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NAS News: Weekend Preview: Richmond Raceway & Road America

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July 30, 2023

NAS News: Weekend Preview: Richmond Raceway & Road America

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond (Va.) Raceway has long been called the “Action Track.”

When the NASCAR Cup Series visits for Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), it may also be the “Re-action Track” — with emotions still high from a drama-filled day at Pocono, Pa., last week and Playoff positions on the line with only five races remaining in the regular season.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson, who finished 21st after battling Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in a door-to-door feud for the Pocono checkered flag, won at the three-quarter mile Richmond track in April.

The normally mild-mannered 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson — who is close friends with Hamlin off the track — was visibly upset with the aggressive move Hamlin used to take the lead from him — and cruise to victory — in the closing laps at Pocono. Larson suggested afterward he would start racing drivers in the same manner as they race him; more aggressively if warranted.

Whatever method he uses, a win on Sunday would make Larson only the 12th driver to win consecutive races at Richmond.

“All of our wins this year have been on short tracks; Richmond, Martinsville (Va.) and (the All-Star Race) North Wilkesboro (N.C.),” Larson said. “We were good at Loudon (N.H.) — even compared to the teammates. Honestly, we have been pretty good everywhere this year.

“I’m excited about going to Richmond this weekend and going back to a track that we won at earlier this year,” the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet continued. “As the season progresses, set-ups change, and the weather is going to be different than it was earlier in the year. It’s not going to be the same, but I’m confident because we have been good at all the short tracks.”

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick — the 2014 series champion who is retiring at the end of the season — is the defending winner of Sunday’s race. He’s still looking for his first victory of 2023, although he is the highest-ranked driver in the points standings without a win. His 18 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes are best among active drivers.

Primed to rally after a disappointing showing at Pocono last week is two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, whose six Richmond wins are most among drivers. He has been running at the finish in all 35 NASCAR Cup Series races he’s competed in at the track and completed all but a single lap in that span — 14,208 of 14,209 laps possible. That equals 10,521 miles or 21 round trips from his Richard Childress Racing shop in Welcome, N.C., to Richmond Raceway.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott is still competing for his first trophy of the year, however, after missing six races (five recovering from injury and one for a NASCAR penalty), the 2020 series champ is still 56 points from the 16-driver cutoff line (21st place in the standings) and will most likely need to win a race to extend his perfect career Playoff record to eight years.

Elliott’s Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman also finds himself in a need-to-win situation after missing three races while recovering from an accident he suffered in a mid-week sprint car race back in April. He has qualified for the Playoffs all five of his preceding years with the Hendrick team, winning races in each of the last four seasons.

And then there is the more obvious drama for those surrounding that all-important 16th-place points position in the championship standings. Going into Richmond 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace is 15th in points, 27 points above postseason cutoff, and Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell is in 16th — just 17 points up on the cutoff.

There are three others within reasonable striking distance. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger has moved into that 17th place slot — only 17 points behind McDowell. Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez is 23 points behind Front Row Motorsports’ McDowell. Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Ty Gibbs is now 28 points out of earning a Playoff bid in his first full NASCAR Cup Series season.

Among these five drivers, Suarez (16.1) has the best average finish at Richmond, followed by Allmendinger (22.1), Gibbs (22.5), Wallace (23.6) and McDowell (30.4).

Of note, Allmendinger is making a rare competitive double. He’s also racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Elkhart Lake, Wis., on Saturday so will have Derek Kraus practice and qualify his No. 16 Kaulig Chevrolet on Saturday before returning to race it in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.

Of the six previous short track races, current NASCAR Cup Series driver standings leader Martin Truex Jr. (Dover, Del. and New Hampshire) and Larson (Martinsville, Va., and Richmond, Va.) are multi-time short track winners already in 2023, joining William Byron (Phoenix) and Christopher Bell (Bristol, Tenn., dirt track) on the list. All four of these drivers ranked among the top-10 in the Cup Series driver standings.

Truex, who leads the championship by 30 points over Byron, boasts the best average short-track finishing position (6.6) this season and Byron holds the best average start (6.5) at the previous short-track stops.

Six different drivers have won the last six races at Richmond. Among those still needing to race into the Playoffs, Bowman (2021) is the only one with a former Richmond trophy.

