If you find yourself this weekend asking if Felix Rosenqvist is an alum of Texas A&M (he’s not), you can thank a unique sponsorship between the racer and university for the upcoming Indianapolis 500.

The driver of the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda signed an agreement on March 28 to adorn the school’s logo on his helmet and driver suit for the entire 16-race IndyCar season. The $60,000 pact states that the branding must be visible from Rosenqvist’s in-car camera that’ll be used on Fox’s IndyCar broadcasts.

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It’s the second motorsports sponsorship deal pulled together by R. Ethan Braden, Texas A&M’s vice president and chief marketing officer. Braden said IndyCar and NASCAR saw prime opportunity to connect with a passionate alumni base of over 600,000 Aggies.

“We saw in Felix a top-five IndyCar driver with a terrific following, a terrific reputation,” he said in a video interview. “The placement of our advertisement to create the storytelling on his helmet is novel, because he’s one of the few that have an inboard camera.”

Rosenqvist is starting his second season with Meyer Shank Racing, which is owned by Michael Shank and four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves. Liberty Media also owns a minority stake.

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His car is already an attention-grabber as the livery is adorned by imagery promoting the rock band Creed, which has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts going back to Texas Rangers’ World Series run in 2023. (The multiplatinum record selling group reunited for its “Summer of ‘99” tour last year after splitting up in the early 2000s.)

“[Felix] is a terrific statesman,” Braden said of the Swedish-born driver. “He’s a terrific representative of the sport. He’s invested in veteran and military affairs, and so he’s just a great spokesperson for what we’re about, what we stand for, and why people should care.”

Texas A&M annually boasts of the nation’s largest student bodies with over 79,000 students as of last fall, including 61,000 undergraduates. Yet some officials at the public research university, with its deep military ties, feel the school doesn’t always get the spotlight of SEC peers like Alabama, Florida and in-state rival Texas.

In raising the school’s profile, Braden compared its marketing efforts to the Indy 500 itself. “The first 100 laps of the [Indy] 500 are about getting to the second 100 laps, right?” Braden said. “There’s a lot about grit there. There’s a lot about teamwork. There’s a lot of a culture and collaboration. That’s the story we want to tell.”

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The marriage between a university and motorsports is not a new one, as Braden previously put the two together while working at Purdue University in Indiana. NASCAR has marketing deals with several schools, including Alabama. Penn State, Auburn, Maryland and Virginia Tech have also advertised with the stock car racing organization.

Last October, Texas A&M agreed to be the primary sponsor for Stewart-Haas Racing for two NASCAR events at a cost of $160,000. Although Stewart-Haas ceased operations after the 2024 season, the school was pleased enough with the two races that it signed new $275,000 deal with Haas Factory Team, which carried on one of the Stewart-Haas charters.

In motorsports, particularly NASCAR and IndyCar, Braden said that the perception of their audiences being “old, White and Southern” is not the reality he saw when talking with both groups.

Research told Braden that 41% of NASCAR’s fan base is female, and 31% of all NASCAR fans have some connection to the military (veteran, currently enlisted or works adjacent to the military). He also found that “they have an incredible brand affinity that’s as good as any of the sports, frankly, better than any of them, besides maybe the NBA.”

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IndyCar doesn’t have the audience that NASCAR has, but Braden said its market is not all that different from the stock car circuit. That said, he wants to see how the Rosenqvist sponsorship—a relatively inexpensive one in his eyes—performs before committing to further marketing through IndyCar.

“It’s a helmet and fire suit sponsorship, an influencer sponsorship at the end of the day,” he said. “I want to see the data. I want to see what we get out of this in terms of our social media following, in terms of earned media exposure, etc.”

In terms of what’s next for Texas A&M’s sponsorships in and out of motorsports, Braden said that its president, four-star retired general Mark Welsh, encourages him to be bold. He also has a certain weekend in mind that will excite the school’s community.

“It’s not lost on me that there’s a very exciting 2026 race in Arlington,” he said of IndyCar’s Grand Prix of that’s scheduled for next March. “The Aggies will show up and show out incredibly well. I do have my eyes on ‘26 in Arlington.”

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RFK Racing will have Trimble sponsorship for multiple years beginning during the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, the team announced May 23.

The company’s blue-and-yellow scheme will be featured on the Nos. 17 and 60 of Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece.

In 2025, Preece will have Trimble sponsorship at Nashville Superspeedway and Darlington Raceway, while Buescher will sport it at Dover Motor Speedway.

