PressBox, Author at NXTbets Inc

September 16, 2026

Qualifying opens Sept. 21 for iRacing Outlaws Pro Series

The iRacing World of Outlaws Pro Series will return for the 2026-27 season with $25,000 on the line again for Sprint Car and Late Model competitors. The sim racing series will use a traditional qualifying model and split competition into two championships, one for 410 Sprint Car and one for Super Late Model, with five races in each division.

Qualifying is scheduled to begin Monday, Sept. 21, with the Sprint Car Qualifying Series running on Mondays from Sept. 21 through Oct. 19. The Late Model Qualifying Series will follow on Thursdays from Oct. 22 through Nov. 19.

Drivers with a Class A Dirt Oval license will be eligible to compete, and the series will have separate qualifying and championship rosters. Races will stream live at 8 p.m. ET on Monday nights on iRacing social media channels and DIRTVision.
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September 16, 2026

Toronto Skips Pick, Trades Dispersal Selections to Las Vegas

The NLL’s 12 remaining franchises made roster moves in the dispersal draft as teams tried to improve their lineups, with an article reviewing every club’s draft class. Several teams used the process to fill clear needs, while Toronto passed on selecting a player and instead traded its dispersal picks to Las Vegas to move up in next week’s entry draft.

Buffalo added goalkeeper Zach Higgins and several forwards. Las Vegas used the No. 2 pick on Nick Damude and addressed every position group in its dispersal draft moves. Vancouver made one selection, Michael Sowers.

Saskatchewan added Jake Stevens, Sam Firth, Reed Kurtz, Connor Kearnan and Jaxon Fridge, then acquired Holden Garlent in a post-draft trade. Oshawa selected Jeff Teat.
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September 16, 2026

Cup, O’Reilly Series return to Bristol this weekend

Bristol Motor Speedway’s Chase weekend came into focus with qualifying orders set for NASCAR’s national series and entry lists filled across the 0.533-mile concrete short track. Josh Bilicki led the Cup Series order ahead of Noah Gragson and Zane Smith, Landon S. Huffman topped the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series list ahead of JJ Yeley and Natalie Decker, and Justin Carroll led the Craftsman Truck Series order ahead of Parker Kligerman and Luke Baldwin. The Cup race had 37 entries, the O’Reilly race 39 and the Truck race 37, with Cup qualifying scheduled Thursday and Friday. ARCA Menards Series qualifying was also part of the weekend slate.

The Truck Series will open its seven-race Chase on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, while the Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series continue their postseason runs at Bristol. Layne Riggs enters the Truck playoffs as the points leader after a regular season that included six wins, 10 top-fives, 11 top-10s, four poles and 598 laps led in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports truck. Riggs is also the defending Bristol winner, and Bristol’s weekend tire allotments are 13 sets for Cup, five for O’Reilly and four for Trucks.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW, with defending champion Jesse Love returning in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after his Gateway win. Love has finished 12th or better in three of his four career Bristol starts. The Cup Series race is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, with Christopher Bell the defending winner of the Bristol Night Race. A paint-scheme preview also listed Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick and others, and noted that 12 active Cup drivers have won on paved short tracks, led by Hamlin’s 15 victories. Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski each have seven, Kyle Larson has six and William Byron has four, while other multiple winners named included Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman.
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September 16, 2026

Hamilton, Leclerc log 623km in Ferrari-Pirelli Imola test

Ferrari and Pirelli used the first day of their two-day 2027 Formula 1 tire test at Imola to collect data on prototype compounds, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc completing a combined 623 kilometers in Ferrari’s SF-26. Hamilton ran the morning session on Pirelli’s C3, C4 and C5 prototype tires before Leclerc took over in the afternoon, as the test focused on tire behavior and degradation rather than lap times. Hamilton returned to the track 48 hours after his Spanish Grand Prix retirement.

Hamilton completed 64 laps and 314 kilometers, with a best lap of 1:19.485 while track temperatures reached 50C during his run. Leclerc completed 63 laps and 309 kilometers and set the day’s fastest lap at 1:18.832. Both drivers also carried out five-lap performance runs as Pirelli worked to refine its tire specifications, and the company said it gathered 127 laps of data from the session.

Ferrari also ran its SF-25 in a separate Testing of Previous Cars program with Rafael Câmara and Arthur Leclerc. Pirelli’s Imola test was scheduled to continue on Wednesday with Antonio Giovinazzi, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad taking part.
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September 16, 2026

Red Bull still hunting cause of RB22 degradation

Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies said Max Verstappen was right that the RB22 loses performance as a session or race goes on, and he described the problem as a complex issue the team has not solved yet. Mekies said the car can fall out of its narrow operating window, especially at the rear axle, and that Red Bull still does not know the exact cause.

