For fans of motorsport, race weekends are often the highlight of the week to look forward to. Whether you’re a fan of NASCAR, Formula 1, IndyCar, endurance, MotoGP, etc, the weekly drama and excitement provide plenty of content. However, if you want to transition to the next level and become a motorsport superfan, this article aims to provide guidance on three ways to make the race just one part of the weekly experience. Through activities such as betting, sim racing, and watch parties, every race weekend can become its own custom event tailored to you.
Motorsports Betting
Betting on sports has become one of the most popular activities on betting sites worldwide. It naturally makes you much more involved and willing to get into the nitty-gritty details of each and every race. Rather than just watching the action unfold, you can instead place a wager on many different outcomes. By using popular platforms, you can quickly get involved.
Here are some commonplace motorsport bets and wagers you can make before a race begins:
Race Winner
Which drivers will be on the Podium (Top 3)
Which driver will drive the fastest lap during the race
Head-to-Head Match-ups (Driver vs Driver)
Pole Position
Bets and wagers on motorsports directly reward research, planning, and involvement. By utilizing the knowledge you already possess along with some additional studying, you can begin to make betting strategies that can see success. However, remember that nothing is certain and betting and wagers should always be approached responsibly.
Become a Driver Yourself in Sim Racing
Modern racing simulators let fans experience the tracks they see around the world in the comfort of their homes. Though the level of immersion can vary depending on your setup, it is a fantastic way to meet others and have a new perspective on the challenges drivers face every week. Even an inexpensive setup with just a controller can become an immensely enjoyable experience.
Racing in sim races will allow you to better learn upcoming circuits, have lap time battles with friends, and recreate the expected real-world race conditions on the upcoming weekend. Even just playing a few laps before a big event will give you a much better understanding of what to watch out for during the actual race.
Host Watch Parties
As with many things, race weekends are oftentimes much more enjoyable with other fans. Hosting a race day watch party, whether in person or online, can make it an extremely fun social event.
You can compare betting picks against each other, debate team strategies, or even set lap times on the upcoming race among each other in a simulator. Prediction contests during events can add a competitive, friendly element, making the race that much more fun.
You can even tailor your events’ food menu or atmosphere related to the event. Perhaps the local cuisine of the raceway to add extra cultural elements. Regardless of what you do, having the ability to share the race with fellow fans often compounds the level of fun and excitement.
Making Every Weekend Count
With our connected world, motorsports has evolved into more than just cars racing around a track. Nowadays, you have a plethora of options to choose from to further participate in the action, from placing bets to setting times in a simulator.
Utilizing these extra activities can make every race weekend a complete experience, resulting in a deeper connection with motorsports and a newfound appreciation. If you’re looking to maximize your race weekend enjoyment, turning every race weekend into an exciting event can help you get even more out of the sport.
Sim racing has long outgrown its niche origins and evolved into a fully fledged industry where competing technologies vie for the attention of enthusiasts and professionals alike. Two fundamentally different approaches have established themselves in this space: VR headsets, which place the driver inside a virtual cockpit, and screen-based full-motion rigs, which replicate the physics of movement through a mobile platform. Each format follows its own logic, and the choice between them depends on the user’s goals. This article compares both options across practical parameters relevant to the home enthusiast and to those targeting a competitive environment.
The Parameters Used to Compare Simulators
To make the comparison substantive rather than a matter of general impressions, it is useful to establish evaluation criteria in advance:
Immersion and sense of presence
Comfort during long sessions
Visual clarity
Physical feedback (haptic and vestibular feedback)
Space requirements
Suitability for esports, training, and software workflows
Entry cost
The last factor is critically important, as equipment for a fully immersive sim racing experience carries a significant price tag. This is precisely why many enthusiasts prefer to visit gaming clubs. This trend is most pronounced in developing countries — in Egypt, Morocco, and Nigeria, for instance, sim racing rigs can be found in gaming venues. Since gaming clubs began offering various no-deposit bonuses and other discounts, their audience has grown further, with a considerable share of that audience gravitating toward sim racing.
Building a dedicated sim racing setup at home remains largely the domain of residents in wealthier Western countries. Even there, many people recognize the substantial investment required and begin making decisions guided by cost considerations.
VR Sim Racing: How the Virtual Cockpit Works
A VR headset places the driver directly inside a racing car, delivering a panoramic 360° field of view. When the head turns, the image shifts in sync, replicating the behavior of real-world vision. Among the popular devices are Meta Quest, HTC Vive, and Valve Index. Combined with a wheel and pedals equipped with force feedback, VR creates a convincing sensation of being behind the wheel.
The sense of presence is strong enough that the driver can look into the corner, monitor the side mirrors, and see their own hands on the virtual steering wheel.
Strengths of VR:
A powerful sense of presence that goes beyond conventional screen-based perception
The ability to naturally look into the corner, check mirrors, and orient within the cockpit space
A compact rig: no triple-screen setup or bulky structure is required
A comparatively low entry cost
Limitations of the VR format:
The headset causes discomfort during extended sessions due to weight and heat buildup
Resolution falls short of top-tier monitors, reducing the sharpness of fine details
Some users experience motion sickness, particularly over long distances
Navigating menus and settings is less convenient than on a conventional screen
VR delivers maximum visual presence and saves space, but may fall short in comfort and consistency over long stints.
Full-Motion with Screens: What Lies Behind the “Moving Platform”
A full-motion simulator consists of a cockpit mounted on a platform driven by actuators or hydraulic systems. The platform physically moves the driver’s seat in response to acceleration, braking, and lateral g-forces, reproducing the dynamics of a real vehicle. The visual component is provided by a triple-screen setup or an ultrawide monitor, forming a panoramic field of view.
This combination of motion and wide visual coverage is considered the gold standard in the sim racing industry. Professional teams use such rigs for driver preparation, while specialized sim racing lounges make the format accessible to the general public.
Advantages of full-motion rigs:
Realistic physical feedback: g-forces, body roll, and road surface texture are felt through the body
High visual clarity on 1440p and 4K screens
Comfort during multi-hour sessions with no headset pressure on the face
The closest sensation to real driving available outside an actual track
Disadvantages of the full-motion format:
Significant cost of the platform and screen equipment
Large footprint, impractical for smaller spaces
Complexity of assembly, calibration, and ongoing maintenance
This is the format closest to real driving in terms of physical sensation and comfort, but it is expensive, bulky, and demanding to set up.
Head-to-Head: Seven Criteria for Choosing
On immersion, VR wins through complete “dissolution” into the virtual cockpit, while full-motion rigs counter with the physics of movement and the wide panorama of screens. For comfort during long sessions, screen-based rigs are generally more accommodating: there is no headset pressure and no risk of visual fatigue. Visual clarity remains the domain of high-end monitors, where braking markers and apexes are read with precision.
