Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

Just a few weeks ago, chatter in the media center immediately following the Charlotte road-course race focused on whether the four drivers who advance to Phoenix eligible for the Cup title could all come from Hendrick Motorsports.

Now, it’s possible there will be none.

The odds would say there will be one as they enter the final elimination race Sunday at Martinsville. With two automatic bids already set with Joey Logano (Penske) and Tyler Reddick (23XI), only two spots are open. Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing) has a 29-point edge on the cutoff while HMS driver William Byron has a seven-point edge on teammate Kyle Larson, the first driver currently on the outside looking in.

Denny Hamlin (JGR) sits 18 points back, while Ryan Blaney (Penske) and Chase Elliott (Hendrick) have mathematical chances to point their way in, but for all intents and purposes must win. 

If Blaney — the defending winner of this race — or Hamlin (a five-time Martinsville winner but with his last coming in 2015) wins and Bell has a solid top-10 run in the stages and the race, Hendrick will end up shut out of the drivers championship.

How in the world did things fall apart so fast?

It started with the disqualification of Alex Bowman at Charlotte when his car failed postrace weight requirements. That knocked him out of the playoffs.

Then came Las Vegas, where Elliott was an innocent victim in a wreck where Martin Truex Jr. wiggled toward him, pushing him into Reddick, who was trying to make a move on the outside. Elliott, who has only one win this year so doesn’t have many playoff points to help him advance, finished several laps down and faced must-win situations at Homestead or Martinsville.

In both of the last two races at Las Vegas and Homestead, Larson has had issues. Pit crew woes ruined his winning hopes at Las Vegas, and then a flat tire forced him to try to rally at Homestead, which he nearly did before a move in the final 10 laps went awry and damaged his car.

What about Byron? He’s been somewhat his similar self as he has come home in fourth and sixth in the two races. But very good might not be enough when other drivers seem more in a position to win races.

The good news for Hendrick is that Martinsville remains one of the organization’s best tracks. Byron won there in the spring with hundreds of Hendrick employees in attendance as they celebrated the 40th anniversary of the organization. Larson finished second in that race and won at Martinsville in spring 2023, conquering a track that typically isn’t one of his best.

Throw in a softer tire that potentially will lead to more passing, and that could help the Hendrick drivers, who are talented and find the way to pass.

But can they have flawless days on pit road? Will they make the right choices when it comes to pit strategy? 

There’s little doubt Byron and Larson will have strong cars on Sunday. But depending on how the race plays out, they might end up out as even strong days might not be enough.

Of course, Hendrick drivers could land both the remaining spots. Larson or Byron or Elliott could win, earning an automatic bid, and if Bell has a bad day, Larson or Byron could get in on points. But that seems like a longshot.

Most likely, they get one of their cars in. With Larson having six wins and appearing to have a little more speed than Byron in recent races, it would appear he should be the one — until one looks at how he seemingly has found trouble in just as many events as he wins. Byron is just as hard to predict considering his solid recent performances but just still seems a slight tick off that has kept him out of victory lane.

For those Hendrick fans who are nervous, it’s quite understandable. They should feel nervous until the checkered flag Sunday. At least if things don’t go their way early in the race Sunday, Hendrick fans can at least have hope — if anything, they have learned over the last couple of weeks, that championship hopes can quickly change.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) confirmed its lineups in the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT for the 2025 season.

Having announced the team would downsize from five entries to three for next season, questions lingered around who would remain with the organization. The answers: six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, back-to-back reigning champion Alex Palou, and incoming sophomore Kyffin Simpson.

Dixon and Palou will remain in their respective Honda-powered No. 9 and No. 10 cars. However, the 20-year-old Simpson will switch from the No. 4 car he drove during his rookie campaign to the No. 8, formerly occupied by 2024 Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist (who has yet to be confirmed for a ride next season). Marcus Armstrong, who also raced with CGR this past season, was previously announced at Meyer Shank Racing, whom CGR will have a technical alliance with starting in 2025.

CGR’s newly-formed Indy NXT program – the team’s first since 2007 – is set at two cars, with Irishman Jonathan Browne in the No. 9 entry and Dutch driver Niels Koolen in the No. 10.

“By all accounts, 2024 was another stellar year for our organization, with five IndyCar Series wins and our third championship in the last four seasons,” said team owner Chip Ganassi.

“As we move toward 2025, we are looking to defend the championship with a strong lineup of drivers, and look to continue Kyffin’s development and the development of our young drivers through our Indy NXT program.”

Scott Dixon in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images

Dixon, the 44-year-old New Zealander who is nine wins away from tying legend A.J. Foyt’s all-time win mark of 67, shared his motivation to get back on track sooner rather than later.

“I’m excited,” said Dixon, who won two races en route to finishing sixth in the 2024 championship. “I’m ready to get going. I wish there wasn’t such a long offseason. We had lots of great races last year. It didn’t end the way that we would’ve liked, with some DNFs and some poor results here and there, but the team did a great job with great speed. I’m looking forward to the season, and obviously going for championship number seven.”

