The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney, was seconds away from securing his place in the Championship 4 when ‘The Beast’, Tyler Reddick, ripped around the outside of his No. 12 Team Penske Ford — taking the win and leaving Blaney to deal with his bitter emotions from such a brutal loss.

“I had a good shot to win it and I didn’t have a very good last lap,” admitted Blaney. “I thought I got into three hard and the 45 [Reddick] just went in there and it stuck for him, which is really impressive. I hate to give one away there like that.”

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota Camry

Photo by: Gavin Baker / NKP / Motorsport Images

Setting up the final dash to the finish — Blaney managed to hold Kyle Larson back until the Hendrick Motorsports driver spun. This put Blaney in a position to aggressively defend against Chase Elliott after getting put three-wide on the restart. He successfully ran down Denny Hamlin as well, but Blaney couldn’t stop Reddick, who was running third with slightly older tires. Reddick didn’t appear to be a real threat. but in the course of a single lap, he stole the show.

As Reddick pulled alongside him, Blaney had the opportunity to get physical,  but he chose not to. The 2023 Cup champ believed he could still get the run off the corner and clear the 23XI Racing driver. In truth, Reddick was already clear of him before he could possibly respond.

“I kind of thought I could slide up and be good and I sent it in there and he sent it in there miles further than me, which I cannot believe that it stuck,” admitted Blaney. “The Toyotas could do that really good all day. Their entry speed was crazy fast and it benefitted him there. It stinks. It was an up and down day and it was a shame to lose one on the last lap like that.”

“We got the lead back after losing it on the restart and just that last lap didn’t play out for us,” Blaney said. “I appreciate everybody on the 12 team for bringing a really fast race car. I had a really great shot to go to Phoenix and I still have one more chance, so we still have to look forward to that … . It is a shame. I will be thinking through it all night of what I should have done different, probably. That is just the way it goes but I am really proud of the effort and hopefully we can bring it to them next week.”

Moving forward, Blaney noted that he tries ‘not to stew over’ moments like this, regrouping and looking ahead to the next battle at Martinsville Speedway. It will be his last shot to advance into the Championship 4 and looking at the points situation, he’s going to have to win. But there is some good news: Blaney is the defending winner of that event.

Ferrari and Toyota have received double Balance of Performance breaks ahead of this weekend’s World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain as they attempt to overhaul points leader Porsche

The Ferrari 499P and the Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercars will go into the Bahrain 8 Hours lighter and with more power than last time out in the WEC at Fuji last month. 

Porsche, which leads the drivers’ and manufacturers’ standings, has gained weight under the latest Hypercar class BoP released on Tuesday after Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer triumphed in Japan to go 35 points clear in the championship.

The 963 LMDh has, however, received a power increase for the eighth round of the series on Saturday in which it will bid to convert on its 10-point advantage in the manufacturers’ standings.

Ferrari and Toyota have respectively received reductions in minimum weight of two and five kilogram, while their baseline maximum power figures have been increased by 10 and 6kW, equivalent to 13 and 8bhp. 

The minimum weight for the Ferrari is now 1053kg and 1065kg for the Toyota, while their power maximums under 250km/h (155mph) stand respectively at 510 and 499kW (683 and 669bhp).

Each manufacturer has lost out on Power Gain, a new component of the BoP introduced at the Le Mans 24 Hours WEC round in June in an attempt to level the speeds of the cars above 250km/h.

Ferrari now has a negative figure of 0.9% after a 2.2% reduction and Toyota’s positive figure has been reduced by 1.2% to 4.2%.

#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

The Porsche has had minimum weight increased by 7kg to 1056kg and its power upped by 2kW to 214kW. Its Power Gain figure is unchanged at 0.2%.

Vanthoor, Estre and Lotterer require only four points in Bahrain to take the drivers’ title no matter what their closest rivals do, even though more points are on offer for the race than at a regular six-hour WEC race. 

They would win the title with eighth place even if the second-placed Ferrari crew of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina take the 38 points for victory and the extra point for pole position. 

Ninth place would be sufficient if the Ferrari wins without claiming pole. 

Toyota drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries are a further two points behind in the championship race.