Physical feedback is the unambiguous advantage of motion platforms. On price and space requirements, however, VR more often comes out ahead. In a competitive environment, screen-based systems deliver more stable performance and simplify the technical infrastructure.
Why Professionals More Often Stay with Screens
Professional sim racing imposes strict demands on consistency and reproducibility of results. The reasons the elite tends to prefer the screen-based format are concrete:
Comfort over long stints: multi-hour training sessions and endurance races proceed without eye fatigue or the risk of motion sickness
Performance: potential FPS drops and input latency in VR can disrupt the rhythm of driving at competitive speeds
Clarity of reference points: on 1440p and 4K screens, distances to rivals, braking points, and apexes are read more accurately
Practicality of the working environment: telemetry, voice communication, and streaming are easier to organize, while in esports tournaments VR complicates logistics and increases the likelihood of technical failures
Which Format Suits Different Needs
For home use, VR remains an attractive option. A low entry cost, minimal space requirements, and a vivid sense of presence make the headset an excellent companion for short races and regular recreational sessions.
Those focused on competitive preparation, extended training sessions, and maximum physical fidelity are better served by a full-motion rig with screens. A stable image, no compromises on comfort, and the physical feedback of the platform create an environment in which skills transfer to a real track most effectively.
RICK WARE RACING FireKeepers Casino 400 Date: June 7, 2026 Event: FireKeepers Casino 400 (Round 15 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (2-mile oval) Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/75 laps/80 laps)
Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 1 Winner: Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing (Toyota) Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
RWR Finish:
● Cody Ware (Started 33rd, Finished 23rd / Running, completed 198 of 200 laps)
RWR Points:
● Cody Ware (35th with 131 points)
RWR Notes:
● Ware earned his fifth top-25 of the season and his third top-25 in six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Michigan.
Race Notes:
● Denny Hamlin won the FireKeepers Casino 400 to score his 63rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his fourth at Michigan. His margin over second-place Erik Jones was 11.110 seconds.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 54 laps.
● Only 20 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Tyler Reddick remains the championship leader after Michigan with a 51-point advantage over second-place Hamlin.
Sound Bites:
“We had a super-fast No. 51 Super.com Chevy all day today. Unfortunately, we got some damage and we had to fix the left-rear toe link toward the end of the race, so we went a lap down, but my team did an awesome job getting that fixed. Just really proud of the team for hanging in there and getting the car fixed. It’s a really positive string of races we’ve had, so we’ve got some momentum to build off of.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Super.com Chevrolet
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Great American Getaway 400 on Sunday, June 14 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by Prime Video and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Dow MobilityScience™ Chevrolet Team Have Day Derailed After Getting Caught Up in Stage Two Wreck at Michigan International Speedway
Finish: 36th Start: 21st Points: 27th
“Our No. 3 Dow MobilityScience Chevrolet was really fast, so it’s super unfortunate. It looked like the No. 77 (Carson Hocevar) got into the No. 42 (John H. Nemechek) and turned him across the field. We almost got through it. I saw the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) coming down. I kind of gassed up to get past him, but the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) was there. I’m frustrated because we had a fast car. The team did a great job, and I’m proud of everyone at RCR and ECR. I just hate that we lost our car. It’s just unfortunate that we have good runs, but get caught up in other peoples’ messes and it just sets you back every time. We’ll regroup and focus on Pocono Raceway next weekend.” -Austin Dillon
Top-20 Finish for Austin Hill and the No. 33 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet Team at Michigan International Speedway
Finish: 20th Start: 28th Points: 26th
“It was a learning day. The way the Cup car reacts to the air and how you use the pedals to carry momentum are so different than what I’m used to in the O’Reilly car. On the initial fire off, our Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet lost the front end on entry. The car would get loose at times and then tight at times, but anytime I got to the right side of someone, I would get immediately loose on entry. We went for spin towards the end but kept it off the wall without damage. Proud of the guys for sticking together and grinding out a top-20 finish.” -Austin Hill
Denny Hamlin was not to be denied from starting at the rear of the field and motoring his way to a thrilling NASCAR Cup Series victory for a second consecutive race weekend. His latest feat occurred in the 2026 FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, June 7.
The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, led twice for 40 of 200-scheduled laps. He took the green flag at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. This was due to damage he sustained to his car, caused by a flat left-rear tire during practice.
Throughout Sunday’s event at Michigan, Hamlin spent the early portions mired within the mid-pack region. He was also able to avoid significant damage to his entry during a Lap 82 multi-car accident on a restart that eliminated his 23XI Racing competitor and points leader, Tyler Reddick.
After notching an eighth-place result following the second stage period and navigating his way towards the front throughout the final stage period, Hamlin seized an opportunity during a 39-lap shootout. Racing in third place, he made a move beneath Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez to overtake both and assume the lead for the final time through the frontstretch. From there, Hamlin built his lead to more than 11 seconds before he motored his way to his unprecedented third Cup victory of the 2026 season and the 63rd of his illustrious career.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 6, Denny Hamlin notched his 50th Cup career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 195.117 mph in 36.901 seconds. Hamlin, however, dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments on his pole-winning entry. The adjustments were a result of damage to the bottom area due to Hamlin cutting a left-rear tire and barely limping his entry to pit road.
As Hamlin dropped to the rear of the field, Carson Hocevar, who posted a qualifying lap at 195.022 mph in 36.919 seconds and had a homecoming pole snatched at the last second from Hamlin, led the field to the event’s start, and he shared the front row with Tyler Reddick, the latter of whom qualified in third place at 194.969 mph in 36.929 seconds.
Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, William Byron, Josh Berry and Erik Jones joined Hamlin as competitors who dropped to the rear of the field, all due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective cars.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Carson Hocevar launched his No. 77 Zeigler Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry ahead from the outside lane, and he led the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field cycled back to the frontstretch, Hocevar led the first lap while Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and the rest of the field followed suit.
On the second lap, the event’s first caution flew when rookie Connor Zilisch, who was racing towards the rear of the field, snapped sideways from the outside lane in Turns 3 and 4 before he spun his No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 car backward and made light contact with the outside wall. During the event’s first caution period, some, including William Byron, Erik Jones, Christopher Bell and Josh Berry, pitted early for service and to top off on fuel, while the rest, led by Hocevar, remained on the track.
The next restart on the sixth lap featured Hocevar gaining another strong advantage from the outside lane before he quickly darted to the left to the inside lane entering the first two turns. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, a three-wide battle between Hocevar, Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick ensued for the lead. Through Turns 3 and 4, Hocevar managed to motor ahead and retain the lead for the following lap.