The 27-year-old Spaniard Palou is pushing to become the first three-peat winner since Dario Franchitti pulled it off from 2009-11. “2024 was another amazing season in the books,” Palou said. “The work doesn’t stop, and I can’t wait to be back on track with more hunger than ever in 2025!”

Simpson, a Barbados-born Caymanian, drove to a best finish of 12th (St. Petersburg) and also led multiple laps in last year’s Indy 500, said: “I am very excited to continue with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2025. I look forward to building on a strong start to my IndyCar career and I can’t wait to see what our team can achieve together.”

Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Photo by: Geoffrey M. Miller / Motorsport Images

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For Browne, who drove to a best result of sixth (St. Petersburg) in his rookie Indy NXT campaign last season, he hailed joining CGR as “very much a dream come true.”

Meanwhile, Koolen, who contested eight of 14 rounds in Indy NXT in 2024, driving to a best result of 10th (Indianapolis road course, Race 1), is eager for his maiden full-time campaign in IndyCar’s top development category.

“I’m excited to be doing my second year and first full season in Indy NXT,” Koolen said. “I look forward to working with Chip Ganassi Racing who have great pedigree and vast experience across many different categories.

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Circuit Closed

06:30 ~ 07:00

Circuit Inspection

08:15 ~ 09:00

Greater Bay Area GT Cup (GT 4) – Race (12 laps)

09:35 ~ 10:20

Macau Roadsport – Macao SAR Establishment Cup – Race (12 laps)

10:55 ~ 11:35

Macau Guia Race -Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Event of Macau – Race 2 (9 laps)

12:25 ~ 13:35

Macau GT Cup – FIA GT World Cup (16 laps)

13:45 ~ 14:25

Special Event

15:15 ~ 15:20

Lion Dance

15:30 ~ 16:30

Macau Grand Prix – FIA FR World Cup (15 laps)

18:00 ~ **

Circuit Opened

Amid all the attention on the fight between McLaren and Red Bull, Ferrari has quietly snuck into the 2024 Formula 1 title fight. How did the Scuderia make it a three-horse race? And can it pull it off?

Ferrari showed a much more competitive face in 2024, pairing solid one-lap performance with much-improved long runs, which were its downfall last year. But its title hopes looked to vanish over the middle third of the season, when McLaren made a huge step forward while Ferrari suffered a rough spell of results. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both retired in Canada, before a floor upgrade in Barcelona led Ferrari the down the wrong path and compromised its progress.

There was a prime opportunity to capitalise on Red Bull’s wobbles, but it looked like McLaren had leapfrogged Ferrari as the team that was going to get the job done.

Fast forward three months and Ferrari is right back in the fight, having emphatically overtaken Red Bull and closed to within 29 points of McLaren. So, how did the Scuderia turn its season around so quickly?

Monza upgrades belatedly show their true potential

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Other than a smaller batch in Singapore, Ferrari’s last major upgrade package came at September’s Italian Grand Prix, offering among other bits a revised floor solution to combat the dreaded high-speed corner bouncing problem. That was the main issue introduced by Ferrari’s maligned Barcelona updates that set the team back several months of development.

But before those design tweaks really showed their true benefits, Ferrari hit a run of circuits that suited its SF-24 and didn’t punish its relative weakness in high-speed corners compared to the McLaren.

Monza, won by Leclerc, was one, before the Monegasque fought – and lost – a thrilling battle with Oscar Piastri on the fast streets of Baku. Then Singapore followed, the scene of Ferrari’s only win last year and another circuit devoid of high-speed corners. But neither driver was able to qualify in position, giving Lando Norris a clear run to victory while struggling to make a huge amount of progress from the fifth row of the grid.

“I was a bit frustrated after Singapore, because I had the feeling that the pace was there,” team boss Fred Vasseur said. “We were able to fight for pole but we didn’t execute the weekend pretty well. We looked at the championship and said: ‘Okay, we have to do a better job in the next two or three weekends’.”

Then came Austin, with the Circuit of the Americas’ demanding sweeps presenting the Monza package’s first real test. Over one lap, Ferrari was still behind McLaren and Red Bull as Sainz and Leclerc took third and fourth on the grid, but their encouraging sprint race performance was backed up in the grand prix.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, the rest of the field on the opening lap

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Naturally, Leclerc and Sainz were both helped by Verstappen and Norris battling tooth and nail at the start, unleashing Leclerc into the lead. But Leclerc looked good value for his win from that point, and Sainz undercut Verstappen with strong pace and tyre management to establish a dominant 1-2. Ferrari’s Monza package showed its worth, but senior performance engineer Jock Clear said the result was also down to honing in on its car set-ups themselves.

“There were things we did on the set-up; I think we got it wrong in Austria, which is a very similar circuit to Austin, funnily enough,” he said. “And since the summer break, we’ve really got a grip of what direction to go in, both on the development and on the set-up.”

“Austin was a proof of that [upgrade] package, but more than that, what we did correctly in Austin was correcting the set-up errors we made in Austria.”

