Connect with us

Sports

NASCAR Texas takeaways: Chase Elliott wins again in race of clashes and crashes

Published

on

FORT WORTH, Texas — Chase Elliott continued to show his early-season speed Sunday in Texas, two-stepping his way to victory lane with his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of 2026.

Elliott hasn’t won more than two races in a season since 2022, but he has led the way for Hendrick Motorsports so far this year. He is up to third in the point standings and has continued to show enough consistency to put him into championship contention as a potential top-three seed for the “Chase” — NASCAR’s 16-driver playoff — later this fall.

On a day when track position seemed to be significant, Elliott led more laps than anyone and was near flawless on the track while his team was equally so on pit road to maintain that crucial track position.

Elliott’s win snapped Toyota’s streak of three straight wins on non-drafting 1.5-mile tracks going back to September, when Elliott won at Kansas Speedway. In that race, Toyota dominated, but contact among the race-leading Toyotas in the final corners allowed a hard-charging Elliott to sneak through to snag the victory.

The win Sunday was both Elliott’s second of the season and second at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I have not been a huge fan of this place, and I’ve made that very obvious, but we continue to work hard,” Elliott said. “… We’ve not been where we wanted to be throughout portions of the season, but everybody’s just been digging in really hard — from the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports to all the setup shops and everybody at Team Chevy.”

Similar to Kansas, another track of the same size, Denny Hamlin drove his Toyota to a second-place finish on Sunday. Alex Bowman finished third for the second consecutive week, with championship points leader Tyler Reddick and Texas native Chris Buescher completing the top five.

Kyle Busch intentionally wrecks John Hunter Nemechek

Kyle Busch ran in the top 10 for much of the day and had a shot to finish there in his first race with new crew chief Andy Street, but he threw his result away coming to the white flag.

Busch was trying to squeeze in front of John Hunter Nemechek for 12th place, but was not clear, and the contact between the two sent Busch into the wall.

The two then went down the track, and once they got side-by-side entering Turn 3, Busch door-slammed Nemechek hard enough to send him crashing.

Nemechek’s wreck did not bring out a caution, and he limped home to a 21st-place finish while Busch finished 20th.

Neither driver could be found for comment after the race, but Nemechek posted on X: “not freaking clear. great day going. and just got wrecked. what an a–.”

Kyle Busch later posted on X his own version of events, placing blame on Nemechek.

“I did not start this,” Busch wrote. “The 42 apparently doesn’t know where the RS (right side) of his car is and where he is in relation to the outside wall. There was 2 ft outside him and I was judging my left side tires to the hash marks. Always know who your racing beside.” — Jeff Gluck

Christopher Bell’s hard luck continues

Christopher Bell endured a frustrating two races before Texas; he was running in the top 10 on the final lap at each race only to end up wrecked, costing him a pair of solid finishes and valuable points.

With as strong as the Toyotas have been on intermediate tracks, Texas represented a good place to bounce back and put the frustration behind. And that appeared to be precisely what was unfolding early Sunday, with Bell leading 22 laps and giving the appearance he’d contend for the win.

Such optimism was short-lived with his hard luck again rearing its ugly head. Just as Bell and second-place Hamlin came upon the slower car of Todd Gilliland, Gilliland lost control and started to spin, clipping the rear of Bell’s car. The contact sent Bell hard into the wall, causing significant damage.

“It was another one of those 50-50 calls,” Bell said. “Me and Denny were side-by-side, and I saw (Gilliland) spinning and Denny lifted, and I thought that I could shoot the gap on the bottom. And I thought I did shoot the gap on the bottom — but I got clipped.”

Bell finished 38th, last, and he’s now 56 points above the cutoff to qualify for the Chase playoff. With over half the regular season remaining and holding nearly a full race of points as a buffer, there is no need to panic. Still, for a driver who came into the year considered a viable contender to win the regular-season points title, that possibility is looking less and less likely.

“We don’t need to do anything,” Bell said when asked about his luck turning around. “I’m really thankful to have fast cars to drive, thankful to be driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and thankful I get another opportunity next week. It’s going to turn around at some point.” — Jordan Bianchi

Ryan Preece clashes with Ty Gibbs

Shortly before the end of Stage 1, a seemingly displeased Ryan Preece voiced his displeasure with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs, with the RFK Racing driver telling his team over the radio that he was going to send Gibbs a message at some point.

