PressBox, Author at NXTbets Inc

October 13, 2026

Tom Cruise seeks authentic NASCAR feel for Days of Thunder 2

Tom Cruise wants Days of Thunder 2 to feel like a real NASCAR production, and he has told NASCAR officials at Daytona International Speedway that he wants to treat the sport with respect and give audiences a sense of its speed, excitement and danger, according to The Wall Street Journal. NASCAR executive Steve O’Donnell said Cruise wants the movie to be as authentic as possible, and Cruise has also expressed interest in competing in a legitimate ARCA Menards Series race, though O’Donnell said he was not sure that would happen. O’Donnell also said Cruise has never raced in motorsports before.

Cruise will return as Cole Trickle in the sequel, and Anne Hathaway is set to star alongside him. The movie is scheduled for release on June 2, 2028, and NASCAR expects to build more than 80 race cars for the production, more than the 60 used in the 1990 original film. NASCAR was heavily involved in that first movie and hopes the sequel will bring new fans to the sport.

It remains unclear which tracks will appear in the film or how closely it will follow the modern Cup Series. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Carson Hocevar have already been involved in discussions with the filmmakers.
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October 13, 2026

Mike’s Motive reaches 163 career outs to tie all-time record

Mike’s Motive, a 9-year-old, 1,525-pound bull, tied the all-time career-outs record during PBR Teams’ Ridge Rider Days in Glendale, Arizona. Kansas City Outlaws rider Heitor Santos Ferreira rode Mike’s Motive for 89.35 points on a reride to set the record-tying out, and the Outlaws went on to beat the Nashville Stampede 176.35-171.40.

PBR said Mike’s Motive now has 163 career outs, along with 92 buckoffs, 70 qualified rides and 17 rides of 90 points or more. Owned by Blake Sharp, High Voltage, Wetzel and Knott, Mike’s Motive is regarded as one of the sport’s most dependable and sought-after bulls.

Sharp said he expects Mike’s Motive to break the career-outs record in Las Vegas. He also said the bull is calm and easy to handle outside the arena.
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October 13, 2026

Francesco Bagnaia says Ducati must fix rear grip before Phillip Island

Francesco Bagnaia said Ducati’s rear-grip problem was behind his struggles at Mandalika, calling the team’s step backward over the last two years especially clear at the Indonesian Grand Prix. After qualifying 10th, he finished eighth in the sprint for two points, then crashed out of the grand prix on lap six. Bagnaia said he had “no grip” and “no feeling” on the bike, that it was not supporting him when he asked too much of it, and that Ducati no longer had much connection with the gas on a track that demands speed and grip.

Bagnaia said he had been demanding too much from his GP26 and that Ducati must help him solve the long-running rear-grip issue before the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island from October 23-25. He warned the problem could be “very problematic” there.

Bagnaia is ninth in the MotoGP standings with 166 points, six behind Alex Marquez. He has never won the Australian Grand Prix in any class, and his best Phillip Island finish was second place in 2023.
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October 13, 2026

Cup Series gets Phoenix-only Goodyear left-side tire for Freeway Insurance 500

Goodyear will bring proven tire combinations to Phoenix Raceway for all three NASCAR national series, with the Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series using the same tire package they ran there last March and the Craftsman Truck Series using the combination from its season finale at Phoenix last fall. For Sunday’s Freeway Insurance 500, the Cup Series will use left-side tire code D-5254, which is used only at Phoenix, along with right-side code D-5256. That right-side tire has also been used at five other tracks this season and was most recently used at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in August.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series will both use left-side code D-6142 and right-side code D-6116 at Phoenix Raceway. All three national series will have wet-weather tires available if needed. Goodyear listed allotments of 11 sets for the Cup Series and five sets each for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series.
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October 13, 2026

Sierra Kerr finishes third at Ericeira Pro and qualifies for 2027 CT

Sierra Kerr, 19, officially qualified for the 2027 World Surf League Championship Tour after reaching the final at the 2026 Ericeira Pro in Portugal. She finished third overall, which gave her enough points to make qualification mathematically certain, and she moved to the top of the women’s Challenger Series rankings after the event.

Ryan Kainalo also officially qualified for the 2027 Championship Tour, and Kerr and Kainalo are the only surfers guaranteed spots so far. The World Surf League also switched the Ericeira Pro to four-person heats because of weak, inconsistent waves in Portugal.