Then Sainz got his day in the sun with a remarkable pole-to-flag performance in Mexico, the Spaniard determined to get one more race on the top step of the podium before departing for Williams, while Leclerc had to settle for third behind Norris. Regardless of outside factors, Vasseur said he was delighted with the reaction from his team after its mid-season setbacks.

“Around the UK or Spain we struggled a little bit to accept that we had to do a step back. But the reaction of the team was very good,” the Frenchman said. “I have the feeling that we are much more under control, from the start to the pitstops and the strategy.

“Sometimes when you bring [an upgrade] you need one or two weekends to get used to setting up the car. That’s probably what happened with us. At the beginning we were thinking that perhaps it’s track-related and then we had two street circuits in a row with Baku and Singapore. It’s only in Austin that we came back to a more conventional circuit. But it’s true that from Monza, we are in a much better place.”

Verstappen vs Norris fight hands Ferrari a golden opportunity

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, battles with Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Ferrari is also benefitting from the drivers’ title fight, with Verstappen trying to hold off nearest chaser Norris in what has been a much trickier Red Bull to set up and drive. The controversial Austria collision lost both teams points, followed by further spats in Austin and Mexico.

McLaren was confident that Norris would have had a shot at denying Sainz the win if he hadn’t been stuck behind Verstappen through the first stint. A late error from Leclerc sped up Norris’ inevitable overtake for second as he reeled in both Ferraris. Verstappen meanwhile, finished back in sixth with his two 10-second penalties for driving Norris off compounding a difficult race performance-wise.

Therefore Ferrari has probably been overrewarded for its own return to form, but every little bit of outside help counts.

It is very rare for the squad, which carries the hopes of the Italian nation on its shoulders, to get away with being the underdog. But the fireworks between Verstappen and Norris, and between Red Bull and McLaren at large, have diverted a lot of attention away from the goings-on at Maranello. And that happens to be exactly how Vasseur likes it.

“As long as you are all focused on Max and Noris, this is perfect for us,” he added. “You can be focused on the fight between Toto [Wolff] and Christian [Horner], between Zak [Brown] and Christian, whatever. As long as we are under the radar, it allows us to be fully focused on what we are doing. This is a perfect situation for us.”

So how realistic is Ferrari’s title bid? Given its prowess in Monza and Baku, it may well be the favourite for F1’s second visit to the Las Vegas Strip.

Brazil and Abu Dhabi are more of an unknown, while the extremely demanding Qatar track might be Ferrari’s Achilles heel out of the upcoming four races as it looks ready-made for McLaren’s MCL38.

“It’s true that the characteristics of the track mean that probably Qatar is not the best one for us,” Vasseur acknowledged. “But we were not supposed to get the pole position [in Mexico either]. It means that everything is open.”

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Briton Phil Hanson will race the ‘customer’ Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar run by AF Corse in next year’s World Endurance Championship. 

The 2019/20 WEC LMP2 title winner will move over from the British Jota squad with which he is contesting this year’s WEC in the Hypercar class at the wheel of a privateer Porsche 963 LMDh. 

Hanson, 25, is the first driver confirmed for the yellow-livered Ferrari run on a satellite basis by AF alongside the two factory 499Ps. 

The line-up for the car, winner of this year’s Austin WEC round in September, wasn’t confirmed when Ferrari announced earlier this month that its two works entries would go into a third consecutive season with an unchanged roster. 

Ferrari factory driver Robert Shwartzman isn’t expected to remain in the car: he looks certain to join Callum Ilott, one of Hanson’s team-mates at Jota this year, at the Italian Prema squad’s new IndyCar operation. 

Yifei Ye, who has raced the AF car in his first year on Ferrari’s books, is expected to remain part of the line-up, though there is uncertainty around Robert Kubica’s presence with AF next year.

Ferrari sportscar racing boss Antonello Coletta said on the confirmation of the six drivers in the factory cars that the squad for the #83 customer entry would be announced imminently.

Podium WEC Cup: #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Philip Hanson

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

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He ruled out Ferrari Formula 1 development driver Arthur Leclerc taking a place in the car next year.

The brother of F1 racer Charles will be given mileage in one of the factory entries at the WEC rookie test on Sunday, the day after the season finale, but, according to Coletta, “still needs to learn about endurance racing” after being placed in the Italian GT Championship this year. 

Hanson, who also raced a 963 in the five IMSA SportsCar Championship enduros with JDC-Miller MotorSports this season, has switched camps after being left without a drive at Jota following the announcement that it will be Cadillac’s factory representative in WEC next year. 

Jota’s line-up for its pair of V-Series.Rs will not be announced until mid-November and is expected to be made up of a mix of the team’s current drivers and Cadillac regulars. 

Cadillac stalwarts Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber and Will Stevens and Norman Nato are certainties at Jota for next year. 

Bamber will dovetail his WEC programme with an IMSA assault driving for Cadillac’s Action Express Racing squad. 

Hanson will get his first taste of the Ferrari 499P on Sunday in the rookie test. 

#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

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He entered the Hypercar ranks after seven years in P2, six of which were with United Autosports.

Hanson’s credits with the Anglo-American team included a Le Mans 24 Hours class win in his WEC championship year and titles in the European and Asian Le Mans Series.