Denny Hamlin wouldn’t mind competing in a NASCAR Cup Series street race in San Diego. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin reacted to the news of NASCAR adding a San Diego street course race next year.

“I don’t hate it,” Denny Hamlin said. “I certainly think that San Diego sounds like a place I’d like to go. “I mean, sure, I guess. It seems like they’re really in favor of street races out. So if they’re hellbent on it, then San Diego seems like a destination to do that.”

Last week, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic reported NASCAR was finalizing a deal to race on a street course in the San Diego area next year. If the deal goes through, NASCAR would return to Southern California after being away for a few years.

A return to the area would be the first points race since Kyle Busch won at Fontana in 2023. The track, which is called Auto Club Speedway, was closed shortly after the race for reconstruction. The last NASCAR race in Southern California was in 2024 when the drivers competed in the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

NASCAR wants to be back in Southern California

It’s clear NASCAR wants to return to the Southern California area since. Last year, then-NASCAR president Steve Phelps spoke to NBC Sports about potentially having at race at Dodger Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“We are committed to the market,” Phelps told NBC Sports in March 2024. “It’s important. What it looks like at this point next year, I don’t know. Was there an exploration with the Dodgers, working with Formula E and creating a potential joint opportunity there? Yeah.

“That should not be a surprise. It’s just due diligence. If something hits, great, and if it doesn’t so be it, but I think we need to continue to push the boundaries, not just from a schedule standpoint. I think we’ve seen that, or fans have seen that and media have seen that. We have a willingness to think differently and it’s working.”

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro revealed that the state is in talks about the arrival of a NASCAR race in Philadelphia.

The state government official was at the Pocono Cup Series Race and talked to the media about the state’s sports event coming up.

At the event, he announced that Pocono had sold out for the third straight time on Sunday, selling more than 50,000 tickets to fans.

NASCAR is rumored to have an interest in holding a race at Franklin Field in Philly as one of many potential additions to the schedule.

Shapiro didn’t reveal the exact nature of the talks, but he confirmed that there are conversations about adding a second race stop in Pennsylvania.

“There’s some conversations,” Shapiro said at the press event.

“First and foremost, we don’t want to do anything that undermines Pocono. But as Ben (says), the more NASCAR, the better. The more racing, the better.

“The more we can turn people on in communities that haven’t been to Pocono yet, to get excited about racing, and then make that trip to Pocono next year, the better. I want to see more NASCAR, more racing. I also just want to see more sports in general.”

More than a month ago, NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell spoke to the Associated Press about potentially adding a race in Philly.

He made it clear that the race could come down the line, but it is still a way from coming together.

According to O’Donnell, Franklin Field could become an Olympic-sized track like the LA Coliseum.

“When you look at opportunities, one of the places we looked around with the Coliseum was in Philly, Franklin Field. It was one of the only ones that we could put a race track inside of because of the Olympic size track,” O’Donnell said.

“Those are the types of things in a city we’re going to look at because the days of just building a rural track are over.

“If you look at Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and you look at short track racing, there’s a huge, hardcore short track market with a lot of local fans who love racing in general.”

For NASCAR fans in Pennsylvania, the success of Pocono means its future should be secure and that the track will stay on the schedule for the foreseeable future.

Chase Elliott finished Sunday’s Cup Series race at the Pocono Raceway in fifth place. Following his third-place finish in Mexico City, this result marked his first consecutive top-five finishes in the 2025 season. This might seem like a reason for optimism, but former driver Kyle Petty believes that the No. 9 driver still needs to step up his game massively.

At Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe have regularly reached Victory Lane and consistently perform at a high level. At Hendrick Motorsports, Kyle Larson and William Byron have also won, racing at the highest level.

Petty’s issue is that Elliott hasn’t followed their lead by delivering better results, as the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates have. Moreover, he believes that Elliott is only a shell of the driver he used to be. Petty said, “If we say internal competition, Larson has won three. Byron has won one, dominated Darlington, and was strong at Nashville. Is Chase stepping up?”

“Since 2023, Chase Elliott has won only one race. One race, people. I know you’ve got all the t-shirts, I know you’ve got all the hats, I know he’s Mr. Most Popular. But how can our most popular driver not win races and not even be the best driver in the team he drives for?”

Petty acknowledged the idea that more road course races are coming up and that these tracks are where Elliott has been at his best historically. But then, he also pointed out how he hasn’t won a road course race since 2021. This raises the question of whether the sport’s most popular driver is a has-been. Is Elliott’s best behind him?

To silence those doubts, Elliott needs to step it up. He needs to win races and go back to being the hero who could tame any challenge thrown at him all season. Petty continued, “Is that good enough? Is that good enough for what the fans’ expectations are? Is that good enough for the Hendrick organization? Is that good enough for the sponsors?”

“If it is, more power to you. But in a sport where we reward wins and we reward championships, we need somebody to step up. Chase has got to step up. And if we are complacent and we are satisfied with as good as it gets, so be it. I am not.” 

Elliott‘s next race will be at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, and a win would go a long way in meeting the expectations of critics like Petty.

Jordan Taylor will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Lime Rock Park this weekend with Spire Motorsports.

The organization announced Monday that Taylor will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet, sponsored by Gainbridge at Lime Rock (Saturday, 1 p.m. ET) in the inaugural event for the Truck Series at the Connecticut road circuit.

“I’m eager to join Spire Motorsports for the LiUNA 150,” said Taylor. “I have spoken with a few members of the team for a few years now, so it’s great (that) things have finally come together. I know it’s going to be tough jumping into the series mid-season, but I know I am joining one of the top teams in the Craftsman Truck Series.

