The sweeping overhaul of Formula 1’s regulations for 2026 presents a challenge for all teams and engine manufacturers, but that also applies to the drivers.

Charles Leclerc has said the new cars feel “very different” based on his first simulator runs, while Alex Albon added that F1 becomes far more complex. Drivers will have to manage more, prompting Williams team boss James Vowles to warn of a higher workload behind the wheel. Moreover, the new cars would require a different driving style, for which Williams has set up a special working group to help drivers adapt.

“But firstly, Albon and other drivers haven’t driven the final rules yet, by definition, because they're not done yet,” Nikolas Tombazis responded during an interview with Motorsport.com. "Secondly, for sure if you don't automate certain parts, there will be an increased burden on the drivers. That is true.”

That, however, is exactly one of the subjects the FIA is currently evaluating. “Part of the work that still needs to be done between now and the start of next season is to determine how much of that stuff will be in the background, let's say more automatic, versus how much the driver will have to control.”

No chess, but also not just a steering wheel and pedals

With the energy management per lap, active aerodynamics, Manual Override Mode, and several other variables, there will indeed be more parameters to deal with than there are today. 

“We don't want to overburden the driver with something,” added Tombazis. “But at the same time there has to be a degree of freedom, to make sure that he can attack, defend and have some of that stuff under his control. But there will for sure be some part of it which will be managed transparently to him, so he doesn't have to think about it when cornering or something like that.”

Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater Director

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

The FIA hopes to find an acceptable balance in the upcoming months. “I think there's a balance to strike between driving like a chess game of energy management, which we don't want as one extreme, and then the other extreme where driving is just a steering wheel, a throttle pedal and a brake pedal,” said Tombazis.

He also made clear that the FIA does not aspire to the latter either. F1 must not become too simple. “We need to find a good way in the middle.”

Can smart drivers really “abuse” the new regulations?

Albon added that in his view smart drivers can “abuse” the new regulations, although a week after his initial comments he laughed: “The word ‘abuse’ ended up as the headline everywhere, but I didn’t necessarily mean it negatively.”

The Williams driver made clear that drivers who have mental bandwidth left beyond just driving could gain a competitive advantage in 2026.

“But I think smart drivers already prevail. The difference in performance that we see nowadays in F1 includes a percentage of that,” said Tombazis.

“And that’s not only now, the mental bandwidth of drivers has been a factor for the last 20 years already - also in the younger days of my career, when I was working with Schumacher for example.

Alexander Albon, Williams

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

"I mean, obviously he was phenomenally talented, but a big part of what set him apart was that he could also think of all these other things during a race.

“You know that amongst the current drivers there are some who seem to have a bit extra to think about other things as well, while some others have to use all their CPU to drive the car.”

In 2026, that challenge may be greater, but Tombazis believes the drivers can handle it. “These drivers are the best drivers in the world, and they have quite a high bandwidth of intellect. They can deal with certain problems.”

According to Tombazis, it’s what F1 should be, as long as it doesn’t overshadow the fundamentals.

“There's a level of understanding they need to have of these parameters,” he said. “We think that’s part of what a top driver has to do. It's not, however, and we will make sure it isn't, the main skill.

“The main skill is still to be able to brake at the right point, to go fast around the corner, to find the limit, select the right lines, etc. That will still be the main parameter that controls who's good and who's bad. I wouldn't be able to drive the car!”

How 2026 rules will level the playing field for F1's rookie class

FIA “surprised” by focus on lap times as it reveals just how slow 2026 F1 cars could be

When Christian Rasmussen emerged from his No. 21 Chevrolet to celebrate his first NTT IndyCar Series victory on Sunday, the first one to greet him was teammate Alexander Rossi.

It was a rare moment of bliss for two drivers and an organization that have had mixed results in 2025.
“Your first-career win is a moment you’ll obviously never forget,” Rossi said afterward. “It’s huge for your career, and he’s been so good on the ovals this year.

“It’s been a long time coming for ECR as well. It’s been a tough couple years for them. … It’s never an easy road and there’s a lot of work still in front of us. But it’s just an amazing accomplishment for the organization today.”

Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

Ed Carpenter Racing entered 2025 expecting growing pains. The company had a big new presence, bringing in Rossi - the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner and 2018 championship runner-up - to replace Rinus VeeKay. But Rossi arrived with one win from the prior five seasons and was entering at an organization with just one podium in the three years prior.

Rossi told IndyCar.com in January that he knew the organization was “not going to go from the results that have existed the past couple of years to all of a sudden winning every race,” but felt there was “potential to surprise a lot of people at points.”

That proved true Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile, as the company put both cars in the top-four with an aggressive strategy that saw Rossi’s teammate, Rasmussen, shock the field for his maiden series triumph.

Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

When Rasmussen first arrived at Ed Carpenter Racing in 2024, the 2023 Indy NXT champion was only meant to contest road-and-street course races in the No. 20 Chevrolet. Ed Carpenter himself was still piloting the machine for ovals, so outside of a run in the Indianapolis 500, the Dane was meant to avoid the ovals.

Carpenter stepped out of the cockpit outside of Indianapolis in August 2024. In the year since, Rasmussen has emerged as one of IndyCar’s top short oval drivers - a fact he was able to put on display in dramatic fashion in the closing stages of the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250.

Rossi was the lead ECR driver for the bulk of Sunday’s race, rising from 12th into the top-five by short-pitting the entire field on the opening pit sequence. But when a brief rain shower opened the door for both drivers to pit for fresh rubber heading into a 28-lap closing sequence, it opened the door for Rasmussen to surge from sixth to first.

Unfortunately for Rossi, he didn’t have the same short run pace. The Californian could only rise to fourth before the checkered flag flew, crossing the line 11.45s behind his teammate.

“We saved tires through practice for that scenario,” Rossi said. “I just wish we were able to be a little bit stronger on that restart. Got caught up fighting Pato (O’Ward) a little bit.

“It is what it is. I mean, it still was the right call, obviously. It won the race.”

Even without the win, Rossi was all smiles on pit road after a rare moment of shared success for both ECR teams. Each driver has shown glimmers of promise at different times this year. Rossi opened the season with three top 10s in four races and earned his second-straight top-five Sunday. Rasmussen had come home third at World Ride Technology Raceway and had three top 10s in five races heading into Wisconsin.
ECR had pace. But the company had yet to see both teams excel in the same weekend. That finally changed Sunday. It marked the first race in 2025 where both drivers finished in the top-five, or even top 10.

The Milwaukee result was a breakthrough. And with just one race left in the 2025 season, it gives Rossi, Rasmussen and Carpenter a collective success to build on after a year previously highlighted by individual moments.

“There was a lot of missed opportunities this year,” Rossi admitted. “… There’s been some really good moments and really disappointing moments, but ultimately I think we knew that, especially on the ovals, the pace was in the car. We showed that today.”

Photos from Milwaukee - Race

Christian Rasmussen steals maiden IndyCar win after late weather caution

Just 27 laps into the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway, a massive wreck collected about a dozen cars, including bubble driver Alex Bowman.

