain position, and seized the lead with 11 laps remaining when Alberson hit a bump in Turn 2 and lost momentum. Hoffman rallied to prevail in the Feature.

The victory was Hoffman’s 17th World of Outlaws win and the largest payday of his career. The weekend’s total purse topped $240,000, the winner’s share had originally been $57,000, and the Feature paid $5,700 just to start. Garrett Alberson finished second, Hudson O’Neal third, Tyler Erb fourth, and Brandon Sheppard fifth.
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June 1, 2026

Connor Tierney retires after catastrophic broken jaw at BKFC 90

Connor Tierney announced his retirement from Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship hours after suffering a catastrophic broken jaw that cost him his title at BKFC 90 in Birmingham. In an Instagram story posted after the event, Tierney wrote, “this injury is it for me,” and thanked supporters. He was hospitalized after the fight and the injury was described as serious and said to require major surgery. Footage reshared by part-owner Conor McGregor showed Tierney’s jaw appearing split in two with a visible separation between his teeth, footage described in one report as “disturbing.”
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June 1, 2026

González controls Moto2 as Vietti charges from 16th

At Mugello, Manuel González won the Moto2 race (the intermediate class) by 5.327 seconds, while Brian Uriarte claimed victory in a dramatic Moto3 finish. Andrea Iannone also took Race 2 of the Harley‑Davidson Bagger World Cup for NITI Racing.

In Moto2, González controlled the race to take the win. Celestino Vietti recovered from 16th on the grid to finish second after a decisive final‑lap pass, and Dani Holgado completed the podium. Senna Agius was fourth and Filip Salač fifth. Alonso López served a long‑lap penalty for contact with Álex Escrig and finished sixth; Escrig crashed and was classified DNF. Izan Guevara was seventh, Barry Baltus eighth, Collin Veijer ninth and Deniz Öncü tenth. Guevara had shown single‑lap speed earlier by topping Moto2 FP2 with the only 1:48 lap in that session.

The Moto3 race featured a frantic late reshuffle. Brian Uriarte took the win after a chaotic closing sequence, Álvaro Carpe was second and Hakim Danish third. Several riders — including two Aspar teammates — dropped back with late mistakes. Adrián Fernández finished fourth, Joel Esteban fifth and Eddie O’Shea secured a career‑best sixth after briefly running second on the last lap. David Muñoz, Veda Pratama, Joel Kelso and Jesús Ríos rounded out the top 10. Carpe had led Moto3 FP2, underlining his race pace.

The MotoGP weekend mixed blistering speed with tyre and equipment questions. Marco Bezzecchi set a new all‑time lap record at Mugello in qualifying to claim pole and also topped the warm‑up session, but his championship lead was cut to 12 points after he missed the Sprint podium. Fabio Di Giannantonio finished third in the Sprint and had earlier dominated practice despite a technical issue that left him with only one GP26 for qualifying. Jorge Martín recorded a new MotoGP top‑speed mark, and Ducati showed strong pace through Friday running; Francesco Bagnaia warned of heavy soft‑rear degradation. Michelin reported a wet morning that dried to about 44°C, recommended the medium front as a reference and left final rear choices pending. Officials set the Sunday grand prix distance at 23 laps. Marc Márquez — declared fit to continue after returning to action following surgery to remove irritating metalwork — started fourth on the grid. Luca Marini received a three‑place grid drop, moving him to 19th.

Other notes: Andrea Iannone won Race 2 of the Harley‑Davidson Bagger World Cup for NITI Racing at Mugello.
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June 1, 2026

Vowles dismisses transfer rumours, reaffirms Sainz-Albon pairing

James Vowles insisted he has “zero doubt” that Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon are the driver pairing he wants to keep for the foreseeable future, dismissing suggestions either is seeking an exit as the mid-season “silly season” approaches. Vowles said both drivers want to remain “part of this journey,” credited them with galvanizing the team through a difficult winter, and noted Sainz signed a multi-year deal for 2025 while Albon joined in 2022 and signed a multi-year extension in 2024. Sainz publicly welcomed the Grove operation’s recent hires and the team’s action plan.

