NASCAR handed down suspensions Wednesday to members of the pit crews for Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe for detached wheels in last Sunday's Cup Series race in Las Vegas.

• The two-race suspensions were issued to members of Busch's No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team and Briscoe's No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team after wheels became unfastened during the Pennzoil 400.

  The suspensions will cover Sunday's race at Miami and the March 30 race at Martinsville for No. 8 crew members Dylan Moser (jack) and Shiloh Windsor (rear-tire changer) and No. 19 crew members Caleb Dirks (jack) and Daniel Smith (rear-tire changer).

  Briscoe finished 17th in the race won by Josh Berry in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. Busch's day ended after 35 laps.

  --Field Level Media

The Australian Grand Prix was watched by more than 1.1 million viewers on ESPN, setting a record for Formula 1's season-opening event, according to the network.

• It beat the previous mark of 659,000 viewers in 2019, and was up 541,000 from last year's race broadcast on ESPN2. The 2025 race, which began at midnight Sunday ET, also averaged 560,000 viewers in the coveted 18-49 year-old demographic.

  The record viewership for the Australian GP comes amid reports that ESPN will not pursue the U.S. broadcast rights to F1 once the network's media deal expires after this season. However, F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said at last month's Liberty Media earnings call that discussions continue despite ESPN's exclusive negotiating period having passed.

  ESPN has aired F1 races since 2018 and is in the final year of a three-year extension that has the network paying about $90 million per season for media rights.

  NBC Sports and Netflix are potential replacements after both met with F1 last month, according to Front Office Sports.

  NBC Sports aired F1 from 2012 to 2017, while Netflix has helped boost F1's popularity in the U.S. with its "Drive to Survive" docuseries, which recently released its seventh season.

  The second race of the 2025 season is Sunday, with the Chinese Grand Prix scheduled to begin at 2:55 a.m. ET on ESPN. The F1 season includes United States stops in Miami (May 4), Austin, Texas (Oct. 19) and Las Vegas (Nov. 22).

  --Field Level Media

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc posted the fastest time during Friday's second practice session for the Australian Grand Prix, getting around the Albert Park circuit in 1:16.439.

• That was 0.124 seconds quicker than Oscar Piastri, who clocked the second quickest time ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Norris enters the season-opener as the early favorite to claim his first world championship.

  "But certainly not happy, like not confident with the car in terms of finding the best balance and being consistent enough, especially on low fuel," Norris told reporters.

  "High fuel, I felt good. Just low fuel was still similar to Bahrain, too many inconsistencies, too many problems, so a bit of a struggle."

  Yuki Tsunoda was fourth in the practice session. Then came seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was 0.42 seconds off the pace of his new Ferrari teammate.

  Hamilton, 40, is making his debut for the Italian team after 12 years at Mercedes, and acknowledged that he faces a steep learning curve ahead of Sunday's season-opener.

  "I'm just going to try and enjoy it. I've got some pace to find, I know where I'm going to find it. It's just about going out and doing it," Hamilton told reporters when asked if earning the pole during Saturday's qualifying session is possible.

  "I'm really still getting used to all the setup changes so it's like I don't have them on call like I used to have obviously at Mercedes."

  RB2's Isack Hadjar was sixth during FP2, followed by defending champion Max Verstappen. The four-time defending world champion was fifth and seventh during the two practice sessions, while Red Bull teammate Liam Lawson finished 17th after brushing the wall in the first session and needing to have work done on his car.

  "The problem is that it's not really like I have major balance problems, so I think it will be a bit hard to fix," Verstappen told reporters. "But it's also nothing that I didn't expect when I arrived here, so I'm not positively or negatively surprised with the pace that we are showing."

  George Russell was the fastest of the Mercedes cars, finishing 10th and struggling to keep pace over the course of a full lap. It was an improvement on the first practice session, when Russell spun off the track.

  That was still a far better day than rookie Oliver Bearman, who damaged his Haas after spinning across the track and sliding through the gravel. The 19-year-old took full responsibility for the spin.

  Carlos Sainz, who signed with Williams after losing his Ferrari seat to Hamilton, finished in 11th ahead of teammate Alex Albon.

  Another rookie, Mercedes' 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, finished 16th in FP2 after being 14th in the first session.

  --Field Level Media

Lewis Hamilton is only days away from his debut with Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix, but the seven-time world champion said the only pressure he feels is from within.

• Hamilton shocked the Formula 1 world when he signed with the iconic Italian team in February 2024 before closing out his historic 12-year run with Mercedes. While Mercedes struggled, Ferrari finished second in the constructors standings.

  Hamilton has now replaced Carlos Sainz, who moved on to Williams, and has teamed with Charles Leclerc to form one of the top driver tandems on the grid.

  With Ferrari coming off a second-place finish last year and adding arguably the sport's greatest ever driver, expectations are heightened for 2025. The 40-year-old Hamilton is seeking an elusive eighth title while Ferrari is looking for its first championship since 2008.

  "I don't feel the pressure," he told reporters on Thursday. "The outside pressure is non-existent for me. The pressure is from within and what I want to achieve.

  "I'm not here to prove anything to anybody. I don't feel I have to do anything. I've been here a long, long time and done it time and time again."

  Between McLaren and Mercedes, all of Hamilton's world championships have come while driving cars powered by Mercedes engines. The Briton also is transitioning from the United Kingdom-based Mercedes to the Italian outfit.

  "I'm under no assumptions that it will be easy. It is not," he said. "I'm back at square one.

  "I'm still learning this new car that's quite a lot different to what I've driven for all my previous career in the sense of Mercedes power. Coming into Ferrari power, it's something quite new -- different vibration, different feel, different way of working.

  "The whole team works completely differently. I was just sitting looking at the race trace from last year, and it's upside down compared to the previous one. You're looking at things from a different perspective, which makes it exciting and challenging."

  A two-time winner in Australia, Hamilton insisted he did not have any expectations entering the weekend other than joking that he hoped to finish in the points. He will get two practice sessions on Friday ahead of Saturday's qualifying.

