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Auto Racing  

Darlington will honor late NASCAR Cup champion Yarborough during throwback weekend in May

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Darlington Raceway will pay tribute to the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough by displaying his No. 29 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass during its throwback weekend at the Goodyear 400 in May.

Yarborough, a native of Sardis, South Carolina, and three-time Cup champion, died on New Year's Eve at age 84.

His car will be shown in the Darlington Raceway Stock Car Museum on the outside of the track nicknamed “Too Tough to Tame,” the latest honor there for Yarborough, who won five Southern 500s, which is second all-time to Jeff Gordon's six victories. The NASCAR Cup Series garage there was dedicated to him in 2016.

The car going on display came from the Florence County Museum. Yarborough drove it in 26 races in 1987 and 1988, with a pair of top-five finishes at Pocono and Talladega.

First-year Darlington President Josh Harris said with Darlington as Yarborough's home track, “it's an honor to commemorate his impact to our sport.”

Yarborough won 83 races, with four Daytona 500 victories to go with his five at Darlington in the Southern 500. He won three NASCAR titles from 1976-78.

The annual throwback weekend, NASCAR's tribute to its past, culminates with the Goodyear 400 on May 12.

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AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing



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Another Byron win has Hendrick on a roll heading toward NASCAR team's 40th anniversary party

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Hendrick Motorsports has a lot to be happy about as the team barrels toward its big 40th anniversary celebration in two weeks.

William Bryon dominated on Sunday in his second win of the NASCAR season, which came at the Circuit of the Americas. Alex Bowman earned his third top-four finish of 2024 at COTA, and Kyle Larson snatched a wild Xfinity Series win on Saturday.

That's quite a roll ahead of the team's planned celebrations for race weekend at Martinsville Speedway, where Hendrick Motorsports claimed its first win with Geoff Bodine in 1984 when it raced under the name All-Star Racing.

The racing so far has produced its own party.

Byron is the only two-time winner through the first six races of the season. The first came at the Daytona 500, where Bowman gave Hendrick a 1-2 finish at NASCAR's showcase race.

Byron's victory at COTA was career win No. 12 and his first from pole position.

“I mean, just watching him qualify, how smooth he was. Same thing throughout the race. Just seemed to put the car in all the right places,” Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon said. “A lot of credit to William in doing that great job. Takes the whole team, the pit crew, everybody. They’re truly on quite a run here to start this season off. Can’t wait to see where they take it next.”

The series moves to the short track at Richmond next week before Martinsville on April 7.

“We’re going to shoot for the stars,” said Byron's crew chief, Rudy Fogle.

Hendrick will want a good showing at Martinsville, where team cars will sport special red paint schemes, owner Rick Hendrick will drive the pace car and Bodine and Gordon will be the grand marshals.

A Hendrick driver has won a race at Martinsville each of the last four years. The teams' 28 overall Cup Series wins there are the most for the organization at any track on the circuit.

“Obviously Martinsville is big for the 40th anniversary,” Bowman said.

Bowman won there in 2021 and has delivered big results in a season when he needed to. He hasn't won since 2022, had the last two seasons marred by injuries and missed the playoff in 2023.

“I don't want to say, 'Yeah, we're back here 100%,' but these last few weeks have been a step in the right direction,” Bowman said.

“I'm personally working as hard as I've ever worked,” he said. “This year, I'm all in in every aspect of everything, whether it's extra shifts in the (simulator), or correlating the tires, spending more time with the team or training in the gym."

Larson's Xfinity win was a surprise even after he took pole position. He had to start from the back because his team had to replace a broken brake rotor, but he managed to fight his way through and snatch the win in overtime.

Larson was the first driver in a NASCAR series to win the pole and the race but lead only one lap while doing so. His win was the first for Hendrick Motorsports in Xfinity since the team returned to the series in 2022.

The only blemish to Hendrick's big weekend was that Larson's 17th-place finish in Sunday's race dropped him out of the lead in the Cup Series standings. Larson is now fifth, just ahead of Bryon.

All four Hendrick drivers are in the top 11, but Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs are the new 1-2 in the season championship.

