PressBox, Author at NXTbets Inc

August 22, 2026

Pierce wins Hawkeye 100, sets WoO single-season record

Bobby Pierce won the Hawkeye 100 for the second straight year at Maquoketa and used the victory to set the World of Outlaws Late Model Series single-season win record. Pierce led all 60 laps, beat Hudson O’Neal by more than four seconds and earned his 19th series win of 2026. He entered the weekend tied with Josh Richards and Brandon Sheppard at 18 wins, then moved alone to the top of the record with a dozen races still left. The win also stretched his championship lead to 113 points.

Hudson O’Neal finished second in the main event after winning Friday night’s 40-lap opener at Maquoketa Speedway in the Hawkeye 100 kickoff. O’Neal took the lead in a three-wide battle with Tim McCreadie and Brandon Sheppard, then pulled away in a caution-free feature. It was O’Neal’s sixth career World of Outlaws victory, his fourth in the K&L Rumley Enterprises No. 6 and his third WoO win of 2026, a career high. The Friday victory was his 16th win overall this season.

Jonathan Davenport finished third in the Hawkeye 100 main event after rebounding from a 23rd-place finish on Friday. Tim McCreadie, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Brandon Sheppard rounded out the top five in Friday’s opener, while Nick Hoffman finished fifth on Friday and was caught in a crash with Tyler Erb in the final race before both recovered in the work area. O’Neal also claimed the inaugural Hoker Trucking Iowa Super Late Model Speedweek championship.
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August 22, 2026

Sheldon Haudenschild wins rain-delayed Big O Showdown

Sheldon Haudenschild won the Big O Showdown presented by Wagamon Brothers on Friday at Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, Minnesota, after rain delayed the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series feature for about three hours. The 30-lap race resumed after four laps, and Haudenschild used a crossover move out of Turn 4 to secure the lead and the victory, his eighth win of the season.

Haudenschild passed Garet Williamson on lap 11 and then held off Carson Macedo over the final laps. Macedo finished second for Jason Johnson Racing, his best result since winning at Angell Park Speedway in June. Williamson led the first 10 laps and finished third, still seeking his first World of Outlaws Series win.

Bill Balog and Logan Schuchart completed the top five. The win moved Haudenschild to within 10 points of Michael “Buddy” Kofoid for second in the standings.
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August 21, 2026

Day Ties Kyle Larson for Third on High Limit Wins List

Corey Day added another milestone to his Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing resume Friday at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California, winning his 15th career series feature and tying Kyle Larson for third on the all-time High Limit Racing wins list. It was Day’s fourth career victory at Thunderbowl and his second straight High Limit win at the track, with only Rico Abreu and Aaron Reutzel ahead of him on the series’ all-time wins chart.

Day took the lead from Aaron Reutzel with 25 laps remaining and held on through a race slowed by several cautions and red flags. Reutzel and Tyler Courtney started on the front row, and the feature also saw flips by Rico Abreu, Kaleb Montgomery, Jett Yantis and Dominic Gorden, with all four reported okay.

Landon Brooks finished second, Reutzel was third after leading the first five laps, and Tyler Courtney and Chance Grasty completed the top five. Day was expected to make his final High Limit start of 2026 on Saturday at Placerville Speedway.
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August 21, 2026

Riggs captures pole, then wins NH Truck race in overtime

Layne Riggs turned qualifying into a dominant weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, winning the pole for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race with a lap of 29.346 seconds at 129.789 mph in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. It was his fourth pole of the season and the eighth of his career. Kaden Honeycutt qualified second, 0.223 seconds back, followed by Giovanni Ruggiero, Connor Zilisch and Tristan McKee.

Riggs backed up the top starting spot by winning the race, overcoming a tight truck and two overtime restarts to beat teammate Chandler Smith by 0.293 seconds. Riggs led a race-high 106 laps for his sixth win of the season. Honeycutt finished third, Stewart Friesen was fourth and Zilisch, who won Stages 1 and 2, placed fifth. The result locked in the 10-driver championship field for the NASCAR Truck Series Chase for the Championship, with Riggs earning the No. 1 seed and Tyler Ankrum claiming the final berth despite finishing 16th. The Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway was set for Thursday, Sept. 17.
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August 21, 2026

Ross Chastain sounds alarm as Trackhouse battles car woes

Ross Chastain said Trackhouse Racing had reached the point where he was “pulling the fire alarm” as the team worked through car-performance problems and a stretched three-car operation. He said the Trackhouse Chevrolet was inconsistent in corners and often slid at both the front and rear, and he pointed to broader Chevrolet setup issues tied to the updated Camaro ZL1 body. Chastain said the drivers, crew chiefs and engineers were not always seeing the same things from the cars, though he said the team was united in trying to move forward.

Trackhouse had gone winless through 23 races, with only one top-five finish and five top-10s from the No. 1 team. Chastain’s recent results included seventh at Iowa after leading 40 laps and 12th at Richmond, and he sat 18th in the standings with 504 points. Shane van Gisbergen held the final playoff spot with 567 points, leaving Chastain 63 points back with New Hampshire and Daytona left, and needing to close the gap under the return-to-Chase format, where a win alone no longer guaranteed a postseason berth.