  "This is the most exciting period of my life, and so I'm really just enjoying it," he said. "I'm so excited to get in the car tomorrow."

  --Field Level Media

After helping McLaren to a constructor's championship in 2024, Oscar Piastri was rewarded with a multi-year contract worth nearly $26 million per year, according to Racing News 365.

• The new deal replaces Piastri's contract that ran through 2026 and was set to pay him over $7 million per season.

  "It's a great feeling knowing that I'm part of McLaren's long-term vision," Piastri said in a release. "The team had the belief in me when we signed in 2022, and the journey we've gone on over the past two seasons to help return McLaren to the very top of the sport has been incredible.

  The 23-year-old Australia native won a pair of races in 2024 and finished fourth in the driver's standings with 292 points, while teammate Lando Norris was the runner-up with four wins and 374 points. Norris signed a long-term extension before the 2024 season.

  The McLaren constructor's title ended a two-year title run for Red Bull and gave the team its first championship since 1998.

  Piastri's deal comes just as F1 is set to open its 2025 season with the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday in his hometown of Melbourne.

  --Field Level Media

Christopher Bell has served emphatic notice that he is the early driver to beat in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series, and the 30-year-old is primed for a run at an historic fourth consecutive win on a track where he will be looking to exact some revenge.

• With victories at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas and Phoenix, the Norman, Okla., native is the first driver to win three Cup races in a row since Kyle Larson did so in 2021. He is also the first driver to win three out of the first four since Kevin Harvick in 2018.

  Compared to Harvick's early-season thrashing of the field seven years ago, Bell hasn't been quite as dominant. That's not a knock on Bell, but rather an indication of how NASCAR's schedule has changed. The first four races of 2025 featured two superspeedways, a road course and a one-mile oval. The first four races of 2018 featured Daytona being followed by three conventional ovals in a pre-reconfiguration Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

  During his three-race win streak at the start of 2018, Harvick led 433 laps, compared to Bell's 114 over his three-race win streak. During his streak, Harvick scored a combined 149 laps, compared to Bell's 139 over his three-race streak.

  As Bell prepares to race for a fourth consecutive win at Las Vegas on Sunday, it's worth looking back at Harvick's attempt at a fourth straight win in 2018. Harvick was involved in an early crash at that year's Auto Club 400 and finished 35th. It was a race indicative of the nature of NASCAR: no matter how high you are, you can always be brought down. Bell hopes to avoid a similar fate at Las Vegas.

  Harvick's fourth win of 2018 came seven races after his third in the AAA 400 at Dover. While Harvick made the Championship 4 for the fourth time in five seasons, he and the rest of the 'Big Three; that included Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. saw their title hopes crushed by Joey Logano.

  When looking for the best start to a season in Cup Series history, Bill Elliott's 1992 season has to come to mind. After leaving Melling Racing at the conclusion of 1991, Elliott landed with Junior Johnson as the driver of the flagship No. 11 car. While his season would ultimately end in a heartbreaking championship defeat at the hands of journeyman Alan Kulwicki, nobody could touch Elliott over the first five races of 1992.

  A 27th-place finish at Daytona was disappointing for the two-time Daytona 500 winner, but over the next four weeks, Elliott was far and away the best driver in the field. Wins at Rockingham, Richmond, Atlanta and Darlington solidified him as a championship threat, though he remained behind fellow title contender Davey Allison in the points standings despite his tear.

  Different points systems and race lengths prohibit a cross-examination between Elliott and Bell's respective streaks, but it should be noted that Elliott led 747 of a possible 1,587 laps during his win streak.

  Unfortunately for Elliott, his dominance ran out in race six at Bristol, where he finished 20th -- 30 laps down. Following his four-race win streak, he would fail to find victory lane again until the infamous season-finale at Atlanta, where Elliott's fifth win of 1992 failed to deliver him a second Winston Cup title.

  Bell now shifts his attention to going for a fourth consecutive win, a feat accomplished by the aforementioned Elliott, Harry Gant -- AKA 'Mr. September' for winning four races in a row in September of 1991 -- and Richard Petty, who won 10 in a row in 1967, among others.

  The bad news for the field? Bell is due for a trip to Victory Lane in Sin City.

  In his past four starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bell has three top-five finishes and has led 216 laps. Of those 216, 155 of them came in a dominant performance at LVMS in October of 2024, where Bell saw Joey Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe steal a win that catapulted the No. 22 team to the Championship 4. That race wasn't just a heartbreaking loss on an otherwise dominant day for Bell, but also ended up being the difference in Bell missing the Championship 4.

  The spring race at Las Vegas hasn't been quite as kind to Bell as its fall counterpart, but with how fast Bell is at the moment, that might not matter. He'll undoubtedly be near the top of the list of race favorites this week and in the weeks following.

  A glance further down the Cup Series schedule shows tracks where Bell can continue his white-hot start. Should Bell win his fourth consecutive race at Las Vegas, the chance for a fifth at Homestead-Miami glimmers in the Florida sun.

  Bell has top-five finishes in the past two Homestead races, including a win that lifted him and the No. 20 team to the Championship 4 in 2023. The week after Homestead, the Cup Series travels to Martinsville, where Bell won in the fall of 2022 to advance to what was his first Championship 4.

  With Darlington and Bristol leading off the month of April, Talladega on April 27 may be Bell's biggest hurdle until the summer. Then again, superspeedway races likely seem less daunting to the No. 20 team following Bell's victory at Atlanta.

  Whether Bell's streak ends next week or continues at Las Vegas and beyond, his three-race win streak has been an historic and undeniably impressive run that has the opportunity to grow and place him alongside the sport's greats.

  If you still don't have Christopher Bell on your radar as a championship favorite, it's past time to declare him the biggest threat the Cup Series field as seen since Larson in 2021.

  --Samuel Stubbs, Field Level Media

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Daytona 500 winner William Byron climbed out of his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on Phoenix Raceway pit road with a huge smile after claiming his first pole position in nearly a year on Saturday -- and his was last car to turn a qualifying lap.