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AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing



Pole to checkered flag: Byron dominates NASCAR's 1st road course race of season, wins at COTA

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — William Byron won the Daytona 500 with an agonizing final lap under a caution flag. He took the checkered flag on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas at full throttle.

Bryon started from pole position and delivered a dominant drive in NASCAR's first road course race of the season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver led 42 of 68 laps and built the big lead he needed to hold off a hard-charging run from Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell over the final two laps.

Bell shaved nearly three seconds off Byron’s lead to create some late drama before Byron slammed the door over the final corners.

“I was trying to not make mistakes," Byron said. “I knew that last lap he was going to be pushing hard.”

Even when he was building the lead, Byron said he knew the victory would be tight at the end.

“Everyone is too good, and that car (was) too close,” Byron said.

A self-taught racer who used computer equipment to hone his skills, Byron earned career win No. 12 and his second on a road course.

The Circuit of the Americas, a track built for Formula One, has been the first road course for NASCAR each of the last four seasons. And unlike the crash-filled triple-overtime race of 2023, Sunday's race was mostly incident free as Byron made easy work of the field.

Byron led 23 laps of the first two stages, but found himself quickly dropped to third at the start of the final stage as Ross Chastain, who won at COTA in 2022, jumped to the front.

Byron fought back to pass him with 25 laps to go and both cars pitted on the same lap. Chastain then got hung up in traffic on the re-entry and fell several cars behind.

That gave Byron the chance to open the gap he needed to keep Bell behind him at the end. Ty Gibbs, the 21-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, finished third after getting passed by Bell with three laps to go.

“Another lap I would have gotten there for sure,” Bell said. “Passing (Byron) would have been difficult. I needed him to make a mistake and he didn’t make a mistake.”

PENALTIES

The course had few track limits, but the ones enforced by race officials brought a hefty penalty for drivers who got caught.

Chase Elliott, who won here in 2021 and leads active drivers with seven road course wins, was running sixth early in the final stage before driving out of bounds in the s-curve section of the racetrack.

That forced him do to a pit lane drive-thru and took him out of contention when he rejoined in 16th. Elliott, a former Cup Series champion, hasn't won since 2022.

FORD FALTERS

Ford drivers have yet to win this season and did not expect big results on the road course. They delivered on the low expectations. Chris Buescher was the top Ford driver on Sunday in eighth.

COMING BACK TO COTA

The Circuit of the Americas is the only track to host both NASCAR and F1, and all signs point to the stock cars coming back next year.

Circuit of the Americas President Bobby Epstein said this week he has a deal for NASCAR to return in 2025, but provided no details. Marcus Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports, which runs the event and rents the track for the week, said he also plans a return.

“We love bringing NASCAR to Austin," Smith said. "Nothing is final until the official NASCAR schedule comes out, but we’re planning for another big event in Austin at COTA in 2025.”

UP NEXT

The series moves to short track racing next Sunday at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing



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Carlos Sainz wins F1 Australian GP after early exit for Verstappen with engine fire

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz ended Red Bull’s Formula 1 winning streak Sunday when the Spaniard took advantage of Max Verstappen's early exit to win the Australian Grand Prix just two weeks after missing the previous race in Saudi Arabia due to an emergency appendectomy.

Sainz, who started on the front row alongside Verstappen, kept his place into turn one, but passed the Dutchman on lap two at turn nine for the lead and took control once his rival retired two laps later with a fiery mechanical failure.

Verstappen had won the first two F1 races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and was on a nine-race winning streak.

Sainz finished ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc for Ferrari’s first 1-2 result since the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, with McLaren’s Lando Norris finishing in third for his first podium at Albert Park.

His teammate, Australian Oscar Piastri, was fourth.

Sainz, who will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari from 2025, was thrilled to get his third career win against the odds, his first since last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.

“I felt really good out there,” he said. “Of course, (I felt) a bit stiff, especially physically. It wasn’t the easiest, but I was lucky that I was more or less on my own so I could just manage my pace, manage the tires, manage everything.

“Life sometimes is crazy, you know. What happened at the beginning of the year, then the podium in Bahrain, then appendix, the comeback, the win, it’s a roller coaster. But I loved it."

