What’s Happening?

Chase Elliott will race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend, piloting the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 at Pocono Raceway.

George Russell celebrated Mercedes’ first win of the Formula One season in Canada on Sunday, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri went 22 points clear in the championship after teammate Lando Norris smashed into him and retired.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had hoped to win for a record fourth year in a row at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, had to settle for second after a challenge fizzed out behind the safety car.

Russell’s 18-year-old rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli finished third for his first F1 podium and the first by an Italian since 2009.

Piastri was fourth, with the safety car leading the final lap before peeling off to clear the way for Russell to take the chequered flag.

“Well done, team. That made up for last year,” said Russell, who also started on pole in 2024 but finished third. His last win before Sunday was in Las Vegas in November.

“It’s amazing to be back on the top step. I felt last year was a victory lost and probably got the victory today due to the incredible pole lap yesterday.”

Piastri now has 198 points ahead of Norris on 176, with Verstappen on 155, with Russell on 136.

In the constructors’ standings, Mercedes moved up to second, ahead of Ferrari and 175 points behind McLaren.

Headline drama

An uneventful afternoon erupted in headline drama when Norris hit the rear of Piastri’s car three laps from the end – a clash long predicted in the title battle between the pair – while trying to overtake.

The Briton, whose broken car stopped by the side of the track, was quick to blame himself when it all went wrong after they had earlier gone side by side.

“I’m sorry. All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me,” Norris said over the team radio.

Piastri pitted as the safety car was deployed and rejoined with a tyre advantage over Antonelli that he could not use as the racing never resumed.

“Glad I didn’t ruin his race. In the end, apologies to the team,” Norris told Sky Sports television.

“This wasn’t even like a ‘that’s racing,’ it was just silly from my part.”

Stewards ruled he was solely to blame and handed him a meaningless five-second penalty.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and sixth, the latter with a damaged car after hitting a groundhog.

Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin and Nico Hulkenberg brought in more solid points for Sauber in eighth place. Esteban Ocon was ninth for Haas in their 200th race, with Carlos Sainz 10th for Williams.

A post-race protest by Red Bull was rejected by stewards five and a half hours after the race ended.

Third place, after passing Piastri on the opening lap, made Antonelli the third-youngest driver ever to stand on the F1 podium.

“I was just hoping for the race to finish, to be honest,” he said.

Russell led away cleanly from pole, with Verstappen slotting in behind.

Behind them, Williams’ Alex Albon tracked across the grass after starting ninth, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto moving briefly up from 10th before losing out to Hulkenberg and then falling down the order.

Norris started on the hard tyres to go longer in the opening stint and was leading by lap 16 after others who started on mediums came in for pitstops. He then pitted on lap 29 and came out fifth, behind Piastri in fourth.

Leclerc also came in on that lap but then questioned why Ferrari had made the call, with his hard tyres still in reasonable shape.

Hamilton was behind his teammate and wondering out loud where the performance had gone.

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The Elwood Motorsports Team had an action-packed weekend at the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati’s Speedom Fest, where driver Alan Elwood showed impressive speed and determination.

Saturday’s action began with Elwood qualifying 7th. However, a gear failure on the opening lap of the prefinal dropped him to 17th, where he would start the final. Despite the setback, Elwood charged through the field, gaining 10 positions by lap four and setting the fastest lap of the race. He was in second place and contending for the lead with just two laps to go when contact from the third-place kart sent him crashing into the outside wall, ending his run.

On Sunday, Elwood bounced back with a strong qualifying performance, placing 4th. By turn 13 of the 16-turn layout, he had taken the lead. He maintained the top spot until the final straight, where he was edged out in a drag race to the finish line and secured a hard-fought second place.

It was a weekend of highs and lows, but Elwood’s pace and resilience were clear throughout the event.

More information and future updates can also be found by visiting Elwood Motorsport Team LLC on Facebook.

By JENNA FRYER

MEXICO CITY — Despite the handful of industry insiders too scared to leave their hotels in Mexico City, NASCAR’s first international Cup Series race of the modern era was a cultural experience that brought new fans to the series and provided its competitors with a chance to enjoy a new country.

The event had its detractors — rumors persisted for months that it would be canceled over security concerns or the escalating tensions between the United States and Mexico — and some NASCAR team members remained critical all the way through the June 15 race.

But was it a success? Even with travel delays, hotel room snafus and confusion over shuttle transportation, it was unequivocally a shining moment for NASCAR.