Practice and Busch Light Pole Qualifying take place Saturday and will air on USA network from 12:35-2:30 p.m. ET.

XFINITY Series different winners are the norm at Road America.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to the Midwest for Saturday afternoon’s Road America 180 (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the historic Elkhart Lake, Wisc., road course where there has never been a repeat winner to date — 13 race winners in as many Xfinity Series races.

It’s the longest active streak among series’ tracks to go without a repeat champ, but there are three drivers that could change that this weekend. Allmendinger (2012), Jeremy Clements (2017) and Justin Allgaier (2018) are all former Road America winners competing this weekend.

Allgaier, who will be making his 450th NASCAR Xfinity series start this weekend, currently boasts the best road-course record of the season among series regulars with four finishes of seventh or better, including a runner-up showing at Portland, Ore., and a third-place at the Chicago Street Course.

Fans — and competitors — can typically expect excitement on the series’ road course venues and it comes after a dramatic weekend in Pocono, Pa., where Austin Hill took the lead on an overtime restart to beat the day’s most dominant driver JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry for the victory. Hill is now tied with his closest championship rival, John Hunter Nemechek, with four wins each.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver Nemechek holds a 13-point advantage over Richard Childress Racing’s Hill atop the championship standings — the pair having separated themselves from the field. Allgaier is 55 points behind Nemechek.

It’s reasonable to expect some movement in the championship standings with seven regular-season races remaining and only seven race winners with a lock on a Playoff berth.

Currently challenging for that 12th and final Playoff transfer position, 13th-ranked Parker Kligerman is only 26 points behind 12th-place Riley Herbst. Kligerman is 2-for-2 in Top-10s at Road America scoring a third-place (2013) and a 10th-place (2017) in his only starts there. Herbst also has a pair of Top-10s at Elkhart Lake, including back-to-back seventh-place finishes in the past two seasons.

Practice (5 p.m. ET) followed by qualifying for the Road America 180 is set for Friday and will be televised on USA Network and streamed on the NBC Sports App.

–NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series to Decide Regular Season Champion, Playoff Field at Richmond

This is it. After 15 races, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Regular Season Champion will be crowned and the 10-driver Playoff field formalized following Saturday’s Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Six drivers have already earned their Playoff position by virtue of wins and a seventh, Ty Majeski has clinched a spot based on points. That leaves three Playoff openings to be decided. A regular-season champion will also be crowned this weekend, TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim, 20, is currently the points leader and will need to collect 19 points to clinch the title and the additional 15-point Playoff bonus awarded the Regular Season Champion.

Reigning series champ Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Christian Eckes and Carson Hocevar have also already secured their positions in the Playoffs with a win.

Matt DiBenedetto, Nick Sanchez and Matt Crafton currently hold the remaining Playoff-eligible positions based on points. The three-time series champion Crafton holds a nine-point advantage over 11th-place Stewart Friesen. Sanchez is 21 points up on Friesen.

Of course, there is the very real chance that a driver below the cutoff line wins a race and bypasses a competitor currently in the Playoffs on points. Enfinger, however, is the only full-time driver competing this weekend to have a previous Richmond victory (2020).

Not only is Sanchez hoping to secure that Playoff position, but he also goes into Saturday night’s race with an impressive lead on the rookie standings — more than 100 points up on Jake Garcia. Last week at Pocono, the two young talents started alongside one another on the front row. Should Sanchez qualify for the Playoffs he would automatically earn the series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year award.

The 2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs will begin Aug. 8 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

–By Holly Cain, NASCAR NewsWire, Special to Field Level Media

Celebrity Taylor Swift has billionaire fans Mark Zuckerberg and family and web fans at Eras Tour

Celebrity

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July 30, 2023

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Celebrity Taylor Swift is slowly becoming an American institution as her web fans also called Swifties are giving the US economy a fillip as her fans attends her live performances in several major stadiums across the nation. A Friday Taylor Swift concert also saw attendance of Meta and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg along with his wife Priscilla Chan and their daughters.

Mark Zuckerberg posted photos of them attending celebrity Taylor Swift’s concert in Santa Clara, California. The father of three accompanied his daughters. Not only did he post a series of photos with wife Priscilla Chan and daughters but Mark and Priscilla also wore matching gem stones on their face in the shape of a heart as well as beaded bracelets just like true Swifties, who wear such jewelry at her concerts.