“When I get to that 54 (Gibbs’ car number), I’m done with him,” Preece said. “F—ing idiot. That car is so f—ing fast, pisses me off. Stupid. … I can’t stand when idiots like him have fast race cars where they can do stupid s— and get away with it. End of rant.”

Not too long later, after Preece’s self-described “rant,” his moment of retribution appeared to come as Gibbs suddenly crashed into the wall. Although replays were inconclusive on whether Preece actually made contact, Shane van Gisbergen offered his perspective of what transpired, pointing the finger at Preece as the culprit.

“Holy s—, (Preece) just committed a murder!” van Gisbergen radioed his team. “It looks like (Preece) just full-throttled (Gibbs)!”

Gibbs was evaluated and released from the infield care center. When asked by Fox Sports about the incident, Gibbs said he had yet to see a replay and didn’t know what happened. — Jordan Bianchi

>

Continue Reading

Sports

URC: Callum Sheedy ‘header’ goes viral as Cardiff fly-half admits surprise

Published

on

Sheedy played his part in the victory in Llanelli before being replaced in the second half by Jarrod Evans, who has returned to Cardiff from Harlequins this season.

With Ioan Lloyd, who is currently injured, also in the Cardiff ranks, head coach Corniel van Zyl has three Wales fly-halves to call on.

“All I can do as a player is try my best and perform the best I can,” said Sheedy.

“We all want to be number one, so how we go about that is going to be challenging because we’re all going to want to play.

“I’m sure it’ll be healthy competition.”

Cardiff return to the Arms Park to face Zebre on Friday night, where they lost only one home game last season.

“It does make a big difference,” said Sheedy.

“Hopefully we get a big crowd because I remember last season there were a lot of close games, and in the last 10 minutes, the crowd got us over the line.

“Corniel speaks a lot about making the Arms Park a fortress and we managed that last season.”

>

Continue Reading

Sports

World Grand Prix Darts: Luke Humphries ‘hates’ added title pressure from Luke Littler’s shock early exit in Leicester | Darts News

Published

on

Luke Humphries says he must improve if he is to challenge for a second World Grand Prix title and admits he would have preferred defending champion Luke Littler to have avoided an early exit.

Humphries – the 2023 champion and a runner-up the last two editions of the double-start major – produced a lacklustre performance during his straight-sets victory over Dave Chisnall at the Mattioli Arena.

The world No 2 hit under 27 per cent of his checkout attempts and averaged 80.41, his lowest in the tournament since 2022, although was relieved to avoid joining Littler and Michael van Gerwen in being beaten in the first round.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Highlights of the World Grand Prix match between Luke Littler and Luke Woodhouse, where the world No 1 made a shock exit

“That’s arguably one of the worst performances I’ve played on the World Grand Prix stage for myself,” Humphries said after the victory. “I didn’t feel comfortable throughout the whole game.

“Doubles weren’t going in at the start, the scoring was rubbish and I felt like Chizzy [Dave Chisnall] just wasn’t at his best there at all.”

“It wasn’t a good performance, but I’m through and when I play Jermaine [Wattimena] on Thursday I’m hoping you won’t see that!”

Humphries is now the favourite to lift the trophy following defending champion Luke Littler’s shock defeat to Luke Woodhouse, but admits he feels added pressure with the world No 1 no longer in the field as a title contender.

“I hate it when he loses because it always puts the pressure on myself and then everyone is like ‘this is yours to win’ and all this type of stuff,” Humphries added.

“I hate it when he loses because I want to play him in finals. I want to beat him in finals. I don’t want to lose to him in finals, but I like playing in finals because it gets me up for it.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

John Part reflects on Luke Littler’s early exit at the World Grand Prix and explains the possible reasons behind it

“When he loses, I’m not like jumping for joy. It puts all the pressure on myself and maybe sometimes it doesn’t help me.

“I’d rather him still be in the tournament and be the favourite and then I can just backdoor it to the final!”

Humphries’ 2023 win was his maiden PDC-ranked TV title and sparked a dominant run to end the season, but ‘Cool Hand’ has since suffered a string of runner-up finishes in major tournaments following his World Masters and Premier League triumphs last year.