“Every single thing about this weekend exceeded my expectations,” said Daniel Suarez, the Monterrey-born NASCAR driver who was the face of the three-day weekend. “The people, the fans, the sponsors, the excitement, the energy. I had expectations for this weekend… and I can tell you that I personally exceeded those expectations.”

The idea to try the road course at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez — host of one of the most popular Formula 1 events on that calendar — was the brainchild of Ben Kennedy, executive vice president and chief venue and racing innovations officer. The great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. has been aggressive in shaking up a schedule that went to the same tracks on the same weekends for decades.

Bringing the Cup Series to Mexico City — only the third race outside the U.S. in 77 years — was a chance to expose stock car racing to a new demographic and give Mexican fans their first chance to see the series race live.

“This was a historic moment for our sport, for Mexico, and for the global motorsports community,” Kennedy said after Shane Van Gisbergen won the race to lock the New Zealander into the playoffs.

“One of the coolest parts about this weekend was seeing the reaction of the fans. I had the opportunity to go into the stands a few times,” he continued, “the energy and the passion of the fans here is unmatched.”

Kennedy said 90% of those in attendance were from Mexico, with 44% from Mexico City. Most important, there were “a lot of new fans coming out of this weekend.”

Will NASCAR return?

Even so, Kennedy could not guarantee another race in Mexico City. FIFA has World Cup games scheduled for this same week next year and there are the logistical issues of finding a date during a packed 38-week schedule.

The cars had to leave Michigan International Speedway immediately after last week’s race to make the 40-hour journey across the border, and now must get to Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania in time for this weekend’s race.

“I want to go everywhere in the world — England, Germany, South America, Australia, every where we can go,” said Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon, the vice chairman at Hendrick Motorsports. “The next thing that makes sense in Canada. But we have to figure out the schedule before we do too much of this.

“We can’t do this. Michigan, Mexico City, back to Pocono, can’t happen. We’re doing it and we’re excited to take on the challenge, but it’s going to wear on us and I don’t think we can do it all back-to-back. So we’ve got to make some adjustments to the schedule and how do we fit it all in into what’s already a very difficult schedule.”

Where will NASCAR go next?

Nothing is off the table for Kennedy, who is globally exploring where NASCAR can race and showcase its product.

One glaring issue: Those in the industry who remain comfortable with the same old schedule of traveling to Bristol, Tennessee, and Martinsville, Virginia, and Darlington Raceway in South Carolina twice a year.

While those markets are tied deeply to NASCAR’s Southern roots, there isn’t room for growth in playing to the same crowds over and over. The pushback on Mexico City didn’t come from any high-profile drivers, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s spotter had a scathing social media post ripping the city in which he said “screw this place, people can talk it up all they want” and 22-year-old driver Carson Hocevar had a similar sentiment in derisive comments on a live stream he has since walked back.

“Maybe a kid that had never been out of the country until Thursday should never give an opinion about what any place is like other than (hometown) Portage, Michigan,” Hocevar posted on social media. “I was skeptical about the trip and believed everything I read or heard about Mexico City from people who more than likely also had never been here.

“Now that I’ve actually left my hotel a couple times and raced here in front of some of the most passionate fans I’ve ever seen, my opinion has changed,” he continued. “I am embarrassed by my comments.”

A cultural field trip

This was baffling to some of the more well-traveled drivers, including Kyle Larson, who has raced at 200-plus different tracks around the world and makes annual trips to Australia and New Zealand. He also attended the 2021 Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi and then vacationed in Dubai.

He likened Mexico City to a field trip for NASCAR because the drivers all stayed in the same hotels and rode buses together to the circuit each day. On a normal weekend, they are holed up in their motorhomes at the track and rarely venture out.

“It’s honestly really fun and enjoyable to be around your competitors and get to know each other a bit better because on a typical weekend, we just kind of lock ourselves in wherever we’re at,” he said. “We don’t talk to anybody or anything. So it’s nice that, yeah, you’re almost forced to hang out with each other. It’s cool. You get to know them, so I’ve enjoyed that.”

Even Kyle Busch, who was arrested in Mexico in 2023 for carrying a concealed weapon, was surprised by the few who had a negative response to racing in Mexico City.

“The food is amazing, the city has some of the top restaurants in the world,” Busch said. “This is a great place to be and I don’t understand the people holed up in their hotels too scared to leave. Live a little.”