Leclerc, on the podium for the second straight race, was encouraged by Ferrari’s pace, and its ability to take the fight to rival Red Bull during its period of dominance.

“We knew that pole position and the race win was possible because we had very good tire degradation, very good pace,” he said. “That is a very encouraging sign. However, if you look at the first three races, two out of the first three races, they (Red Bull) had the upper hand in the race, so we still have a lot of work to do.”

Norris said it wasn’t a surprise that he was able to earn his first podium since Brazil last year.

“I think when you take a Red Bull out of it, I would say no,” he said. “I think our pace has been good all weekend. We put things together very nicely yesterday. We showed good long run, high-fuel pace on Friday, so I wouldn’t have said we had no chance.”

The race finished under the virtual safety car, ensuring there was no racing for most of the final lap, after Mercedes driver George Russell crashed on turn seven. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez closed out the top five, and made up just one place from where he started in sixth, after he was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Nico Hülkenberg in qualifying.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso finished sixth on the road, but fell to eighth after the stewards gave him a 20-second time penalty and three penalty points on his license, for “potentially dangerous” driving in battling Russell on the final lap.

Alonso lifted off the throttle slightly more than 100 metres earlier than he had done going into turn six during the race, while Russell behind him lost control and crashed at the exit of the corner.

Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton also didn’t finish following a lap 17 engine failure for Mercedes’ first double non-finish since the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, ending its record of reliability.

Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda earned RB, the team formerly known as AlphaTauri, its first points of the season - with six points for seventh, having been elevated by Alonso’s penalty.

American team Haas earned its first double points finish since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, with Hülkenberg and teammate Kevin Magnussen closing out the top-10 in ninth and 10th, respectively.

Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ standings has been reduced from 15 points to four, with Leclerc in second place. Verstappen has 51 points and Leclerc 47.

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AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one



Rosenqvist and Palou lead qualifying for races that will set field for IndyCar $1 million challenge

THERMAL, Calif. (AP) — Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Palou will lead the field to green in Sunday morning's pair of heat races that determine which 12 IndyCar drivers will advance into the exhibition Thermal $1 million Challenge.

The made-for-TV all-star race of sorts will consist of only 12 of IndyCar's 27 drivers, but the dozen who do compete will have to get into the event via a pair of earlier heat races. The starting lineups for the heat races were set Saturday in a pair of eight-minute qualifying sessions.

“Going into qualifying, it was like we were supposed to feel less pressure because there's no points, but I was actually more nervous than ever," Rosenqvist said.

Rosenqvist paced the stacked first group with a lap at 1 minute, 38.5831 seconds around the permanent road course located in a private members-only club near Coachella and outside of Palm Springs. The first group was comprised of all three Team Penske drivers, including Josef Newgarden, winner of the season-opener two weeks ago, two drivers from Andretti Global and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.

“It's going to be an angry pack in the mirror for sure,” said Rosenqvist. “If you can get away clean, you might have it. I think it’s all about the start and getting away.”

The top six finishers in the heat races will advance into the “A Main” and race for a $500,000 prize over a 20-lap race split into two 10-lap segments.

The purse was supposed to be $1 million, but half the money was supposed to come from members of the Thermal Club who were to be paired with a driver. The club members then balked at the buy-in that would have seen the amateurs run their own race and then combine their result with the IndyCar driver they were paired with to split the prize.

The members are still paired with teams but the experience has been more of a three-day immersion in which the wealthy car enthusiasts are exposed to professional motorsports organizations.

The heat races are 10 laps — or 20 minutes, whichever comes first — and laps under caution won't count.

“People will get aggressive to try to get into the big show,” said McLaren driver Pato O’Ward.

Rosenqvist beat Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske, Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing, and Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Newgarden and Will Power of Penske will start fifth and sixth. Dixon was ninth in the first qualifying group for Chip Ganassi Racing and Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti were 11th and 13th.

Palou of Ganassi was slightly faster than Rosenqvist in the second qualifying group at 1:38.5675. He beat teammate Marcus Armstrong, Graham Rahal, rookie Linus Lundqvist of Ganassi, Rosenqvist's teammate at Meyer Shank Racing Tom Blomqvist, and Pietro Fittipaldi.