Williams has slipped from fifth in the 2025 Constructors’ Championship to eighth early in 2026, sitting on seven points from the first five rounds and scoring points on four occasions. The team traced the slide largely to an overweight FW48, winter production delays and challenges adapting to new regulations. Vowles said the engineering response included roughly 32 distinct work streams delivered between Japan and Miami, focused on weight reduction and a substantial aero package, with specific changes to the floor, bodywork, exhaust positioning, rear suspension and turbo/power-unit usage that he said have narrowed the gap to the works teams.

Grove has recruited senior personnel from rivals including McLaren, Mercedes and Alpine and appointed former McLaren COO Piers Thynne to a senior role. Vowles said “the organization has changed and can quickly add performance,” but he acknowledged more visible progress is required and that drivers’ continued commitment will depend on on-track improvement. He framed his comments against expected driver-market movement in 2026, dismissed transfer rumours, and maintained that the setbacks will not derail Williams’ roadmap toward a significant performance step in 2028 and the ambition to fight for championships by 2030. Sainz’s recent recovery, including back-to-back ninth-place finishes in Miami and Canada and reaching the final stage of Sprint qualifying in Montreal, offered a platform Williams hopes to build on at the Monaco Grand Prix.
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June 1, 2026

Interstate Batteries’ Reutzel reclaims lead after Lawrenceburg flip

Aaron Reutzel redeemed himself with a comeback victory at Butler Motor Speedway on May 30, 2026, winning the Mace Thomas Classic and reclaiming the championship points lead for Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing. The win came a day after Reutzel flipped in turn four at Lawrenceburg Speedway following contact with Tanner Thorson while driving for Ridge & Sons Racing, an incident that briefly cost him the points advantage.

At Butler the Rod Gross Motorsports No. 88 led the opening 17 laps before slowing with mechanical trouble, and Reutzel took the lead on Lap 18. He navigated lap traffic and held on to win by 0.750 seconds, crossing the finish at 9:14 p.m. The victory was Reutzel’s sixth series win of the 2026 season and the 13th of his career. Brent Marks posted a season-best second-place finish in the No. 19, and Tyler Courtney finished third for Clauson-Marshall Racing in the NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC.
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June 1, 2026

Kitchen clocks 17:02.837, fastest 2:22.717 on Kawasaki

Round 1 at Fox Raceway in Pala opened the Pro Motocross season and produced an early pecking order in 250 qualifying, with Levi Kitchen topping the combined times. Kitchen logged a combined qualifying time of 17:02.837 and posted the fastest lap at 2:22.717 aboard a Kawasaki KX250. Julien Beaumer was second on a KTM 250 SX-F Factory Edition, 1.065 seconds back, and Caden Dudney third on a Yamaha YZ250F, 1.353 seconds off the lead; Lux Turner and Chance Hymas rounded out the top five. The published combined results (two sessions) listed 64 riders and included lap times and machine information for each 250 entry.

The Pala stop also counted as round 18 of SuperMotocross, with points from both series combining toward post-season playoff positioning. Defending champion Jett Lawrence returned for his first gate drop of the season, while former 450 champions Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton and Dylan Ferrandis were identified as primary challengers; Haiden Deegan made his 450-class debut at the event. The 250 class remained unsettled, and the report projected a new 250-class champion by the end of the season.
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June 1, 2026

Darren Till stops Aaron Chalmers in second round at BKFC 90

Darren Till made his bare-knuckle debut and scored a stoppage victory over Aaron Chalmers in the co-main event at BKFC 90 at Utilita Arena in Birmingham. Chalmers dropped Till early, but in the second round Till knocked down Chalmers and the referee completed a 10-count, ending the bout by decisive stoppage. The light heavyweight fight was Till’s first outing under a three-fight BKFC deal he signed in April.

