Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro declined to get into specifics on the potential for the state to provide funding for any new sports arenas — a possibility that looms with the Eagles’ lease set to expire in 2032 — and said there were conversations about bringing NASCAR to Philadelphia as he championed the state’s full sports slate next year during an appearance Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

Shapiro said he would continue talking with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and the Rooney family in Pittsburgh about what — if anything — the NFL teams need when it comes to the state of their stadiums.

Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium, the home of the Steelers, opened in 2001 while Lincoln Financial Field opened in 2003 in Philadelphia’s shared sports complex. The Eagles do not own the Linc. The team will need to renew its lease or build a new stadium, and Lurie said during the lead-up to the Super Bowl that he was “torn” over the idea of replacing the stadium or staying put in the home where they raised their only two Super Bowl championship banners.

If a new stadium is proposed, it won’t necessarily come with state money — Shapiro said the state would not provide any when the 76ers considered building a new arena (ownership did not ask for the funds) last year.

(The 76ers decided to partner with Comcast Spectacor, their current landlord, to build a new arena in South Philadelphia.)

“I’m very worried about the overall budget,” Shapiro said Sunday at Pocono. “I’m very worried about the overall economic situation given the federal cuts. You want to balance investing in tourism, investing in sports, investing in great arenas and facilities, with making sure that you’re also investing those dollars in things that Pennsylvanians need most.”

Shapiro, who spoke ahead of the scheduled NASCAR Cup Series race at the track, declined to get into definitive discussions about any stadium conversations with the state’s NFL owners.

“I will tell you that we want to make sure the Steelers, we want to make sure the Eagles, and all of our pro teams have outstanding places to play,” he said. “That are welcoming for fans. That generate revenue.

“We’re going to continue to dialog with them about what they need and what’s possible.”

Shapiro promoted the financial impact generated for the state each year because of the NASCAR weekend at Pocono. He praised Pocono Raceway officials for its third straight sellout crowd set for Sunday. The track sold out all frontstretch seating, premium seating, suites, infield camping and the grandstand camping area. It also is the fifth consecutive year that the entire infield camping inventory has been sold out.

Pocono President Ben May said the track sold around 50,000 grandstand tickets, around 2,000 suite seats and 3,300 camping spots.

NASCAR expressed at least a cursory interest in adding to its recent string of offbeat race locations — everywhere from Mexico City to a temporary track inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — and floated the idea of holding a race inside a Philadelphia stadium, Franklin Field. The site is traditionally home to the Penn Relays and college football.

“There’s some conversations,” Shapiro said. “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.”

He’ll get his wish next year.

Shapiro laughed when he said he calls into sports talk radio stations as “Josh from Juniata” and was all-in on the heavy inventory of major sports events headed to the state.

Among the events in 2026, Pennsylvania will host the baseball All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park, the World Cup at the Linc and the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club. The big year kicks off with the NFL draft in Pittsburgh next April.

“I worked my ass off to bring that to Pittsburgh, together with the Steelers,” Shapiro said. “I’m excited for them.”

Shawn Langdon’s Top Fuel final-round victory at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals has been officially overturned following a post-race disqualification due to a technical violation. The NHRA announced Monday that Langdon’s run did not comply with SFI Spec 6.2, which mandates a minimum of 12 bolts securing the bellhousing inspection cover.

A post-run inspection revealed the cover on Langdon’s Kalitta Motorsports dragster was missing bolts, triggering the disqualification. In accordance with NHRA rules, runner-up Justin Ashley has been awarded the event win – his first of the 2025 season and the 16th of his Top Fuel career.

Ashley’s road to the final at Virginia Motorsports Park included wins over Doug Foley, Steve Torrence, and Doug Kalitta, further solidifying his return to form after a slow start to the season. The win also catapulted him to third in the NHRA Top Fuel points standings, marking his fifth final-round appearance in the last six races.

Kalitta Motorsports issued a statement Monday acknowledging the disqualification and offering an explanation for the infraction.

“Some of the bolts rattled loose during the run and fell into the belly pan,” said Chad Head, General Manager of Kalitta Motorsports. “The bolts were in place before the run, but some were not in place after because they came loose and fell into the belly pan. That’s on us.”

Head emphasized the team’s respect for NHRA’s safety regulations and accepted the ruling, stating:

“We respect NHRA as the sanctioning body and understand that safety is always the most-important thing. We certainly apologize to our corporate partners, the race fans, and our fellow competitors. We did not win yesterday’s race, but we’re moving on and are now focused on the next race.”

The team noted that this would be its only comment on the issue.

Langdon, a former Top Fuel world champion, appeared to have secured his first victory of the 2025 campaign in what was shaping up to be a momentum-building result for Kalitta Motorsports. Instead, the team is left regrouping as the series turns toward its next stop on the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series schedule.

For Ashley and the Davis Motorsports team, the unexpected win marks a major turning point in their season, as they aim to continue climbing the championship ladder during the heart of the summer stretch.

This story was originally published on June 23, 2025.

The NASCAR Chicago Street Race didn’t come from nowhere — it came from a computer.