Palou led several of the practice sessions leading into qualifying.

McLaren thought it had the front row covered with Callum Ilott and O'Ward until Marcus Ericsson of Andretti spun and backed into a tire barrier to bring out a red flag. It left just enough time for IndyCar to allow the drivers to make one final qualifying attempt, but the McLaren drivers didn't go back out because their tires were already shot from their first efforts.

Alexander Rossi ended up the highest-qualifying McLaren driver at seventh, while Ilott and O'Ward dropped to eighth and ninth.

O'Ward said the changing weather conditions in the desert have made for a difficult two days of track time as heavy winds stirred up dust that limited visibility and made cars hard to control.

“This track is very sensitive to heat and wind and it was getting really dusty,” O'Ward said. "It wasn't the most perfect lap for me. It was always wanting to go the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. It was just really gusty, almost icy, out there."

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing



Ford still winless in 2024 as NASCAR heads to first road race of the season at COTA

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Five races into NASCAR's 2024 season and Ford is in a funk.

Make no mistake, the Ford cars have been fast, just not quite fast enough to produce any wins yet. At the race in Atlanta, the razor-thin margins at the finish meant 0.003 seconds was the difference between first and third.

But winning is what counts the most and Ford drivers are searching for answers to break the drought as NASCAR holds its first road race of the season Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas.

"Been close to a couple of (wins)," said last season's Cup series champion Ryan Blaney, who just missed out on the victory in Atlanta and has three top-five finishes. “I don't really get into panic mode too easily. Just understand it is a long year."

A Ford win in Austin would seem like a long shot in NASCAR's fourth run on a track built for Formula One. Road course specialists Tyler Reddick (Toyota), New Zealand's Shane van Gisbergen (Chevrolet) and Chase Elliott (Chevrolet) rate among the race favorites.

Chevrolet has three wins and Toyota has two this season, as Ford teams and drivers try to understand the nuances of the Mustang Dark Horse body style that was supposed to provide better handling and aerodynamics.

No Ford driver qualified in the top 10 for Sunday's race. And while it’s still early, Ford drivers make up just three of the 16 available Cup playoff spots. Blaney tops that short list at fourth.

Ford drivers point to some solid statistics, even if the major results are lacking.

“I know it doesn’t look good on paper when you say that we haven’t had a Ford in Victory Lane yet,” said RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher, who is currently 14th in the Cup standings.

“Look at our year and how competitive we’ve been. We’ve been able to lead in four of the five races at some point. And when we didn’t lead any laps, we finished second. So to me, we’ve been very good. We’ve certainly had a little bit of rough luck,” Buescher said.

Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing said Fords have shown good “raw speed.”

“I feel like we've had the speed, we just haven't been able to put the races together as a manufacturer,” Briscoe said. “This week will be probably, truthfully, another struggle for the Fords to win. We just don't have as many good road racers as the other manufacturers have."

Briscoe noted how Ford ended last season with Blaney's championship.

“If you would have looked at us last year, you would have never thought a Ford was going to win a championship and then it did,” Briscoe said. “Hopefully when it matters, Ford is going to be strong."

ON POLE

Daytona 500 winner William Bryon will start from pole position on Sunday, with Ty Gibbs, Reddick and Christopher Bell the top qualifiers right behind him. Byron earned his only career road course win last year at Watkins Glen.

NASCAR vs F1

The Circuit of the Americas is the only track used by NASCAR and F1, but the two racing series have vastly different styles. F1 cars lap the 3.4-mile (5.5 kilometers) circuit, with its steep elevation changes and 20 turns, about 30 seconds faster than the stock cars. F1 also races with much stricter track limits than NASCAR.

NASCAR will be enforcing track limits through a series of s-curves in the first sector. But look for drivers to use every bit of the sweeping runoff areas around several turns, most notably on No. 19 before the cars enter pit row.

“I think the guys are off the track more than they are on it,” said van Gisbergen, who is making his Cup series season debut on the road course. “You forget how much elevation it has. The TV doesn’t give it justice. It’s a really cool track.”