The wreck began when Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch got tangled together in the tri-oval, and ultimately ended Wallace's night, but also collected 23XI Racing teammate Riley Herbst, as well as his boss, Denny Hamlin.

On his weekly podcast, Actions Detrimental, Hamlin analyzed the wreck and the root cause of it.

"It looked like to me that Bubba just squeezed those two guys below him down," explained Hamlin. "You could just see that they're there, two cars on the inside. "I don't know what Freddie [Kraft, #23 spotter] was calling. Maybe he was saying three wide top or not -- I'm not sure, but he [Wallace] just squeezed on down there and there was no room. So he ended up wrecking himself, and obviously a few others."

Some mentioned how Kyle Larson was pushing Wallace, and he may have had an impact on where that No. 23 ended up in that situation. However, Hamlin seemed to disagree.

"I'm looking at it and I don't think so. The #5 [Larson] was already on him close, but no. That's just the #23 not clear. It's just one of those not clear moments."

Hamlin soldiered on to a 25th-place finish, but it continues a streak of bad finishes for him at the iconic superspeedway. He crashed on the final lap of the 2025 Daytona 500 while battling for the win, and he has zero finishes higher than 17th in all eight Next Gen era races at the track. That is quite the surprise, as Hamlin is a three-time winner of the Daytona 500 with the previous generation of car.

Photos from Daytona - Race

Bubba Wallace and others react: What caused early Daytona melee?

Winners and losers from an unbelievable NASCAR Cup race at Daytona

Shane van Gisbergen clinches NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year honors

Inside the chaos that decided NASCAR's final playoff spot

A spot of rain on a sunny day made all the difference for Christian Rasmussen at the Milwaukee Mile. Rasmussen came to pit road for a fresh tires after brief rain brought out a caution with 42 laps remaining and chased down a dominant Alex Palou over a final 28-lap run to score his first NTT IndyCar Series victory in the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250.

“Wow,” an overjoyed Rasmussen said after the race. “That’s a good Sunday.”

The Danish driver was running eighth when the caution first flew and sat sixth when the green finally came out 14 laps later. But he quickly surged forward when the final run began. Rasmussen was up to fourth with 25 to go, sneaking ahead of teammate Alexander Rossi to lead all drivers with fresh rubber. He passed Josef Newgarden for third a lap later, surged past Scott McLaughlin for second with 21 laps remaining and quickly chased Palou down.

By the time Rasmussen had caught the 2025 champ with 16 laps remaining, there was little doubt over what was to come. The 25-year-old jumped to Palou’s outside going into turn 3, survived a tense half-lap battle and marched off to a memorable victory for Ed Carpenter Racing.

“Today was amazing,” Rasmussen said. “We were talking about (it) before the race, that if there’s a late caution, then we want to go on new tires. Because it’s such an advantage. There was more people that did it than I thought there would (be) in that last stint, but it was definitely the right choice. We were so good on new tires, even compared to other cars on new tires.“

Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

Palou was the dominant driver on the day, but had to settle for second after taking the checkered flag 1.9463s behind Rasmussen. He’ll fall at least one victory short of matching A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Sr. for IndyCar’s single-season win record.

Scott McLaughlin held onto third to score his first podium since Barber Motorsports Park in May. Rossi and Pato O'Ward completed the top-five, with Christian Lundgaard, Josef Newgarden, David Malukas, Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstrong wrapping up the top 10.

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images

The race was stalled out by a pair of early cautions, first for a crashing Nolan Siegel on the opening lap and again when Graham Rahal all-but-crashed on the lap 10 restart.

Those early slowdowns opened the door for a three-stop pit strategy, but significant tire wear left everyone planning for at least four stops over Sunday’s 250 laps. Rossi kicked off the first pit sequence before the race hit lap 50. Stops began again on lap 102 and again every time another 50 laps passed.

David Malukas, A. J. Foyt Enterprises, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Photo by: Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images

For the bulk of the time, it looked like Palou would march off to another comfortable win, particularly after the last scheduled set of stops entering the race’s final 50 laps. But a little fateful rain and some late heroics helped Rasmussen etch his name into the list of IndyCar oval winners.

With Milwaukee complete, just one race remains in the 2025 IndyCar season. The campaign will wrap up next Sunday (Aug. 31), when the series ventures to Nashville Superspeedway for the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix.

Photos from Milwaukee - Race

There were 44 lead changes between 19 different drivers at Daytona, and at the checkered flag, the entire top five were covered by less than one tenth of a second. It was an incredible race, culminating with a four-wide photo finish.  

Somehow, there were no new winners despite drivers facing a must-win situation finishing second through sixth. Ryan Blaney prevailed by just 0.031s and earned his second win of the year, ensuring there were no changes in the final two playoff spots.

Take a look at the biggest winners and losers from Daytona:

WINNER: Ryan Blaney's new best friend Alex Bowman

Watch: Four-wide finish! Ryan Blaney wins regular-season finale at Daytona

While Blaney captured the checkered flag, Bowman was the real winner at Daytona. After wrecking out on Lap 27, the Hendrick Motorsports driver could only look on and hope one of the must-win drivers didn't prevail in the end. Well, his nightmare was becoming a reality as the front of the field was filled with those must-win drivers in the closing laps. Bowman's Hendrick teammates did what they could, shuffling drivers out of line, but in the end, it wasn't up to them.

On the final lap, it was Blaney who surged ahead and claimed victory, finishing just ahead of five must-win drivers!

It's no surprise that in post-race interviews, Bowman said he owes Blaney "seven million beers."

LOSER: Jones and Preece are undone by preexisting loyalties 

Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club Toyota

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

Erik Jones and Ryan Preece positioned themselves perfectly to win at Daytona, but the circumstances around the final playoff spot led to their undoing. Kyle Larson was on a mission to prevent any new driver from winning, shoving Jones out of the way.

Preece, who had just moved up in front of Jones before the No. 43 got moved, now had Larson directly behind him. Unsurprisingly, he too got shuffled back, leaving him frustrated with what could have been.  

WINNER: The field for keeping it clean and giving us a four-wide finish

NASCAR Cup photo finish with Ryan Blaney winning

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

Despite so many desperate drivers at the front of the pack, everyone kept it clean in one of the most thrilling and professional finishes we've seen in recent years at Daytona. No one ran over each other, and while the blocks were big, they weren't reckless. And because of that, we got to witness one of the best Daytona finishes of the Next Gen era.

LOSER: Joey Logano spins from the lead

Joey Logano spins from the lead, Team Penske Ford

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Logano somehow escaped being at the epicenter of the race's biggest wreck on Lap 27, and went on to lead much of the final stage. However, his shot at the win ended with just over ten laps to go, spinning from the lead.

The race remained green, but No. 22 then took an interesting path, driving out into the grass and causing a caution instead of continuing down pit road.

WINNER: Kyle Busch can't seem to catch a break

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

Busch has now missed the playoffs in two consecutive seasons, and at Daytona, he didn't even get a chance to fight for it. He was swept up in the Lap 27 pileup, and the two-time Cup champion has just one finish higher than 20th in the last five races.

To make it sting a bit more, Busch will also have to watch as his teammate and Richmond winner Austin Dillon takes part in the playoffs.

