Motorsport legend Mario Andretti has recently dropped intriguing hints about upcoming announcements from Andretti Global, potentially signaling significant shifts for the ambitious racing outfit.
This comes amid news of Michael Andretti stepping down from his ownership role in the team. Michael, Mario's son and a key player in Andretti Global, has transitioned to a newly defined "advisor role," leaving the motorsport community speculating about the reasons behind this move and its implications, including ties with Cadillac and business partner Daniel Towriss. However, Mario stresses that further details are forthcoming. He commented to GP Blog:
"I think there will be some announcements made on that, but I'm not in a position to deliver anything."
When asked about the reason behind Michael's decision to step down, Mario responded:
"Well, I think you will have to talk to Michael. A lot of things are not exactly the way that it seems, like people are assuming, because no official comments have been made on that. So that's coming. It's not for me to divulge any of that."
The 1978 F1 champion revealed that announcements could be expected within the next month. He added:
"I think it's gonna be any time within a month, I would suspect. It’ll be when everything is totally established."
This comes after Michael penned an open letter to fans, explaining:
"As I make this decision for myself, my family and this team, I know this is somewhat of a shock to many, especially you, the fans, my extended family. For many of you, you’ve watched me grow up, or you’ve grown up right alongside of me, and no matter what moves we’ve made as a team, you’ve stuck by our side at every turn. It is not lost on me that the generations of Andretti fans are the best in the business. I’m honored to be considered a fan favorite, a role model and a friend. And I thank you for a lifetime of support and, in some cases, your brutal honesty.
"But I am not going away – I will be serving as an advisor for the team and will be available to help wherever I can. While you might see me less at the racetrack, know that my passion for the sport and my support for our team, and its people, will remain unwavering."
He concluded:
"I’m excited about the opportunity to spend more time with my beautiful family, including my 10-year-old twins, embrace my new Nonno title and explore new things on a personal level and with my other businesses. So, this isn’t a goodbye. It is just the turning of the page."
More must-reads:
The New York Knicks have had a busy summer thus far as they have made multiple additions to their roster to try and improve off their run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Of course, the Knicks also made a head coaching change to begin the summer as they fried Tom Thibodeau and replaced him with two-time Coach of the Year winner Mike Brown. During free agency, New York added Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele to upgrade their bench at a cheap cost, which is an area that they struggled with last season. The Knicks do have one more roster spot open which they will likely use to add another veteran player to their bench. While the Knicks have focused on upgrading their depth this summer, Sports Illustrated’s Jackson Caudell recently created a mock trade that would see New York send Karl-Anthony Towns to the Dallas Mavericks for one of their star players along with depth. In the trade, the Knicks would acquire Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington from the Mavericks while Dallas would land Towns and Vit Krejci. The Atlanta Hawks are the third team involved in the trade and they would receive Caleb Martin and two second-round picks from the Mavericks. For the Knicks, it would be a tough decision to move on from Towns but they would be able to fill some glaring holes in their roster with their return in this deal. Thompson would give them a much-needed three-point sharpshooter in their starting lineup while both Washington and Gafford would be major additions to their frontcourt, especially on the defensive end. Despite this, the Mavericks may not want to move on from three of their key players to acquire Towns, who struggled in the playoffs last season, primarily on defense. While that may be the case, making this trade would be a massive upgrade to the Knicks’ lineup and depth that could make them the team to beat in the Eastern Conference next season.
The Milwaukee Bucks' decision to waive-and-stretch Damian Lillard sparked even more Giannis Antetokounmpo rumors on social media. There were already reports that Antetokounmpo was considering his options and potentially forcing his way out of Milwaukee, and the Lillard move did little to alleviate the situation. Nevertheless, the weeks have gone by, and Antetokounmpo is still a Buck. More importantly, the team believes that's not going to change any time soon. "We have no indication that anything is really changing as far as our relationship with the player we think is the best in the world," a Bucks front office executive told Spotrac's Keith Smith. "We rebuilt on the fly, in a really challenging situation, but we think we did it as well as it could be done." Antetokounmpo trade rumors have cooled off around the league, and while anything can happen in the NBA, that doesn't seem likely at this point. "Do I think the star guys like Giannis (Antetokounmpo) or LeBron (James) are going to go anywhere? Nope. Is it possible? Sure is," said a Western Conference executive. Giannis chose to stay in Milwaukee with one of the most lucrative contract extensions in NBA history. He was overly critical of the team's effort last season, and another early playoff exit may have driven him to the edge. Even so, he's talked about how he wants to win "the right way," as opposed to chasing rings. That said, with head coach Doc Rivers' long list of questionable postseason performances and a championship window that could be closing right before their eyes, Giannis trade rumors will flood social media again if the Bucks get off to a slow start during the 2026-26 campaign.