NEW RESTART

After last season’s multiple restarts and overtime finish at COTA, the restart zone has been moved from the start/finish line to the exit of the final turn heading into the front stretch.

The change should help spread the field before it powers into the uphill switchback turn No. 1 that created so many crashes and restarts last year.

“Restarts can be exciting for people to watch for sure, but they get to be kind of a crapshoot," Blaney said. “It will still be wild, but hopefully it would be under more control.”

GAMBLING

NASCAR has been leaning into sports betting in recent years. Reddick, last season's winner at COTA, said there's a new level of engagement with fans.

“My favorite one is, ‘Don’t screw up today, I've got a lot riding on you,'” Reddick said. “Fans love to chime and let you know what they’ve got riding on it.”

ODDS & ENDS

Reddick is the betting favorite to win Sunday, according to FanDuel Sportsbook ... The first five races this season produced five different winners. The longest streak of different winners in the “modern” era of NASCAR (1972-present) was 10 in 2000.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing



Verstappen takes pole position for F1 Australian GP, resurgent Carlos Sainz also in front row

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Max Verstappen not surprisingly clinched pole position for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. More surprising was record eight-time Australian pole winner Lewis Hamilton not making it into the final round of qualifying on Saturday.

Verstappen, who has won both races to start the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez second both times, will start in the front row for Sunday's 58-lap race on the temporary Albert Park street circuit.

It was the 35th pole of Verstappen's F1 career.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, returning from appendix surgery, was second-fastest. McLaren driver Lando Norris will start third after a three-place grid penalty pushed Perez down to sixth. Charles Leclerc is fourth for Ferrari, followed by Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri.

“It was a bit unexpected but I'm very happy,” Verstappen said. “It's been a bit of a tricky weekend so far. (Ferrari) seem very quick, so it's a bit of a question mark for tomorrow.”

“Even throughout qualifying, Q1, Q2, I didn’t really feel like (I was) fighting for pole. Then we made some little tickles on the car and that seemed to help me in Q3 to really push it to the limit; both of my laps I was quite happy with it.”

The biggest surprise of the day was Mercedes driver Hamilton. He failed to advance from the second qualifying session, finishing 11th. It was his worst qualifying position at the Australian Grand Prix since 2010.

"The inconsistency within the car — it really messes with the mind,” the seven-time world champion said, citing the afternoon wind as a problem.

“Our car is on a bit of a knife edge. When the wind picks up the car becomes a lot more unstable. But the others seem to (be able to) pick their pace up in qualifying, I'm not sure why. It's not a great feeling for everyone in the team, but we'll just keep working away.”

Ferrari’s performance here could have been compromised after Sainz declared he was ready to return to the cockpit, but not feeling 100% after surgery for appendicitis ahead of the last race in Saudi Arabia.

But the Spanish driver, who is out of contract at the end of the season, rebounded from a hospital bed a few weeks ago to the front row of the grid in Australia this weekend.

“It's been a tough couple of weeks, so to make it to this weekend I'm very happy,” Sainz said. “I was a bit rusty at the beginning but I got up to speed and I'm feeling good in the car.”

Sainz said he was still feeling the effects of the surgery.

“I am not going to lie, I am not in my most comfortable state, but i can get it done,” he said. "Obviously, a lot of discomfort and weird feelings, but no pain, so it allows me to push.”

Australian Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated in the first qualifying session for the first time at Albert Park after his fastest lap was deleted by stewards. Ricciardo surged into the top-10 near the end of the session and seemed certain to continue his impressive record of never qualifying lower than 15th in Melbourne.

But the 34-year-old Ricciardo was deemed to have exceeded track limits and was pushed back to start from 18th place in his first GP on home soil since 2022.

Alex Albon qualified 12th, repaying some of the faith shown from Williams after the British-born Thai driver sat in teammate Logan Sargeant’s car. Albon’s vehicle sustained extensive damage after he crashed into a wall during practice on Friday, with American driver Sargeant stepping aside for the rest of the weekend.