LOSER: A fairytale lost for all those Blaney denied

Watch: Justin Haley: 'Hurts' to come up just short at Daytona

0.031s for Suarez, 0.036s for Haley, 0.049s for Custer, 0.091s for Jones, and 0.106s for Buescher -- that's how close each of those drivers were to winning on Saturday night.

All of them were in a must-win situation, but instead finished second through sixth. For Suarez, it could have been a huge moment on the same day Trackhouse confirmed Connor Zilisch as his replacement.

Then there's Haley, whose own future is in question. Custer and Jones would have been incredible upsets, and Buescher misses the playoffs yet again despite being top ten in points.

WINNER: Cody Ware strong night, and his efforts to blow up the playoffs

Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing Ford

Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

Entering Daytona, people looked at Ware as the most extreme example of the 'win and you're in' system. He is dead last in points among full-time drivers, has no top tens this year, and a shock victory for him would have been met with lots of controversy as he takes the final playoff spot. That didn't happen in the end as Ware finished 20th, but he certainly made some people sweat.

Ware led 23 laps, and to put that achievement in perspective, he has led just 11 laps in his previous 131 career starts combined! 

LOSER: The three-car teams with no playoff presence

Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford; Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

It hurts to miss the playoffs, but it hurts even more when you have three full-time cars in the NASCAR Cup Series, RFK Racing, Spire Motorsports, and Front Row Motorsports all went 0-3 in their effort to break into the playoffs. It's even more painful for RFK, who had two drivers fairly high up in points, but no wins to help secure them a spot. 

WINNER: SVG leads some laps, secures ROTY

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

Shane van Gisbergen continues to get more comfortable at ovals, and he even led some laps at Daytona. He went on to finish 16th, and with Riley Herbst failing to make the playoffs, SVG officially locked up Rookie of the Year honors. He will be the first foreign-born driver to win ROTY since Juan Pablo Montoya did it in 2007, and with 16 points over the cutline after the playoff reset, he has a real chance to advance deep into the postseason.

LOSER: Denny Hamlin loses valuable bonus points

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

Despite being NASCAR's only active three-time Daytona 500 winner, Hamlin's luck in the Next Gen era at superspeedways has been dismal. He has no finish higher than 17th at Daytona in the last eight races, and Saturday night was no different. But what made that hurt more is that Hamlin was in position to potentially end the regular season second in points. Instead, he ended up sixth. Why does that matter? He lost out on five additional bonus points, as NASCAR awards bonus points for the top ten points finishers at the end of the first 26 races.

Photos from Daytona - Race

Shane van Gisbergen clinches NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year honors

Ryan Blaney doesn't want to hear an Earnhardt comparison after Daytona drive

Inside the chaos that decided NASCAR's final playoff spot

Ryan Preece explains his "shitty situation" while leading late at Daytona

Daniel Suarez agonizes over Daytona loss, promises a win “soon”

KTM’s leading MotoGP rider Pedro Acosta has admitted that he needs to throttle back his riding in qualifying after a promising Hungarian Grand Prix weekend was derailed by a violent crash.

While the KTM bike has taken a step forward over the last two race weekends, Acosta has arguably been guilty of over-riding in qualifying on both of them.

At Balaton Park, he was the only man who looked likely to challenge Marc Marquez for pole position, despite a crash on Friday. But his blunder on Saturday – which came before he had even set a ‘banker’ lap – saw him line up seventh.

That in turn put him in prime position to be caught up in the sprint race melee at the first corner. He also fell later in the race and ended up 17th.

On Sunday, however, he rode a clean first lap and slotted into fourth. He worked his way up to second by the end – but will wonder what might have been without the fearsome qualifying mishap.

But pushing beyond the limits now that the promise of poles and wins is real is something Acosta knows he must avoid going forward.

“Everything was feeling quite easy on Friday and then Saturday was really a disaster, you know,” said Acosta. “Sometimes I need to cool down a bit and try to save a normal result. Because I think at this track, qualifying far from the front row was more of a handicap than [anything else].

“The [weekend] was missing a bit of experience [on my part]. Like I said, on this Saturday [I should not have made] the mess that I created.

“[What’s missing on] my part is to be slightly calm.”

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Acosta said he was pleased with the final result on Sunday, all things considered.

“I mean, we have to be happy after the mechanics had to [build] two new bikes from these two crashes that I was having on Friday and Saturday,” he said, “but you cannot always believe that a comeback will save the weekend.

“Anyway, I think we have to be happy about our weekend and how KTM is improving every race.

“The aero update they brought to [the last race in] Austria helped a lot. Now the bike is more calm. It’s slightly easier to ride, and for sure we have more space to make mistakes.

“The problem before was that if you made a slight mistake you were already on the floor. We are getting better on this.”

While Acosta continued to spend his share of time on the ground in Hungary, it sounds like the latest crashes have been a case of pushing too hard rather than a lack of feedback from the bike.

His first chance to see what the bike can achieve with slightly more cautious riding in qualifying will come at the Catalan Grand Prix in two weeks.

How Marc Marquez could seal the MotoGP world title at Misano

Photos from Hungarian GP - Race

An F3 champion and F2 race winner, Dennis Hauger is now an Indy NXT champion as he eyes a future in IndyCar. His journey from Europe to America has been a spectacular one, winning six of the 13 races he's entered this year, and recording 11 top fives.

All of these tracks were completely new to the 22-year-old Andretti Global driver, and he had never raced on ovals before, but that didn't stop him from clinching the championship with one race to spare. With a runner-up finish at Milwaukee, he is 69 points clear of his closest competition, which is Caio Collet in second.

Hauger is also the first driver from Norway to claim an Indy NXT title. Recent Indy NXT (previously Indy Lights) champions include Louis Foster, Christian Rasmussen, Linus Lunqvist, and Kyle Kirkwood -- three of which currently compete full-time in IndyCar.

"It's been an incredible season as a rookie with Andretti," Hauger told FOX Sports. "Super proud to be a part of them and to be a part of this championship season. It's been an incredible year. A few ups and downs but mostly ups. Obviously, super happy. This is a big championship win for me."

He went on to note how "every weekend has been a new track for me, and it's been so many new factors, but we've just really been on top of things. Super happy."

Motorsport.com did an exclusive interview with Hauger at the start of the 2025 season, where he discussed the decision to turn away from the European pipeline and cross the Atlantic to compete in the top levels of US open-wheel racing.

From Europe to America: Dennis Hauger on why he switched focus to IndyCar

Moving through the field at Daytona in the current era of NASCAR is a difficult task. More often than not, the pack becomes gridlocked with two clearly defined lanes, and no one else has much of a chance to build a run. So, how then did Ryan Blaney come from 13th to win in just two laps?

He also wasn't alone in this impressive charge to the front. Just look at Daniel Suarez, who finished a very close second, and came all the way back from 19th in just the final five miles (two laps) of the regular season finale.

HMS disrupts the draft

The field races to two laps to go

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman - Getty Images

The key to it all was Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott were lined up behind Ryan Preece in the outside lane, but they could not afford to stay there. If either Preece or Justin Haley (who led the insane lane) won, it would eliminate their teammate Alex Bowman from the playoffs.