Rather than taking the risk of racing on the roads of a major city blind, NASCAR used a cost-effective alternative: iRacing.

The sim-racing video game has become an essential tool for the real-life racing series, especially when it comes to innovation.

So, when NASCAR began to consider what a street race in Chicago might look like, it turned to iRacing for help. The sim game is the closest replica of what it feels like to drive a race car. Using laser-scanners, iRacing is able to create pin-point details of every car and track imaginable.

“We pioneered the use of laser-scanners, to go to a track and use them,” said Steve Myers, executive vice president of iRacing. “We can collect millions of points of data by taking laser-scanners around these tracks, and get them digitally perfect. Every little bump, every curve, every crack. We can even, from the laser-scan, pick up where the paint is on the track. Paint is a little bit more slippery than pavement, so we can recreate these tracks to be exactly perfect.”

Myers, who has been in the industry since 2000, was one of iRacing’s earliest employees. The company was founded in 2003 by designer Dave Kaemmer and John Henry, who co-owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, Liverpool FC and RFK Racing.

“We started the company with the idea that we wanted to make the most authentic racing simulation that you could possibly make,” Myers said. “The way that we did that was create truly authentic driving models of cars and digitally perfect race tracks, to the point that real world race car drivers could use the product and actually find value in it.”

The value of sim racing is different from virtual reality versions of any other sport. If you’re playing “Madden” or “NBA 2K,” you aren’t actually doing the motions of football or basketball. In iRacing, you’re able to truly simulate what to feels like to drive a particular race car — from setting up the balance to managing tires and navigating treacherous tracks.

“There is no Dick’s Sporting Goods where you can go buy a race car and do it in your backyard,” Myers explained. “This is done on a computer now. It absolutely has become that gateway for people to experience racing and see if this is something exciting for them.

“In sim racing, you can be on the track with Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and be competitive with him. William Byron, he was able to take that skill transition to the real world and continue that career and trajectory to where I think he’s going to be a Cup champion some day. That’s what’s really cool about sim racing though — if you were good at ‘NBA 2K,’ you could dominate LeBron James in that game on a console. There’s no chance that you’re going on to a basketball court with him and probably even score a basket.”

Byron is perhaps the greatest example of how iRacing translates to the real world. The Hendrick Motorsports star didn’t grow up racing, instead picking up iRacing as a teenager. His success in the video game boosted his profile and eventually led to a contract with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Now, the 27-year-old Byron is the two-time defending Daytona 500 champion and leads the NASCAR Cup Series points standings.

As NASCAR saw drivers like Byron coming from iRacing, they have developed a closer partnership for projects like the Chicago Street Race. That venture began back in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when NASCAR broadcasted virtual races on iRacing with real-life stars competing.

That’s when the world was introduced to the Chicago Street Course.

“NASCAR was interested in looking at Chicago as a location for a race,” Myers explained. “We came to the city in November of 2021 and we scanned every road around Grant Park there. Then we took that data back in house, and started mapping out what might be a good race course.

“In 2021, we did the Pro Invitational (virtual race on FOX), where we showed the Chicago Street Course to the world for the first time in the digital space. It wasn’t even a real race yet at that point. So, when we did that race on TV, it was well-received. The racing was well-received. That was the point where NASCAR and Chicago decided to make this a real race.”

That wasn’t the end of it, though. The first street race was held in July 2023, nearly two years later. Over that time in between, Myers and his team worked with NASCAR executive vice president Ben Kennedy to nail down the perfect course layout.

“We worked very closely with Ben Kennedy, who had made site visits and had some ideas of sections of the track that he wanted to see there,” Myers said. “Over a couple of months, we iterated a number of different design ideas and showed them to Ben and we’d have drivers drive it. Ultimately, we settled on the track that’s currently being raced now.”

Even when they finally thought the track was perfect, Kennedy found one more change to make.

“We actually had it going the reverse direction, and then Ben was doing laps on iRacing and said ‘You know what? I think this is going to go better going the other direction.’ So, we switched the direction based on his feedback.”

Now, the Chicago Street Course is a 2.14-mile circuit with 12 turns — going in the clockwise direction around Grant Park.

“We’re very proud of our part in the sport and being able to do some of these changes.”

The third edition of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race will take place on Sunday, July 6.

A street race brings high speeds and tight turns to city streets that are closed off for racing.

Summer may be the off-season for racing at Bradenton Motorsports Park, but for co-owners Victor Alvarez and Garrett Mitchell, also known as “Cleetus McFarland,” it’s the perfect time to get to work. The Florida-based facility has officially broken ground on a series of long-planned infrastructure upgrades aimed at improving the racer and fan experience ahead of its busy fall and winter schedule.

“Garrett and I have wanted to do some of these things for years—even before we were partners,” said Alvarez. “The time has come.”

Among the most significant projects is the complete repaving of the asphalt behind the water box. The area has taken a beating over the years from jet cars and high-horsepower burnouts during marquee events like the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals and the Christmas Tree Race.

“It actually gets so hot that it literally just tears up this asphalt and blows it away,” Alvarez explained. “We’ve got some pretty big ruts in here. It’s gotten really bad recently.”

