The helicopter, called Ingenuity, has had the public waiting in suspense as it prepares to take off on Mars for the first time. When it does, it will mark the first powered flight on another world. The flight test was originally penned for Sunday, April 11, but with just one day to go NASA announced it had identified a software issue during a high-speed spin test of the helicopter’s rotors on April 9....
Thankfully, the scenario has only been lived out in the world of science fiction so far, but dangerous asteroid impacts are something scientists take very seriously in the real world. This week, NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) has been leading a fictional scenario in which delegates at the 7th International Academy of Aeronautics (IAA) Planetary Defense Conference have been tasked with responding to an imaginary asteroid that is due to hit Earth....
MORE: Results, highlights, more from Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 But when Harvick drew a critical pit road speeding penalty on Lap 311, it wasn’t Elliott who capitalized. It was race winner Brad Keselowski. On a restart on Lap 315, after a slow final pit stop, Elliott took the green in fourth position in the outside lane — a distinct disadvantage — and fell back to fifth at the finish....
The result was a massive crash with several cars, including those of William Byron, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece, flying into the tire barriers along the side of the course and many other cars spinning off the track. The wrecks forced NASCAR to bring out the red flag. That wouldn’t be the end of it. During NASCAR’s first attempt at overtime, Michael McDowell went airborne over the turn, igniting a crash that took out several other drivers....
This will be the 19th Sprint Cup race held at LVMS and has fans flocking to Vegas every March for vacation and some NASCAR. Nothing against places like Darlington, Martinsville or Fontana, but those towns don’t exactly evoke excitement once the racing is done for the day. The thing that also separates Las Vegas from the 35 other Cup dates is legal sports wagering. Dover, Del., which has a form of sports betting (parlays only), doesn’t offer NASCAR wagering for its two dates, but Vegas does, and the fans have become quite seasoned at how to bet all the Super Bowl-type propositions....
That is, unless that person also doesn’t like Brad Keselowski, who won Sunday’s race at New Hampshire for his third victory of the season. Hamlin, who has won a series-high five Cup races in 2020, entered the race as the driver with the best career stats at the flat, one-mile oval in Loudon, N.H. Hamlin indeed was strong Sunday and finished second, but Keselowski got the best of him on a late restart, and the race ended with a long green-flag run (83 laps) that made it impossible for Keselowski to be caught....
The sanctioning body was able to eliminate tandem racing — where one car pushes another car around the track to increase the speed of both cars — in Sprint Cup with engine-cooling rules that make it difficult to orchestrate a tandem draft without overheating the engine. It will try those engine cooling rules plus smaller spoilers in the Nationwide and truck series this year but also have issued an edict to the drivers in its two top development series not to tandem draft....
Beyond possibly changing the brake bias and turning on air blowers, NASCAR drivers have few controls in the cockpit. MORE: Kevin Ward funeral | What Stewart must do now | Harvick penalty | Truex girlfriend But that could change in 2015. One of the items NASCAR is testing Monday at Michigan International Speedway will be a driver-adjustable rear track bar. The driver could make adjustments from the cockpit during a run in order to make the car turn better instead of having to wait for a pit stop....
The NASCAR veteran announced via a news release Tuesday he will retire after the Aug. 1 Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway. ESPN.com was first to report the news. MORE: Dale Jr. says Patrick will chill out | Busch builds momentum Better known as the youngest brother of NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, the 51-year-old Wallace made 344 starts in NASCAR’s top series between 1990 and 2008. Although he never won a race in the Cup series, he remains a familiar and popular figure around the circuit, known for his affability and sense of humor as well as his work as an analyst with FOX Sports....
The track has been a part of the Truck and Xfinity series calendars in recent years, but most of the Cup field is not too familiar with the slick turns of the World Wide Technology Raceway track. The Enjoy Illinois 300 is replacing the Pocono Organics CBD 325, which took place from 1982-2021. How will racers respond to the new surface? It’s not every day that NASCAR drivers race on terrain they haven’t experienced before....