The Japanese carmaker, however, has a deficit of only 10 points in the manufacturers’ classification.

A victory for one or other of its GR010s would give it the title: even if the Penske factory Porsche finishes second and takes the point for pole, Toyota would win on countback. 

Peugeot’s second-generation 9X8 LMH has received another break under the BoP. 

It will run at the maximum power of 520kW (697kW) allowed in Hypercar and is only 1kg above the minimum weight of 1030kg. 

The Alpine A424 LMDh, which scored a maiden WEC podium last time out in Fuji, has had its minimum weight increased by 4kg and power decreased by 1kW.

Track action for the final round of the 2024 WEC on the Bahrain International Circuit begins at 12:15 local time on Thursday with the opening, 90-minute session of free practice.

The topic of IndyCar taking a trip south of the Rio Grande has been a hot topic since NASCAR announced plans in August to have a race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – the same track where Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix is held.

That stock car event will take place across 14-15 June next year on a shortened 14-turn layout, with drivers going right at Turn 4 instead of left, skipping Turns 5 and 6 of the full configuration.

It will be NASCAR’s first points-paying Cup Series race in Mexico City, with the Xfinity Series previously racing at the track four times between 2005-08.

There hasn’t been an IndyCar presence in Mexico since 2007, which came under the Champ Car era at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.

“We’ve been in discussions with IndyCar,” said Alejandro Soberón, the president of Mexico City GP promoter CIE.

“They were here before in Mexico. Next year, NASCAR is coming to Mexico. They’re going outside the United States for the first time. There’s a lot of excitement. It’s a completely different type of race and championship.” 

Another element that bolsters chances for an IndyCar return is the surge of interest in Pato O’Ward, a Mexico native from Monterrey who drives for Arrow McLaren. 

Race winner Sebastien Bourdais, Newman Haas Lanigan Racing

Photo by: Dan R. Boyd / Motorsport Images

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25-year-old O’Ward, who won three IndyCar races this past season and also came within two corners of winning the Indianapolis 500, completed his first FP1 running of the 2024 F1 season at his home event last Friday as one of two required young driver sessions.

Sliding into the cockpit of Lando Norris’s MCL38, he finished just 0.3s behind team-mate Oscar Piastri after logging 21 laps in the one-hour session.

It was shared that O’Ward received similar support as Sergio Perez, the only Mexican who competes full-time in F1, with over 3,000 fans attending a recent sponsor appearance at the Plaza Reforma 222 shopping mall in downtown Mexico City.

“We have set up conversations with IndyCar in January to think about 2026,” Soberón added. “Of course, Pato is a big factor in all that.”

Marc Marquez is adamant he would have come away with a second MotoGP win in eight days but for the costly crash that ended his hopes in a wet Thailand Grand Prix.

The Gresini Ducati rider endured a low-speed fall coming around turn nine on lap 12 while fighting for the lead in tricky wet conditions against Francesco Bagnaia.

Though he would go on to remount and claw back ground to score points for 11th place, Marquez was frustrated by another race day error had cost him a shot at back-to-back victories, claiming he had the measure of Bagnaia in terms of pace.

“We were the fastest today but now after the race, maybe we weren’t patient enough in that moment of the race,” he declared after the race.

“It’s true that it was super-tricky because I wasn’t able to overtake in a clear way against Bagnaia. I was always planning a very clear overtake, because I had the speed and I said ‘We will have more chances’.

“Always, I was trying to push, attack; then, when it was not possible, to cool down the front tyre, [then] attack again. 

“I was doing always a bit the ‘elastic’ during the race, and on that second attack I saw that I was much faster.

“I tried to not give up and I tried to follow him, and just one-and-a-half degrees more in that corner [turn eight] and I lost the front and I couldn’t save — it was very close.

“We are humans, we make mistakes, and today it was my turn.”

Despite the lower returns on his weekend, Marquez continues to hold down third place in the overall standings ahead of Enea Bastianini with two rounds of the season remaining.

NBA legend Michael Jordan is a longtime NASCAR fan, but he only became an owner in 2021. Since then, the team known as 23XI Racing has won Cup races with Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, and Tyler Reddick.