On the eighth lap, Zilisch’s day went from bad to worse when he slipped up the track through the first two turns, spun to the bottom of the track and hit the inside wall head-on. Compared to his first incident, Zilisch’s latest incident was enough to eliminate him from further contention as he also sustained his third consecutive last-place finish, all due to on-track accidents. During the second caution period, some, including Byron, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Ryan Preece and Todd Gilliland, pitted while the rest, led by Hocevar, remained on the track.
As the event restarted under green flag conditions on Lap 14, Hocevar and Reddick dueled in front of Kyle Larson, Gibbs and the field through the first two turns before Reddick used the inside lane to slide his No. 45 Rockstar Toyota Camry XSE entry up and overtake Hocevar entering the backstretch. As the field behind jostled for spots, Reddick led the next lap over Hocevar while Gibbs retained third place in front of Chase Elliott, Larson, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez, Zane Smith, Riley Herbst and Chris Buescher, respectively. With various on-track battles ensuing through every turn and straightaway, Reddick proceeded to stabilize his lead to nearly seven-tenths of a second over Hocevar at the Lap 20 mark.
Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Reddick extended his lead to more than a second over Gibbs, with Gibbs overtaking Hocevar for the runner-up spot two laps earlier, while Hocevar, Elliott, Larson, Wallace, Zane Smith, Suarez, Buescher and Herbst were racing in the top 10 ahead of Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek, Brad Keselowski, Ty Dillon, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones, respectively. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin was mired in 30th place. William Byron was positioned in 24th place ahead of teammate Alex Bowman. Christopher Bell occupied 28th place in front of Shane van Gisbergen, Hamlin, Josh Berry, Austin Hill and Ross Chastain, respectively.
Ten laps later, Reddick stabilized his lead to half a second over a hard-charging Ty Gibbs. Behind, Hocevar, Elliott and Wallace trailed in the top-five spots, respectively, while Larson, Zane Smith, Buescher, Herbst and Suarez followed suit in the top 10, respectively. Another three laps later, Todd Gilliland limped his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry to pit road due to suffering a flat left-rear tire. Amid Gilliland’s issues, Reddick continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Gibbs, nearing the Lap 40 mark, while his 23XI Racing co-owner, Hamlin, was mired in 27th place behind Austin Cindric.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Reddick, who was reeling in 34th-place Ross Chastain to lap the latter, fended off Gibbs by three-tenths of a second to claim his first Cup stage victory of the 2026 season. Hocevar, Elliott, Wallace, Zane Smith, Larson, Buescher, Herbst and Suarez raced in the top 10, respectively. Altogether, 34 of 37 starters were on the lead lap. Under the first stage break period, the lead lap field led by Reddick peeled off the racetrack and pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Ty Gibbs exited pit road first. He was followed by Wallace, Hocevar, Buescher, Reddick, Zane Smith, Larson, Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek and Logano, respectively. Not long after, Buescher returned to pit road due to losing a hood pin on his entry.
The second stage period started on Lap 51 as Gibbs and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs was pushed by Hocevar ahead from the outside lane through the frontstretch before Wallace made a charge from the inside lane. As Gibbs was unable to block Wallace’s momentum entering the first two turns, Wallace used the inside lane to motor his No. 23 Columbia Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead and assume the lead entering the backstretch. As Wallace led the next lap, Hocevar battled and overtook Gibbs for third place while Zane Smith navigated his No. 38 Aaron’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry into third place ahead of Elliott, Reddick, Nemechek and Larson. Amid a variety of on-track battles within the field, Wallace was leading by three-tenths of a second over Hocevar by Lap 55.
On Lap 57, Hocevar overtook Wallace to lead through the frontstretch. As Hocevar led, Gibbs, Zane Smith and Elliott started to reel in on Wallace for the runner-up spot while Larson trailed the top-five duo by within two seconds. Gibbs then outdueled Wallace for the runner-up spot on Lap 61. However, Elliott overtook Wallace for third place by Lap 64. Seconds later, Gibbs used the inside lane through the first two turns to reassume the lead from Hocevar.
On Lap 64, the caution flew when Keselowski, who was racing in 12th place, blew a left-rear tire and dropped off the pace through the frontstretch and towards the outside wall from the first two turns. During this caution period, the field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service while Cody Ware and JJ Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops and with mixed pit strategies ensuing, Elliott exited pit road first. He was followed by Chastain, Larson, Wallace, Gibbs, Reddick, Logano, Nemechek, Bell and Herbst, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Gibbs, who pitted for only two fresh tires, made contact with Ryan Preece while trying to exit his pit stall. Once both Ware and Yeley pitted, Elliott cycled in front with the overall lead.
With the event restarting on Lap 70, teammates Elliott and Larson dueled in front of Gibbs, Wallace and the field before Larson managed to slide up from the inside lane and lead through the first two turns. As the field fanned out, Larson cycled back to the frontstretch and led the next lap before Elliott reeled in and overtook Larson from the inside lane entering the first two turns. As Elliott led Larson, 23XI Racing’s Wallace, Reddick and Herbst occupied the top-five spots over Gibbs and Nemechek while Bell, Logano, Allmendinger, Austin Dillon and Hocevar jostled and battled for eighth place. Meanwhile, Hamlin navigated up to 14th place before he gained three spots over the next four laps. Behind, Allmendinger, Suarez, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney and Zane Smith battled fiercely for 12th place while Elliott continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Larson on Lap 75.
Then on Lap 77, the caution returned when Allmendinger, who was battling in the top-15 mark, snapped sideways from the middle lane of the first two turns and spun towards the bottom of the backstretch, though Allmendinger was able to continue and slowly limp to pit road with flat tires. During the latest caution period, some, including Chase Briscoe, Preece, Michael McDowell, Josh Berry, Buescher, Austin Hill, Shane van Gisbergen, Todd Gilliland, JJ Yeley, and Brad Keselowski, were among those who stayed out, while the rest of the field, primarily front-runners led by Elliott, remained on the track.
The next restart on Lap 82 did not last long when a stack-up at the front through the frontstretch caused Hocevar, who restarted fourth in line from the inside lane, to bump Nemechek into Wallace as Wallace clipped Gibbs into Reddick. Reddick then spun down the track and hit the inside wall hard on the rear. He was then hit hard on the left side by Austin Dillon, eliminating both from further contention. Another competitor who was involved was Denny Hamlin, who was hit from behind and did a full 360 spin, but he managed to continue without being hit by oncoming traffic.
During the latest caution, some, including Hamlin, Gilliland, Buescher, Keselowski, Yeley, Briscoe and McDowell, pitted. The damaged entries of Reddick and Austin Dillon were taken behind the wall. Amid the on-track chaos, Elliott retained the lead over teammate Larson despite Larson barely getting hit by Reddick’s entry. Wallace, Herbst, Hocevar, Bell, Logano, Suarez, Erik Jones and Zane Smith followed suit, respectively.