• The 27-year-old North Carolinian conceded he wasn't expecting his chart-topping lap of 133.680 mph (26.93 seconds) but is ready to seize the strong start for Sunday's Shriners Children's 500 (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

  "I did not hit my marks, I was sideways and carried a ton of entry speed, missed the middle of the corner, and coming off the dogleg I was so loose," Byron said of his fast lap on the 1-mile Phoenix oval, the 14th pole of his career. "I was just going to try to commit to the exits and see how much I could get out, even though I missed the center (of the turn).

  "Just a fast car," said Byron, who leads the NASCAR Cup Series championship and has two top-two finishes in the season's first three races. "Thanks to my whole team. They've been bringing fast cars, and we've been doing a really good job of executing. So definitely want to go out there and have a great day tomorrow."

  Team Penske's Joey Logano will start alongside Byron, marking his third front-row start in four races this year. The three-time and reigning series champion turned a lap of 133.195 mph (27.028 seconds in his No. 22 Ford Mustang in Saturday's single-round NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session.

  "I don't like William Byron anymore," Logano said with a laugh. "Man, that stinks. I just got through telling (crew chief) Paul (Wolfe) that it would really suck if the last car beat us.

  "That was going to be Penske's 700th pole across all motorsports, so we'll have to go try and do that next week. But overall, proud of the effort."

  Spire Motorsports' Carson Hocevar will start his No. 77 Chevrolet third, leading an impressive weekend for the Spire team. For the first time ever, all three of its cars will start among the top eight on the grid. Michael McDowell (No. 71) and Justin Haley (No. 7) will start seventh and eighth, respectively.

  Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry was fourth quickest in the No. 21 Ford, followed by Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones in the No. 43 Toyota.

  Defending Phoenix spring race winner Christopher Bell, who brings a two-race winning streak into Phoenix, was 11th quickest.

  Katherine Legge, making her NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend, qualified last among the 37 cars. However, she improved her practice speed in the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet by more than 2 mph in qualifying -- a strong sign of progress for the sports car and open-wheel driver.

  Logano, who won the last NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix in November, is the last driver to win a race from the pole at the desert 1-miler, claiming that win in fall 2022. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson (2021) and Chase Elliott (2020) are the only other active drivers with a Phoenix victory from the pole.

  Hocevar was not only quick in qualifying but also fastest in Saturday afternoon's practice using Goodyear's "option" tires. His Spire Motorsports Chevrolet teammate McDowell was second-fastest, with 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick (Toyota), Team Penske's Austin Cindric (Ford), and Roush Fenway Keselowski's Chris Buescher (Ford) rounding out the top five.

  Teams tested the option tire in the 45-minute practice session to evaluate its impact in race trim. Race conditions are expected to differ, with temperatures forecasted to be at least 10 degrees warmer. Every team will have two sets of the option tire and six of the Goodyear primary sets.

  "I don't know, but it's definitely a much faster tire and pretty strong as well," Larson said of running practice laps on the option tire. "It's going to be interesting."

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

Cadillac will join Formula One as the circuit's 11th team in 2026.

• Final approval was announced Friday by F1 and its governing body, FIA; an agreement in principle had been reached last fall. The Cadillac team has the backing of TWG Motorsports and General Motors.

  "As we said in November, the commitment by General Motors to bring a Cadillac team to Formula 1 was an important and positive demonstration of the evolution of our sport," Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of Formula 1, said in a news release.

  "I want to thank GM and TWG Motorsports for their constructive engagement over many months and look forward to welcoming the team on the grid from 2026 for what will be another exciting year for Formula 1."

  The Athletic reported that 300 people have been at work on the F1 project in preparation for approval of a race team. Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, said that effort now will expand.

  "For the past year, we have worked hand in hand with GM to lay a robust foundation for an extraordinary Formula 1 entry," he said.

  "Now, with 2026 in our sights after today's final approval from the FIA and Formula One Management, we're accelerating our efforts -- expanding our facilities, refining cutting-edge technologies, and continuing to assemble top-tier talent."

  Ferrari initially will supply the Cadillac project with power units and gearboxes before General Motors takes over providing the equipment.

  --Field Level Media

It's a story as old as time.

• At some point in every athlete's life, they start to slow down. Their younger counterparts begin to take charge. The once venerable legends become vulnerable to the point that any success is no longer booed and ridiculed, but cheered and celebrated.

  That's where two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch finds himself following Sunday's race at Circuit of the Americas.

  Busch entered the third race of the 2025 season on a 59-race winless streak, but you wouldn't know it by the way he drove on Sunday.

  For the first time in nearly two years, Busch dominated a race. He looked every bit the 63-time Cup Series race winner who is well on his way to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

  That was until Christopher Bell, a newer star nine years Busch's junior, had something to say about it.

  With five laps to go in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, Bell passed Busch for the race lead. With older tires and an ailing race car, Busch could only watch as Bell drove away.

  Busch crossed the line fifth on a day where he led 42 laps and was by far the fastest man in Texas.

  On the surface, Busch's heartbreaking defeat is just that: another race included on a career-worst drought for one of NASCAR's greatest drivers of all time. If you dig a little, however, it's an impending warning that Busch may soon find himself in the same position as other former greats.

  Richard Petty had won 200 NASCAR Cup Series races and seven championships by the end of the 1984 season. Over the next eight years, he would go winless and finish in the top-10 in points only once. In 1989 and 1992, Petty failed to finish a single race inside the top-10.

  The King's tumble from the top of the heap was anything but graceful, as the likes of Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace fought their own Revolutionary War to get NASCAR's once-sovereign ruler off his throne.

  Like Petty, Jimmie Johnson also found his way to the championship stage. Over 19 full-time seasons, Johnson won 83 races and put together one of the greatest dynasties in NASCAR history from 2006 to 2010, winning five consecutive titles.

