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July 9, 2026

O’Ward calls IndyCar his sole focus in reset from Formula 1 duties

Pato O’Ward asked to be released from McLaren’s Formula One reserve role, saying he wants to put his full attention on his IndyCar title chase with Arrow McLaren. O’Ward said the IndyCar program now needs to be his sole focus, that his Formula 1 ambitions have faded from earlier in his career and that he wants more personal time and a better work-life balance after five straight years without an offseason. He said the constant schedule had become harder to manage and described the move as a professional and personal reset.

O’Ward said the Formula 1 testing and reserve commitment had become too disruptive to his training, offseason preparation and personal life. He had spent years hoping for a Formula 1 opportunity with McLaren and had taken part in practice sessions and post-season testing, but he now said he is focused on winning in IndyCar rather than chasing a seat in F1. He made the comments on Conor Daly’s Speed Street podcast and said he is at a different stage of his career, adding that he loves IndyCar and wants to remain in the American-based series.

McLaren confirmed that O’Ward will remain with the team through the 2027 IndyCar season. His departure from Formula 1 duties leaves 2024 FIA Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli as McLaren’s only Formula 1 reserve driver. O’Ward’s most recent Formula 1 appearance came in an FP1 session at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and he is expected to continue his IndyCar season at Nashville on July 20.
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July 8, 2026

Bobby Pierce Chases Record Win Streak on Eastern Swing

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is set for a three-race stretch as it heads back toward the East Coast after two busy weeks in the upper Midwest. The run begins Wednesday, July 8, at Stateline Speedway in Busti, New York, where the Rick Briggs Memorial powered by Dave Warren Powersports will be a 40-lap feature paying $15,000 to win. DIRTcar UMP Modifieds and Pro Stocks are also on the card. Teams then have Thursday off before the series resumes at Sharon Speedway for the annual Battle at the Border on Friday and Saturday, July 10-11. Sharon’s opener is a 40-lap race paying $12,000 to win, and the Saturday finale is a 60-lap race with a $20,000 top prize. UMP Modifieds are also scheduled at Sharon.

Bobby Pierce enters the week as the headline driver and is trying to win his seventh straight World of Outlaws race, which would break the series record of six consecutive victories. He also carries a 76-point lead in the championship standings. Pierce’s run comes as the series works through a demanding eastern swing that mixes short travel with two major events in New York and Pennsylvania.

Nick Hoffman returns to Stateline Speedway, where he earned his first World of Outlaws win last year. Trey Mills and Daulton Wilson are set for their first starts at both Stateline and Sharon, while Logan Zarin is coming off a career-best sixth-place finish and will compete on two tracks he knows well.
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July 8, 2026

South Africans earn three podiums in Ballito Junior

Junior surfing took center stage at Willard Beach in Ballito during the Ballito Pro Festival, where the O’Neill SMTH Shapes Rookie Rippers opened the program from July 4-6. Competition was halted on day one because of massive surf before resuming on day two as conditions improved, with surfers in the U12 through U18 divisions riding clean, solid four-foot waves. Heat times were shortened from 20 minutes to 15 to keep the schedule on track and to help prepare athletes for the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in early September. Ry Colepeper delivered one of the standout moments with a perfect 10-point wave, and Surfing South Africa general manager Danielle Powis said the event showed the strength of the country’s junior surfing pipeline and the decision to put safety first.

South African surfers also had a strong showing in the WSL O’Neill SMTH Shapes Ballito Pro Junior, which produced three podium finishes for the home country. Louise Lepront reached her first Ballito Pro Junior final and finished second after Australia’s Charli Hately won with a last-minute wave, 10.90 to 9.83. Lepront’s runner-up finish moved her to No. 1 in the WSL Africa Junior rankings. Kieran Murphy and Emily Jenkinson each finished third, while Simon Winter rose to the top of the WSL Africa Junior men’s rankings.

Brazil’s Ryan Kainalo won the men’s title with a 14.87 total in the final, beating reigning world junior champion Dane Henry. Kainalo also claimed his third Ballito Pro Junior title. Hately won the women’s title.
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July 8, 2026

Gavin Miller wins Mid-America Midget Week opener at Sweet Springs

Gavin Miller opened Mid-America Midget Week with a win Monday night at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex in Sweet Springs, Missouri, taking the USAC national midget feature after starting sixth and leading the final 16 laps of the 40-lap race. Cannon McIntosh finished second, Jacob Denney was third, Kale Drake fourth and Ethan Mitchell fifth, with McIntosh and Colton Robinson trading the lead early before Miller took control late.

The week-long swing will continue with four races in five nights across Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. The next stop will be Tuesday at Mitchell County Fairgrounds Raceway in Beloit, Kansas, for the 15th Chad McDaniel Memorial. The schedule will close with back-to-back events at Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Nebraska, and Saturday’s July 11 finale will be a 40-lap Midwest Midget Championship feature paying $10,000 to the winner.

Drake Edwards set fast qualifying at 11.499 seconds, and the Five Star Bodies semi produced a new track record of 2:27.976.
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July 8, 2026

Austin Forkner Steps Away Following 2024 Crash and Setbacks

Austin Forkner announced on July 7 that he was retiring from professional dirt bike racing immediately, ending a career that was repeatedly derailed by injuries. He said a lingering nerve issue in his left arm, multiple surgeries, and the physical demands of racing left him unable to continue, and he also pointed to the emotional toll of his 2024 Arlington crash and the pressures of his growing family. Forkner said the sequence of events after a later crash in Dallas, which led to a scan that found an AVM in his brain, may have saved his life and allowed him to live long enough to meet his son, Atlas.