But they’ve never been part of the Championship 4 — until now. Jordan was in attendance on Sunday, watching on nervously as Reddick charged from third to first over the course of the final lap, stunning his rivals and securing the victory.

As MJ headed over to the finish line to celebrate with his driver, he praised the crew chief for the aggressive call that put Reddick in position to win the race. Reddick had run longer than any other driver on fuel, pitting with 15 laps to go. Within three laps, the caution flew when the leaders tangled and Reddick stayed out on slightly older tires. Somehow, he made it work.

Race winner Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota Camry

Photo by: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Images

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“Billy [Scott] made a call,” said Jordan. “Looked a little scared because we were going to run out of gas. Anything could happen. As you could see, Denny [Hamlin] was up there. Little kid [Reddick] drove his ass off. I’m proud of him.”

And his thoughts on that last-lap charge? “Oh, man, he just let go. He just went for it and I’m glad. We needed it. We needed it.”

MJ finally caught up to Reddick mid-interview, lifting him up off the ground as they embraced. “Yeah baby! Good job, kid,” he exclaimed.

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota Camry, Michael Jordan

Photo by: NASCAR Media

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Reddick has never won a Cup title before and now he’ll get the chance to race for one with the full backing of one of the biggest stars in sports. “It’s special, man,” said Reddick. “He’s dedicated a lot of his time, his efforts, his money into elevating 23XI to where it is right now. He’s fully committed to this team, to our organization.

“To be able to reward him with the days like we had today, it’s a true honor. It was really cool to see how happy he was. We’re all very happy about it.

“He believed in me. He believes in this team. The people, him, Denny, everybody else, has put together to create what 23XI is. He’s put a lot towards it. It’s really cool in these critical moments to be able to deliver for him and for everybody else that’s a part of the team.

Reddick has now delivered the basketball icon five of his eight NASCAR Cup wins as an owner since joining the team at the beginning of last year, but now, he’ll have the opportunity to get MJ the biggest prize of them all — the Bill France Cup.

Williams driver Franco Colapinto has dismissed rumours he is in the frame for a seat at Red Bull’s RB Formula 1 team, suggesting he will be on the sidelines in 2025.

Colapinto wowed the F1 paddock with his strong performances and calm attitude as a mid-season replacement for Logan Sargeant at Williams. In his five races thus far, the Argentinian scored five points and never finished lower than 12th, with another combative display at Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix going unrewarded.

There is no room for Colapinto as a regular driver at Williams next year, with the team having already signed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who won Sunday’s grand prix, to slot in alongside Alex Albon.

But the 21-year-old’s form has turned enough heads for him to be considered at Sauber and at Red Bull, which may have a slot at its RB team for Colapinto to slot into.

But while there have been casual talks between Williams and Red Bull, with Williams team boss James Vowles willing to loan his reserve driver out, Colapinto has dismissed suggestions he could be on the F1 grid next year.

“No, at the moment, I don’t understand much of what they are talking about. I don’t know from where it came from,” Colapinto told F1 TV.

“I don’t have any seat for next year, and at the moment, I’m not racing Formula 1. I’m probably going to be racing somewhere else.

“So look, it’s going to be maybe a year that I’m not going to be here, but I hope to be showing that I deserve a seat here enough to come back in ’26 or ’27. It is my goal, and it’s why I’m doing what I can race after race.

Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“That’s why [after qualifying] I was disappointed with the result and just trying to do my best session after session to try and show I deserve to be here.”

While Red Bull is understood to have some interest in Colapinto, driver advisor Helmut Marko suggested the team is not keen on taking outside drivers on loan when it has its own junior programme, with F2 frontrunner Isack Hadjar also waiting in the wings.

“The problem with him is that he has a long-term contract with Williams,” the Austrian told the Kleine Zeitung. “[Taking him on loan] is not interesting for any team. You do not want to train a driver for another team.”

On the subject of potentially loaning Colapinto to RB, Vowles added: “I think in all of these things at the moment, let’s start with the basics.

“He has earned his place on the grid, and what we want to help with that is finding him a place in that regard.

“What it looks like, I can’t tell you at the moment, because A, it’s very sensitive, and B, there’s really not a lot to discuss right now. “