So, as the field approached the tri-oval, they went to the outside of Preece and shuffled him back through the middle of the pack. This moment created a perfect opportunity for a third lane to suddenly form and surge forward. However, you still needed drivers bold enough to go out there.

As the new third lane dispatched Preece, Larson came back down the track to reform the second lane. Most of the cars behind him followed suit, but Cole Custer did not. He stayed out there, and he had a ton of momentum with Blaney tucked closely behind him.

Clearing the way for the No. 12

NASCAR Cup photo finish with Ryan Blaney winning

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

With Custer leading the way, they blew past William Byron (middle) and Ross Chastain (bottom), Christopher Bell (middle) and Michael McDowell (bottom), Elliott (middle) and Chris Buescher (bottom), and finally Larson (middle) and Haley (bottom). And they did this in about 40 seconds, passing four double-wide rows on the far outside with not a single car moving up to kill their run.

In a sudden turn of events, Custer was leading at the white flag, and Blaney was directly behind him. The inside lane was still controlled by Haley, who surged back ahead through Turns 1 and 2. But he got too far out, and desperately tried to block Custer as the Haas Factory Team driver came back at him with a new run down the backstretch.

They both darted over to the other side of the track as Haley tried and failed to block Custer. As for Blaney, he was still flying and he now had Daniel Suarez giving him an almighty shove. Reaching 197mph at the entrance of Turn 3, he snatched the lead away. At this point, Blaney had barely moved around since the original decision to go three-wide, but right after clearing Haley, he sliced down in front of him as Custer pulled the bottom line alongside in the battle for the win.

The two Ford drivers were dead even and neither had a pusher, but at the exit of Turn 4, Blaney swung back up to get a sniff of the draft from Suarez before returning to the middle, maintaining control across the line as a group of desperate drivers split him in a thrilling four-wide finish for the ages.

Suarez crossed the line 0.031s behind Blaney, Haley was 0.036s back, Custer only 0.049s adrift, and Erik Jones in fifth was still within a tenth of the race win at 0.091s.

And if the written word doesn't do it justice, then simply take a look at the video for yourself:

Photos from Daytona - Race

Inside the chaos that decided NASCAR's final playoff spot

Ryan Preece explains his "shitty situation" while leading late at Daytona

Ryan Blaney wins Daytona finale in epic four-wide photo finish

Reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin believes it is a matter of time before he battles for victories again, following his feisty ride to fourth place in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

MotoGP Hungarian GP: Marc Marquez makes it seven grand prix wins in a row

The race at Balaton Park was only the third grand prix since Martin returned from long-term injury at the Czech Grand Prix in July. The result, which the Spaniard achieved from 16th on the grid, was a clear step up from the seventh place he scored on his comeback at Brno.

“Today I feel like I am back,” said the 27-year-old, who was still uncertain how his recovering body would handle the twists and turns of a full race distance at Balaton Park. “I could [run] a strong pace for 26 laps. That is not easy on a tricky track.

“Today I had no expectations and I was fourth, close to the podium. Maybe next race I am on the podium. Or [fighting] for the victory, I don’t know. I will give 100%. But I don’t want to do more than what I can.

“Today I could have gone for the podium and crashed. So I prefer to finish fourth and keep building a solid base for the future.

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

“For sure I still need time with the bike. [But] I am the same ‘Martinator’ as last year. The bike is much better than last year. So it’s just a matter of time [before] we put everything together and we can fight for victories.”

Although Martin’s absence was overshadowed by a highly public contractual dispute with Aprilia, he now believes the satisfaction of winning with the Italian squad would be special.

“I mean, last year I had the hunger for winning the title and that was great. But now, thinking a bit about my story, the challenge to bring Aprilia to winning gives me much more motivation and joy than just winning races. So the day I win with Aprilia will be fantastic. It will be super good.

“The team is working incredibly. I’m really surprised about the Aprilia and how they are working, the project and everything. So we are both [working] in the same direction.”

Martin’s ride to the front went a long way towards disproving the notion that overtaking would be impossible at Balaton Park – of which he has become a great fan.

“I love it. It’s fantastic. I mean, people are arguing because they say we cannot overtake. I overtook 12 riders!”

How Marc Marquez could seal the MotoGP world title at Misano

Photos from Hungarian GP - Race

Shane van Gisbergen will be named Rookie of the Year at the end of the 2025 NASCAR Cup season, no matter what happens in the final ten races. SVG is the first foreign-born driver to earn Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Cup Series since Juan Pablo Montoya did it in 2007.

SVG's four-win season allowed him to easily make the playoffs, while his only competition [Riley Herbst] failed to make it into the postseason. NASCAR awards ROTY to whichever rookie places highest in the championship standings, which is now guaranteed to be van Gisbergen.

Herbst, who drives for 23XI Racing and is one of only two full-time drivers without a top ten this year, had one last shot to win his way into the playoffs on Saturday night.

Unfortunately, he was among those taken out in a Lap 27 pileup on the frontstretch, leaving him with a last-place finish. SVG went on to lead six laps and place 16th. After the points reset, he enters the playoffs as the sixth seed out of 16 drivers.

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

“It was awesome," said SVG about the Daytona race. "We set out and achieved what we wanted to do. I wasn’t quite a good enough pusher to help the No. 99 [Daniel Suarez, teammate]. I would just get tight and bound up, and I couldn’t stay attached. But when we were out front, it was good. It was good to lead some laps and control some lanes. I learned a lot. We just have to keep building. It’s another solid result for this No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet team.”

Van Gisbergen's first win of the year came in Mexico City, where he won by over 16 seconds in the largest margin of victory we've seen in any Cup race since 2009. He went on to claim victories at Sonoma Raceway, the Chicago Street Course, and most recently at Watkins Glen International.

Photos from Daytona - Race

Inside the chaos that decided NASCAR's final playoff spot

Daniel Suarez agonizes over Daytona loss, promises a win “soon”

Ryan Preece explains his "shitty situation" while leading late at Daytona

The official 2025 NASCAR Cup playoff grid after points reset

The idea that Marc Marquez could wrap up the 2025 MotoGP title at the San Marino Grand Prix, which is the race after next, began as little more than fantastical speculation.

But that was before yet another maximum haul of 37 points at the Hungarian Grand Prix for Marc, and a dismal weekend for the man in second place, his brother Alex. Marc taking the crown at Misano on 13-14 September is now more than just a theoretical possibility.

MotoGP Hungarian GP: Marc Marquez makes it seven grand prix wins in a row

With a current lead of 175 points and 222 available after the San Marino GP, Marc will need to stretch his advantage over Alex by 47 points by the time the Misano weekend is over.

That would have seemed highly unlikely earlier in the year, when Alex was consistently finishing races second behind Marc. But ever since his accident during the Dutch Grand Prix, the younger Marquez has struggled to replicate such form on the Gresini Ducati.

There is also nobody else around to take over as the leading challenger to Marc Marquez. The man in third is a substantial 52 points behind Alex. And that man is Marc’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, whose current struggles are well-documented.