Forkner said the weakness in his left arm had limited muscle use and made it difficult to hold the handlebars properly, which he said had contributed to crashes. He said he had tried to come back this season and won in Detroit before another crash, including one at Thunder Valley, ended any remaining hope of a return. He had been weighing the decision before missing the RedBud National, and he did not line up for that race after making the announcement on social media.

The 27-year-old turned pro in 2016 with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki and spent nine seasons with Kawasaki before moving to Triumph in 2025. He briefly rode in the 450 class this year and finished his final start at Hangtown on June 6, where he was 22nd overall after suffering a fractured left hand. Forkner’s career included 13 250SX wins, a total that sources placed third or fourth on the all-time list in the class, along with one 250MX overall victory, 28 podium finishes, 76 top-10s and 399 laps led. His 10-year professional run also included 116 SMX League starts and multiple injury setbacks, including ACL tears, broken collarbones, vertebra fractures, an ACL injury in 2019, crashes in 2020 and 2023, and the brain AVM found after his 2024 Arlington crash.
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July 8, 2026

Alonso says F1 2026 rules reward battery, not driver skill

Fernando Alonso used the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone to question Formula 1’s direction, saying the sport’s 2026 regulations are moving overtaking away from driver skill and toward battery deployment. Alonso said modern passes can now be made by pressing a button when more energy is available, rather than through braking, positioning and risk-taking, and argued that a better power unit can decide whether an overtake happens at all. He went as far as saying drivers need “no talent” for some of the battery-assisted moves seen under the current rules.

He pointed to the Silverstone sprint race as evidence, citing Kimi Antonelli’s pass on Lewis Hamilton and Hamilton’s duel with George Russell in Sunday’s race. Alonso said the sprint showed cars could pass in the middle of straights by using extra battery power, a pattern he believes reduces the competitive value of the new regulations. The comments fit into broader criticism of the newer rules that has built since the start of the season, and Damon Hill backed Alonso’s concern, warning Formula 1 must decide what kind of sport it wants to be as technology becomes more influential.

Alonso’s frustration also came from a difficult weekend for Aston Martin, after his car shut off during the formation lap. He started from the pit lane and finished 18th, outside the points, though he said the race still provided useful data for the team. Looking ahead to the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, Alonso expects energy management to shape the race again, and suggested the high-speed corners and long straights could produce a similar pattern.
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July 8, 2026

Late surges lift Buddy Kofoid to back-to-back WoO victories

Buddy Kofoid won World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series main events at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas, on March 28 and at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Missouri, on April 11. In both races, he closed strongly to get to the front and held on to win the feature.

At 81 Speedway, Kofoid and Ryan Timms started on the front row in the 30-lap race. Timms took the lead on lap 5 and stayed in front for much of the event while working through heavy traffic. The race was briefly stopped on lap 4 after Ryder Laplante flipped and brought out a red flag, and Laplante climbed out of the car. Kofoid made the decisive pass coming to the white flag and crossed the finish line first.

At I-55, Kasey Jedrzejek and David Gravel started on the front row, and Gravel took the lead on lap 8. Kofoid passed Gravel for the lead on lap 27 and controlled the race after that. A caution slowed the event before additional lead changes, flat tires for Carson Macedo and Sheldon Haudenschild reshuffled the running order, and a red flag came out on lap 36 after Logan Julien and Hank Davis flipped. Kofoid then held off Gravel on the final restart to secure the victory.
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July 8, 2026

Abreu, Schuchart Split World of Outlaws Wins at Eldora

World of Outlaws sprint car racing at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, produced back-to-back 30-lap feature winners, with Rico Abreu taking Friday’s race and Logan Schuchart winning Saturday’s event. Abreu took control on lap 16 of Friday’s feature and pulled away in the closing laps after a caution on lap 22 for Brenham Crouch, who stalled with heavy right-front damage. Giovanni Scelzi passed Brian Brown on lap 2 and led early, and Michael Kofoid also led at points before finishing second.

Schuchart won Saturday’s 30-lap race at the half-mile dirt track after Brady Bacon and Sheldon Haudenschild started on the front row. Bacon led early, Schuchart moved to the front on lap 2, and the lead changed hands several times through the middle of the race. Abreu moved into second late and briefly challenged Schuchart, but he was more than one second behind with four laps left, and Schuchart held the lead to the finish.
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July 8, 2026

Mitchell replaces Troutman in G.R. Smith lineup

Zack Mitchell has signed on to drive the No. 22* car full-time for G.R. Smith Motorsports in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, giving the team a new driver-team pairing for the rest of the 2026 season and beyond. Mitchell’s first race with the organization is scheduled for Wednesday night at Stateline Speedway.

Mitchell replaces Drake Troutman, who left the team on June 23. Jake Timm filled the seat in four races during the northern swing before Mitchell joined the lineup. G.R. Smith Motorsports entered the move sixth in the World of Outlaws owners standings, four points behind Cooney Motorsports in fifth.

Mitchell arrives with a strong resume in late model racing. He has won four Ultimate Super Late Model Series championships and the 2017 Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series title. He was also in contention for the 2026 Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series championship before taking the World of Outlaws ride, and his first week with the team also includes races at Sharon Speedway on July 10-11.
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