Mark Zuckerberg posted the photos as they attended the Taylor Swift concert at Levi’s Stadium. He posted three photos and added the caption: “Life of a girl dad.”

The billionaire dad made sure that his family had a fantastic view of the concert as well as enough privacy as they viewed Taylor Swift’s scintillating performance from a private box. The photos featured his daughter Maxima and August.

The Meta CEO and his doctor wife wore embedded jewels that were on the opposite sides of their faces. They were casually dressed and beaming widely into the lens. The second picture showed the backs of wife Priscilla and their two elder daughters looking at the crowd of other Swifties and Zuckerberg’s hand with multiple beaded bracelets and the third one was also a similar photo.

Although it cannot be confirmed that either Mark Zuckerberg or Priscilla Chan are Swifties or it’s their children who are fans of Taylor Swift, it can be concluded that the family enjoys her live performances. It has been confirmed on social media by Mark Zuckerberg himself that they were having a good time at celebrity Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, just like millions of her web fans.

A galaxy of celebrity stars has attended Taylor Swift’s concert as she performs at different stadiums near or in major cities in the nation. However, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan and family might be the first tech billionaire family to attend a Taylor Swift performance in U.S.

Celebrity WEB Update— Premier Jewelry designer and manufacturer fashion house ParisJewelry.com has started manufacturing a new custom line of celebrity jewelry designs with 30% Off and Free Shipping. Replenish Your Body- Refilter Your Health with OrganicGreek.com Vitamin Bottles, Vitamins and Herbs. Become a WebFans Creator and Influencer.

CFL News: Elks drop 21st straight home game to set North American record

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July 30, 2023

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CFL News: Elks drop 21st straight home game to set North American record

The Edmonton Elks lost 27-0 to the BC Lions on Saturday night to drop their 21st consecutive home game, a North American record for futility across major sports leagues.

Entering Saturday, Edmonton’s string of 20 straight home losses matched the record of the 1953 St. Louis Browns of Major League Baseball. The Browns disbanded that year, moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles for the 1954 season.

The Elks have not won at home since Oct. 12, 2019, when they beat the very team that extended their historic run to 21 losses — the Lions.

Edmonton is now 0-8 on the season and is mired in a 12-game skid overall, putting it one setback away from matching the franchise record of 13 straight losses.

–Field Level Media

OVERWATCH News: Reign climb back atop OWL Summer Stage West qualifying

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July 30, 2023

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OVERWATCH News: Reign climb back atop OWL Summer Stage West qualifying

The Atlanta Reign moved back atop the standings on Saturday by picking up a victory a 3-1 victory over the Boston Uprising during Summer Stage qualifying action in the West Region.

The Reign, who fell into a tie for first with the Mayhem when they lost to Florida on Friday, bounced back to defeat Boston in four maps.

The Vancouver Titans and Los Angeles Valiant also posted wins on Saturday.

Summer Stage qualifying in the West runs through Sept. 4, with each team in the region playing a total of eight best-of-five matches. The top three teams will advance to the playoffs, while the fourth- through 10th-ranked squads will be sent to the play-ins.

The Reign began their match against the Uprising with a 2-0 win on Busan and a 3-1 conquest on Eichenwalde. Boston came back with a 6-4 victory on Circuit Royal, but Atlanta clinched with a 1-0 triumph on Colosseo.

The Titans swept the Washington Justice in three maps. First was a 2-1 win on Oasis, then a 1-0 victory on Numbani before a 3-0 rout on Route 66.

The Valiant turned back the Vegas Eternal in five maps. The Eternal started quickly, getting two wins (2-1 on Oasis and 3-0 on Eichenwalde) out of the gate, but they couldn’t get the clincher. They lost 2-1 on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, 1-0 on Colosseo and 2-0 on Busan.