What would it mean in terms of results for Marc to stretch his lead by another 47 points across the brothers’ home race at Barcelona and the following one in Misano?

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Dorna

A perfect weekend in MotoGP is worth 37 points – and that’s exactly what Marc has managed to score on each of the last seven weekends. Even if there is a slip-up over the next two weekends, then, he is almost certain to score well in excess of 47 himself.

The main question, then, is how many Alex can score over the next two weekends. If he can return to podium form, even with a solid second place in one of the grands prix, he will likely prolong Marc’s wait until the teams move to Asia.

If, for example, Marc gets another two maximum hauls in Catalunya and San Marino, a second place for Alex in one of the grands prix plus eight points across the remaining grand prix and pair of sprints would keep matters alive.

If Alex continues his current form, however, it will indeed be game over in San Marino. For reference, Marc stretched his advantage over Alex by 55 points over the latest two weekends, on which Alex has faced long-lap penalties, grid drops and qualifying difficulties. He scored just 15 points on those two outings, with a second place in the Austrian sprint the only real highlight.

Asked about the Misano equation after his win in Hungary, Marquez admitted he was now thinking about the championship.

“But I hope my first opportunity comes in Indonesia or Japan,” continued the factory Ducati rider. “If it comes in Misano, it means my brother had a disastrous weekend in Barcelona – and I want the best for him.”

Photos from Hungarian GP - Race

Ayhancan Guven took a second victory at the Sachsenring DTM round on Sunday, as Manthey Porsche team-mate Thomas Preining and polesitter Jack Aitken collided ahead of him.

DTM Sachsenring: Ayhancan Guven wins crazy race

Guven took second from Preining at the start as several touches occurred in the midfield, with Tom Kalender an early retiree.

Surprisingly, leader Aitken was the first to pit for new tyres, with Guven following one lap later but suffering an 8.3s stop, which dropped him back behind Preining.

Meanwhile, as Abt Lamborghini driver Nicki Thiim retired with a puncture and team-mate Mirko Bortolotti was sent into the gravel trap by a technical fault, title contender Jordan Pepper collided with Ben Green and was out of the contest.

“I was racing against a driver who isn’t fighting for the championship and who, of course, risks everything because he wants the podium,” Pepper told ran.de, ruing a “suicidal move” by his opponent.

Jordan Pepper, Grasser Racing Team

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

“Yes, I probably should have just let it go. If I had turned in, I would have spun. And then I really thought he would show some respect into Turn 1, but obviously not, so I’m a bit disappointed.”

Pepper’s disappointment may have been eased a few minutes later when title rivals Preining and Aitken collided as they fought for the lead. The Porsche driver hit the Ferrari under braking for Turn 1 and spun him around. Aitken was left stranded in the gravel, which contributed to bringing out the safety car. Preining kept the lead but was handed three penalty laps by race control.

Guven therefore inherited the lead from his team-mate, just like on Saturday, followed by Ferrari driver Green, whom stewards decided not to penalise over his collision with Pepper.

However, Green’s second pitstop was less than perfect and he dropped to fourth behind McLaren’s Ben Doerr and Jules Gounon (Winward Mercedes), who completed the podium.

Schubert BMW’s Marco Wittmann and Rene Rast came fifth and sixth, ahead of Maro Engel and Morris Schuring. Lucas Auer finished just ninth, but his championship rivals’ drama meant he regained the lead in the standings ahead of his home race in Austria.

Auer now has a two-point advantage over Aitken, with Guven and Pepper just five points off the championship leader.

The DTM will reconvene at the Red Bull Ring on September 12-14, before the traditional finale at Hockenheim on 3-5 October.

Photos, Sachsenring

Factory Ducati MotoGP rider Marc Marquez overcame a difficult first lap to win the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position.

The Spaniard thus completed a sensational seventh straight ‘double’ win in MotoGP after taking the Saturday sprint.

He stretched his world championship points lead over brother Alex – who only managed two points – to a yawning 175. 

Drama began long before the start of the race as engineers from the Ducati factory team gathered around the VR46 bike of front-row starter Fabio Di Giannantonio. The Italian had felt an issue with his GP25 during the initial sighting laps and attempts were now being made to get to the root of it.

With the team uncertain if the problem had been eliminated, consideration was given to Di Giannantonio swapping to his spare bike and incurring a double long-lap penalty for doing so on the grid. The final decision, however, was to send him on his way for the warm-up lap in the hopes that the trouble had been fixed. If not, there would still be the option to start the race from the pitlane on the spare bike.

Sure enough, the third spot on the grid would remain empty as Di Giannantonio pulled into the pits at the end of the warm-up lap to pick up the spare. Effectively starting from the back of the field, on such a tight track, ended his hopes of challenging for a podium.

All eyes were firmly focused on the first corner following the chaos seen in the Saturday sprint, but the field was cautious this time around. Bezzecchi almost outdragged Marquez to the first corner, with the inside line, but thought the better of a move. That patience paid off when he swept past the factory Ducati on the exit.

Marquez immediately tried to respond, making an unusual error as he aimed for a non-existent gap on the inside of Bezzecchi at Turn 2. Contact was inevitable, but luckily both stayed upright. Bezzecchi retained the lead but Marquez dropped behind Franco Morbidelli’s VR46 Ducati.

Briefly, there was a hint of intrigue. Marc had looked desperate in the opening sequence of corners, as if even he knew that overtaking two rivals to win would be tough on the new Hungarian circuit.

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

It didn’t take long for that hint to fizzle out. Marquez dispensed with Morbidelli on lap five and immediately reduced Bezzecchi’s one-second lead to nothing. The Spaniard then had a couple of trial runs at passing the Aprilia on lap eight before making a definitive move for the lead on lap 11.

As Marc disappeared into the distance, Bezzecchi had Pedro Acosta’s KTM to worry about. A mistake late on lap 15 made it easy for the young Murcian to grab second place into Turn 1 on the following tour. That settled the top three, each of whom would proceed to the finish with little in the way of company.   

Jorge Martin showed that overtaking was indeed possible at Balaton Park. Using the same medium front tyre Marquez had picked, the Aprilia man put on a passing masterclass to work his way from 16th on the grid to fourth place. It was the best result yet in his latest MotoGP comeback, which began two races ago in the Czech Republic.

Honda’s Luca Marini rounded off a strong weekend for the factory team with fifth place ahead of Morbidelli, who was unable to stick with the pace at the front.

Behind KTM riders Brad Binder and Pol Espargaro came Francesco Bagnaia in ninth, a reasonable result for the second factory Ducati considering he had started 13th.

Sprint race bad boy Fabio Quartararo rounded out the top 10. He had to serve a long-lap penalty for his role in the first-corner collision on Saturday and never featured at the front.

Enea Bastianini crashed out of fourth on the first lap, almost gathering a number of other riders as he slid into the second part of the Turn 12 chicane. This was a lucky escape from a scenario that had been predicted by fellow rider Raul Fernandez on Thursday.

Alex Marquez was only 14th at the end of a tough weekend on which he earned a grid penalty for blocking in practice and then fell early in the grand prix. A mere two points for the Gresini Ducati man will only add to speculation that Marc could clinch the title in two races at Misano.