  But Father Time doesn't care about rings or trophies. After winning at Dover in June 2017, Johnson went winless for the final three and a half years of his career. In 2019 and 2020, Johnson missed the playoffs entirely. It was a shocking regression for a driver that at one point seemed unbeatable.

  Nearly a decade after he won the first of his two Cup Series championships, Busch seems to be moving down the same path as Petty and Johnson. In 2024, he missed the playoffs and suffered the first winless season of his career.

  His performance at COTA on Sunday was a glimpse of the driver that used to be, but as little as five years ago, everyone would've expected Busch to hold off Bell for the win, even in adverse conditions. Such are the expectations placed on a generational talent such as Busch.

  COTA wasn't the first close call for Busch over the course of his winless streak. At Daytona in August 2024, Parker Retzlaff pushed Harrison Burton past Busch on the final lap, leaving Busch to settle for second. A week later, the Southern 500 at Darlington marked the end of the regular season. Busch was forced to settle for another runner-up finish as Chase Briscoe took the win.

  At Kansas in September, Busch was leading in Stage 3 when he spun with 33 laps to go. Once again, the stars didn't align.

  Sunday's race at COTA can easily be classified as Busch's best performance of the Next-Gen era. His average running position was a stellar 2.14. His pit crew was flawless, as were crew chief Randall Burnett's calls atop the pit box.

  Unfortunately for Busch, Bell was slightly better when it counted most. Bell's race-winning pass was one Joe Gibbs saw Busch make time after time when Busch drove Gibbs' No. 18. On Sunday, Gibbs was on the other side of the coin, rooting Bell on to victory.

  At 39 years old, Busch likely won't retire anytime in the next two to three years. He'll have plenty of chances to snag another win and break the longest drought of his career, but he must take advantage when the opportunities arise.

  Busch isn't the same driver he was five years ago, and NASCAR's young crop of talent is getting better by the day. On the surface, Sunday's race was a battle between a flashy young gun and a crafty veteran, but below the surface, it was a changing of the guard that proved Busch likely won't ever return to the heights he once reached.

  --Samuel Stubbs, Field Level Media

The dispute between NASCAR and a pair of racing teams is getting uglier, with NASCAR filing a countersuit against Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.

• The teams sued NASCAR in October, accusing the governing body of restraining fair competition and violating the Sherman Antitrust Act in relation to charter agreements.

  Now, multiple outlets reported Wednesday that NASCAR is striking back.

  NASCAR's countersuit is against Front Row Motorsports, 23XI Racing and Curtis Polk, a Jordan adviser who co-owns the team. NASCAR claims in its lawsuit, as reported by The Athletic, that Polk orchestrated "a scheme to pressure NASCAR to accept their collusive terms, including by engaging in media campaigns, interfering with NASCAR's broadcast agreement negotiations, threatening boycotts of NASCAR events and engaging in a group boycott of a NASCAR Team Owner Council Meeting."

  NASCAR said the teams represent "an illegal cartel."

  Representatives for Polk and the race teams did not return requests for comment from The Athletic.

  The dispute stems from negotiations between NASCAR and 15 teams over extending the contract for the charter system, which gives teams specific financial guarantees and starting positions in every NASCAR Cup Series race.

  In the lawsuit, NASCAR said it made its final offer that would have given teams record money, but 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports did not sign. Still, the teams are competing in the Cup Series under a court order while the lawsuit is pending.

  In the countersuit, NASCAR is seeking damages and also asking for 23XI and Front Row Motorsports to lose their guaranteed starting positions while litigation proceeds.

  23XI Racing, also co-owned by Denny Hamlin, races Toyotas driven by Riley Herbst, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.

  Front Row Motorsports, under owner Bob Jenkins, owns Fords piloted by Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson and Zane Smith.

  After three races in the season, Reddick is third and Wallace sixth in the driver points standings.

  --Field Level Media

Alex Palou took the checkered flag at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix on Sunday, while Fox Sports raked in a huge spike in television ratings.

• The broadcaster reported 1.4 million viewers tuned into IndyCar's 2025 season opener across Fox Sports and its streaming services, which represented a 45 percent increase over last year's St. Petersburg race. It also ranked as the circuit's most-watched race outside of the Indianapolis 500 on any network since 2011.

  Palou opened the defense of his third IndyCar title with a dramatic victory that included outdueling Josef Newgarden late in the race. Palou's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, ended up taking second ahead of Newgarden despite managing his way through the race without in-car communications due to a technical issue.

  Palou, 27, said he had been counting down the days since securing his second consecutive title in Nashville last fall.

  "It's been 138 days since Nashville, and I've been dreaming about this every single night," he said. "It's huge. It's huge. I'm super happy.

  "I've been working really hard. It's been a place that we've struggled a lot at in the past. Especially me, personally. So to start with a win in 2025 is amazing."

  --Field Level Media

Katherine Legge will make her NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, Live Fast Motorsports announced Monday.

• Legge, 44, will drive the No. 78 Chevrolet in Sunday's Shriners Children's 500, becoming the first woman to compete in a Cup Series race since Danica Patrick at the 2018 Daytona 500.

  Legge, a native of England, has five career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, most recently at Road America in 2023.

  She ran a partial schedule in the IndyCar Series in 2024 and has made four starts at the Indianapolis 500, where she set a record for fastest qualifying time by a woman in 2023.

  --Field Level Media

AUSTIN, Texas --Tyler Reddick led 23XI Racing to a front row lockout for Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

• Chased by teammate Bubba Wallace during the Group 2 session of time trials, Reddick turned a lap in 98.076 seconds (88.094 mph) in his No. 45 Toyota to top Wallace by 0.224 seconds for the top starting spot in the third NASCAR Cup Series race of the season.

  The Busch Light Pole Award was Reddick's second at COTA, his first of the season and the 10th of his career, four of which have come on road courses.

  "Going into (Turn) 1, I'm like, ‘Dang, I wish that (Wallace) would have gapped himself a little bit more,' because I felt like I was messing his lap up, for sure," said Reddick, who won the 2023 Cup Series race at COTA and has an average finish of 5.0 at the track.