Summer Stage qualifying action in the West resumes on Sunday with three matches:
–Florida Mayhem vs. Washington Justice
–London Spitfire vs. Vegas Eternal
–Los Angeles Gladiators vs. Vancouver Titans

West standings (W-L record, map differential — includes performance in both spring and summer qualifiers)
1. Atlanta Reign, 12-2, plus-29
2. Florida Mayhem, 11-2, plus-22
3. Houston Outlaws, 9-3, plus-13
4. Boston Uprising, 10-4, plus-16
5. San Francisco Shock, 6-6, minus-6
6. Vancouver Titans, 5-6, plus-2
7. Washington Justice, 5-6, minus-2
8. Los Angeles Gladiators, 5-6, minus-6
9. New York Excelsior, 5-7, minus-2
10. Toronto Defiant, 5-7, minus-3
11. London Spitfire, 5-8, minus-7
12. Los Angeles Valiant, 2-12, minus-27
13. Vegas Eternal, 0-11, minus-29

–Field Level Media

NBA2K News: Knicks win NBA 2K League’s Ticket for 3rd time, beat DUX in final

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July 30, 2023

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NBA2K News: Knicks win NBA 2K League’s Ticket for 3rd time, beat DUX in final

Shooting guard Malik “OriginalMalik” Hobson finished with 28 points, six assists and three steals as Knicks Gaming defeated DUX Infinitos 82-73 to win the NBA 2K League’s The Ticket event on Saturday.

OriginalMalik earned tournament MVP honors for averaging 22.3 points and 7.8 assists. The Ticket was the third and final 5v5 in-season tournament for the 2K League.

This marks the third time the Knicks won the event after taking the inaugural Ticket in 2018 before winning again three years later.

The Knicks made it to the final by beating Magic Gaming 82-71 earlier Saturday to capture the Eastern Conference bracket. DUX Infinitos won the West bracket by beating Mavs Gaming 57-50.

The berths in the final enabled the Knicks and DUX Infinitos to qualify as the 11th- and 12th-place teams in the 2023 NBA 2K League 5v5 playoffs, which begin Wednesday.

–Field Level Media

DOTA News: Team Spirit, Talon Esports have big days at Riyadh Masters

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July 30, 2023

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DOTA News: Team Spirit, Talon Esports have big days at Riyadh Masters

Team Spirit came from a map down to sport a comeback win on Saturday in the upper-bracket final to advance to the grand final of the Riyadh Masters.

Spirit pulled off a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Team Liquid, bumping the loser into Sunday’s lower-bracket final.

Team Liquid will take on Talon Esports, who eliminated 9Pandas 2-0 and Gaimin Gladiators 2-1 on Saturday, for a chance at a rematch with Team Spirit in the grand final.

The $15 million Riyadh Masters began with 20 teams, and 12 were left standing after the play-in and group stages.

The group stage featured two groups of eight teams and concluded on Monday. Those matches were best-of-two in a single round-robin format. The top four teams advanced to the upper bracket of the playoffs, while the fifth- and sixth-place teams from each group advanced to the lower bracket. The remaining teams have been eliminated.

The double-elimination playoff stage runs through Sunday. Matches are best-of-three except for the grand final, which is best-of-five.

The winning team pockets $5 million with $2.5 million going to the runner-up.

In Saturday’s lone upper-bracket match, Liquid opened with a win in 49 minutes on green. But Spirit shined in battling back with a 54-minute victory on green followed by a 32-minute win on red.

In the lower bracket, Talon began by outlasting 9Pandas in 61 minutes on green, then followed with a 30-minute win on red. Talon Esports then opened with a 51-minute win on red over Gaimin Gladiators to open their lower-bracket semifinal. GG evened things with a 48-minute victory on green, but Talon secured its second win of the day with a 53-minute victory on red.

The final two matches of the event take place on Sunday:
–Team Liquid vs. Talon Esports (lower-bracket final)
–Team Spirit vs. Team Liquid/Talon Esports winner (grand final)

Riyadh Masters prize pool:
1. $5 million — TBD
2. $2.5 million — TBD
3. $1.7 million — TBD
4. $1.2 million — TBD
5-6. $800,000 — BetBoom Team, 9Pandas
7-8. $500,000 — Quest Esports, Team Aster
9-12. $300,000 — PSG.LGD, Tundra Esports, Evil Geniuses, Team Secret
13-14. $200,000 — OG, TSM
15-16. $100,000 — Xtreme Gaming, Shopify Rebellion
17-20. $50,000 — beastcoast, Entity, Virtus.pro, Execration

–Field Level Media

CSGO News: Monte lead foursome into Group A upper semis at IEM Cologne

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July 30, 2023

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CSGO News: Monte lead foursome into Group A upper semis at IEM Cologne

Monte earned an impressive sweep on Saturday as one of four teams advancing to the Group A upper-bracket semifinals at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne event in Germany.