Hungarian Grand Prix results

Photos from Hungarian GP: Race

Jack Miller is set to stay at Pramac in 2026 alongside rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu, with Yamaha having finally made a decision on its satellite MotoGP team's line-up at the expense of Miguel Oliveira, Motorsport.com has learned.

While the official announcement will come in the next few days, Yamaha and Miller, whose contract was set to expire at the end of the season, closed a deal on Thursday ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. This came just hours after Miller had demanded the team make up its mind about 2026 fast.

The Queenslander will remain with Paolo Campinoti’s team until the end of 2026, Motorsport.com understands.

The Iwata-based manufacturer is betting on the experience of the Australian rider, who in recent years has raced with Ducati (2018–2022) and KTM (2023–2024) machinery – both V4-powered prototypes. That aligns with Yamaha’s new project: The only manufacturer on the grid still using an in-line four engine is working on an all-new V4 bike for 2026.

On Thursday, Miller made it clear that if he did not receive a swift answer about his future, he would accept the offer he had “from other championships”. That supposed offer referred to BMW’s interest in making Miller the replacement for Razgatlioglu in its factory WorldSBK team.

The Australian’s statements prompted Yamaha executives into action. On Thursday afternoon, they met with the rider and his representative, Aki Ajo, in the Yamaha hospitality at Balaton Park. Autosport understands that in the meeting, Paolo Pavesio, Yamaha’s top executive, together with Gino Borsoi, Pramac’s team manager, offered Miller a renewal, which he accepted pending the signing of the contract.

This move will force Yamaha to trigger the performance clause contained in Miguel Oliveira’s contract. The Portuguese rider signed a ‘1+1’ deal last year that can be cut short if a minimum set of results is not achieved. In Oliveira’s case, these have not been met, partly due to injuries.

Jack Miller, Pramac Racing, Miguel Oliveira, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Another name that had surfaced in connection with the Pramac ride was Moto2 world championship leader Manu Gonzalez. However, sources close to the rider assured Motorsport.com this Friday that although “some conversations with Yamaha took place”, the Spaniard will remain with his current team, Dynavolt Intact GP, in Moto2 in 2026.

Miller, who will turn 31 in January, is currently 17th in the standings with 52 points, 384 behind series leader Marc Marquez. His best result this season was a fifth place at the Americas GP at the end of March, while his worst was 18th at last Sunday’s Austrian GP, where all the Yamaha riders struggled badly, occupying the final four spots in the race classification.

Photos from Hungarian GP - Sprint & Qualifying

For the second time in three MotoGP events, Pol Espargaro is a racer once again. Two races ago he stood in for injured Tech3 KTM rider Maverick Vinales at the Czech GP; this weekend he is in action at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Replacing an injured team-mate “is not what I like the most, nor does it make me feel comfortable,” admits Espargaro in Hungary, where he progressed directly to Q2 and then narrowly missed out on a point with 10th position in the Saturday sprint. “You never want another rider to get injured.”

But he knows better than most that MotoGP is a sport of swings and roundabouts. Espargaro himself had to step aside from his racing career as a result of the extremely serious injury he suffered in the 2023 season opener at Portimao, where he crashed into a wall and was physically destroyed, missing the first nine grands prix of the season and carrying after-effects until the end of the season.

Following Pedro Acosta’s emergence from Moto2, KTM asked the recovering Espargaro, who had a contract until 2024, to give up his Tech3 seat to the teenage sensation last year. It was a request that the Spaniard didn’t appreciate, but nonetheless became part of the testing and development team.

There was a commitment to letting him compete in races as a wildcard, a promise that the Mattighofen-based team has, in part, failed to keep. He competed in just three races in 2024: Italy, Austria and San Marino.

Pol Espargaro, Red Bull KTM Tech3

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

This renegade approach, coupled with the absence of an offer to continue as part of the KTM test team next season, led Espargaro to emphasise that he is still on the rider market.

At just 34 years old, in peak physical condition and hungry for competition, the Catalan has put himself in the hands of Albert Valera – the man who manages Jorge Martin. He has already received several offers from the WorldSBK paddock, where factories such as BMW, Ducati, Honda and Yamaha have not yet finalised their lineups for next season.

His performance so far at the Hungarian Grand Prix has been an ideal way to attract the interest of a championship seeking quality riders after the loss of its current leader, Toprak Razgatlioglu.

“I want to keep racing,” Espargaro insists. “The truth is that I really enjoyed having members of the test team in the pits. When I stepped back from competition [at the end of 2023], they were the ones who welcomed me. With them I rebuilt myself, not only physically, but also in my riding style.

“They understood that my condition wasn’t the best and had the patience to support me in my riding, with a set-up that helped me, even if it wasn’t the best. This result in Hungary is part of a very hard-fought process.”

MotoGP Hungarian GP: Marc Marquez dominates after carnage in sprint   

“It can be dangerous” – MotoGP’s Balaton Park race questioned after first lap crash

Espargaro believes he is in better shape, both physically and mentally, than when he stopped full-time racing at just 32 years of age. The Granollers native believes it’s not too late to make a full-time return, and welcomes the possibility of this one day happening.

“Sometimes people ask me if I regret retiring. No, I don’t regret it because I never retired! In reality, I’m still racing and I want to keep racing,” he says, despite having become one of the stars of the MotoGP broadcasts on Spanish television.

“I didn’t retire; I had to due to a life situation. I crashed, hurt myself badly, had to recover and wasn’t fit to be a MotoGP rider. But I didn’t retire – I wanted to keep racing and I want to keep competing.

“[Competing] is what I do when I get on the bike and the results come out. The idea that I’ve retired isn’t real. I’m still racing.”

If Saturday’s sprint is anything to go by, simply staying out of trouble in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday will be enough to earn points. Coupled with those he picked up for ninth place when he replaced Vinales at Brno, that can only boost his stock as he looks for a return to full-time racing.

Photos from Hungarian GP - Sprint & Qualifying

While McLaren's baseline form over the early part of the 2025 Formula 1 season had been strong, any weaknesses that emerged in the year's nascent stages appear to have been ironed out with development.

The team has secured 1-2 finishes in each of the last four races, putting it 299 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors' championship with 10 rounds remaining. If it continues that form, it could have the teams' crown wrapped at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Race pace has scarcely been in doubt, thanks to the MCL39's light touch with tyres and consistency over longer stints. It has also helped that its top-four rival teams have endured fluctuating form; Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull have ebbed and flowed through the year.

While both drivers have been able to secure pole positions and front-row lockouts with the 2025 car, qualifying performance has been its weaker trait. The MCL39 does not present the same high-wire act as, say, Red Bull's RB21, but both drivers have expressed their difficulties in getting the car to dance to their tune on a single lap.

"I think in testing in Bahrain we had some concerns about not necessarily the steering or the front suspension, but just the car was very tricky to drive on the limit in testing," Piastri explained in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com. "Our race runs were always very strong, but in the kind of qualifying sims, we were genuinely struggling.