The New York Mets are a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East, but their pitching staff is still injury-ravaged despite the recent returns of Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas. Brandon Waddell (hip), Dedniel Nuñez (elbow), Max Kranick (flexor), Paul Blackburn (shoulder), Tylor Megill (elbow), Griffin Canning (Achilles), Drew Smith (elbow), A.J. Minter (lat), Danny Young (elbow), and Christian Scott (elbow) are alll on the Mets' IL. The MLB Trade Deadline is July 31 at 6 p.m. EST, so the front office has one week to add healthy arms from around the league this season. ESPN's David Schoenfield predicted on Thursday that New York would trade for a Minnesota Twins reliever. "One guarantee of the trade deadline: The Mets will add to the bullpen, probably with more than one trade. Though the rotation still ranks fifth in ERA, that was built off a hot start," he wrote. "More importantly, the only Mets starter to complete six innings since June 7 has been David Peterson. As a result, manager Carlos Mendoza has run relievers Reed Garrett, Huascar Brazoban, Jose Butto and Ryne Stanek into the ground. The bullpen had a 2.78 ERA through May, but that figure is over 5.00 since the beginning of June (ranking near the bottom of the majors)." "The Twins have two high-profile relievers in [Jhoan] Duran and [Griffin] Jax, both of whom are under team control through 2027, so they'll be much more expensive than your usual short-term relievers if the Twins decide to trade one or both," he continued. "Duran would be harder to deal -- but bring more in return -- so we'll say Jax will go. Don't be fooled by his 4.09 ERA: He has 68 strikeouts and 12 walks in 44 innings with a 97-mph heater. He's an elite strikeout reliever, the type you want on the mound in October." The Mets are hot despite their injuries, as they're on a four-game winning streak and just swept the Los Angeles Angels. Next up is a road trip against the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres. New York right-handed pitcher Clay Holmes (8-5, 3.48 ERA) will face Giants right-hander Logan Webb (9-7, 3.08 ERA) on Friday.
The focus for the Minnesota Vikings this season will be first-year starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy. It's all going to be about how good he's playing. One of the biggest elements about helping him perform is going to be how the players around him perform, along with how head coach Kevin O'Connell utilizes them. We know that wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison are going to be major factors, but the running game will be a major impact on getting the Vikings to the next level. Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones could be key to Vikings' success What's going to be really interesting is how head coach Kevin O'Connell modifies the offense to cater to what McCarthy does best. One of the easiest things you can do to maximize a young quarterback is to have a really good running game. The Vikings added Jordan Mason and extended Aaron Jones to give them a 1-2 punch in the backfield. What we didn't necessarily expect is both of them playing together. That's something O'Connell mentioned during his press conference on Wednesday. "Yeah, I think you can look at it a lot of ways, with looking at Aaron and Jordan," said O'Connell about how he might use Jones and Mason. "But how I just said it is how I see it. It's Aaron and Jordan and, the running back position, I wouldn't go to say it's as nuanced as the quarterback position of reps. But you want guys to be able to get in a rhythm. At the same time, we've got truly a combination that will cause a lot of problems between having two great backs that are different body types, maybe different skill sets, but they're complete backs. Aaron Jones can run in between the tackles, he can catch the ball, he can block in protection. He can line up anywhere in the formation. Jordan Mason has proven already to be well ahead of new players in the system from a protection standpoint. And clearly, he's got the body type to be a physical presence. So, I really see those guys playing off of each other, where we can keep them both fresh, keep them both in attack mode when they're in there. "But how CJ [Ham] and his role in the two back groupings, maybe we activate some two back groupings where we've got Jordan and Aaron in the game at the same time. There's a lot of things schematically that we're going to try and then, as we get towards the season, what gives us advantages? What allows us to play the most multiple way that all circles back to the number one question of what makes the quarterback's job easier and more likely to be quarterback friendly to apply to our whole system." 21 personnel, or the pony package (two running backs, one tight end), isn't something that's new or revolutionary in the National Football League, but it would allow the Vikings to maximize their potential advantages by attacking the second level of the defense. Last season, the Vikings only ran 21 personnel a grand total of 129 times (12.24%) which isn't very much. However, they didn't have a second running back to take advantage of that personnel grouping. They do now. While Mason isn't a dynamic route runner, Jones is a player you can trust to do those things. Texas routes, option routes, running rail and go routes down the field. You name it, and he can do it. Plus, Mason is "good enough" as a receiver to make him a credible enough of a threat out of the backfield to keep the defense honest. The key to maximizing 21 personnel isn't just to exploit the second level defenders in the passing game. You also have to have a good running game to prevent the defense from subbing in their nickel package. The other factor is that both backs need to be able to block well. That's not an issue for either guy. As O'Connell mentioned, this isn't a guarantee, but it is really interesting that he's already discussing it, especially when it was relatively unprompted.
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!