PressBox, Author at NXTbets Inc

July 26, 2026

BKFC adds Uruguay, reaches 13 countries on expansion push

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship held its first event in Uruguay on Saturday, staging a sold-out card at Antel Arena in Montevideo as part of the promotion’s continued international expansion. The Uruguay show brought BKFC to 13 countries overall, and the company said its sold-out events have also taken place in the United States, Mexico, Thailand, England, Bulgaria, Canada, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Montenegro and Australia. BKFC also staged fights in Japan with Rizin Fighting Federation in 2024.

The promotion has two more international debuts scheduled later this year. BKFC is set to debut in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 17, and in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 7.

Inside the arena, Gaston “Tonga” Reyno remained unbeaten at 4-0 by stopping Josh Krejci 1:29 into the first round in the main event. Guido “Ninja” Cannetti won his BKFC debut over Emiliano Nielli by unanimous decision in the co-main event, Luis Jimenez earned a unanimous decision in his promotional debut against Javier Torres, Marilyn Contin stopped Gisela Luna in 73 seconds, Nicolas Jara defeated Ramon Mascarena by unanimous decision after dropping him nine times, and Leandro Torres won the first BKFC fight ever held in Uruguay when a ringside doctor stopped his bout against Gonzalo Jara in the third round.
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July 26, 2026

Norris wins Hungary to give McLaren first 2026 F1 victory

Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position, giving McLaren its first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season. Norris recovered after Oscar Piastri passed him on the opening lap, then used McLaren’s strategy and stronger pace on used tires to pull clear and beat Max Verstappen by about 15 seconds. Norris said he was better than Piastri “in every sense,” and the result marked his first win of the year and the 12th of his career.

McLaren’s first win of the season came after a tense race for Piastri, whose drive ended in frustration. He led early, then lost time after a collision with Carlos Sainz while being lapped, an incident stewards ruled Sainz caused wholly and penalized with five seconds. Piastri called the move “unacceptable,” said it cost him the race lead, and later retired with a suspected gearbox failure. McLaren defended its pit strategy, saying it acted to protect against Ferrari undercutting the McLarens and to manage both cars’ race.

Ferrari entered the weekend as a favorite after strong Friday practice, but qualifying mistakes, strategy errors and penalties undermined its race. Charles Leclerc finished fourth and set the fastest lap, while Lewis Hamilton was classified fifth after a three-place grid penalty for impeding Piastri and a five-second pit-lane speeding penalty. Hamilton said races like Hungary are where championships are lost, and Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur said the team made too many mistakes and produced a “very poor execution.”

Verstappen finished second despite describing severe handling problems and unexpected damage in his Red Bull, while Kimi Antonelli took third to extend his championship lead. Behind them, Racing Bulls scored a double points finish to move up to fifth in the constructors’ standings, Nico Hulkenberg scored Audi’s first points of the season in ninth, and Aston Martin showed improved pace with its upgraded AMR26 but still left Hungary without points.
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July 25, 2026

Jett Lawrence penalty hands Hunter Washougal overall win

Jett Lawrence’s bid to win the Washougal National and tighten the 450 championship race was derailed by a Moto 2 penalty after officials ruled he gained an advantage while off the track in section 6. The penalty dropped him from second to third in the moto, cost him two points, and moved him from a tie for the overall win to second place behind his brother, Hunter Lawrence. Hunter Lawrence won the 450 overall with a 2-1 score, claimed his fifth victory of the 2026 season and his second straight, and left Washougal leading Jett by 12 points with three races remaining. Haiden Deegan finished third overall on 4-2 results, earned his fifth podium of the season, and collected his first back-to-back podium streak in his rookie year.

Cole Davies swept the 250 class with 1-1 moto finishes for his third overall win of the season. Ryder DiFrancesco took second and Chance Hymas finished third, while Davies led every lap of Moto 1 and passed both riders in Moto 2. The result moved Davies back into second in the 250 standings behind Levi Kitchen, who retained the points lead after finishing fifth overall with 6-6 moto results. Julien Beaumer slipped to third in the standings.

Washougal served as the Pro Motocross Championship’s final West Coast stop, Round 25 of the Monster Energy SMX World Championship, and the annual Military Appreciation Race. The event ran in ideal, unusually mild weather, with temperatures in the low to mid-70s under overcast skies. Jason Thomas said the cooler conditions reduced the late-race fatigue that can separate riders on hotter weekends and made it harder for endurance to decide the outcome. Post-race review also handed penalties to Briggs and Warda in 450 B qualifying for jumping on a red cross light, Mumford in 250 Moto 1 for going off track, and Prado in 450 Moto 2 for off-track riding with no advantage gained, while other reviewed incidents involving Deegan, DiFrancesco and Lawrence did not result in penalties.
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July 25, 2026

Carson Kvapil Earns First NASCAR O’Reilly Win at Indy

Carson Kvapil earned his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, holding off Justin Allgaier in the Pennzoil 250 to capture the win in his 64th series start. Kvapil took the lead late from Ross Chastain and finished 0.643 seconds ahead of Allgaier in the 100-lap race.

The race featured stage wins from Jeremy Clements in Stage 1, Rajah Caruth in Stage 2 and Kvapil in Stage 3. Allgaier finished second, Chastain was third and Chase Elliott placed fourth, giving JR Motorsports a 1-2-3-4 finish. William Sawalich finished fifth, and Corey Day, Brandon Jones and Austin Hill were among the other top-10 finishers.