“Our Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado will for sure be competitive, I just hope I can adapt to the truck quickly on the short weekend. Lime Rock Park is a track I know really well, but obviously all my experience around there is in much different types of cars, so I’m looking forward to the new challenge.”

Taylor is a four-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner. He is a decorated road course racer and currently competes full-time for Wayne Taylor Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series.

“Jordan Taylor’s body of work speaks for itself,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. “His accomplishments at the global level are more than impressive so we’re obviously thrilled to have Jordan drive our No. 7 Gainbridge Chevy Silverado this weekend at Lime Rock Park. This is also a great opportunity to connect with our friends at Wayne Taylor Racing and shine a bit of a spotlight on the TWG Motorsports family.

“There is no doubt Wayne and Jordan set a very high standard when it comes to road racing and can only help us be better. Expectations are high and, collectively, we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Lime Rock will be Taylor’s fourth NASCAR national series start. Taylor made two Xfinity Series starts in 2023 (Portland and Charlotte Roval) in addition to a Cup Series start (Circuit of The Americas).

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — It’s time to bust out the brackets, pick an upset or two, and follow winners on the road — a journey over city streets, concrete and bricks — to the final four and beyond.

Totally awesome, baby?

Forget all the upset specials in March.

NASCAR will find out soon enough if its attempt to snap out of a mid-summer malaise with its first in-season tournament is a success with drivers and fans as it strives to boost engagement and build buzz in the staid regular season.

The concept has already juiced enthusiasm in NASCAR to levels not seen since the halcyon days when Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough duked it out in the 1979 Daytona 500.

“To be really honest with you,” 2020 NASCAR champion Chase Elliott said, “I have not paid any attention to it.”

Maybe a look at the matchup will get NASCAR’s most popular driver pumped!

Elliott is seeded fifth against No. 28 seed Austin Dillon in the first round of the head-to-head showdown in the race-within-the-race set for this weekend at the track better known as Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Here’s a refresher for Elliott and any other sports fan who missed out on the specifics of NASCAR joining the in-season tournament party, much like attempts in the NBA, NHL, and, of course, throughout the world in soccer.

NASCAR is set to start the engines on a five-race, bracket-style tournament called the In-Season Challenge in the midst of the summer slate, which comes with a $1 million prize to the winner.

The final 32-driver field was set by results of the last three races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. The drivers are paired in head-to-head matchups based on seeding, with the winners advancing to the next round in a bracket format that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Buoyed by a win at Michigan and a runner-up finish at Pocono, Denny Hamlin earned the top seed. He’ll square off — race off? — against No. 32 seed Ty Dillon. Pocono winner Chase Briscoe is the No. 2 seed and is pitted against No. 31 seed Noah Gragson.

Chris Buescher is third, Christopher Bell fourth and Elliott fifth, among notable names.

The format is single elimination with the field cut to 16 at the street race in Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four on the lone concrete track in the series at Dover and the final two over the yard of bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Challenge is part of NASCAR’s media rights deal that includes TNT, and the Atlanta-based cable network will broadcast all five races in the tournament, starting with the 400-miler in Atlanta.

Aside from a shrug from Elliott and a few others, drivers are intrigued by the idea of increasing the stakes in each race beyond a playoff berth, trophy and the winner’s purse.

“I love it. I think it’s great,” three-time Cup champion Joey Logano said. “I think it’s placed perfectly where it is in the season. This is kind of that moment where the newness is worn off. We’re into the rhythm, we’re racing every week. It’s starting to start a little bit of, who’s going to be in the playoffs, who’s not, the cutoff line all those types of things. But it’s not really the main story quite yet.”

Stories are what sell, of course, and the sizzle in Pocono over the weekend had little to do with which drivers or teams are the ones to beat for the 2025 championship. Rather, it was whether two pedestrian drivers were going to fight, the end of Amazon Prime’s run of wildly-popular telecasts and Hall of Fame driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s win in his first race as a crew chief.

“This really spices up the mid-part of the season,” Logano said.

So does placing a few bucks on No. 11 to win.

But as of Monday afternoon, most sports gambling sites did not offer odds on specific matchups headed into Atlanta. NASCAR is offering $1 million to a winning fan with a perfect bracket in its fantasy game.

There are some quirks to the bracket: Shane van Gisbergen won the Cup race in Mexico City and is not in the field while series points leader William Byron is only a No. 9 seed. The tournament boasts matchups in the first-round of past Cup champions (Kyle Busch-Brad Keselowski), former teammates (Briscoe-Gragson), and even best friends (Bubba Wallace-Daniel Suarez).

The idea for the challenge was largely championed by Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 champion who floated the idea of a mid-season tournament on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast. When NASCAR bought into the idea and announced the creation of the tournament last year, Hamlin called the tournament on social media “such a win for our sport and drivers.” He jokingly added, “I will collect my 1M royalty next season.”

Hamlin’s on deck and clearly a favorite to win it all, with three wins this year for Joe Gibbs Racing and the top seed.

(And let’s not haggle over who gets credit in court.)

“I’m a sports guy, so I’m going to be engaged with it,” Hamlin said. “I’ll know who I will have to beat next week. I’ve told the team, we are going to try and do what we can. We are going to be up against it because we are going to tracks that aren’t very favorable to me. But we are going to try to do our best to beat that one car for the next four to five weeks.”

NASCAR will present the tournament winner at Indianapolis with a ring, jackets, trophy and — oh yeah, a million bucks.

That’s enough cash to get anyone’s attention — even Elliott’s.

“I don’t know what you get. You get anything,” Elliott asked.

“Oh, a million dollars to the winner? Then yeah, we want to win.”

___

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

Dan Gelston, The Associated Press