The most visible change, though, is happening at the entrance. BMP is tearing out its decades-old main road and replacing it with a wider, more durable three-lane setup.

“We’re standing on the entrance road of Bradenton Motorsports Park, which you all know is a disaster,” said Mitchell. “We’re finally tearing it out and rebuilding it. This road is cooked. You’ve pulled in here before—you’ve felt it. It’s pretty bumpy, and parts of it have washed away in storms multiple times.”

Mitchell explained that repeated patch jobs were only a temporary solution. “It turns out underneath it, there’s absolutely no base. It’s just a thin layer of asphalt on top of dirt,” he said. “But now we’re going to have a brand-new road—three lanes wide—to fix all the congestion issues getting in and out. It’s going to make it a lot smoother.”

Crews are also removing fencing, repaving behind the burnout box, and creating a new VIP/media parking area near the tower. The facility’s pit entrance gate is getting a full redesign as well, featuring two ticket booths and an improved flow for increased efficiency.

“At big races, it gets really difficult to run all of the ticket sales and scan all the tickets through one pit booth,” Alvarez said. “This new setup will help us get racers and fans in and out much faster.”

Additional upgrades include repainting and rewrapping the tower, renovating all bathrooms, and possibly relocating the pit gate further down the property to allow for easier access for race rigs.

“This road has stressed me out for years,” Alvarez added. “When it washed away in that storm, it almost gave me a heart attack. So being able to just sleep at night knowing it’s redone, it’s nice, and it actually has some base under it… that’s going to be a huge relief.”

Mitchell echoed that sentiment, thanking the community for their continued support of both BMP and the Freedom Factory. “We’re trying to make things better for you guys every time you come out here,” he said. “Construction is underway, and we’ll keep you updated.”

Bradenton Motorsports Park is aiming to reopen on July 12 for a Saturday night Street Heat/Test & Tune event.

This story was originally published on June 24, 2025.

LONG POND — 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.”

Since the confirmation of their F1 entry, there have been many questions about Cadillac and their plans for 2026.

Specifically, Cadillac’s driver selection for next year is a significant talking point in F1 circles.

As mentioned on numerous occasions by LWOS, there are a few leading contenders to join the US outfit.

Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Zhou Guanyu and Felipe Drugovich are understood to be the front-runners for 2026.

In recent weeks, however, Bottas’ position in contract negotiations has reportedly strengthened.

As Cadillac assess their options, the former Mercedes driver is establishing himself as a strong option.

Why Bottas ticks all the boxes for Cadillac

Thanks to the volatility of last year’s driver market, Cadillac have several ex-F1 drivers at their disposal for next year.

In terms of accolades and experience, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez are the biggest names available.

Both drivers have been mentioned as options for the American project in recent months, with Perez often mentioned as a slightly preferred choice.

Considering the Mexican driver’s sponsorship value, the consensus that he was a favourite to join Cadillac had sound logic.

Indeed, the 6-time race winner is still firmly in the race to join F1’s newest entrant.

However, according to reports from Motorsport, Bottas has overtaken the former Red Bull driver in Cadillac’s 2026 shortlist.

The Finn is seen as very well-positioned to join the team led by Graeme Lowdon.

Considering his track record in F1, both at the front for Mercedes and in the midfield for Sauber, it isn’t difficult to see why Bottas is an attractive choice.

The 35-year-old has made no secret that he intends to make an F1 comeback.

To a large extent, this desire motivated his decision to become a Mercedes reserve driver – which has kept him active in paddock discussions.

Should Cadillac determine that only one experienced driver is necessary for 2026, Bottas’ rise could be to the detriment of Perez.

This is not to say Cadillac could not sign both drivers – but it certainly alters the equation of this driver saga.

Other drivers in the race

Of course, Bottas is not the only driver being considered by Cadillac.

Among the younger drivers at the American team’s disposal are Zhou, Drugovich and Schumacher.

Zhou Guanyu generally held his own whilst in the same machinery as Bottas at Sauber.

In addition to offering considerable sponsorship, he also brings three years of F1 experience – meaning he meets several of Cadillac’s preferences despite being relatively.

Graeme Lowdon, Cadillac’s team principal, is also a part of Zhou’s management team. In theory, this should boost the Ferrari reserve driver’s chances ahead of 2026.

Elsewhere, Felipe Drugovich should not be written off as a candidate for next season.

The Brazilian would have surely been frustrated to miss out on an appearance for Aston Martin in Canada. A strong weekend would have undoubtedly boosted his market value.

Still, Drugovich remains a plausible option for Cadillac – especially if they decide only one experienced driver is necessary.

As is often the case when a seat becomes available in the market, Mick Schumacher has been floated as an option.

There is nothing to suggest, at least for now, that the 26-year-old is a front-runner to secure a contract.

What does seem clear, however, is that at least one experienced driver will be a requirement for Cadillac in 2026.

Because of this, Valtteri Bottas can be quietly confident about his chances of making an F1 return.

Main photo: Sauber Media Gallery