Qualifying for the event took place Saturday. Ten drivers competed for the pole position, with each making a single-lap run around Phoenix’s 1-mile oval after advancing out of the first round. The Cup Series will return to Phoenix in November for the season-ending playoff championship race. Watch today’s race live with fuboTV (free trial) Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Phoenix? The pole went to Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who posted a 132....
The starting grid for Sunday’s race at Pocono, scheduled to start at 4 p.m. ET and broadcast live on FS1, features a pair of Chevys at the front of the field thanks to an inversion of the top 20 finishers from Saturday’s race. The bottom 20 finishers will start Sunday’s race in the same positions. MORE: Updated 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule As for pit stall selection for the NASCAR Cup Series races being run without qualifying, it is ordered based on finishing positions from the series’ previous race, followed by new entries in order of points....
On-track qualifying is a rarity this season as NASCAR tries to limit the amount of time teams spend at the track amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Only eight races total are scheduled to have practice and qualifying in 2021; Road America was race No. 6, joining Daytona (for the Daytona 500), Bristol’s dirt track, Circuit of the Americas, Charlotte (for the Coca-Cola 600) and Nashville. The remaining sessions will be for a new track on the schedule (Indianapolis’ road course) and the season-ending Championship 4 race at Phoenix....
This is the second visit of the year the series has made to Pocono’s 2.5-mile layout, affectionately dubbed the Tricky Triangle. On June 7, Martin Truex Jr. led 97 of the 160 laps for his lone win of the season. Only five other drivers led a lap, with second-place Harvick leading 39 of them. It was Harvick’s second straight second-place finish at Pocono. The biggest story heading into the weekend centers around Kyle Busch and whether he can win his fourth straight Sprint Cup race but his first ever at Pocono....
Elliott, who started on the pole, won the first two stages and led 80 of the event’s 90 laps. But as the race came down to the finish, there was a familiar driver in his rearview mirror — Martin Truex Jr., the same driver who pursued him to the finish line a year ago. Truex closed on Elliott’s bumper several times in the closing laps, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver hit all his marks to hold him off and win the GoBowling at The Glen....
The Confederate flag — which is viewed by many as a symbol of racism and slavery — was banned from all NASCAR races and properties in a decision made prior to Wednesday’s race at Martinsville Speedway. Its banishment came amid a renewed focus on the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota on May 25. MORE: NASCAR ratings get a boost after Confederate flag is banned from races...
That is the Wallace way. MORE: NASCAR’s greatest father-son combos While Rusty Wallace enjoyed remarkable success during his Hall of Fame career, his younger brothers, Mike and Kenny, learned to scrap and claw and persevere to carve out their own long racing careers. No matter what they were faced with, what kind of setbacks they encountered, they always bounced back. Mike Wallace has been racing at NASCAR’s highest levels since 1990....
As good as Elliott was, it was Ryan Blaney who had the fastest car for much of the day Friday as he set the track record in Round 2 with a 14.528-second run. Blaney has been very good as of late finishing with three top-fives in his last four races and will once again be in good position to come away with a great placing. William Byron will start second....
The race needs to run for 200 laps to be official, and that is a ways off. Dover doesn’t have lights, either, meaning that in addition to the rain, drivers are also at the mercy of daylight to finish the race. Before the red flag, the race was under its second caution. If the race is called, expect to see it resumed Monday. MORE: NASCAR at Dover live race updates, results, highlights from DuraMAX Drydene 400...
All of these statements can be applied to what Steve Nash endures on a daily basis, as he fights to overcome nerve damage and extend his career. At 40 years old, the truth is that Nash's best days in the NBA are behind him. That doesn't mean he can't have good days in front of him, however. Nash is grappling with that very notion in a Grantland documentary called "The Finish Line," which follows the Lakers point guard as he works through rehab with the intent to return to the team that signed him to a two-year contract, one he has spent on the sidelines for the most part....