It was already an eventful week ahead of Saturday's qualifying. FIA’s Ethics Committee had cleared its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, from “interference of any kind” at two F1 events last year was followed quickly by a social media post from Susie Wolff, who is director of the all-female series F1 Academy and also married to Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff, announcing that she had filed a criminal complaint in the French courts against the sport's governing body for statements made about her in December.

It was all against the backdrop of ongoing furor surrounding Red Bull Racing and its team principal Christian Horner.

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AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one



McLaren Racing extends Zak Brown's contract as CEO through 2030

McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown said Friday he's signed an extension to remain in charge of the organization through 2030.

Brown made the announcement on social media . He has been CEO since 2018 and the American oversees all of McLaren's racing programs from its England-based headquarters.

McLaren later confirmed the contract extension at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

“It's a privilege to work alongside the talented men and women across McLaren Racing's different race series,” Brown wrote. “Together, with our people, our fans, and our partners, we will continue to push the boundaries of motorsport and strive for the highest performance on and off the track.”

McLaren is the only team that competes in Formula 1, IndyCar, Formula E, Extreme E and esports. The F1 team fields cars for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who are both under long-term contracts. The IndyCar team fields cars for Pato O'Ward, Alexander Rossi and David Malukas, although Malukas is injured and Callum Ilott has been his replacement driver for the first two IndyCar races.

Brown closed his statement noting “as CEO, and as a McLaren fan, I want what you want, to win. Let's keep pushing.”

Australia is the third race of the F1 season. IndyCar is in Thermal, California, for a $1 million exhibition race.

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AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one



IndyCar steps outside the box with $1 million exhibition race at members-only Thermal Club

THERMAL, Calif. (AP) — At least IndyCar is trying something new, which is the key takeaway from this weekend’s $1 million exhibition at the private Thermal Club in the California desert.

The made-for-TV event is an all-star race of sorts, with a unique format that includes heat races and a main event for the fastest 12 in the 27-car field.

The Sunday race itself — call it the “A Main” if you'd like — is 20 laps split into two 10-lap segments. It will be run in front of limited spectators as the Thermal Club is a private course with only 180 members.

It was supposed to pay out $1 million to be split with the race winner and a Thermal Club member, but the payout structure fell apart and the winner will now only receive $500,000.

That's still quite a bit of money for a race worth nothing in the championship picture and, most important, its an opportunity for IndyCar to fill a hole in its early-season schedule with something entirely different.

“We’ll put on a show, that’s what it’s about,” Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin said. "It’s funny when you dangle a carrot in front of a bunch of race drivers with a bunch of egos — we want to win regardless of what event we’re in, whether it’s for a million, $4 million, 50 cents, we’ll just race for that win.

“I think it’s exciting to do it. IndyCar stepping outside the square, trying something different, hasn’t happened much in the past. To be a part of that is exciting.”

The project has been more than a year in the making as IndyCar used Thermal in early 2023 for preseason testing to determine its viability for hosting a race. Safety improvements improved the 17-turn, 3.067-mile track to a Grade 2 FIA approved facility.

Much of the improvements have been the addition of tire barriers, improved runoff areas and, according to Thermal member Don Cusick, who enters two cars in the Indianapolis 500, “a few changes to some of the apexes in the turns that made it a little more friendly, I think, for the cars to race on. At least that’s from the members’ feedback so far.”

The track located near Coachella and outside of Palm Springs is typically used for members to tool around with their extensive collection of luxury cars. Membership to Thermal requires the purchase of property inside the club, and a standard membership starts at $85,000.

The initial plan had been to pair a member with an IndyCar driver and the members would hold their own amateur race. The combined result would determine the overall $1 million winner.

But not enough Thermal Club members were willing to buy into the program so the purse is at only $500,000. The club held a Thursday night welcome party in which members were blindly drawn and matched with an IndyCar driver, which has now turned into an embedded experience with the driver and team.

“I think ultimately it just came down to we’ve got a lot of amateur racers out here, not a lot of professional racers. I think people just weren’t quite certain that they were at the level required to compete as would be expected for that kind of prize money,” Cusick said. "We’re kind of talking through that as members and as a club. We’ll see where that leads.

“But I think for this year it might just have been a little bit overwhelming and they didn’t quite know what to expect, and that’s a part of it.”