Till left the UFC in 2022 and spent the intervening period in boxing and other combat activity before his BKFC debut. Sources reported he compiled four boxing wins, and one account described those bouts as including exhibition and influencer matches and noted he made his professional boxing debut last year against Luke Rockhold, so reports vary on whether all four wins were professional. Till weighed 188.8 pounds at the BKFC 90 weigh-ins, his lightest recorded weight since December 2022, after earlier moving up from welterweight to middleweight in the UFC and later bulking up to just under 200 pounds for his first pro boxing match. Chalmers weighed 187.8 pounds at the weigh-ins, entered BKFC 90 2-0 in BKFC, and brought a crossover résumé that included a 5-2 MMA record from BAMMA and Bellator and an exhibition with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2023.

BKFC 90’s headline bout was Connor Tierney versus Rico Franco for the interim BKFC welterweight title. A brawl between Tierney and Franco broke out during the face-offs at the weigh-ins, briefly overshadowing the Till–Chalmers stare-down. MMA Fighting provided live results and play-by-play coverage of the event.
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May 30, 2026

Márquez grabs Mugello holeshot, fades to fifth as fatigue bites

Marc Márquez said the corrective shoulder operation that removed two damaged screws and a piece of bone had achieved its main objective, ending the numbness in his right arm and allowing the radial nerve to begin working again, a recovery sign he illustrated by saying, “Being able to write my sprint notes by hand was a good sign.” Trackside medical checks and post-session nerve tests cleared him to ride at Mugello, but Márquez and team doctors reported ongoing pains and altered sensations as muscles readapted, and he acknowledged the arm has been opened multiple times during his long rehabilitation.
On track the medical progress showed in bursts of speed but not sustained race fitness. Márquez rode cautiously in practice, moving from 15th in FP1 to a top-six practice time that secured Q2 entry. Reports vary on his final grid slot, with some sources saying he qualified fourth and others saying sixth. He grabbed the holeshot and briefly led the 11-lap sprint before finishing fifth about 10 seconds behind the winner, and he said his energy dropped over consecutive laps. Márquez and his team noted he still loses time in right-hand corners and on rapid direction changes, and he estimated he was roughly half a second slower than the top riders over race distance.
Márquez framed Mugello as a step in a patient, step-by-step rehabilitation rather than an immediate return to full competitiveness. He warned fatigue could make the full Grand Prix harder and said, “I’m not even ready for a top-five finish,” while giving no firm timeline for 100 percent recovery, suggesting it could take weeks or “a month or two.” Team management urged caution on a demanding circuit, and analysts suggested a podium was unlikely on his return while a top-eight finish would be a realistic positive. The short-term focus remained rebuilding strength, endurance and race rhythm after recent foot and shoulder operations as Márquez aims for gradual performance gains in upcoming rounds.
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May 30, 2026

Macedo dives under Gravel with four laps left to win River Cities

Carson Macedo charged from ninth and dove under David Gravel with four laps remaining to win the 40-lap World of Outlaws feature at River Cities Speedway. He made the pass down the front straightaway in the first leg of the Northern Tour Don Mack Classic; Gravel countered with a slide job through Turns 3 and 4, but Macedo cleared him on the following circuit and pulled away to the checkered flag.

Gravel finished second for his series-best 14th podium this season, while rookie Kasey Jedrzejek (Bill Rose Racing No. 6) scored his first career World of Outlaws podium in third. Chris Windom was fourth and Sheldon Haudenschild fifth.

The victory moved Macedo into sole possession of second in the standings, cutting the gap to series leader David Gravel to 114 points and tightening the championship picture.

It was Macedo’s 61st career World of Outlaws win and his third at River Cities Speedway, tying him with Craig Dollansky for the second-most wins at the quarter-mile facility. The result was Jason Johnson Racing’s third win of the season.
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