The victory was JR Motorsports’ 14th of the season and came with six different drivers reaching Victory Lane for the team this year. The organization also extended its top-10 streak to 79 straight races, tying a series record. Kvapil moved up to second in the standings, 265 points behind Allgaier, with two regular-season races remaining and the battle for the remaining Chase spots tightening.
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July 25, 2026

RFK exercises Preece option, securing No. 60 Ford

Brad Keselowski said Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that Ryan Preece will return to RFK Racing’s No. 60 Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027. Keselowski said the team exercised the option on Preece’s multiyear contract a few months ago, locking in the driver who joined RFK in 2025 after two seasons at Stewart-Haas Racing.

The move means RFK expects all three of its Cup drivers, Keselowski, Chris Buescher and Preece, to have rides in 2027. Buescher signed a multiyear extension in June. RFK Racing is set to lose its third charter next year, and team president Chip Bowers said in May that the organization planned to keep all three Cup teams on track in 2027.

Preece is in his seventh full Cup Series season and is 18th in the standings with five races left in the regular season, 48 points below the playoff cutline. He has started all 21 NASCAR races for RFK this season and has four top-10 finishes, including a win in the preseason Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. Preece narrowly missed the playoffs in 2025 and posted a career-best three top-five finishes last year. He finished 10th at North Wilkesboro in his most recent noted result and has three top-11 finishes in his last six races.
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July 25, 2026

Stevens tops USAC passing standings after 14-pass night

Kevin Thomas Jr. scored his first USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship victory of 2026 on Saturday night at Kokomo Speedway, leading all 30 laps in round three of the 39th annual USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week. Thomas, who had switched to BBI Motorsports in late June, beat Justin Grant to the line by 1.032 seconds for his 49th career USAC National Sprint Car win. It was Thomas and BBI’s first national sprint car victory together in their fifth start as a pairing, and his 2026 season already included USAC CRA and USAC Southwest wins for the team earlier in the year.
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July 25, 2026

Carson Hocevar grabs Brickyard 400 pole at Indy

Carson Hocevar won the pole for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after posting a fastest lap of 48.232 seconds in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, good for 186.598 mph. Daniel Suarez, Hocevar’s teammate, qualified second at 48.288 seconds, followed by Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin. The Cup Series field for the July 26 race is set at 39 cars.

Kyle Larson qualified 10th in the 39-car lineup, Ryan Blaney was 13th, William Byron 21st, Chase Elliott 27th and Bubba Wallace 29th. NASCAR had split the qualifying order into two groups based on metric scores, with Casey Mears slated to go out first and Denny Hamlin listed last in the order.

Friday practice at Indianapolis was led by Christopher Bell at 49.043 seconds, with John Hunter Nemechek second and Ty Gibbs third. Erik Jones was fourth, and Hamlin, Larson, Hocevar, Reddick and Blaney completed the top 10. Austin Cindric, Wallace and Ryan Preece had problems during the session. The Brickyard 400 is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET on TNT Sports and HBO Max, with stages set for 50, 100 and 160 laps and a listed purse of $11,233,037.
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July 25, 2026

Alonso says Aston Martin AMR26 feels planted after update

Aston Martin’s major 16-part upgrade package made a clear first impression at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Fernando Alonso said the revised AMR26 felt much better, more planted and easier to drive. The update, which included a significant chassis change plus revisions to the front wing, floor, diffuser and rear suspension, produced the correlation the team expected in Friday practice. Alonso said the car matched simulation targets, carried more potential to unlock and looked close to the top of the midfield through corners. Team principal Adrian Newey said the team was chasing respectability after a difficult start to 2026, while Alonso called the package an encouraging first step for this year and for future car projects.
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July 25, 2026

Sheldon Creed grabs pole for Pennzoil 250 at Indy

Sheldon Creed earned the pole for Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a lap of 53.069 seconds, putting him ahead of Carson Kvapil, Sam Mayer, Jeremy Clements and Taylor Gray. Chase Elliott was set to start seventh, Ross Chastain eighth, Justin Allgaier 13th and Austin Hill 19th in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, which was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. PT, 4 p.m. ET and air on the CW Network.

The event arrives with the postseason Chase picture tightening, as drivers outside the top 12 have three regular-season races left to earn a berth. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Brent Crews and Taylor Gray entered Indianapolis 11th and 12th in the standings, Rajah Caruth was 13th and trailed Gray by 17 points and Crews by 18, and William Sawalich was 21 points behind Gray. Indianapolis has rewarded speed lately, with eight of the last 10 winners starting in the top three and all 10 finishing eighth or better, while four of the last 10 winners came from the pole.

Justin Allgaier, the 2018 Indianapolis winner and this year’s points leader with six victories, said the track is especially meaningful after he came close to winning there again last year. He led a JR Motorsports group that also included Elliott and Chastain, and the team was one top-10 finish away from extending its streak to 79 straight races. In practice on July 24, Chastain was fastest at 53.517 seconds, followed by Allgaier and Kvapil, with Mayer, Elliott and Jesse Love rounding out the top six. Crews was seventh after hitting the outside wall and sustaining moderate right-side damage, while Sawalich was briefly parked for a mechanical issue before finishing 16th in practice.
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