For the next restart on Lap 89, Larson fended off Elliott, Wallace and the field through the first two turns before the caution quickly returned. This was due to Keselowski making contact with Nemechek and spinning from the bottom to the outside lane through the first two turns, where he then made hard contact against the outside wall and took his damaged No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry to the garage as his hopes of winning at his home track evaporated for a 29th time.
As the event restarted on Lap 93, Elliott dueled with Larson through the frontstretch before the former used the inside lane to motor ahead with the lead. Behind, Wallace used the outside lane to overtake Larson for the runner-up spot while Hocevar, Logano and Herbst battled for fourth place. Hocevar motored ahead with the spot ahead of teammate Suarez, Herbst, Logano, Bell, Blaney and Noah Gragson while Elliott led the next lap. Wallace then drag-raced and overtook Elliott to lead the Lap 95 mark through the frontstretch.
At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Elliott, who drag-raced and reassumed the lead from Wallace through the frontstretch two laps earlier, was leading while Larson and Suarez moved up to second and third, respectively. Behind, Wallace dropped to fourth place while Hocevar, who got loose entering Turns 3 and 4 while trying to throw a three-wide move beneath Larson and Wallace, dropped to ninth place. Meanwhile, Herbst occupied fifth place in front of Erik Jones, Bell and Logano while Byron trailed in 10th place. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired in 15th place behind Gragson, Zane Smith, Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ty Gibbs was mired at the tail end of the lead lap category in 33rd place.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Elliott captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2026 season. Erik Jones charged his way into the runner-up spot ahead of Suarez, Larson, Byron, Bell, Hocevar, Hamlin, Logano and Zane Smith, respectively. At the same time, Wallace drifted back to 11th place in front of teammate Herbst, Gragson, Blaney and Cindric. By then, 31 of 38 starters were racing on the lead lap. Todd Gilliland emerged as the first competitor a lap down in 32nd place and was awarded the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap over Ty Gibbs. During the second stage break period, the lead lap field led by Elliott pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Elliott exited pit road first. He was followed by teammate Byron, Suarez, Buescher, Bell, Larson, Hamlin, Jones, Wallace and Michael McDowell, respectively.
With 74 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Elliott and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott received a bump from Bell from the inside lane to motor ahead of Byron and lead the field through the first two turns. As the field smoothly navigated through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4, Elliott led the next lap over Bell, Byron, Larson and Suarez while Hamlin, Jones, Logano, Wallace and Zane Smith followed suit, respectively. As Jones navigated his way up to sixth place over the next three laps, Wallace dropped to 10th in front of Logano while Suarez, Hocevar and Zane Smith raced from seventh to ninth, respectively. Meanwhile, Elliott led by two-tenths of a second over Bell and nearly half a second over Byron with 70 laps remaining.
Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Elliott maintained a lead that stood to three-tenths of a second over Bell, though Bell was making steady gains to reel in Elliott for the lead. Behind, Byron trailed in third place by eight-tenths of a second while Hamlin was racing in fourth place and trailing by a second. Meanwhile, Larson settled in fifth place in front of Jones, Suarez, Hocevar, Zane Smith and Wallace while Austin Cindric, Logano, Blaney, Buescher, Chastain, Stenhouse, Berry, Gragson, Preece and Nemechek occupied the top-20 spots, respectively.
A lap later, the caution flew when Zane Smith, who was racing in ninth place, slid through the first two turns and wrecked backwards on the driver’s left side against the outside wall, where his wrecked entry emerged with a flat left-rear tire. By then, Jones occupied fifth place from Larson as Elliott continued to lead. During this caution period, the lead lap field led by Elliott returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, the top-four competitors led by Byron and including Bell, Chastain and Logano exited pit road first after all pitted for two fresh tires. Elliott, who pitted for four fresh tires, followed suit ahead of Hamlin, Larson, Berry, Suarez and Jones, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Berry was sent to the tail end of the field for speeding on pit road.
The next restart came with 53 laps remaining. Byron received a push from teammate Elliott from the inside lane. This enabled Byron and his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry to motor ahead with the lead. Two turns later, the caution returned when Elliott, who was dueling with Bell for the runner-up spot, got loose and sent both hard against the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4.
The carnage only involved Elliott and Bell as Byron retained the lead.
Officials displayed the red flag for more than 20 minutes while track crews cleared the wreckage and repaired the damaged wall. Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 struck Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, leaving Bell’s car heavily damaged. Doctors later determined Bell had suffered ankle and wrist injuries that will require further evaluation this week.
When the red flag lifted and the event restarted under green with 147 laps remaining, Suarez assumed the lead from Byron before the caution returned during the following lap. This latest caution was due to a nine-car accident on the frontstretch that involved Shane van Gisbergen, Josh Berry, Cody Ware, Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece, Ty Dillon and Austin Hill.
During the next restart with 39 laps remaining, Suarez maintained a slight lead while teammate Hocevar executed a three-wide move along with Hamlin that pinned Byron in the middle, with Hocevar and Hamlin moving into second and third while Hocevar challenged Suarez for the lead in a side-by-side battle through the backstretch. Then entering Turns 3 and 4, Hamlin gained a huge draft on both Hocevar and Suarez. He then threw a three-wide move beneath the latter two to overtake them through the frontstretch for the following lap and clear the field entering the next two turns.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by six-tenths of a second over Suarez while Wallace, Byron, Hocevar, Logano, Jones, Blaney, Buescher and Larson. Hamlin increased his lead to a second with 25 laps remaining before he added another second to his advantage with 20 laps remaining. Behind, Suarez maintained the runner-up spot over Wallace, Hocevar and a hard-charging Jones while Logano, Blaney, Byron, Larson and Buescher raced in the top 10 ahead of Chastain, Briscoe, Cindric, Cole Custer and Herbst.
With less than 10 laps remaining, Hamlin maintained a lead that grew beyond eight seconds over Hocevar, Wallace and Jones while Larson and Suarez fiercely battled for fifth place. Jones proceeded to overtake Wallace and Hocevar to move into second place while Larson barely outdueled Suarez for fifth place. Meanwhile, Hamlin grew his lead to 10 seconds with five laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin remained in the lead by 10 seconds over Jones. With no late challenges lurking close from behind, Hamlin steered his No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry XSE entry smoothly around Michigan for a final time before he claimed the checkered flag and won by more than 11 seconds.
Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.