Humphries blamed an allergic reaction for the mark on his face
Image:
Humphries blamed an allergic reaction for the mark on his face

“I feel like I deserve a major – it’s been like six or seven I’ve lost in the final,” Humphries explained. “I played really good in the Premier League final and the World Masters final – I played 105 averages and lost, so they are tough to take.

“If you just play anybody else in the world they’re probably not going to beat you, but when you’re playing a phenom like Luke [Littler], he can beat you. I feel like I deserve one, but sometimes you don’t always get what you deserve in life.

“It’s up to me to win another four games and perform a lot better than that, because if I perform that again, I’ll be very lucky to make it to the quarters and semis.”

Humphries is looking to reach the World Grand Prix final for a fourth consecutive season
Image:
Humphries is looking to reach the World Grand Prix final for a fourth consecutive season

Humphries explains face ‘injury’: ‘I don’t have that great story!’

The former world champion sparked confusion on social media after taking to the stage with a noticeable scab on his head, but felt no ill-effects from it as he progressed to the last 16.

“I really wanted to bring up some amazing story about how I fought five guys off and they come off worse than me, but unfortunately I don’t have that great story,” Humphries said.

Humphries blamed an allergic reaction for the mark on his face
Image:
Humphries blamed an allergic reaction for the mark on his face

“I did Bullseye filming on Tuesday, woke up Wednesday with a massive rash on the side of my head and it just got worse and worse and then it scabbed over.

“The only thing I can think of is when you do TV shows they put make up on and all these types of things, all these creams, and I got an allergic reaction to it.

“Unfortunately there is no great story to tell, that is what I think it is but I don’t know. I haven’t seen a doctor but it just looks like I’ve had an allergic reaction to stuff they’ve put on my head and face, but I’m fully well.”

Watch the World Grand Prix throughout the week live on Sky Sports, with coverage every day up to and including the final on Sunday. Latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW.

>

Continue Reading

Sports

Super League Grand Final: George Williams hoping to change course of Warrington Wolves’ history with victory in his final game | Rugby League News

Published

on

George Williams has set himself one task for when he steps out in the Super League Grand Final as Warrington Wolves skipper: Make sure he leaves the club with a trophy.

When Williams returned from the NRL in 2021, he made the bold decision to not go back to his hometown club of Wigan and instead headed to Warrington.

After five years there, he is poised to return to Australia and has one last opportunity to try and depart with a trophy.

It is set to be a pretty-evenly-matched Grand Final as third- and fourth-placed Warrington and Wakefield Trinity do battle. Two underdog teams who beat the first- and second-placed sides to make it to Old Trafford.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Highlights from the Super League semi-final clash between Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves

It is not lost on Williams how big this match is as he could lead Warrington to their maiden Grand Final triumph to become just the sixth team in the history of the competition to lift the Super League trophy.

He has tasted that glory with Wigan as a youngster and now wants to leave the Wolves with another career highlight and change the direction of the club.

“It is crucial, there are so many different narratives that you want to get the win, but personally, I was pretty vocal, I came here to change history and win with Warrington,” Williams told Sky Sports.

“It is pretty fitting it is my last game and I’ve got the opportunity to do that. Personally, that would be brilliant, a great way to go out, but there’s a lot more different narratives we have got for the club and the town to do it.”

Warrington take on a Wakefield team who pulled off an almighty shock with their 33-6 victory over favourites Wigan in their own backyard.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Wakefield Trinity booked their place in their first-ever Super League Grand Final as they produced a huge upset to defeat Wigan Warriors

Williams knows if Trinity turn up in that form again, Warrington will need to be on their A-game.

“We know Wakefield play a good brand of rugby, they have been posting points all year, we played them three or four weeks ago and they beat us, so we know what they’re capable of,” he added.

“I think everyone saw Wigan as favourites and we were surprised by that one.

“Both teams have been pretty consistent all year, third and fourth, I think that’s probably the word I want to use for us this year, consistent.

“Now we’ve just got to bring it one more time and are 80 minutes away from history which is the biggest key for us.”

How to watch the Super League Grand Final

The Super League Grand Final takes place at Old Trafford on Saturday October 3, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+.

The match will kick-off at 6pm, with coverage on Sky Sports from 5pm.

>

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2017 Zox News Theme. Theme by MVP Themes, powered by WordPress.