  "Talking to him after the fact, his focus was to go out and follow me and kind of see what I was going to do and try to mimic it. Certainly, he's on the path to getting better at the road courses.

  "He's learning and if he keeps it up here soon, I'll be having to try to battle him head-to-head for these poles. It's been really nice to see his growth and him improve and embrace the way we have to do things..."

  Chase Elliott qualified third on his second lap at the 2.4-mile road course, which has been shortened this year, resulting in a race that will feature 95 laps instead of the 68 run last year.

  Carson Hocevar posted the fourth fastest lap, followed by fellow Chevrolet drivers Daniel Suarez, Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain. Todd Gilliland was 10th in the fastest Ford.

  Connor Zilisch, driving the No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, qualified 14th in anticipation of the 18-year-old's first NASCAR Cup Series start.

  --By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.

When the NASCAR Cup Series races at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) this Sunday in Austin, Texas, the road course will look different than in years past.

• That's because NASCAR has chosen to utilize COTA's shorter, "National" layout for this year's Xfinity Series and Cup Series races at the Texas road course. The National course's 20-turn layout is 2.3 miles in length, compared to the Full Course layout's length of 3.41 miles.

  The change will bring the length of Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX) from 68 laps to 95, and bring the length of Saturday's Focused Health 250 (2:30 p.m. ET, CW) from 50 laps to 65.

  The change in course layout, of course, will affect the drivers. Ahead of Sunday's race, here are the drivers that the new COTA layout -- and the trip to COTA in general -- will benefit the most.

  Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports

  COTA's National course doesn't explicitly mirror any other road course on the schedule, which could make Larson a favorite to win on Sunday. Since joining Hendrick, Larson has become an elite road racer, boasting two wins apiece at Sonoma, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval. The high-speed frontstretch and faster portions of the track lean more towards Watkins Glen, while the slower, tighter and more technical portions of the circuit more closely mirror Sonoma and the Charlotte Roval, where Larson won last October. Larson's ability to win at various styles of road courses should play right into his hands on Sunday.

  Connor Zilisch, No. 87 Chevrolet, Trackhouse Racing

  Zilisch is making his Cup Series debut on Sunday, but he'll have the benefit of running Saturday's Xfinity Series race beforehand. As a road course ace, Zilisch will be one of the favorites in the Xfinity race, and he has a chance to turn heads the following day as well. His resume includes wins in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Rolex 24 at Daytona, as well as an Xfinity Series win at Watkins Glen in his debut. A year ago at COTA, Zilisch won the pole for the Truck race and earned a fourth-place finish. Regardless of layout, Zilisch will almost always be a force on road courses.

  Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet, Trackhouse Racing

  The same can be said for Zilisch's teammate in van Gisbergen, who is well-suited to compete at any road course NASCAR travels to. The New Zealand native showed he can win at any road course on the schedule when he captured the checkered flag in his Cup Series debut at the Chicago Street Course in 2023. His ability to learn on the fly will come in handy as he experiences the new COTA layout for the first time along with the rest of the field.

  Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

  Bell is one of the more underrated road course racers in the field -- he was runner-up to William Byron at COTA in 2024 -- but he has one big advantage favoring him this weekend: momentum. Besides, he has nothing to lose. Bell's victory at Atlanta on Feb. 23 locked him into the playoffs, meaning he's free to use whatever strategy necessary to go for the win on Sunday. The layout will throw a new wrinkle into strategy, especially for teams racing for stage points, but Bell and crew chief Adam Stevens should be able to have more strategy options and race more freely with a postseason berth locked up.

  --Samuel Stubbs, Field Level Media

In a push to build energy for the 2025 season, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has announced an "exciting new era" ahead with preseason testing beginning Monday in Bahrain.

• With Lewis Hamilton having departed to Ferrari, George Russell will now partner with teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli as the team looks to improve on a fourth-place finish in the 2024 constructor standings behind third-place Red Bull, runner-up Ferrari and champion McLaren.

  The top four teams were far and away ahead of the 10-team field, with Mercedes holding nearly five times the points on fifth-place Aston Martin.

  "We are building on the incredible legacy of our heritage, and we can't wait to go racing," Wolff said. "Everyone at the team ... has been hard at work over the winter. Last season was incredibly competitive on the track and, whilst we took several wins, we are all focused on challenging for victories more consistently."

  Russell won at Austria in late June as well as at Las Vegas in November. Hamilton followed Russell's victory at Austria with one at Great Britain in early July. Hamilton won again at Belguim two races later.

  Now, the 18-year-old Italy native Antonelli takes over Hamilton's seat. Antonelli has been on the Mercedes Junior Team since 2019.

  "Kimi has all the necessary talent to achieve great things at the pinnacle of the sport, but this is a rookie season and there will inevitably be ups and downs," Wolff said. "We're looking forward to that journey together, though, and helping him develop over the course of the year."

  The 2025 Formula 1 season begins March 16 at Melbourne, Australia. Stops in North America include May 4 at Miami, June 15 at Montreal, Oct. 19 at Austin, Texas, Oct. 26 at Mexico City and Nov. 22 at Las Vegas.

  --Field Level Media

Carlos Sainz was named a director of Grand Prix Drivers' Association, the trade union for Formula One drivers.

• His appointment was announced Sunday.

  The Spaniard replaces four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who stepped down from the role after retiring from F1 at the end of 2022.

  "I am passionate about my sport and think we drivers have a responsibility to do all we can to work with the stakeholders to forward the sport in many aspects," Sainz said in a post on the association's Instagram page.

  "So I'm very happy and proud to do my part by taking on the directors' role in the GPDA."

  Sainz, 30, joined Williams after relinquishing his place at Ferrari to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

  Sainz joins GPDA chairman Alex Wurz, Mercedes driver George Russell and legal adviser Anastasia Fowle on the board.

  "We are delighted to welcome Carlos as a GPDA director," Wurz said. "He has been an active and engaged member of the GPDA for several years and we sincerely appreciate his commitment in stepping up to this vital role."