With the victory, Hamlin, who won after rallying from starting at the rear of the field for a second consecutive event, notched his 63rd career win in the NASCAR Cup Series division, which moved him into a tie with his former teammate and the late two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch for ninth place on the all-time wins list. He also achieved his third victory of the 2026 season and his fourth at Michigan. Hamlin’s victory was also the ninth of the 2026 season for Toyota and the fourth for Joe Gibbs Racing.
During Hamlin’s victory celebrations and burnouts on the frontstretch, he carried a black flag. It highlighted the number decals 1 and 8 to honor the No. 18, a number that was piloted by Kyle Busch as Hamlin paid tribute and saluted his late teammate.
“This Joe Gibbs team just keeps giving me amazing race cars,” Hamlin said on the frontstretch on Prime Video. “This National Debt Toyota was just amazing. At the last run there, I just hammered down, had a few good restarts, and once we got to the lead, I was going to lay it out. All I had. The offseason was rough for me. It was brought for the NASCAR family. We lost a lot of people. This week, we lost Gentleman Ned [Jarrett], the original badass of the No. 11. We’re still thinking of Kyle [Busch], [wife] Samantha, [kids] Brexton, Lennix. Just an unbelievable feeling to be able to strap in every week and I don’t take it for granted this opportunity that I’m in. I just love we’re making the best of it.”
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Erik Jones recorded Legacy Motor Club’s new highest-finishing result by finishing in the runner-up spot, which marks Jones’ highest result since finishing third in the 2025 Southern 500, while Bubba Wallace rallied from a three-race slump to finish in third place for his second top-five result of the 2026 season.
Kyle Larson and Carson Hocevar, the latter of whom led 21 laps in front of his home crowd, finished in the top five. Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Briscoe completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 23 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The event featured a race-record 11 cautions for 54 laps. In addition, 20 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 15th event of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, Tyler Reddick continues to lead the regular-season standings by 51 points over Denny Hamlin, 157 over Ryan Blaney, 187 over Chase Elliott and 199 over Ty Gibbs.
Next on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, for the Great American Getaway 400, on Sunday, June 14. It will air at 3 p.m. ET on Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM and HBO MAX.
MADISON, Ill. (Sunday, June 7, 2026) – In a historic drive for the ages, Myles Rowe climbed from 24th and last in the starting field Sunday to win the INDY NXT by Firestone race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
It was the longest climb to victory in the 40-year history of the INDYCAR development series. The previous lowest starting spot for a race winner was 18th, set by Esteban Guerrieri in the 2012 Freedom 100 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.
“It’s a chess game out there,” Rowe said. “Confidence is key in motorsports. The Abel Motorsports Force Indy guys, they really gave me a car today to have that kind of confidence to have a plan and to be able to execute it.
“I’m so thrilled I could give this to them, especially after the disappointment yesterday and having to start from the back. This is no doubt awesome.”
Rowe drove his No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy machine to his first victory of the season and third career INDY NXT victory – all on ovals – by 2.2081 seconds over rookie Alessandro de Tullio in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing car.
Josh Pierson finished a season-best third in the No. 29 Starchive Andretti entry, prevailing in a fierce joust for the final podium spot with fellow series veteran Niels Koolen, who ended up a career-best fourth in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing car, and fifth-place Max Taylor in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen machine of Andretti Global.
Rowe was forced to start last in the 24-car field after he lost his qualifying run Saturday for failure to follow the direction of INDYCAR. Rowe continued on a third flying lap after taking the checkered for his two-lap run, which would have earned him the pole, due to what he said were radio communication problems.
But Rowe wasted little time charging toward the front on the asymmetrical, 1.25-mile oval just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis and its famous Gateway Arch.
He climbed to 10th by Lap 19 of the 75-lap race, using the high line around the track to zoom past rivals on corner exit. Rowe passed Taylor for third with a rare inside move in Turn 1 on Lap 32 and set his sights on pole sitter Lochie Hughes running second in the No. 26 Andretti Global machine and leader Pierson.
On Lap 41, Rowe passed Hughes for second while running in the middle in a breathtaking, three-wide move entering Turn 3. Rowe then zeroed in on leader Pierson, who was one second ahead but starting to navigate lap traffic.
It didn’t take long for Rowe to catch and pass Pierson. On Lap 47, Rowe dove under Pierson exiting Turn 4 for a lead he would not surrender. That was the most noteworthy of 229 on-track passes and 183 passes for position in this thrilling race, series records for this track.
“It’s a balance, an equilibrium,” Rowe said of his strategy. “There are times where I needed to be aggressive and times I really needed to be calculated. I was definitely trying to make sure I managed the right rear (Firestone Firehawk tire) because I knew at the end that was going to be important, just making sure I kept it underneath me so I had something for the end.”
Two caution periods bunched the field in the last 22 laps, with the yellow flying for debris on Lap 54 – which Rowe ran over at speed while leading without any damage to his car – and for a two-car accident on Lap 61 involving veterans Salvador de Alba in the No. 17 HMD Motorsports entry and Yuven Sundaramoorthy in the No. 15 Cusick Morgan Motorsports car. Neither driver was hurt.
Pierson made his last gasp for the lead on Lap 68 after the final restart, looking under Rowe in Turn 1. But he couldn’t complete the pass, and Rowe rocketed away over the closing laps to win comfortably.
The series points lead changed hands again as rookie Nikita Johnson returned to the top after finishing seventh in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR car. He is two points ahead of previous championship leader and fellow rookie Enzo Fittipaldi, who finished 13th in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports machine. Rookie Tymek Kucharczyk is just five points behind Johnson in third after placing ninth in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports entry.
While not as dramatic as Rowe’s charge, Fittipaldi climbed from 23rd after starting from pit lane due to a mechanical problem. He already forfeited his guaranteed qualifying attempt Saturday due to a mechanical issue while rolling out for qualifying that prevented the No. 67 HMD Motorsports entry from going through pre-qualifying technical inspection.
The next INDY NXT by Firestone race is a doubleheader at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, with a race Saturday, June 20 and another Sunday, June 21.
DENNY HAMLIN CLAIMS HISTORIC VICTORY All three Toyota partner teams in the top-three for second time in history
BROOKLYN, Mich (June 7, 2026) – Denny Hamlin delivered a historic victory as he tied the late Kyle Busch with 63 Cup Series wins. He drove away late to win by more than 10 seconds at Michigan International Speedway. With the win, Hamlin becomes the first driver in Toyota’s history to win 60 NASCAR Cup Series races.
Michigan-native Erik Jones had a season-best result for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB as he brought his Camry home in second, while 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace finished third – giving Toyota a second straight top-three sweep for the first time in our history. It is the second time Toyota has swept the top-three finishing positions with three different organizations (Darlington-2 2025).