Team owner Justin Marks said he responded by asking drivers what they needed and keeping the discussion solution-oriented. He said Trackhouse’s decline from its breakout 2022 Next Gen debut had been driven by NASCAR parity and bigger teams learning how to use the car better, and said the organization was reviewing its structure, investing in tools and staff, and building toward 2027. Chastain, now Trackhouse’s lead driver, said he once feared his Cup career was over when Marks bought Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021, and his contract running through 2027 has kept his future with the team part of the discussion.
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August 21, 2026

Cup Series Race at New Hampshire Gets 2 p.m. ET Start

NASCAR moved Sunday’s Cup Series Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway up from 3 p.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET because of forecasted inclement weather, saying the earlier start, made with New Hampshire Motor Speedway and USA Network, gave fans the best chance to see the full 301-lap race before weather arrived. Track access times were also pushed earlier for parking lots, ticket booths, grandstand and infield gates, and the Cup Series garage. Ryan Blaney is the defending winner.

Reports on the broadcast schedule varied, with NASCAR announcing the earlier 2 p.m. ET start while USA Sports listings still showed pre-race coverage at 2:30 p.m. ET and a 3 p.m. ET race airing on USA Network. The race is part of USA Sports’ expanded package of 14 Cup Series events and will be the third Cup Series race the network has shown in 2026. Leigh Diffey will call the race, with Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte as analysts. Marty Snider will host pre-race coverage, while Kim Coon, Dave Burns and Trevor Bayne will report from pit road. Jeff Burton will also join Diffey and Letarte for the post-race show. USA Sports also plans to premiere the final episode of its three-part NASCAR AMERICANA documentary series after the race. Radio coverage is set for PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

On-track activity begins Saturday with a 50-minute practice session for all 36 drivers, followed immediately by qualifying. The new practice format starts this weekend and will remain in place for the rest of the season. Each driver will run one lap in qualifying, and starting positions will be set by speed.
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August 21, 2026

Russell beats Norris for Dutch sprint pole at Zandvoort

George Russell took sprint pole for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, edging McLaren’s Lando Norris by 0.041 seconds in a tightly packed session that left the top four within a tenth of a second. Russell’s 1:11.567 lap gave Mercedes its first pole after the summer break and set him up to lead Saturday’s 24-lap sprint from the front. Russell said the lap came together well after a difficult first half of the season, while Norris said he was disappointed to miss out after struggling to extract the most from the soft tires in SQ3.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc qualified third, 0.055 seconds off pole, and Oscar Piastri took fourth after improving through the session. Kimi Antonelli placed fifth after a gravel excursion in SQ1 left his Mercedes with floor damage and a loss of about 20 to 25 points of downforce, though the team repaired the car enough for him to keep going. Max Verstappen lined up sixth at his home race, with Lewis Hamilton seventh and Pierre Gasly eighth.

The session took place in changing conditions after a damp practice hour, and several drivers described balance and setup problems. Hamilton said his Ferrari felt completely different after setup changes and that the team needed to review the data, while Leclerc called his lap his best qualifying effort of the year so far. Verstappen said Red Bull still lacked grip and balance, and Aston Martin struggled badly as Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were both eliminated in SQ1 after drivability and rear-wing straight-line mode problems.
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August 21, 2026

Antonelli Tops Damp Dutch GP Practice for Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli topped the only practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, setting a 1:12.949 for Mercedes in a damp-to-drying session that began on intermediates before teams switched to slicks. Lando Norris was second, 0.121 seconds back, and George Russell was third, with Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri rounding out a tightly packed top six. Less than three-tenths of a second separated the top five, and Antonelli recovered after a spin at Turn 10 that caused no damage.

Red Bull had a more difficult opening day. Max Verstappen finished 11th in practice after reporting oversteer, low grip, poor gearshifts and a gravel excursion, while Liam Lawson was 14th in his return to the senior team and Yuki Tsunoda finished 17th with Racing Bulls. Carlos Sainz ended the session last after repeated gravel trips and floor damage, and Nico Hulkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly all ran inside the top eight as the track evolved. The weekend was being run in sprint format, so the practice session was the only one before sprint qualifying later Friday.

In F1 Academy at Zandvoort, Alisha Palmowski took pole position with a 1:40.911 in another wet-to-dry qualifying session. Alba Larsen qualified second, Natalia Granada was third for her best qualifying result, and Zoe Florescu finished seventh on her qualifying debut as a Wild Card entry. Florescu said changing conditions made tire management difficult, but she said Hitech made the right call on strategy and she will start from the front row for the Reverse Grid Race.
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August 21, 2026

Austin Gamblers host first home PBR Teams weekend

Gambler Days presented by Tecovas brings the 2026 PBR Teams season to Moody Center in Austin from Aug. 21-23, and it marks the Austin Gamblers’ first home appearance of the year and their only regular-season homestand. Austin enters the weekend at 5-6, sixth in the standings and still within reach of second place, with matchups against Florida on Friday, Texas on Saturday and Carolina on Sunday.

The three days of five-on-five bull riding are scheduled for 7:45 p.m. CT on Friday, 6:15 p.m. CT on Saturday and 1:45 p.m. CT on Sunday. Friday’s action will stream on Paramount+, Saturday will air on The CW, and Sunday’s coverage will be split between CBS and The CW. CBS’s Sunday Games of the Week will also feature Missouri Thunder vs. Texas Rattlers and Nashville Stampede vs. Kansas City Outlaws.

Austin’s projected lineup includes Dalton Kasel, Dener Barbosa, Jose Vitor Leme, Kaique Pacheco and Sage Steele Kimzey. Leme enters the weekend with 91 career 90-point rides, three shy of Chris Shivers’ record of 94, and he leads the 2026 MVP race after going 9-for-11 with 796.7 aggregate points this season.
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