Kerr’s breakthrough came after a difficult year in which she was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2025. The illness affected her neurological and gastrointestinal systems and kept her out of the water for months. Lucy Darragh also moved up in the women’s Challenger Series rankings, rising to 20th.
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October 13, 2026

Michael McDowell defends Carson Hocevar after Denny Hamlin criticism

Carson Hocevar’s aggressive driving drew fresh scrutiny after Denny Hamlin said Spire Motorsports had “no adults in the room” following Hocevar’s latest on-track incident. Michael McDowell pushed back on that criticism, saying there are “a lot of adults at Spire” and that he was not offended by Hamlin’s comment. McDowell said conversations he has with Hocevar are private, described Hocevar as a “young knucklehead driver that likes stirring the pot,” and said the rest of the Spire team is focused on making its cars faster and improving its processes.

McDowell also said he understood Hamlin’s criticism and praised Hocevar’s aggression and passing ability, while noting that the same style can lead to mistakes. Hocevar’s latest flashpoint came Sept. 19 at Bristol Motor Speedway, when he and Ryan Blaney made contact that sent Blaney into the wall. A pit-road confrontation followed, and Hocevar threw punches. NASCAR did not penalize either driver.

The Bristol incident added to a growing list of clashes for Hocevar, who has also tangled with Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain. He was also fined $50,000 by Spire Motorsports for a vulgar remark in Mexico City. Dale Jarrett said Hocevar has the talent to become a NASCAR star, but warned that his aggressive style will hurt him unless he makes better decisions on track. Jarrett said Hocevar needs to know when to take risks and when to be patient, and that the Bristol incident may have cost him trust with other drivers.
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October 13, 2026

Brennan Poole to leave Alpha Prime Racing after 2026 season

Brennan Poole will leave Alpha Prime Racing after the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, ending a three-year stint with the team. Poole joined Alpha Prime Racing in 2024 and chose to pursue another opportunity rather than accept a 2027 contract offer from the team.

During his time with Alpha Prime Racing, Poole became the organization’s all-time leader in starts, top fives, top 10s and top 20s. The No. 44 team also set team records with 95 starts, three top-five finishes, 11 top-10s and 64 top-20s.

The No. 44 team is on pace to finish top-20 in both owner and driver points for the third straight year. Alpha Prime Racing said plans for the No. 44 car and its 2027 driver lineup will be announced in the coming weeks. The team is also preparing to switch from Chevrolet to Ford in 2027, and Poole has not said where he will race that season.
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October 13, 2026

Officials say video does not prove Jorge Martín jump-started in Indonesia

Jorge Martín escaped a penalty after a controversial start at the Indonesian MotoGP Grand Prix, where a video clip sparked social media criticism by appearing to show him moving in his grid spot before the lights went out. The footage, posted on Instagram by Laura Espargaró, Aleix Espargaró’s wife, showed the red lights still on when Martín shifted forward.

Officials did not penalize Martín because the available video did not show the start lights, so they could not prove that he moved forward when the red lights went out. MotoGP regulations say a jump start occurs only if the motorcycle moves forward as the lights are extinguished, and minor movement before the lights go out can be left to the stewards’ judgment. Martín’s bike appeared to creep forward before the start.

Martín did not gain an advantage, losing a position to Fermín Aldeguer and reaching the first corner in sixth after starting fifth. He recovered to finish third at Mandalika behind winner Raul Fernandez and runner-up Marco Bezzecchi. The result moved Martín two points ahead of Marc Márquez in the championship heading into the Australian Grand Prix.
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October 13, 2026

Christian Horner says Red Bull ended his 20-year run as team principal

According to The Guardian, Christian Horner said he still did not know the exact reason Red Bull ended his 20-year run as team principal, calling his July 2025 dismissal “brutal and sad.” He said Red Bull’s leadership may have felt too much control was in his hands after Dietrich Mateschitz died in 2022, and said the move appeared to be driven more by performance and the future than by the sexual-harassment allegations he faced in early 2024. Horner said Red Bull’s internal investigation cleared him, rejected the idea that Max Verstappen or Jos Verstappen engineered his removal, and said it was “a Red Bull decision.” He left after helping the team win eight drivers’ championships and six constructors’ titles, and reportedly received a settlement worth about £75 million.

Horner also said the dismissal came just days after the death of his former partner Beverley Allen, the mother of his daughter Olivia, from eye cancer. He said relationships inside Red Bull changed after Mateschitz’s death, but added that he has since built a reasonable relationship with executive Oliver Mintzlaff and found some peace away from Formula 1’s political battles.

He said he felt “great sadness” and “robbed” watching from home as Max Verstappen won with Red Bull’s first power unit, saying he had helped create the engine project before he was fired after the 2025 British Grand Prix. The power unit reached the grid in 2026 under Laurent Mekies after Horner’s departure, and he said he was upset that he did not get to see Red Bull Powertrains win in person.
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