Toyota drivers also swept the weekend at Michigan with Gio Ruggiero winning on Friday in ARCA, Corey Heim claiming victory on Saturday in Trucks and Hamlin’s win today.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Michigan International Speedway Race 15 of 36 – 400 miles, 200 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, DENNY HAMLIN
2nd, ERIK JONES
3rd, BUBBA WALLACE
4th, Kyle Larson*
5th, Carson Hocevar*
10th, CHASE BRISCOE
13th, RILEY HERBST
14th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
25th, TY GIBBS
31st, CHRISTOPHER BELL
35th, TYLER REDDICK
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
What does it mean to tie Kyle Busch with 63 wins?
“The off-season has been so tough for the whole NASCAR community, and we’ve been losing a lot of people. It is an honor. The only way I could tie him, was to outlive him. He was just an amazing competitor. Someone that I learned so much from, and that last run, I drove as hard as I could to stink them up like Kyle (Busch) did.”
Can you talk about that last run?
“This is a really momentum based race track. I didn’t think I was going to clear those guys on the frontstretch. It just happened when they were side drafting, it allowed me to clear. That was it for us.”
How much did you have to work on the race car?
“We were legit 30th. We were a 30th place car at the beginning. We couldn’t do anything with it, but the moment the track came to us, and we got some track position and had some great restarts and this thing woke up right where it was yesterday.”
Toyota is winning the Heritage Trophy for the third straight year, and you have delivered it twice. What does that mean to you?
“Amazing. 1-2-3 for Toyota, and all three Toyota organizations, 1-2-3. It is fantastic. The LEGACY guys, great finish for them. Bubba (Wallace), awesome job. This is momentum that both of those teams need.”
What does it mean to be on the podium at Michigan?
“Yeah, it is good. It is a nice day. It is disappointing in some ways. To have the car we had; it’s not we fluked into second, we were running up here all day. We had a fast Dollar Tree Camry. It just didn’t work perfectly. You need everything to go well. Restarts got chaotic at the end, and the last one didn’t work out for us, and I had to pick through traffic. By time I got up there, the race was over and Denny (Hamlin) was gone. A lot of positives to take away. The car was really fast. I couldn’t ask much more out of it for balance. We will work on it, and if we keep bringing cars like this, we will win races soon.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
Are you okay and what happened out there?
“It was a bit smoky in there, just caught quite a bit of stuff there on the left side, and it got knocked around, so just a lot of exhaust, brings some smoke in. I’m alright, just a bummer for our ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK Toyota Camry. I felt like we had really good speed. We were set up with a good restart to get second there, and maybe race for the lead there, and just an all-around bummer. I wanted to come in here and have a good points day. We had really, really good speed yesterday and it showed again today. All-in-all, it’s a bummer. It’s a race I felt like we could have won, got away from us. All year long, we’ve done a really good job at staying out of messes like this, so it’s unfortunate to have it happen. At least we got a couple of stage points, we will see if we get back out there. I haven’t heard if we can fix it yet. We will just have to grind it out. It’s not going to be great, and going out early next week in qualifying, we will have our work cut out for us starting early in Pocono, but we will see if we can get our Camry fixed and move up a couple of more spots, if possible.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of over 50 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
Ford Racing Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 — Michigan International Speedway Sunday, June 7, 2026
Ford Finishing Results:
7th – Joey Logano
8th – Ryan Blaney
9th – Chris Buescher
11th – Austin Cindric
15th – Josh Berry
22nd – Todd Gilliland
27th – Noah Gragson
28th – Ryan Preece
33rd – Zane Smith
34th – Brad Keselowski
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was a scrappy day and honestly not very good, but we kept working on it and got it a little bit better all day. We stayed out of some of the messes and we were able to salvage an eighth out of it. So, not a bad day overall. We’re still looking for the speed that we need to contend, but hopefully we can learn a lot and move on.” NOT THE RESULT YOU WANTED, BUT WHAT FIGHT THIS TEAM SHOWED TODAY. “Yeah, a lot of fight. We just stuck with it all day. Honestly, we weren’t very good. We kind of struggled after practice and didn’t qualify great. We were just kind of stuck in the 15th to 25th range depending on where you dropped us. We got working on it a little bit more and more and got it a little bit better for the day. We stayed out of some of the messes – a couple wrecks – and was able to scrap together an eighth. I’m proud of everybody for sticking with it all day, for sure. We definitely continue to work and try to get better. That’s all we can really do. We have a ways to make up to get to the 11. They’re on it right now, but second, third, fourth, they were within striking distance from us, so we’ll just try to keep working with it. I appreciate Menards, Richmond, Ford Racing for what they do with our program. I wish we could have got Ford in Victory Lane, but we’ll try again next week.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Kroger/OscarMayer/Rustik Oven Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “That was a rollercoaster of a day. We ended up on pit road about twice as much as we wanted to and lost track position consistently. It’s a shame. This Kroger/Oscar Mayer/Rustik Oven Ford Mustang was really good and really fast. I felt like we were close to in the hunt. We didn’t quite have what it took to win today, but certainly we were able to run in the top 10 and thought we should have had a chance to at least have a top five without some of the damage on the day.” WHERE DID IT GO SIDEWAYS? “The first pit stop we had to do a little bit of nose repair. Then we had it happen two more times with just checking up for wrecks and we were constantly having to put tape on to try and protect this thing. It was certainly a tough day and not anything like we needed it to go, but I’m proud of everybody to keep after it and bring a top 10 out of the day. That’s solid.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Autotrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We’ve got the ball rolling again. That’s about what we had for speed in the car was right around there. For where we’re at, that’s best in class. We’ve just got to try to find a little more speed. These are the type of tracks that everything is gonna show up. We executed a really good race. Paul called a great race. The pit crew did great. I executed one restart good of them all. All the rest of them I was hanging on to, but, overall, we’re at the point where we’re proud of top 10s, which is not a good place to be, but we’re proud of a top 10.” THIS GETS YOU CLOSER TO THE CUT LINE. “The grind is gonna be all the way to the end here. We’ve got to keep having days like this and sort of stacking points. We were 30 back a couple weeks ago. I don’t know where we are now, but we’ve got to keep doing this. We can’t afford to have bad races. We’ve got to keep grinding out points here and there where we can.” WHAT HAS THIS BEEN LIKE WITH THE GRIND YOU’RE GOING THROUGH? “I’ve been in both spots multiple times. It’s really hard to stay up top when you are on top. We got ourselves caught behind the eight ball right now, so we just keep grinding. There’s no sense of panic or throw caution to the wind type moments. You just have to keep your head down and keep grinding and get whatever you can get. That’s kind of what we did today. We got what we could. We have no mulligans left. There are no bad races available, so you’ve just got to get as many points as possible every race.” IS MOMENTUM A THING WITH TWO TOP 10S IN THE LAST THREE RACES? “Yeah, it is. Confidence is a real thing. That’s what momentum is – just confidence within the team. There as a stretch of races there where you were just wondering what was going to go wrong next because it was just one thing after another. Now, it seems like, we’re back to our old ways where at least we can maximize finishes and that’s back to what the 22 is good at. That confidence is regaining for sure.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I just got hooked. I don’t even know how it happened. It was gonna be an alright day for everybody that wrecked, so not a good finish.”
ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Aaron’s Rent to Own Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT HAPPENED? “I just blew a left-rear tire from what I could feel, but certainly not a good place to do that, getting into turn one here. That was unfortunate, but really all day again we had another really fast Aaron’s Ford Mustang. I’m proud of that, I just wish we had a result.” DID YOU HAVE ANY SIGNS OF WEAR PRIOR TO THAT? “No. It was all good. It came out of nowhere.” WHAT WAS THE SPECIFIC THING THAT KNOCKED YOU OUT? “A left-rear tire blew and I had two flats. I think the rear bumper was tore off on the driver’s side and toe links – all of the above probably.” WHAT HAS BEEN THE KEY TO THIS STRING OF STRONG RUNS? “It was a strong run again this week and was proud of the effort. I feel like we’re doing a great job. My car was great right before it blew a tire. It’s just unfortunate.” WHERE IS YOUR SPEED COMING FROM? “We’ve found a feel that I really like and I’m able to make aggressive moves and get close to the front.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS LAST INCIDENT? “It was an eventful day. We fought really hard to claw our way up to 12th and then blew a left-rear tire and worked on fixing it. We started to get it back right and had a restart there and the 44, for whatever reason, restarted way further in front than his car had the capability to run and then parked it in front of all of us and we had to check up and got ran into from behind. I shouldn’t have lifted. I should have just buried J.J. Yeley ass deep in the wall and that’s on me for not doing that. I will next time.”
Top Fuel and Funny Car finals moved to Friday in Bristol due to inclement weather
EPPING, N.H. (June 7, 2026) – Pro Stock points leader Dallas Glenn picked up his third win of the season on Sunday at New England Dragway, defeating Matt Hartford in the final round of the NHRA New England Nationals presented by bproauto.
The final round in both Top Fuel and Funny Car were postponed due to weather and will be completed on Friday in Bristol.
The Top Fuel finals in Bristol will feature points leader Shawn Langdon, who has won three straight races, and Leah Pruett, while John Force Racing teammates Jordan Vandergriff and Jack Beckman will meet in the Funny Car championship round.
Glenn, the reigning world champion, put together a near-perfect final round against Hartford before the rain came, posting a brilliant .002 reaction time and a run of 6.543 at 209.39 in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro.
The points leader enjoyed a tremendous day, picking up round wins against Shane Tucker, Erica Enders and No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson to reach the final round, posting a .011 reaction time against Anderson to pull off the holeshot victory.
He was even better on the starting line against Hartford, rolling to his first career victory at New England Dragway. It’s also his third victory of the 2026 season after previous wins in Phoenix and Valdosta, giving the young standout 24 career Pro Stock victories. The car wasn’t dominant in qualifying, as Glenn took the fifth spot, but things worked out perfectly on Sunday to stay in command in the category.
All three of Glenn’s wins this season have marked his first career victory at the track.
“Dave (Connolly, crew chief) said the track was going to run better if it held and he was going to be aggressive. I hit the tree pretty good the round before, so I left everything alone. The car felt great, and we just kept picking away at it all day, making it a little better every run,” Glenn said.
“When I got out of the car, I asked, ‘Was I at least double-oh something?’ I had no idea it was .002. I knew Matt was going to be fast, so I knew I needed to get enough on the tree to get around him. Historically, this hasn’t been one of my better tracks, but Dave and the team kept working on the car and we found enough to get the job done.
“Phoenix was a track I’d never won at until this year. I’d never won here until today. Now we’re heading to Bristol, another place I haven’t won yet. Hopefully we can keep checking them off the list.”
Hartford advanced to his third final round this season and the 24th in his career thanks to round wins against Deric Kramer, Eric Latino and Greg Stanfield. Glenn’s lead now stands at 39 points over Anderson.
In Top Fuel, Langdon, the No. 1 qualifier and points leader, will have a chance to win his fourth straight race when he takes on Pruett in the final round on Friday in Bristol. Langdon beat Clay Millican and teammate Doug Kalitta on Sunday, while Pruett advanced to the finals with wins against Scott Farley, Maddi Gordon and Billy Torrence.
Funny Car No. 1 qualifier Jordan Vandergriff defeated Jeff Arend, Chad Green and J.R. Todd to reach the championship round, while his JFR teammate Beckman took down Phil Burkhart, Matt Hagan and Ron Capps to advance to the finals.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action June 12-14 with the 25th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn.
EPPING, N.H. — Final finish order (1-16) at the 13th annual NHRA New England Nationals presented by bproauto at New England Dragway. The race is the eighth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
PRO STOCK:
Dallas Glenn; 2. Matt Hartford; 3. Greg Anderson; 4. Greg Stanfield; 5. Eric Latino; 6.
EPPING, N.H. — Sunday’s final results from the 13th annual NHRA New England Nationals presented by bproauto at New England Dragway. The race is the eighth of 20 in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:
Pro Stock — Dallas Glenn, Chevy Camaro, 6.543, 209.39 def. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.550, 209.92.
Super Comp — Jack Sepanek, Dragster, 8.907, 181.30 def. Vincent Nobile, Dragster, 8.916, 183.67.
Super Gas — Charlie Kenopic, Chevy Corvette, 9.893, 164.53 def. Rick Mattioli, Chevy Camaro, 9.889, 144.06.
Super Street — Jason Mazzotta, Chevy Nova, 11.035, 112.52 def. Michael Giuliano, Chevy Camaro, 10.892, 139.44.
Top Sportsman — Eric Cabral, Willys, 7.375, 179.85 def. Dan Christopher, Chevy Cobalt, 6.732, 202.06.
Top Dragster — Ava Meloni, Dragster, 6.933, 192.38 def. Paul Neal, Dragster, Foul – Red Light.
Pro Stock 800 Sled — Marco Philippon, Ski-Doo Mach Z, 5.404, 123.31 def. Walter Joy, SkiDoo, 5.387, 120.82.
