By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio AUSTIN, Texas — Tyler Reddick’s early-season surge rolled on Saturday at Circuit of the Americas, where the 23XI Racing driver secured the pole position for Sunday’s DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne and strengthened his bid for a historic third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory. Reddick navigated the 2.4-mile, 17-turn road course in 97.760 seconds (88.380 mph) during the second qualifying group to earn his 12th career pole and third at COTA. It marks the second straight year he’ll lead the field to green at the Austin circuit. The pole carries added…
Author: Mike Haag
Mike Haag
Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 39 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 19 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.
By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio AUSTIN, Texas – Connor Zilisch won the pole position for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Focused Health 250 during qualifying on Friday at Circuit of the Americas. Zilisch, driving the No. 1 Roto Rooter Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, recorded a lap clocked at 97.74 seconds, 88.398 mph. It is his first pole of the season, 10th of his career and it will be his first top-10 start in 2026. This is his second pole in two races at COTA. Shane van Gisbergen, who was second fastest with a 97.949, 88.209 mph lap, helped give…
Courtesy of NASCAR at COTA PR AT A GLANCE WHAT: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250; IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (two 45-minute races) WHERE: Circuit of The Americas (COTA) – 17-turn, 2.4-mile National Course WHEN: Friday (Feb. 27) & Saturday (Feb. 28) MARQUEE COMPANION EVENT: NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne – Sunday, March 1 RACE DISTANCES NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250: 65 laps | 156 miles | 251.058 km IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge: Two 45-minute timed races SUPPORT SERIES BROADCAST INFORMATION (All times Central) FRIDAY IMSA practice #1 | 12:00-12:40 p.m. IMSA practice #2 |…
By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio AUSTIN, Texas – The Sea Lion Splash show, circus acts, stilt walkers and magicians will add a different element of surprise to the Fan Zone at this weekend’s DuraMAX Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas. The Sea Lion Splash show, located near the Grand Plaza entrance, will highlight the fun and unique experience. The show is free to all ticketed guests. The sea lions will showcase their skills by balancing balls, shooting hoops, dancing, doing handstands and a bunch more exciting tricks. The Fan Zone will also including the…
By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio AUSTIN, Texas – Race fans attending the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne will have plenty of opportunities to see their favorite drivers or get autographs this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas. On Friday from 9-10 a.m. NASCAR Cup Series star Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing will offer fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ride shotgun for two hot laps around the COTA National Course in the official NASCAR at COTA pace car. Spots are limited, so advanced registration is encouraged: https://www.speedwaycharities.org/events/cota/ride-of-a-lifetime/. From 7:15-8:15 p.m. NASCAR Cup Series drivers Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain,…
By Holly Cain and Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Jimmie Johnson announces 2027 DAYTONA 500 as last NASCAR Cup race DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson announced Saturday morning at Daytona International Speedway that he will make his final Cup start in the 2027 DAYTONA 500. The 83-race winner and two-time DAYTONA 500 champion will take his 23rd green flag in The Great American Race on Sunday (1:30 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) driving the No. 84 Toyota for the Legacy Motor Club team that he owns. Daytona seemed…
Courtesy of FOX Sports NASCAR joins FOX Latin America and accelerates its motorsports offering in Mexico Mexico City, January 28, 2026 – FOX reaffirms its position as the undisputed leader in the sports media industry in Mexico and Latin America by announcing the addition of NASCAR to its screens starting February 1. This strategic partnership not only expands FOX’s already robust portfolio of broadcast rights, but also reflects its goal of bringing together the properties with the highest audience reach, relevance, and loyalty in the region. NASCAR joins FOX with a clear vision: to bring together on a single…
Courtesy of the NHRA POMONA, Calif. – For the second time in three years, Doug Kalitta is a world champion, as the veteran officially clinched the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel world championship on Saturday at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Kalitta locked up the title when qualifying was canceled on Saturday due to weather. It marked a far different feel than Kalitta’s first championship, which went down to a winner-take-all final round at Pomona in 2023. This time, Kalitta’s dominance in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs ensured that a…
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. — After a phenomenal NASCAR Xfinity Series season that included 10 victories and 20 top fives in 32 starts, rookie Connor Zilisch finally came up empty. Zilisch finished third in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, behind best friend Jesse Love and Aric Almirola, but in a season of unprecedented triumph for a first-year driver, the disappointment in Zilisch’s voice was almost palpable. “We did everything we could, and I left my heart out on the track, but second in the championship is all we got,” Zilisch said. During…
By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ty Majeski climbed out of his race runner-up No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 on Phoenix Raceway pit road Friday night with the smoke from Corey Heim’s championship burnout nearby still lingering overhead. Less than a second separated the popular 31-year-old 2024 series champion Majeski from the race winner Heim in his bid to become only the second driver in NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series history to claim back-to-back season titles – matching his ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton. And it certainly was a valiant try. As happens in big-time auto racing, a…