  --Field Level Media

Dodge is seeking to rejoin the NASCAR Truck Series competition as early as 2026, The Athletic reported.

• The manufacturer has filed paperwork to get NASCAR's approval to enter the series through its Ram brand of trucks, per the report, published Saturday. Already, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota trucks race on the circuit.

  The application is under review. To return to the track in 2026, approval would be needed within the next few months to give Dodge time to fine tune the truck for racing.

  NASCAR declined to comment to The Athletic, which said Dodge trucks raced in the Truck Series from 1995 through 2016, with three manufacturers championships and two drivers championships in that span.

  Dodges also previously raced in the Cup Series and could return later this decade after a Truck Series entry, per The Athletic.

  --Field Level Media

McLaren promoted legendary driver Tony Kanaan to team principal of its IndyCar organization on Friday.

• Kanaan, 50, had been the team's deputy boss since the end of the 2024 season after serving as a special advisor.

  McLaren also named Kevin Thimjon as its president on Friday.

  "A lot has happened since my last Indy 500 less than two years ago, to say the least," said Kanaan, a 16-time winner who ended his driving career after the 2023 Indianapolis 500.

  "I've embraced every opportunity to grow with the team and I'm excited to officially step into the Team Principal role, and having Kevin join to take on the business side of our team is part of our winning strategy," he continued. "We're always looking for good people and talent to make the team stronger, and he and I will work well together."

  The Brazilian-born Kanaan won the IndyCar Series championship in 2004 and the Indianapolis 500 in 2013.

  Thimjon joins McLaren after previously working with Core BTS, Lids Sports Group and Just Marketing International.

  McLaren drivers Pato O'Ward, Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard open the 2025 IndyCar Series season March 2 at the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Grand Prix.

  --Field Level Media

Guenther Steiner and the Haas F1 team have reached a resolution to their very public legal dispute surrounding the non-renewal of the former's contract.

• Steiner, the former Haas F1 team principal, withdrew all allegations and dismissed claims against the team with prejudice -- therefore the case cannot be refiled. Both parties said the matter is settled and wished each other well.

  Steiner, 59, served as a prominent figure with the Haas F1 team from its inception in 2014 to 2023. His contract was not renewed at the end of 2023, however.

  A staple of Netflix's "Drive to Survive" docuseries, Steiner was replaced by Ayao Komatsu, the North Carolina-based team's director of engineering.

  Steiner took legal action in May 2024, contending that Haas' popularity largely was due to his efforts. He also alleged that Haas continued to use his name and likeness.

  --Field Level Media

NASCAR penalized driver Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing on Wednesday for modifying a spoiler on the No. 19 Toyota at the Daytona 500 last weekend.

• Briscoe, who won the pole for the season-opening race and placed fourth behind winner William Byron, lost 100 driver points and 10 playoff points. Briscoe, in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, fell from 10th to 39th in the driver standings with negative-67 points.

  JGR was fined $100,000 and docked 100 owner points and 10 playoff points. Crew chief James Small was suspended for four races.

  NASCAR said modifications to the spoiler were found during inspection at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C. There was a violation because the spoiler base is a single-source part and cannot be modified.

  JGR released a statement later Wednesday indicating it plans to appeal the penalty.

  "The issue in question was caused in the assembly process when bolts used to attach the spoiler base to the deck lid caused the pre-drilled holes to wear due to supplied part interferences," JGR explained in the statement.

  There were other penalties announced Wednesday pertaining to Sunday's race at Daytona Beach, Fla. The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team of driver Todd Gilliland and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing team of driver Cody Ware were penalized 10 driver points and 10 owner points for a safety violation of adding ballast to their cars.

  Gilliland drops to 27th in the standings with 10 points and Ware is 35th with two.

  --Field Level Media

The Daytona 500 carried the sports calendar over the busy Presidents' Day weekend, but the "Great American Race" still suffered a ratings hit.

• After waiting out a nearly four-hour rain delay, the 41-car field resumed under the lights on Sunday, putting it up against the NBA All-Star Game. Despite the delay, the Daytona 500 did manage to draw an average of 6.761 million viewers on Fox.

  That was up 13 percent from the 5.96 million who tuned in for last year's race, which was forced to Monday due to weather, but down from the 8.17 million viewers who watched the 2023 race held on a Sunday.

  The 6.76 million viewers still made this year's race the most-watched over Presidents' Day weekend, topping the 4.4 million who tuned into the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off on ABC on Saturday night. The Daytona 500 peaked at 7.959 million viewers from 2:05-2:15 p.m. ET, shortly after the green flag dropped to begin the race around 1:30 p.m.

  Following two delays, the race resumed for good around 6:20 and William Byron finally took the checkered flag a bit after 9:30 p.m.

  It was the first race in NASCAR's seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights deal that includes Fox, NBC Sports, Amazon and TNT Sports. The Cup Series moves to Atlanta this weekend for Saturday's Ambetter Healthy 400.

  Byron recorded his second consecutive Daytona 500 win for his 14th career victory while also producing the 10th win at the 500 for Hendrick Motorsports, breaking a tie with Petty Motorsports.

  --Field Level Media

More than 25 years after Jeff Gordon earned his second Daytona 500 win in 1999, he sat inside the media center at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, preparing to take questions.

• Gordon, now the vice chairman of operations for Hendrick Motorsports, was previously the youngest driver to win two Daytona 500s. That was until 27-year-old William Byron, piloting the Hendrick No. 24 that Gordon brought to power in the 1990s, escaped the last-lap big one to win his second consecutive Great American Race on Sunday.

  Gordon was asked about Byron breaking his record.

  "I hope he breaks them all," Gordon said. "I'm in full support of that."

  Three decades ago, Gordon, crew chief Ray Evernham and Hendrick Motorsports crafted one of the greatest dynasties in NASCAR history. From 1995 to 1998, Gordon won 40 races, the 1997 Daytona 500 and three Winston Cup titles. Evernham left the No. 24 team with seven races remaining in the 1999 season, the same year Gordon won his second Daytona 500.