Monte bested GamerLegion 2-0 in group-stage action, while the other three winners in the upper bracket each rallied for 2-1 victories: Heroic defeated The MongolZ, Fnatic beat Cloud9 and ENCE took down 9INE.

In Group B upper-bracket quarterfinal play, MOUZ dumped Natus Vincere 2-0 while G2 Esports came from behind to win 2-1 over Astralis.

The $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began Wednesday with 16 teams competing in the double-elimination play-in stage. Opening matches were best-of-one, with all additional matches best-of-three.

Eight teams will advance to the group stage, which also will feature eight teams that previously qualified: G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, ENCE, Heroic, Cloud9, Natus Vincere and GamerLegion.

Two groups of eight will compete in double-elimination play from Saturday through Tuesday, with all matches best-of-three. The two group-stage winners will move to the playoff semifinals, the group-stage runners-up will head to the playoff quarterfinals as high seeds and the group-stage third-place teams will go to the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds.

The single-elimination playoffs will run Aug. 4-6, with the quarterfinals and semifinals best-of-three and the grand final best-of-five.

The championship side will receive $400,000 and a berth in the 2024 IEM Katowice event. The runner-up will get $180,000.

In Group A action on Saturday, Monte jumped all over GamerLegion with a 16-8 triumph on Mirage followed by a 16-11 decision on Overpass. Denmark’s Alexander “br0” Bro had a match-high 42 kills, while Polish teammate Szymon “kRaSnaL” Mrozek topped all players with a plus-14 kills-deaths differential.

Heroic fell behind by a map by losing 16-11 to TheMongolz on Mirage, but they responded with a spirited 22-18 overtime win on Overpass and a decisive 16-10 victory on Inferno. Rasmus “sjuush” Beck carried Heroic’s all-Danish unit with 72 kills and a plus-17 K-D ratio.

Fnatic dropped a tight 16-13 contest to C9 on Vertigo but came back with wins on Anubis (16-10) and Ancient (19-16) to claim the match. Four Fnatic players recorded at least 60 kills, with Frenchman Aurelien “afro” Drapier and Australia’s Christopher “dexter” Nong leading the way with 64 apiece.

ENCE was hammered by 9INE, 16-4, on Vertigo to open their match, but they claimed a 16-11 win on Nuke before winning a 19-15 overtime thriller on Mirage — winning the final nine points of the battle. Pawel “dycha” Dycha of Poland tallied a match-best 65 kills for ENCE in victory.

In Group B lower-bracket play, MOUZ used a 10-0 run in beating NaVi 16-9 on Ancient, then scored the final four points of the match in winning 16-12 on Overpass. Slovakia’s David “frozen” Cernansky led all players with 48 kills and a plus-16 K-D differential for MOUZ.

G2 won the day’s other Group B match, losing 16-12 to Astralis on Ancient before successive wins on Inferno (16-13) and Nuke (16-9) in the comeback victory. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina led G2 with 68 kills, while Nicolai “device” Reedtz headed the all-Danish Astralis squad with 74 kills and a plus-17 K-D ratio, both match highs.

The tournament continues Sunday with six matches in the Group Stage:
–Heroic vs. Monte (Group A upper-bracket semifinals)
–Fnatic vs. ENCE (Group A upper-bracket semifinals)
–The MongolZ vs. GamerLegion (Group A lower-bracket quarterfinals)
–Cloud9 vs. 9INE (Group A lower-bracket quarterfinals)
–Team Vitality vs. OG (Group B upper-bracket quarterfinals)
–Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. FaZe Clan (Group B upper-bracket quarterfinals)

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool
1. $400,000, 2024 IEM Katowice berth
2. $180,000
3-4. $80,000
5-6. $40,000
7-8. $24,000
9-12. $16,000
13-16. $10,000
17-20. $4,500 — FURIA Esports, Apeks, Team Liquid, Imperial Esports
21-24. $2,500 — Into the Breach, Complexity Gaming, BIG, Grayhound Gaming

–Field Level Media

XFT News: Sam Mayer wins 1st career Xfinity Series race at home track

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July 30, 2023

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XFT News: Sam Mayer wins 1st career Xfinity Series race at home track

Sam Mayer took a dramatic double-overtime victory in Saturday’s Road America 180 at the iconic Elkhart Lake, Wisc., road course — the 20-year-old hometown favorite claiming his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at his home race track.