"We had a lot of work to do to try and unlock that. And I think you've still seen kind of episodes of that through the year. Canada for example, a few other tracks where it has been quite difficult to drive on the limit and that's probably been the thing we've been most vocal about, partly because everything else has been so good."

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

In the early part of the season, Lando Norris was particularly vocal about this - and the numbness that team principal Andrea Stella confirmed that both drivers had felt was one of the reasons why the team produced a variant of its front suspension package.

This suspension package variant has offered a change in the overall caster angle (the angle between the upper and lower suspension joints, effectively the steering alignment), which in turn will require a change in kingpin inclination (the angle between upper and lower suspension joints, but viewed front-on).

In doing so, there's a self-aligning torque associated with the wheels while the driver steers, something that offers greater feedback. Norris, who perhaps has more value on the feedback through his hands versus those who perhaps feel the car through their lower back, has thus benefitted from this.

There are downsides to doing so, and increasing caster also increases the steering effort required to turn - although this is less of a consideration when it comes to F1 cars and their power steering systems. But there's also the effect of dynamic changes to other kinematic variables to be aware of; in cornering, for example, caster is not independent of camber, which can change how the car behaves.

Mclaren MCL39 technical detail

Photo by: AG Galli

While Norris has taken that suspension package, Piastri has not. He feels he does not require the change in feedback at the steering wheel, and has not wanted to change the way the car feels in the same way that Norris has.

Although he's been the quieter of the two drivers on the subject, Piastri clarified his thoughts on the MCL39's handling - and felt that, unlike Norris, he was able to mitigate his greater qualms with set-up.

"I've not really struggled with that feeling or sensation," Piastri offered. "We've tried different things with the front suspension to see if it changes much. But for me I've been pretty happy with how it's been.

"For me it's not been a big concern, but definitely I still shared initially anyway the kind of same feelings about the car being pretty difficult to drive in some conditions.

"I think we've done a much better job of addressing that with set-up and also just for me expectations and getting used to the car more. But there's not really a specific trait that I don't like anymore."

Watch: Oscar Piastri Exclusive: From Rookie to F1 Title Contender in His Own Words

Ryan Blaney wanted no part of the comparison, but what he did over the final two laps of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday night was Earnhardt-ian.

It’s a sacrilegious thing to suggest anyone in NASCAR is on the same scale as the seven-time Cup Series champion, but Blaney charging from 13th to 1st to win at the World Center of Racing contained shades of the Intimidator. Specifically, it was like Earnhardt’s final win at Talladega in the 2000 Winston 500, when he surged from 18th to win in just five laps.

When asked if he even felt like 2000 Talladega Dale, Blaney immediately shut the question down and just said ‘no,’ repeatedly.

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

He did not remotely want that comparison, even though he now has three wins at Talladega and a points win at Daytona. His peers consider him one of the best and it was fair to ask him if he felt like one of the best.

“I feel like I do a decent job,” Blaney said, again understating.

Blaney cited teammates like Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski over the years, having ‘soaked up information’ and ‘picked their brains.’

“I was able to turn it around and apply it to my racing as I got more comfortable and experienced in it,” Blaney added. “I just try to be patient. It's easy to get impatient in this deal, in the Daytona (and) Talladega things -- feeling like you have to take a run right now.

“Sometimes you just have to let it play out and see what happens. I try to be that way. I try to be patient and disciplined and in it for the long haul, and that's what we were tonight.”

Blaney has undeniable skill at superspeedways

NASCAR Cup photo finish with Ryan Blaney winning

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

Team Penske president of NASCAR operations Michael Nelson called Blaney ‘special’ at this discipline.

“Think about how many races we've had this year where he's really coming through (and) challenging for the win at the end,” Nelson said. “And really, that’s just him in general, Darlington earlier in the year and so many races where when the end comes around, there he is and there’s that 12 car.

“He's pretty special. And again, we just needed a little bit of things to go our way tonight to get it across the finish line, but no, he's there every week.”

So again, when his bosses and peers all say the same kinds of things, why is Blaney himself so reluctant to truly entertain the praise as being realistic?

“A lot of things go into it,” Blaney said. “I can't do it by myself. It wasn't me out there making those -- I didn't just turn left and pass everybody by myself. You have to wait, which is what I think a good speedway racer is, ready for the opportunity to make the big move.

“I try to be patient for that opportunity. If it doesn't come, it doesn't come, and that's what it is. If it never comes, whatever.”

When opportunity knocks

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

On Saturday, Blaney said an opportunity arose when he and Cole Custer had a big run down the frontstretch at the same time the bottom line stalled out. He and Custer both took the run.

“You have no time to think about that stuff,” Blaney said. “It's a bang-bang play. You'd better just go with whatever your gut says. That was our opportunity to do it. If he wouldn't have done that, I don't know if we would have got there, honestly.

“It just kind of worked to where he and I were on the same page of we kind of just moved up together and we were able to carry all the momentum. It's all situational and you go with your gut on a lot of things. And I make a lot of bad decisions too out there, but this one tonight just happened to work out.”

Blaney says he’s reluctant to accept the praise because he has made a lot of bad moves too.

“I had a couple good teachers but I do think I do a decent job and I work really hard at it with (spotter Timmy Fedewa) to figure out which spots to be in. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

“I just try not to cause any big wrecks. That's the biggest thing.”

Blaney is objectively one of the modern elite at superspeedway racing but just don’t call him Earnhardt-ian.

He appreciated the question but also ‘thanks for making me laugh.’

Blaney isn’t having it.

Photos from Daytona - Race

Inside the chaos that decided NASCAR's final playoff spot

Ryan Preece explains his "shitty situation" while leading late at Daytona

Daniel Suarez agonizes over Daytona loss, promises a win “soon”

The official 2025 NASCAR Cup playoff grid after points reset

Ryan Blaney wins Daytona finale in epic four-wide photo finish

Alex Bowman owes Ryan Blaney seven million beers. He offered. 

Blaney won the race -- but had five winless drivers all behind him crossing the line -- and any of them winning their way into the playoffs would have eliminated the previously crashed-out Bowman.

- Daniel Suarez
- Justin Haley
- Cole Custer
- Erik Jones
- Chris Buescher

Watch: Four-wide finish! Ryan Blaney wins regular-season finale at Daytona

Oh, to be in the shoes of Bowman, watching from elsewhere in the infield as his playoff hopes hung in the balance against the unlikeliest of odds. The list above doesn’t even include race winning contenders Ryan Preece, John Hunter Nemechek and Cody Ware.

Yes, that Cody Ware, who led 23 laps!

In baseball, win probability charts are graphs that show the likelihood of a team winning over the course of a game, and if such a thing existed in NASCAR, Bowman’s playoff odds would have fluctuated in dizzying fashion.

So yeah, Blaney finding a way to drive from 13th to the win over the final two laps against all that desperation is a cause for seven million beers, one at a time.

“Oh, I'll take 5 million,” Blaney said while sipping a beer during his post-race press conference. “I'll save him some money. Someone told me that he got in because I won, right? Like if the 41, the 7, 99 would have won, he would have been out? I'll take that offer.

“I do need a refill if he's still here. I can start with one.”