The Sunday morning event also will have very limited spectators as teams and members were allowed only a handful of guests to enter the Thermal Club, which has guards at every gate opening and requires a QR code authorization for entrance.

“We never thought of it as let’s see how many people we can sell tickets to to be there for this,” said Mark Miles, CEO of Penske Entertainment. "It’s normally a private facility. It was meant to be a kind of high-end hospitality offering. So it’s a little pricey. Pricing changed, but it’s still kind of pricey.

“But we think that this is the right way to put it forward to get a good number, but a manageable number of fans to the track.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing



NASCAR brings out the ringers as Cup Series stages first road course race of the season at COTA

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — NASCAR’s return to the road courses always brings out the ringers.

Sunday's race at the Circuit of the Americas will be first of five this season on road or street courses, and will be the 2024 Cup Series debut for last season’s New Zealand debutant Shane van Gisbergen.

And Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi, one of the top road racers in the world, returns to a familiar race track, one built for Formula One where he’s put in laps in both F1 and endurance racing.

Van Gisbergen's profile on one of his social media pages simply reads “Race Everything," and he will be putting in a lot of work in Austin for Kaulig Racing. He will drive Saturday's Xfinity series race before the first of his seven scheduled Cup races this year.

“I love it," Van Gisbergen said Friday of his season so far in the Xfinity series. "It's something different every week. I’m learning so much.”

Van Gisbergen stunned NASCAR when he won his debut race at the Chicago street course race last July, then finished 10th on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a few weeks later.

That success launched the 34-year-old former three-time Australian Supercars champion into chasing a full-time career in NASCAR with a development program deal driving for Trackhouse Racing.

His first four races on ovals in Xfinity produced a top three finish in Atlanta and a top 10 in Phoenix. And now comes a road course where he's already considered among the favorites to win.

“I was more excited about the ovals, because it was learning. I know I’ll be good at these (road) tracks,” van Gisbergen said. “I’ve got no excuses not to do well at these.”

Van Gisbergen raced COTA in the Supercars in 2013, but the course was abbreviated and did not send the cars around the entire track.

Last year's Chicago race win came in damp conditions on a street course that played to his Supercars experience. At COTA he'll be surrounded by drivers who have already raced the track the past three years.

Cup Series leader Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs (third) are also racing Xfinity on Saturday to get even more practice on a track that features drastic elevation changes, switchback corners and s-curves. Chase Elliott, who ranks first among active drivers with seven road coarse wins, including COTA in 2021, is looking to end a 39-race winless drought.

Last year's race winner Tyler Reddick is another one of those road course wizards who have already won at COTA. Three of Reddick's five career victories have come on road courses.

Reddick won last year in triple overtime by holding the lead over several multiple restarts.

“The way you run fast laps here is executing on all 20 corners,” Reddick said. “It's one of the most fun laps, car versus track, that we have, because of the corners.”

Kobayashi, 37, is a two-time World Endurance Champion and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021. He will be racing Sunday for 23XI Racing.

Kobayashi said he expects to be better prepared than his first NASCAR race last year when he finished 33rd in Indianapolis. He was the first Japanese driver to run a Cup race in 20 years.

“I think I learned quite a lot about how you handle the car and how the race goes, and how the race weekend goes,” Kobayashi said. “I think the second time I can manage myself better, and I’m putting in the preparation now. I’ve spent quite a lot of time in the simulator. We will see.”

As an F1 driver, Kobayashi started 75 races from 2009-2014, with one podium finish at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix. His only F1 race at COTA was a 14th place finish in 2012. Between F1 and WEC, he has raced the circuit five times prior to this week.

“I think Indy, it was my first time ever racing there. But (Austin), I have more experience, so definitely looking forward to the race," Kobayashi said.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing



F1: Logan Sargeant out of Australian Grand Prix after Williams gives his car to teammate Alex Albon

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Williams driver Logan Sargeant will take no part in the Australian Grand Prix after his team gave his car to teammate Alex Albon, whose own vehicle was wrecked in a crash in Friday's practice.

In what Sargeant called “the hardest moment I can remember in my career,” F1's only American driver will sit out Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race at the Albert Park circuit. Williams decided Albon — who praised Sargeant as a “team player” — was likelier to score points.