He rolled into victory lane, climbing onto his driver’s side window and pulling apart his drivers suit like Superman to a happy and familiar crowd.

The JR Motorsports driver was certainly super in the closing laps on Saturday.

Mayer’s win in the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet makes him the 14th different driver to take the trophy at Road America in as many NASCAR Xfinity Series races there. He is the sixth different driver to earn his first career win at the 4.048-mile road course and the fourth different driver to claim his first series trophy in 2023.

The frantic second overtime start featured door-to-door racing among the top four cars and multiple leaders on a single lap. Finally, Mayer emerged out front and was able to drive away to a .368-second win over Parker Kligerman that has landed him an automatic position in the 2023 Playoffs.

“It was just about getting track position,” a grinning Mayer said afterward. “We got it there at the end, I lost it for a second and then all hell broke loose there at the end and we ended up on top.

“This team, it’s so special to get that first win, that monkey off your back. It feels so good. I felt it all day. I felt like if I can do this one, I can do anything and we came here today and did that.

“It’s so cool to get it done,” the Franklin, Wisc. native added with a smile.

Four of the top-five drivers on the final overtime restart had never hoisted a series trophy before and pursued then-race leader Justin Allgaier with all the zeal and motivation that you would expect of the situation. Allgaier, Mayer’s JR Motorsports teammate, led a dominating 42 of the 49 laps on the day and swept both stage wins.

But not too-surprisingly that last restart resulted in a manic push among those drivers racing for that coveted first trophy. The racing was three-wide, four-wide, high energy, back-and-forth with so much on the line.

“Second’s not fun,” said Kligerman, the driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet who is just on the outside of the playoff bubble. He is now 22 points behind Sheldon Creed for that 12th and final transfer points position with six regular-season races remaining.

“When I got the lead, I just played it a little safer than I should have, I didn’t think the 1 (Mayer) would get to me like that. Then I tried to get to him and just couldn’t get to him,” Kilgerman added. “But I know here in Wisconsin that’s huge for him and his family. And our day is coming.”

Last week’s race winner, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, rallied for a third-place finish after a busy day navigating dicey action mid-pack. And former open-wheel standout Sage Karam finished fourth in the No. 24 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota.

“It was a great race all around,” said Karam, who earned his first career top-five in his seventh start of the season. “The last restart was very aggressive. I just had to get to the lead and had a good move on Allgaier, it was really aggressive and got three-wide.”

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst turned in arguably the most persevering performances of the day, finishing fifth in the No. 98 SHR Ford after being collected in multiple incidents throughout the day.

Another of Mayer’s JR Motorsports teammates, Josh Berry, rallied to a sixth-place finish with Kaz Grala, Josh Bilicki, polesitter A.J. Allmendinger and JRM driver Brandon Jones rounding out the top 10.

Allmendinger won the pole position and as one of the sports’s all-time best road course racers — even opting to have Derek Kraus qualify his NASCAR Cup Series car at Richmond, Va., so that he could compete on the iconic Wisconsin track Saturday. But Allmendinger struggled from nearly the drop of the green flag. Allgaier passed him for the lead six laps into the race and he was never able to challenge for the top spot with issues essentially all day.

Allmendiger’s Kaulig Racing teammate Chandler Smith also had a rough day. The Xfinity Series rookie — last year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion — was traveling at high speed on a straightaway headed to Turn 1 when his car suffered a massive brake rotor failure. Fortunately the young driver smartly turned the car to the left immediately after hearing parts break and was able to slow it down against a side retaining wall instead of going full speed head-on into the Turn 1 runoff area.

He was fine afterward, grateful for the solid construction of the cars.

“I was definitely having some brake fade throughout the run, but I didn’t think I was abusing them by any means to make them fail,” Smith said. “I was going up the hill on the front straight and I heard something snap and I felt something come off the car and the whole front nose just dropped and when that happened, I was like, ‘What in the world was that?’