EPPING, N.H. — Final round-by-round results from the 13th annual NHRA New England Nationals presented by bproauto at New England Dragway, the eighth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:
TOP FUEL:
ROUND ONE — Clay Millican, 4.441, 265.06 def. Justin Ashley, Foul – Centerline; Maddi Gordon, 3.753, 337.50 def. Tony Stewart, 4.867, 156.37; Doug Kalitta, 3.747, 333.16 def. Will Smith, 6.911, 88.56; Shawn Langdon, 6.607, 90.65 was unopposed; Leah Pruett, 3.776, 331.45 def. Scott Farley, 8.966, 76.17; Josh Hart, 3.872, 330.47 def. Rit Pustari, 8.382, 79.29; Antron Brown, 3.828, 330.31 def. Shawn Reed, 3.817, 328.78; Billy Torrence, 3.940, 276.35 def. Tony Schumacher, 4.625, 169.59;
QUARTERFINALS — G. Stanfield, 6.570, 209.82 def. M. Latino, 6.588, 209.98; Glenn, 6.562, 209.62 def. Enders, 6.581, 209.01; Hartford, 6.587, 209.56 def. E. Latino, Foul – Red Light; G. Anderson, 6.546, 209.75 def. Coughlin, Foul – Red Light;
SEMIFINALS — Hartford, 6.540, 209.88 def. G. Stanfield, 6.555, 209.39; Glenn, 6.556, 209.49 def. G. Anderson, 6.548, 209.30;
FINAL — Glenn, 6.543, 209.39 def. Hartford, 6.550, 209.92.
EPPING, N.H. — Point standings (top 10) following the 13th annual NHRA New England Nationals presented by bproauto at New England Dragway, the eighth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series –
LE MANS, FRANCE (June 7, 2026) – Cadillac led the morning session of the official test day for the 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.
Filipe Albuquerque, who is co-driving the No. 101 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R for Wayne Taylor Racing with Ricky Tayor and Jordan Taylor posted a time of 3 minutes and 27.011 seconds.
The No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R driven by Norman Nato, who co-drives with Will Stevens and Louis Deletraz, was third in the afternoon with a time of 3 minutes and 26.853 seconds.
Local native Sebastien Bourdais, driver of the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R with Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken, was 12th in the afternoon with a lap of 3 minutes and 27.261 seconds.
The next on-track activity will be Free Practice 1 at 2 pm (CEST) on Wednesday, June 10.
What they’re saying
No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R
Will Stevens “I think overall it was a pretty good test day. We’ve got through most of the things that we wanted to get through before the race week starts, because even though you always think you’ve got a lot of track time, it goes away from you very quickly. So, I think a very productive day and a solid baseline to work from. I think we can be confident and positive ahead of next week. We’ll spend the next two days working through some bits and pieces and trying to make further steps forwards for race week.”
Norman Nato “It was quite a good test day. We managed to follow the plan. We tried many things on tyres, listening to the tyre in different track conditions, understanding our new package. The aim of the test was to prepare as much as we can ahead of next week, focusing on all the details, like making sure the driver changes are as smooth as possible, making sure we feel good in the car in terms of driving position. So, a positive day, in terms of performance as well, the car seems to be in the window at the moment, even though the conditions were still quite “green” as always on a test day. I’m looking forwards to next week and seeing where we are with the focus more on long runs and qualifying.”
Louis Deletraz ”It was a good day. It was my first time here with the Cadillac, and it was really nice to drive around this circuit, really good to be back. We did a lot of laps, collected a lot of data which helps us to understand the car and the new tyre more. So I think it was very positive. It’s hard to know how competitive we are because it’s only the test day and everyone’s on different plans, but the car felt good and the whole team worked well together. So, thanks to everyone, and now we have two days to analyse the data and prepared for the race week.”
No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R
Sebastien Bourdais: “It was an interesting test, obviously discovering the new configuration of the car at Le Mans. Here you never know, conditions change here a lot, grip changes a lot. But overall, it was a positive day, and we went through quite a few things during the test. The morning session was really scruffy with all the slow zones, red flags, you name it, but the afternoon was a lot more straight forward and we got through quite a few items and so we have a lot of data to look at. I really noticed a positive change in the new car since last year which will hopefully allow us to fight for a podium and maybe a win. Next week we’ll optimize our package, make sure that the balance of the car is the best it can be.”
Earl Bamber: “It was really good to come back here. Obviously, there’s been a lot of preparation. For me, our car just ran flawlessly all day through the test programme. Now we’ve got two days to analyse everything. It looks like the field’s super close at the moment. It’s really, really tight, so I think we’re going have a fantastic motor race this year.”
Jack Aitken: “It’s been good, it’s been productive. The track was in pretty good condition compared to most years and they have resurfaced it in a few places. We spent the test trying to dial in the car with, you know, a pretty wide variety of tarmac conditions out there now. But it’s always fun to get back on this track and you only get to do it once a year, so it’s always pretty special. It’s nice to see all of the Cadillacs ran pretty well through the whole session, with no major issues and they all got a lot of work done.”
No. 101 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R
Wayne Taylor, Co-owner, No. 101 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R | Wayne Taylor Racing: “It’s been a really good day. All the Cadillacs look strong, and all I hear from our drivers is how good the car is. I’m not sure if anybody was going to try and set any times out there today. I know we made some changes to the car in that last session, and we think it’s an improvement. Honestly, everybody from GM and Cadillac Racing have supported this three-car team really, really well. And I’m pretty excited for the week.”
Ricky Taylor, Co-driver, No. 101 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R: “It was a good day and it was nice to show some pace during the day. I think, coming from last year, the test day has gone much smoother. I think we’re settling into a good rhythm. There will be a lot to talk about over the next couple of days, before Free Practice 1, but I think all three Cadillacs are looking good. I think we just need to keep focused on creating a really good race car because we clearly have some decent outright pace.”
Filipe Albuquerque, Co-driver, No. 101 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R: “I drove in the afternoon, again, more fun with the car. Sometimes I wish there were not three drivers as I would like to drive a little more (laughs). Everything is going well with the car. The track is evolving and car balance is good. So far, so good. It has been a good day.”
Jeromy Moore, Chief Engineer – Cadillac Racing: “The test today was pretty good. The two sessions went reasonably well and we had no issues on the cars. I’m pretty happy with the balance of the car, still learning a bit with the new evo here, what the car needs. The track was quite hot, so everyone was struggling a little bit with rear tyres. We’re looking reasonably competitive, but we know our competitors are strong and really we won’t know for sure what they have in their pocket until next week.”
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future.
GM Motorsports, including the Cadillac Formula 1® Team develops and proves advanced technologies in the most demanding environments, accelerating innovation in performance, safety, efficiency, and electrification for its production vehicles. Cadillac Racing is one of the leading manufacturers in the IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championships (WEC). Chevrolet competes in single seaters in the US IndyCar series, and in NASCAR with multiple team partners and drivers. Corvette customer teams compete in GT series across the globe including IMSA and WEC. Learn more at GM.com.