“Partnering with a forward-thinking, technology-driven company like Trimble is a great fit for RFK Racing,” Steve Newmark, president of RFK, said. “Our team and Trimble operate in fast-paced, high-performance environments that demand precision and innovation. Their deep expertise and commitment to technology will bring valuable perspective and collaboration to our program.”

“Every week in NASCAR feels like a science project, where we’re constantly testing, learning, and improving,” RFK’s Brad Keselowski added. “Partnering with Trimble allows us to do more of that work in the digital space, refining our performance virtually before we ever hit the track. That kind of innovation is not only smart, it’s essential in today’s competitive environment.”

The details of Trimble’s sponsorship involvement in 2026 were not revealed in the release.

In 2025, Preece has one top five and four top 10s (15th in points), while Buescher has one top five and six top 10s (24th).

Executive Editor at Frontstretch

Kevin Rutherford is the executive editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2025 after being the managing editor since 2015, and serving on the editing staff since 2013.

At his day job, he’s a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio — you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.

No matter which style of racing you prefer, there’s a little of something for you Sunday. Formula 1’s prestigious Grand Prix of Monaco starts us off at 9 a.m. ET, with IndyCar’s historic Indianapolis 500 at 12:45 p.m., and NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600, from Charlotte Motor Speedway at 6 p.m. to finish the day.

For racing enthusiasts, it’s the most compelling day of the year for on-track racing, but for casual sports fans, it might be your first time tuning in this season. If you’re looking to get in on the action yourself, there’s no shortage of ways to bet the races, from the pits to the checkered flag. Let’s get you caught up on your options.

All odds accurate as of publish time. For more, go to ESPN BET.

Outright winner bet

As former Raiders owner Al Davis said, “Just win, baby!”

Or maybe more fitting, “If you ain’t first, you’re last,” by Ricky Bobby from “Talladega Nights.”

This bet is as straightforward as it sounds: Pick the winner. Any other result is a loss, but you’ll get the highest payout compared to other results-based bets.

With how competitive each of the three series have been so far, all three race favorites are still at plus-money odds in Oscar Piastri (F1, +190), Pato O’Ward (Indy, +450) and Kyle Larson (NASCAR, +550). However, long shots have had their day in Victory Lane, as it wasn’t too long ago when Takuma Sato won the 2017 Indy 500 as a 30-1 long shot or when Ryan Blaney won the 2023 Coca-Cola 600 at 22-1.

Top 3/5/10 finish

Maybe you feel like a driver will do well, but don’t want to fully commit to betting the outright winner. If so, Formula 1 offers odds to finish in the top three (a podium), in the top six or 10 (drivers who finish in the top 10 receive points). With a 20-car field, you’re looking for drivers you feel confident will either have a strong day or exceed expectations.

For example, the McLaren duo of Piastri and Lando Norris have finished in the top three in six of the seven races this season, with Piastri winning four times and Norris once. However, with how consistently successful the pair have been, their odds to finish in the top three are shorter than their odds of a win.

Top five and top 10 bets are available in NASCAR and IndyCar as well.

Race Props

• Winning manufacturer: Instead of betting on the winning driver, we’re betting on the winning car. In IndyCar, your choices are either Chevrolet or Honda, while NASCAR features Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.

• Double top 3/6/10: The aforementioned McLaren duo individually don’t have great odds to finish on the podium, but if you want to take both of them to finish on the podium in Monaco, that’s much closer to even money.

• Race winning margin: Expecting a blow out? Or a late caution/safety car to bunch the field back up? Monaco is famous for its tight quarters not giving drivers many passing opportunities, and thus, a wide margin can build up. On the other side, NASCAR can feature late yellow flags to tighten the pack and spur close finishes.

• Race winner number: This bet is much more random, essentially the equivalent of bringing a roulette wheel to the racetrack. The NASCAR number is set with an over/under of 17.5, and there’ll be a No. 1 (Ross Chastain) all the way to No. 99 (Daniel Suarez) in the field. The Indy 500 number is set at 9.5, with the under listed at -140 odds. O’Ward (No. 3) and third-favorite Scott Dixon (No. 9) both sport car numbers under that line, while second-favorite Álex Palou (No. 10) and pole-sitter Robert Shwartzman (No. 83) have higher numbers.

• Top driver for manufacturer: This is specific to NASCAR, and you’re looking for the best finisher a driver to be in a Chevrolet, Ford or Toyota. Each manufacturer is expected to have between 10-17 cars in a race.