  Twenty-six years later, Gordon has gray hair. He traded in his fire suit for a vest after a brief stint as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2016. While he still answers questions in post-race news conferences, he sits to the side, with the Hendrick driver who won the race taking the spot Gordon sat in 93 times.

  Byron is poised to be the face of a new dynasty alongside another man who is getting used to the spotlight of the winner's circle: crew chief Rudy Fugle.

  Let's not mince words: In regard to both statistics and the eye test, no driver/crew chief combination besides Hendrick Motorsports' own Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus have come close to matching or eclipsing the results that Gordon and Evernham produced in the '90s. But if any duo is going to match the Rainbow Warriors, it could be Byron and Fugle.

  Byron was paired with Fugle during the 2016 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, in which Byron won seven races. Byron moved up to the Cup Series in the famed No. 24 in 2018, and he won his first Cup Series race in August 2020 at Daytona with Knaus atop the pit box.

  Fugle was paired with Byron ahead of the 2021 Cup Series season, which saw Byron record his second victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway and finish a then-career-best 10th in points.

  Since the advent of the Next-Gen car in 2022, Byron and Fugle have won 12 races, made two appearances in the Championship 4 and haven't finished worse than sixth in the Cup Series points standings.

  After winning the Daytona 500 in 2024, Byron and Fugle were back in victory lane in Daytona Beach on Sunday, with Byron becoming just the fifth driver ever to win back-to-back Daytona 500s. Say what you will about the state of modern superspeedway racing, but two Harley J. Earl Trophies don't just fall into a driver's lap.

  Quantifying what a dynasty is or could be in modern NASCAR is a difficult task. NASCAR's championship format is arguably the least straightforward it's ever been, making it harder for the fastest teams to make the Championship 4 on a consistent basis, let alone take home the title in Phoenix.

  Rather than using the amount of Bill France Cups a driver has on his shelf to decide whether or not he forged a dynasty, looking at race wins and Championship 4 appearances -- two accomplishments aplenty in the No. 24 camp over the past three seasons -- seems much more reasonable.

  Byron and Fugle's stretch from 2022 to the 2025 Daytona 500 doesn't compare to Gordon and Evernham's dominant run in the '90s, but then again, only Johnson and Knaus' 2006-10 stretch has since.

  "We talk about it all the time, how quickly he's risen through the ranks and won races and championships," Gordon said. "He continues to do it at an elite level in Cup. This guy (Fugle) has a lot to do with it. Rudy's a great crew chief. When you get that combination of a great talent like William and a great talent like Rudy and you put the team together with it, the resources we have, magical things happen."

  If Byron and the No. 24 team can continue to earn Championship 4 berths, it seems a foregone conclusion that a championship or two will come their way -- and with it, talk of crowning them as another great dynasty that just so happened to be emblazoned with the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24.

  --Samuel Stubbs, Field Level Media

Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton made his first public comments since signing with Ferrari on Tuesday at the F1 75 Live event at the O2 Arena in London.

• Hamilton, who won six of his seven drivers' championships during a 12-year run with Mercedes, changed teams in the biggest move of the F1 offseason.

  "It's such a great night to be here amongst all of you," Hamilton told fans at the event where the 10 F1 teams unveiled their car liveries for 2025.

  "I think the word I'm thinking of is invigorated. I feel so full of life, and so much energy, because everything's new. I'm just focused on what's up ahead. I'm so proud to be a part of the team, something new and exciting for me."

  Hamilton is one of the most iconic F1 drivers ever, having tied Michael Schumacher in 2020 for the most drivers' championships in the sport's history.

  Despite his history with Mercedes, he said joining forces with Ferrari was an honor that fulfilled a childhood dream of his.

  "I've been lucky enough to have many firsts in my career, from the first test to the first race, podium, win and championship," Hamilton said.

  "I wasn't sure how many more firsts I had but driving a Scuderia Ferrari HP car for the first time this morning was one of the best feelings of my life. When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face."

  Hamilton, 40, has a two-year contract with Ferrari. He is preparing for the new season that begins next month in Australia; Hamilton will drive the SF-25 model Ferrari at the manufacturer's private racetrack in Italy before moving on to preseason testing Feb. 26 in Bahrain.

  --Field Level Media

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In a typically wild finish at Daytona International Speedway, Jesse Love won the United Rentals 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opener in overtime -- taking the white flag moments before a massive multi-car accident behind him brought out a caution officially ending the race.

• An out-of-breath Love emerged from his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet's roof hatch on the Daytona International Speedway infield grass to the cheers of his team celebrating the 20-year-old Californian's second career win.

  "So many people have helped me get to this point," said Love, who led three times for 30 laps on the evening.

  "Not sure what happened to the 21 (his teammate Austin Hill) tonight, but he was really dominant tonight," Love continued. "We're working on changing our culture here at RCR. We're winners, we know we are and we really want to win a championship for Richard Childress. I'm ready to go to [the next race at] Atlanta now."

  Love put his Chevrolet out front on the final three re-starts, exchanging the point briefly with Haas Factory Team's Sheldon Creed before taking the position for good with 18 laps remaining and ultimately holding off the Haas drivers Sam Mayer and Creed. Rookies Carson Kvapil and Taylor Gray were just behind rounding out the top-five.

  As Love indicated, for most of the early race, it looked as if his teammate, three-time defending race winner Hill was going to turn in an incredible fourth straight win in the season-opener. He won both Stage 1 and 2 and led 56 of the opening 82 laps -- the most laps out front on the night. Together Love and Hill led all but 40 of the race's 126 laps.

  Hill's No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, however, had engine issues shortly after the second stage break -- Hill reporting smoke inside his cockpit and other drivers saying his car was leaking fluid out the back.

  Although Hill stayed out front, he pit with a handful of other Chevrolets on Lap 80 and when the RCR team checked under the hood, it was apparent the issue was terminal.