Meanwhile, each of those eliminated had different reasons to drink after the race, commiserating over all the what could have been -- their own playoff odds graphics being tossed around like a ship at sea.

Preece said with assurance ‘I felt like we were going to win that race,’ shortly after climbing out the car. His RFK Racing team have one of the best superspeedway packages and was in the mix until Kyle Larson shucked him out of the groove inside of five laps to go.

Hendrick's mission to ensure a repeat winner

The field races to two laps to go

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman - Getty Images

 “Man, I felt like we were going to win that race,” Preece said. “You want to talk about having the best scenario play out for how we wanted it to, I was just leaving (Haley) there. (Buescher) was doing a great job just letting him stay there and there is nothing you can do.

“The problem is you know (Chase Elliott and Larson) were worried about their teammate that would have been bumped out, so it was a tough situation. I thought we were going to win that one because we did everything right today and it just didn’t work out.”

This was a key storyline late in the race, by the way.

Larson had also similarly placed Erik Jones into a bad spot the lap before and it was simply clear that the Hendrick Motorsports drivers were not going to push any must-win driver into the lead.

If they won, it served their goal of locking Bowman into the championship, but Larson was absolutely not going to push Preece or Jones into the lead.

Period.

“He got me out of shape pretty good the lap before and then just really out shape, all but wrecked,” Jones said. “I mean, wrecked to the left and kind of gathered it up and then he shoved me again and hooked me to the right, and saved that again.

“I’ve never raced with Kyle a lot on the speedways but I was working really well with everybody else before that, and they had no problems knowing how to push, so I think Kyle knows how to push and you know it seemed a little aggressive.”

Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club Toyota

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

When told that Larson set Preece up in a bad spot too, Jones still didn’t like the level of aggression.

“I mean, I was aware of the situation but that is definitely putting a lot of faith in my hands,” Jones added. “I’m not just going to wad up the whole field too. I mean, he had me pretty spun around on the straightaway so either he thinks I’m really good or he is just trying to shove me and help me out.

“I don’t know. I need to ask him.”

Almost a fairytale ending for Custer and Haley

NASCAR Cup photo finish with Ryan Blaney winning

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

Less aggravated and more happy to be here with a chance to win was Custer and Haley. They are both in the 30s in the championship standings and just seemed to be pleased to be in the picture at the finish line.

Custer was downright exuberant upon climbing out of the car.

“Yeah, at the end of the day, we had a shot to win and that's all you can really ask for at these plate races, you know,” Custer said. “You’re always going to look back and wish you did something different but at the end of the day all you can do it hope to be up there and have a shot at it and make the moves that you’re dealt with.”

That isn’t to say Custer and Haley both didn’t immediately start picking apart their race because they did but at least they had something to second guess.

The likes of Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Noah Gragson and Carson Hocevar all fell out early due to crashes or mechanical failures.

And despite the first stage crash that eliminated Busch, Stenhouse and Gragson, and the desperation that should have caused so much more chaos, everyone who needed to win drove relatively cautious.

Blaney had a good view of everyone racing with that respect on his way through the top-10 in the final laps.

“The biggest one I saw tonight was probably Justin Haley on Cole, but that's -- I thought that was fine,” Blaney said. “It is what it is. It didn't cause a wreck. They got through it. It cleared the way for me.

“Yeah, I thought they raced really smart and well and didn't throw their cars in any foolish situations. I thought everyone did a great job of having a great race but also keeping it clean as well.

“I think props to everybody where you didn't have a guy that needed to win that was just the absolute hammer out there. They were really, really respectful of everybody else, and it was a good race.”

It’s even better when you’re the winner and someone owes you seven million beers.

Photos from Daytona - Race

Ryan Blaney wins Daytona finale in epic four-wide photo finish

The official 2025 NASCAR Cup playoff grid after points reset

Daniel Suarez agonizes over Daytona loss, promises a win “soon”

Ryan Preece explains his "shitty situation" while leading late at Daytona

In the closing laps of the Daytona cutoff race, Ryan Preece found himself in the lead. The No. 60 RFK Racing Ford was in a must-win situation, and this position seemed oddly familiar for him.

Preece positioned himself exactly as he did in another superspeedway earlier this year, leading the outside line with the checkered flag just a few laps away.

And while it seemed like he had found the perfect spot to potentially earn his first career Cup win, circumstances said otherwise. He had been split up from teammate Chris Buescher, who was on the inside pushing Justin Haley alongside Preece. But that wasn't the problem.

In position to win the race

Ryan Preece, RFK Racing Ford; Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet; Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet; Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

The issue was the fact that two Hendrick Motorsports cars were directly behind Preece. A victory for him would knock their teammate Alex Bowman from the playoffs, and they weren't going to just let that happen. Coming to two laps to go, they split Preece and sent him back through the middle, ending his shot at the victory. He ended up finishing a disappointing 14th. 

“Man, I felt like we were gonna win that race," said Preece after the race. "You want to talk about having the best scenario play out for how we wanted it to, I was just leaving the 7 [Haley] there. The 17 [Buescher] was doing a great job just letting him stay there and there’s nothing you can do. The problem is you know the 9 [Chase Elliott] and the 5 [Kyle Larson] were worried about their teammate that would have been bumped out, so it was a shitty situation. We did everything right today, and it just didn’t work out.”

There wasn't much Preece could do but push on and hope it all worked out, but it didn't. 

"Frustrated," continued Preece. "I did everything right, put the car where I needed to be .. If I had Chris right behind or if I could have gotten in the same line, that would have been best case scenario."

Instead, all three RFK drivers missed the playoffs in a big blow to the organization -- one that was looking to get two in on points if there weren't 14 different winners in the first 16 races.

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On the same day his replacement at Trackhouse for 2026 was confirmed to be Connor Zilisch, Daniel Suarez nearly pulled off a stunning upset in the regular season finale.

Suarez was running 19th with two laps to go, but he followed Ryan Blaney in a remarkable late charge through the field. As they approached the finish, Suarez was on the far outside of a four-wide photo finish, ultimately crossing the line in second place. NASCAR's results show the No. 99 of Suarez being just 0.031s behind Blaney at the checkered flag.

Watch: Four-wide finish! Ryan Blaney wins regular-season finale at Daytona

Both of Suarez's Trackhouse Racing teammates are locked into the playoffs via wins, and Suarez was attempting to snap a winless streak that goes back to Atlanta in February of 2024. In an ironic twist, it was Blaney who Suarez defeated in a photo finish to win that Atlanta race last year.

"I don't know about the last few laps, but maybe 40 laps before the end," said Suarez when asked if there was anything different he could have done. "I felt like we didn't set up ourselves as good as we wanted to be, but that's not an excuse. The 12 [Blaney] was back there with us and he was able to make it to the front. Definitely probably the fastest superspeedway car we have had in a few years."

And while disappointed, Suarez promised that this is not the end of his 2025 story. "Our playoff run ends here, but I'm very positive we're going to be in Victory Lane here very soon," concluded Suarez.

It's unclear where Suarez will end up next year after five years with the same team, but playing spoiler in the final ten races is a great way to get noticed. Daytona is the second time this year Suarez has been the runner-up, also finishing second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to race winner Josh Berry.

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