• Number of leaders: For NASCAR, it’s set at 12.5 drivers, out of a 40-car field, to lead at least one lap. Last year, there were 10 leaders compared to 13 in each of the three prior years, but those are the only instances since 2012 in which we’ve seen such a high number.

• Fastest lap: This is for which driver ran the single fastest lap of the entire race. F1 used to offer a bonus point for fastest lap from 2019-24, but has scrapped that as of this year, so there’s a lot less maneuvering to steal the point late in the race.

• First driver/car retirement: In F1, this refers to a car pulling out of the race either for a mechanical issue or damage from a wreck, so you’re going to get longer odds here due to the unpredictability of it. Currently the favorite is “no retirements’ at 7-1, with each of the 20 starters between 10-1 to 25-1.

• Safety car: A safety car is deployed in F1 when a wreck or adverse track conditions necessitate slowing the field. At Monaco, the safety car came out in 2022 and 2024, but not in 2021 or 2023. Currently it’s -650 to have one, +400 for none.

• Fastest pit stop: This is another F1-specific wager in which you bet which team can get their driver in and out of the pits with four fresh tires the fastest. Each team fields two drivers, and Ferrari is the odds-on favorite at -160 with Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc.

• Race matchups/group winners: These will be matchups for one driver to finish better than another, or a driver to win against a group of three other drivers. For head-to-head matchups, you’ll get closer to even money return on your bet with a win. For the groups, you’ll get better odds than a head-to-head, due to the nature of needing to beat three other drivers.

Betting tips

Formula 1: I alluded to it earlier when discussing Piastri and Norris, but give me the Double top three: McLaren (-110) in Monaco.

Monaco is also famous for a lack of overtaking, making it hard for drivers to advance their position. I mean, you’ve seen that famous hairpin corner, right? So, if you get a surprise in Saturday’s qualifying, I’d sprinkle in a top-six finish for that driver. Especially if you’re getting somebody like Alexander Albon (+325) or Yuki Tsunoda (+400) at a good price.

Indy 500: Out in Indianapolis, I’m going to take the three-time series champion Álex Palou (+550), as my outright winner.

Coca-Cola 600: Turning our attention to NASCAR, where I’d pick Kyle Larson (+500) as my winner. That’s a good price for the favorite who led more than 80% of the laps in a win at a similar track in Kansas, an intermediate 1.5-mile track similar to Charlotte. Larson plans to run both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in one day, a feat he attempted last year before rain prevented him from taking the wheels in Charlotte. A bet on Larson to finish first would still be valid, even if he were to miss the start of the race.

If you’re looking for drivers with slightly longer odds that I think could master the 600 on Sunday night, check out Josh Berry (25-1), Chris Buescher (25-1) and Carson Hocevar (40-1).

William Byron received a four-year contract extension from Hendrick Motorsports on Friday that will keep the 27-year-old driver with the team through the 2029 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Financial terms of the contract were not released.

The two-time Daytona 500 champion has emerged as one of the sport’s most competitive drivers, having already earned 14 Cup Series wins and six consecutive playoff appearances from 2019 to 2024. He has won 13 Cup Series races since being paired with crew chief Rudy Fugle in 2021 — the second-highest total in the series over that span.

Now in his eighth season, Byron won this year’s Daytona 500 for the second straight year, becoming the youngest multi-time winner in the event’s storied history.

Byron, who grew up in Charlotte, currently ranks second in the Cup standings after 12 points-paying races.

“We’ve built something special with the No. 24 team,” Byron said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to continue working with amazing people at Hendrick Motorsports who believe in me, especially Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick. We’ve accomplished some great things that we’re really proud of, but we have even bigger goals ahead. I’m excited to go after them with this team and this organization.”

Byron first signed with Hendrick Motorsports when he was 18.

He earned Cup Series rookie of the year honors in 2018 and has become a factor in the Cup Series championship with six straight playoff appearances, including back-to-back Championship 4 appearances in 2023 and 2024. Byrson is the only driver to win in Hendrick Motorsports’ iconic No. 24 Chevrolet other than Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon.

“William is the real deal,” Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick said. “What makes him so special is that he combines natural ability with an unrivaled work ethic. You see it in the great ones — the drivers who could get by on talent alone but choose to outwork everyone anyway. That’s William. On top of it all, he’s a person of high character and embraces his role as a leader. We’re proud to have him in our lineup and look forward to many more wins together.”

Byron will race Sunday at the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race of the season.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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