Albon lost control and slid into the barriers in the first practice session before bouncing off into the barrier on the other side of the track. Albon was unhurt but did not take part in the second session while Williams checked whether his car could be repaired. The team eventually decided the “extensive damage” meant the car had to be returned to the team's base in England.

Williams confirmed the team had not brought a spare third chassis to the event.

“While Logan should not have to suffer from a mistake that he did not make, every race counts when the midfield is tighter than ever, so we have made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend,” team principal James Vowles said.

"This decision was not made lightly, and we cannot thank Logan enough for his graceful acceptance, demonstrating his dedication to the team; he is a true team player. This will prove a tough weekend for Williams, and this situation is not one that we will put ourselves in again.”

Vowles added it was “unacceptable” that Williams didn't have a spare chassis available, “but it is a reflection of how behind we were in the winter period,” when the team struggled to get its new cars designed and built in time for preseason testing. Williams was a dominant team in the 1980s and 1990s but has usually been among F1's slowest in recent years and has relatively outdated infrastructure compared to its F1 rivals, something Vowles has tried to modernize.

It will be the first time the Florida-born Sargeant has failed to start a Grand Prix since he made his debut in F1 last year.

“This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it’s absolutely not easy," Sargeant said. "I am, however, completely here for the team and will continue to contribute in any way that I can this weekend to maximize what we can do."

Albon, who was born in Britain but races under the Thai flag, has consistently outperformed his American teammate in qualifying and races. Albon scored 27 points to Sargeant's one last year. Neither driver has scored a point yet in 2024, though Albon placed ahead of Sargeant in the two races so far in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

“I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat," Albon said. "I would never want anything like this to happen. Logan has always been a consummate professional and a team player from day one, and this won’t be an easy one for him to take."

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AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one



Sainz returns to F1 racing in Australia after missing the Saudi GP because of appendix surgery

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Turns out Ferrari's Carlos Sainz didn't need to “raise his hand” and have another driver take his place during the first two practice sessions for Sunday's Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Sainz was eighth-fastest in the first session and improved to third quickest in the second on the Albert Park circuit on Friday.

Earlier in the week Sainz said he felt he was ready to return to the cockpit but wasn't feeling 100% after surgery for appendicitis that ruled him out of the March 10 race in Saudi Arabia.

“It’s been a couple of tough weeks leading to today and to be honest I’m very happy I could complete both sessions with reasonable comfort," Sainz said, adding that he'd continue with caution so that he reaches qualifying on Saturday and Sunday's race “in the best form possible.”

"I’m confident tomorrow will be better and, overall, the car seems to be in a good place this weekend. We’ll try to maximize everything from body and machine!”

The 29-year-old Sainz finished third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at the season-opening Bahrain GP.

Sainz has two F1 wins — at the 2022 British Grand Prix and 2023 in Singapore — and 19 podium finishes. His first F1 race was at the 2015 Australian GP.

The Spanish driver, who is out of contract at the end of the season, with Lewis Hamilton set to take his drive from 2025, said earlier in the week there was a chance he may have to be replaced for the second straight race by Ferrari’s standout reserve driver Oliver Bearman.

The 18-year-old Bearman is in Melbourne racing in F2, so could have been available. Bearman qualified in 11th and finished seventh in Saudi Arabia.

“I’m not stupid, and if I don’t feel good tomorrow — I will be the first one to raise my hand and say that I need another two weeks until the next race,” Sainz said Thursday.

But on Friday, Sainz didn't show any post-surgery rust as he finished his fastest lap in 1 minute, 17.707 seconds. His Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc was quickest in 1:17.277 and series leader Max Verstappen was second fastest in 1:17.658.

Ferrari said Sainz completed his run plan without any setbacks, with long runs and short stings on both the medium and soft tires, and would continue to be at the wheel over the weekend.

“I feel okay, obviously a bit tired after a day of practice and not being 100% physically, but I felt like I had a good day,” Sainz said. “I managed to complete the whole program. Obviously I need a good night’s sleep and a good recovery for tomorrow.”

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AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one



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