  The team declared the car done, reiterating to their driver it wasn't "for lack of effort" on the night.

  "Such a bummer, we had such a fast Chevrolet," Hill said after parking his car in the garage. "Everybody at RCR and ECR did a great job building this race car. We showed we were the dominant team again getting the stage wins there. I just wish that we could have lost this race on our terms, not from a mechanical failure.

  "I'd almost rather get turned on the backstretch on the white flag lap and end up on my lid than have it end like this. This one is going to sting a little bit, but we have Atlanta next week and I feel like we're going to be good all year long in 2025. I feel really good about this team."

  The two rookies who finished inside the top-five were indicative of a strong showing for the large first-year class. Several were eliminated while running inside the top-10 on track -- from Daniel Dye in the race's opening accident to highly-touted series newcomers Connor Zilisch, William Sawalich and Christian Eckes who were all collected in an accident with three laps remaining in regulation -- all running in the top-10 at the time.

  Last summer's NASCAR Cup Series Daytona race winner Harrison Burton finished sixth in his return to fulltime NASCAR Xfinity Series racing. Jordan Anderson, Dean Thompson, Jeremy Clements and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top-10 in a race that saw 11 different leaders and 24 lead change on the 2.5-mile Daytona high banks.

  Clements set the Xfinity Fastest Lap of the race earning a bonus point. Creed takes a nine-point lead over Love atop the early championship standings.

  The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday on the Atlanta Motor Speedway high-banks (5 p.m. ET on CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The Georgia-native Hill swept both Atlanta races last year.

  NASCAR Xfinity Series Race - United Rentals 300

  Daytona International Speedway

  Daytona Beach, Florida

  Saturday, February 15, 2025

  1. (9) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 126.

  2. (8) Sam Mayer, Ford, 126.

  3. (6) Sheldon Creed, Ford, 126.

  4. (10) Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 126.

  5. (2) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 126.

  6. (32) Harrison Burton, Ford, 126.

  7. (38) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 126.

  8. (19) Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 126.

  9. (25) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 126.

  10. (35) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 126.

  11. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 126.

  12. (3) Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 126.

  13. (36) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, 126.

  14. (29) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 126.

  15. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 126.

  16. (22) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 126.

  17. (33) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 126.

  18. (1) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 126.

  19. (14) Ryan Sieg, Ford, Accident, 125.

  20. (21) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Accident, 125.

  21. (34) Leland Honeyman, Chevrolet, Accident, 125.

  22. (27) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Accident, 125.

  23. (24) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 125.

  24. (13) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 125.

  25. (15) Justin Bonsignore, Toyota, 123.

  26. (16) Greg Van Alst, Chevrolet, Accident, 120.

  27. (20) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, Accident, 118.

  28. (5) William Sawalich #, Toyota, Accident, 118.

  29. (28) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Accident, 118.

  30. (18) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 105.

  31. (31) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, Electrical, 95.

  32. (17) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 86.

  33. (4) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, Rear End, 82.

  34. (26) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, Power Steering, 79.

  35. (11) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, Accident, 59.

  36. (23) Kyle Sieg, Ford, Rear End, 22.

  37. (7) Brandon Jones, Toyota, Accident, 5.

  38. (12) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, Accident, 5.

  Average Speed of Race Winner: 123.301 mph.

  Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 33 Mins, 17 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution

  Caution Flags: 8 for 39 laps.

  Lead Changes: 24 among 11 drivers.

  Lap Leaders: J. Allgaier 1-2;T. Gray # 3;J. Allgaier 4-5;A. Hill 6-10;J. Allgaier 11;A. Hill 12-32;J. Allgaier 33-37;H. Burton 38;J. Allgaier 39;S. Smith 40;J. Burton 41-44;A. Hill 45-67;S. Creed 68-69;R. Sieg 70;A. Hill 71-75;R. Sieg 76-77;A. Hill 78-79;R. Sieg 80-86;C. Bacarella 87-90;S. Creed 91-94;J. Love 95-102;S. Creed 103;J. Love 104-107;C. Zilisch # 108;J. Love 109-126.

  Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Hill 5 times for 56 laps; Jesse Love 3 times for 30 laps; Justin Allgaier 5 times for 11 laps; Ryan Sieg 3 times for 10 laps; Sheldon Creed 3 times for 7 laps; Caesar Bacarella 1 time for 4 laps; Jeb Burton 1 time for 4 laps; Taylor Gray # 1 time for 1 lap; Sammy Smith 1 time for 1 lap; Connor Zilisch # 1 time for 1 lap; Harrison Burton 1 time for 1 lap.

  Stage #1 Top Ten: 21,00,48,27,42,70,7,26,2,54

  Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,39,00,7,26,27,54,18,42,25

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

ESPN's relationship with Formula 1 racing is on its last lap.

• Puck News reported Friday that ESPN will not pursue the U.S. broadcast rights to F1 once the network's media deal expires after the 2025 season.

  ESPN has aired F1 races since 2018 and is entering the final year of a three-year extension that has the network paying about $90 million per season for media rights.

  The expected split comes even though ESPN had anticipated last fall that other networks would offer competing bids.

  "There was (competition) the last time around, and it's kind of the downside of doing what we do really well and bringing a larger audience to these events and the success we've added," John Suchenski, ESPN's director of programming and acquisitions, told Front Office Sports last August. "Unfortunately, the nature of the business is to create more demand and more competition."

  NBC Sports and Netflix are potential replacements after both met with F1 last week, per Front Office Sports.

  NBC Sports broadcast F1 from 2012 to 2017, while Netflix has helped boost F1's popularity in the U.S. with its "Drive to Survive" docuseries, which is set to release its seventh season next month.

  ESPN averaged a record 1.21 million viewers per race in 2022, but that number dipped to 1.1 million in 2023 and stayed there in 2024.

  The 2025 F1 season begins in Melbourne on March 16 and includes stops in Miami (May 4), Austin, Texas (Oct. 19) and Las Vegas (Nov. 22).

  --Field Level Media