“I went to pump the brakes but there was nothing there. I was just trying to scrub speed at that point.”

That was certainly part of a dramatic Saturday afternoon with incidents involving several of Playoff drivers — and several close to the Playoff cutoff.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek, who was leading the championship at the drop of the green flag was not at the wave of the checkered flag. He took a wild ride off track with 14 laps remaining. His No. 20 JGR Toyota suffered enough damage going off-track in T13 he had to retire landing Nemechek only his second DNF of the season and costing him those valuable points in the standings.

Interviewed afterward, Nemechek was clearly frustrated, saying “Who needs enemies when you have teammates?”

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday in the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). JGR’s Ty Gibbs won the race last year.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES RACE — ROAD AMERICA 180
Elkhart Lake, Wisc.

1. (5) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 49.
2. (17) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 49.
3. (14) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 49.
4. (6) Sage Karam, Toyota, 49.
5. (4) Riley Herbst, Ford, 49.
6. (13) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 49.
7. (9) Kaz Grala, Toyota, 49.
8. (11) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 49.
9. (1) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 49.
10. (33) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 49.
11. (32) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 49.
12. (19) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 49.
13. (34) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 49.
14. (20) Parker Retzlaff #, Chevrolet, 49.
15. (26) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 49.
16. (23) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 49.
17. (25) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, 49.
18. (3) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 49.
19. (21) Brad Perez, Chevrolet, 49.
20. (38) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 49.
21. (18) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 49.
22. (29) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 49.
23. (35) Joe Graf Jr., Ford, 49.
24. (28) Stanton Barrett, Toyota, 49.
25. (30) Dexter Stacey, Toyota, 49.
26. (12) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 49.
27. (31) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 49.
28. (22) Leland Honeyman, Chevrolet, Transmission, 45.
29. (7) Connor Mosack, Toyota, Rear Gear, 44.
30. (2) Cole Custer, Ford, Accident, 41.
31. (10) Sammy Smith #, Toyota, Accident, 41.
32. (27) Kyle Sieg, Ford, Brakes, 39.
33. (37) Alex Labbe, Ford, Accident, 38.
34. (8) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, Accident, 31.
35. (36) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Accident, 25.
36. (15) Brett Moffitt, Ford, Hub, 23.
37. (16) Chandler Smith #, Chevrolet, Accident, 20.
38. (24) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 9.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 65.265 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 2 Mins, 21 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.368 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 15 laps.
Lead Changes: 2 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Allmendinger(i) 1-5;J. Allgaier 6-47;S. Mayer 48-49.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Justin Allgaier 1 time for 42 laps; AJ Allmendinger(i) 1 time for 5 laps; Sam Mayer 1 time for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,00,10,20,24,98,26,21,1,18
Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,00,24,10,1,26,8,48,18,91

–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media

TRUCK News: Carson Hocevar wins at Richmond after late-race pass

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July 30, 2023

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TRUCK News: Carson Hocevar wins at Richmond after late-race pass

RICHMOND, Va. — Carson Hocevar’s race started in the pits with a flat tire even before the green flag for Saturday night’s Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and ended with a celebration in Victory Lane.

The 20-year-old driver of the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet passed the night’s most dominant driver Ty Majeski with only three laps remaining thanks to pit road strategy and a fast Chevy Silverado to claim his third win of the season by 2.308-seconds over Majeski.

“We didn’t come here to run second,” Hocevar said, adding, “I knew we had to do something different and new tires prevailed.”

Corey Heim officially secured the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 2023 regular-season championship with a third-place finish in the opening stage. The 21-year-old driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota will start the seven-race playoff portion of the season with an important 15-point bonus thanks to an incredible run to the regular-season title that included a pair of wins. He finished sixth on Saturday — his series best 13th top-10 finish in 16 races.

“It really means a lot,” Heim said. “With TRICON Garage and Toyota Racing coming such a long way from the beginning of the year. I really felt like we had a lot of progress to make in the first four or five weeks and we’ve really been improving ever since.

“Tonight, it was a rough night at Richmond. It is kind of a unique racetrack. On the normal tracks, we’ve been really consistent. Still a good finish for us, but definitely want to do better leading into the playoffs.”