Mekies said the team made some progress in Madrid at the Spanish Grand Prix, where Verstappen picked up his second straight podium finish. He said those changes improved Red Bull’s understanding of the problem, but the team still does not have all the solutions.

Red Bull has not won a race in 2026, and Verstappen remains winless this season. Mekies said a full fix is not expected soon, and the team may be dealing with the issue through next year.
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September 16, 2026

High Limit unveils points path to $25,000 Hockett race

Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing announced a three-day format for the 16th annual Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial in Wheatland, Missouri, using the same structure recently used at the Gold Cup Race of Champions and Skagit Nationals. Thursday and Friday will each feature single-group qualifying and four inverted heats, with the A-Main lined up by points and an eight-car inversion.

Combined points from Thursday and Friday will determine which drivers move forward. After Friday, the top four drivers in overall points will lock into Saturday’s $25,000-to-win finale, while the rest of the field will run four qualifiers to fill the championship A-Main.

The series said all full-field events will pay championship points. It also said its standard provisionals will be available each night for series points only.
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September 16, 2026

Sawalich sends Day into barrier as NASCAR reviews retaliation

The feud between Corey Day and William Sawalich escalated through the 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase, starting at Darlington on Sept. 5 when the two traded contact. Sawalich crashed out in 30th place there, while Day finished second after saying Sawalich had threatened retaliation. One week later at World Wide Technology Raceway, Sawalich turned Day into the inside SAFER barrier after earlier contact in the race, and the crash ended Day’s night in 33rd place and dropped him from fifth to eighth in the standings. Sawalich finished 16th, and Justin Allgaier was also collected in the incident and lost the points lead to Sheldon Creed by three points.

Day said Sawalich warned him after Darlington that he would “see how the rest of his Chase went.” Sawalich did not publicly address that claim after Gateway and declined further media questions after the race. NASCAR had not announced a penalty, and officials were expected to review SMT data, video and radio to determine whether Sawalich’s move was intentional.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. defended hard racing on his Dirty Air podcast, saying non-Chase drivers such as Sawalich had every right to race aggressively and should not be treated differently from Chase contenders. Denny Hamlin also said NASCAR should not intervene, calling the sport self-policing and saying Day should have understood Sawalich’s anger after the earlier contact. Hamlin said he had no bias toward the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and said Sawalich “got himself wrecked for being an idiot.”
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September 16, 2026

Le Mans timing tight as FIA calendar avoids key clashes

The FIA’s provisional 2027 Formula 1 calendar avoids direct clashes with the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Nürburgring 24 Hours, the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, creating a possible opening for a Triple Crown attempt in the same year. The schedule could still change if unrest in the Middle East affects the opening rounds.

The timing around Le Mans is still tight. The FIA release puts Monaco on June 4-6, Le Mans on June 9-13 and Portugal on June 18-20, while another report said Le Mans would be June 12-13 and that the gap to Formula 1 would be one week. Le Mans test day on June 6 falls on Monaco weekend, which could complicate a rookie Le Mans entry. The ACO can grant exemptions to Platinum drivers racing in another major championship, and there is precedent for test-day laps being done in practice instead.

McLaren is keeping two of its six FIA World Endurance Championship seats open while it evaluates its Le Mans lineup, a situation that could make a third Le Mans entry difficult for McLaren and Ford. It could still leave room for Scott Dixon if schedules allow. Lando Norris has already tested McLaren’s new MCL-HY Hypercar at Portimao and drove it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. The article also said Oscar Piastri has expressed interest in Le Mans, Fernando Alonso could return with Aston Martin’s Valkyrie program, and Max Verstappen may have more GT3 opportunities after his Nürburgring 24 Hours appearance this year, with the Nürburgring and Spa 24 Hours still possible targets in 2027.
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September 16, 2026

Colapinto says Madrid was his best F1 weekend yet

Franco Colapinto said his Spanish Grand Prix weekend in Madrid was probably the best of his Formula 1 career so far and his strongest of the 2026 season for Alpine, a result he linked to lessons learned from teammate Pierre Gasly. After studying Gasly’s qualifying data from Monza, where Gasly took a surprise pole, Colapinto said he used that analysis to improve his own approach in Madrid, especially in how Gasly managed energy and improved from Q1 to Q3.

Colapinto reached Q3, qualified ninth, and beat Gasly in qualifying for only the second time this season. He said he felt “one with the car” and described the session as one of his best, with strong laps in both Q2 and Q3. He was faster than Gasly throughout qualifying in Madrid.

The race brought more rewards. Colapinto finished seventh, scored points for a second straight Formula 1 race and recorded his eighth points finish in 14 starts. He made a good launch, passed Oscar Piastri, gained more ground after Lewis Hamilton retired and picked up another position through Alpine’s pit-stop timing during the race’s lone Virtual Safety Car. Colapinto said he wanted to carry the momentum into Baku and the rest of the season.
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