After earning his second pole position of the season, Majeski absolutely dominated so much of the race, sweeping both stage wins for the first time in his career and leading a dominating 168 of the 250 laps in the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford. His truck was so good Saturday that he even overcame a mid-race pit stop speeding penalty to regain the lead late race and try to hold off Hocevar. Majeski stayed out while Hocevar pit for tires with 40 laps remaining, however, and was ultimately unable to hold off the fresh tires in the closing laps.

“Just didn’t have enough there,” a frustrated Majeski said. “Obviously made a mistake there, speeding on pit road but we had a chance to win even with the penalty. It’s just so disappointing. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a dominant vehicle that much faster than the field and to not win with it is so hard.

“But we have fast race trucks and we’ll make a run at the playoffs,” he added.

The playoff field — in points order — includes Heim, the 2022 series champion Zane Smith, who finished third at Richmond, Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger, Majeski, 2021 series champion Ben Rhodes, rookie Nick Sanchez, Matt DiBenedetto and three-time series champion Matt Crafton.

Stewart Friesen came into the race ranked 11th, trailing Crafton by nine points, but Friesen’s No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet had a disappointing qualifying run — 23rd — and never really mounted a challenge forward on Saturday. He finished 27th.

“We brought a dull knife to a gunfight tonight,” a disappointed Friesen said.

Hocevar led 64 laps on the evening — moving into the lead position while Majeski was recovering from his pit road penalty.

“We passed every single truck here, the 98 (Majeski) was the class of the field but I thought we were second and won with the second-best truck because I have the first-best pit crew and first-best crew chief on the box,” Hocevar said.

“I just love it,” he added.

Rookie Jake Garcia and Matt Mills rounded out the top five at Richmond. Heim finished sixth, followed by Crafton, Sanchez, Enfinger and 16-year-old William Sawalich making only his third series start.

The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs begin on Aug. 11 with the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Enfinger is the defending race winner.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – Worldwide Express 250
Richmond Raceway
Richmond, Virginia
Saturday, July 29, 2023

1. (17) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 250.
2. (1) Ty Majeski, Ford, 250.
3. (15) Zane Smith, Ford, 250.
4. (12) Jake Garcia #, Chevrolet, 250.
5. (5) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 250.
6. (2) Corey Heim, Toyota, 250.
7. (8) Matt Crafton, Ford, 250.
8. (14) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 249.
9. (13) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 249.
10. (3) William Sawalich, Toyota, 249.
11. (6) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 249.
12. (4) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 249.
13. (21) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 249.
14. (19) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 249.
15. (25) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 249.
16. (7) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 249.
17. (10) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 249.
18. (11) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 248.
19. (16) Rajah Caruth #, Chevrolet, 248.
20. (24) Conner Jones, Ford, 248.
21. (18) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 248.
22. (9) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 248.
23. (30) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 248.
24. (27) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 247.
25. (20) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 247.
26. (29) Will Rodgers, Chevrolet, 247.
27. (23) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 247.
28. (22) Lawless Alan, Chevrolet, 247.
29. (26) Bret Holmes #, Chevrolet, 247.
30. (28) Ryan Vargas, Toyota, 246.
31. (34) Justin Carroll, Toyota, 245.
32. (35) Christian Rose, Ford, 244.
33. (31) Derek Lemke, Ford, 243.
34. (33) Mason Massey(i), Chevrolet, 242.
35. (32) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 240.
36. (36) Josh Reaume, Ford, 239.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 94.116 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 59 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.308 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 27 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Majeski 1-115;C. Heim 116-124;B. Rhodes 125-129;T. Majeski 130-144;B. Rhodes 145;T. Majeski 146;B. Rhodes 147-149;C. Hocevar 150-209;T. Majeski 210-246;C. Hocevar 247-250.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Ty Majeski 4 times for 168 laps; Carson Hocevar 2 times for 64 laps; Corey Heim 1 time for 9 laps; Ben Rhodes 3 times for 9 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 98,99,11,19,88,1,35,4,51,25
Stage #2 Top Ten: 98,99,11,19,42,35,88,1,2,51

–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.

NAS News: Weekend Preview: Richmond Raceway & Road America

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July 30, 2023

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