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The latest visit to the 0.625-mile North Wilkesboro Speedway cast a pressing question in the hearts of many drivers: Why wasn’t this venue holding a points-paying race in the Cup Series? It has produced incredible racing experiences for both drivers and fans over the past few years and proven itself to be worthy of mattering more.
Many have proposed nullifying the All-Star Race and making the race at North Wilkesboro a regular-old points-paying event. This means there would be 37 races in a season.
Denny Hamlin, for one, isn’t fond of this idea. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran proposed cutting a race from the current calendar to make space for a race at the short track.
And the fixture he had in mind to be done with was the race at the Charlotte Roval. He expressed the thought on Actions Detrimental and said, “Don’t put it past anyone. More races equal more money.”
Moreover, he doesn’t think that a points race at North Wilkesboro would garner the same hype as the All-Star Race.
“I just think, from a hype standpoint, you’re going to get more hype out of something called an All-Star weekend than you are out of a regular season race at North Wilkesboro,” he explained. “It doesn’t make it a bigger event because you decide to pay points.”
Interestingly, his fellow driver Brad Keselowski had a similar line of thought.
Why Keselowski wants the Charlotte Roval to go
The RFK Racing co-owner told the media last weekend that North Wilkesboro deserves to have a points-paying race. He also stressed that the oval at the Charlotte Motor Speedway is too good to have just a single race weekend.
So, his solution was to include the North Wilkesboro Speedway in the regular season at the cost of the Charlotte Roval and move the All-Star Race to Charlotte.
When asked why the Roval had to go, he reasoned that more people attend the Coca-Cola 600 than they do the race at the Roval. He added, “I’m very strong about the Roval has got to go.” The 2023 Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney, liked this idea. But he wanted to hold off on moving the All-Star Race to a different location for now.
The 250 laps on Sunday were the best short track racing of the year after all. Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch wanted the All-Star Race to remain at North Wilkesboro as well.
It has been two years since the short track was repaved. The common expectation is that it will only continue to get better. NASCAR is yet to provide an official word on its plans for the future.
More must-reads:
- Stewart Friesen replacement announced for remainder of NASCAR season
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- The 'MLB playoff home run leaders' quiz
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Austin Hill’s Rollercoaster Playoff Journey Hits Another Twist After NASCAR Grants Waiver
Well, NASCAR fans’ drama has struck the Xfinity Series once again. A new chapter in the Austin Hill saga has taken yet another wild turn, and honestly, it’s the kind of drama you couldn’t script if you tried. After Hill’s controversial suspension for, ahem, “aggressively introducing” Aric Almirola’s car to the wall during the Pennzoil 250 Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it seemed his playoff hopes had been dashed. However, NASCAR decided to extend an olive branch, but with a twist. The franchise granted Hill a playoff eligibility waiver. Of course, because nothing can be simple in this sport, it came with a pretty brutal catch. NASCAR stripped him of all his hard-earned playoff points. NASCAR Issues Playoff Waiver With a Catch Here’s the deal. Normally, missing a race due to suspension would slam the brakes on any driver’s playoff aspirations. Enter Austin Hill’s saving grace and, of course, the elusive waiver card from NASCAR. It essentially says, “Alright, we’ll still allow you to compete for the championship despite that little ‘incident’ at Indy.” That seems harmless, right? Except NASCAR made sure this wasn’t a free pass. Hill’s 21 playoff points, which had put him in a comfortable third place among drivers in the Xfinity Series, are now gone. Oh, and if you were hoping Hill might earn new playoff points in the last few races leading up to the postseason? Forget about it. NASCAR sealed that door shut, too. No points. No advantages. Just vibes, grit, and an uphill battle. What Does This Mean for Austin Hill and Richard Childress Racing? For Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team, it’s not just about overcoming adversity anymore, but it’s about rewriting the rulebook on what “challenging” really means. Starting from scratch with zero playoff points in a field filled with drivers who’ve been stacking up advantages all season will be, well, daunting. Could this be the underdog success story in the making that NASCAR fans love so deeply? After all, a wildcard like Hill making a deep playoff run would inject just the kind of unpredictability and drama fans crave. If nothing else, you’ve got to admire the audacity of a driver who’s essentially been told, “Prove everyone wrong, or go home.” The Bigger Picture Austin Hill’s predicament raises some pressing questions about NASCAR’s rules and enforcement. The decision to grant a waiver while scrubbing his playoff points feels like a classic “you win some, you lose some” scenario. On one hand, NASCAR is making a point that you can’t race recklessly and expect no consequences. On the other hand, stripping all those points seems harsh for a single mistake. A five-lap penalty in the Indianapolis race clearly wasn’t punishment enough for NASCAR, but was it necessary to go all in and strip his playoff points down to nothing? What Lies Ahead for Austin Hill? Currently, Austin Hill and his diehard fans are looking down a tough road. Without any cushion from playoff points, every race will matter even more. Forget the luxury of having a bad day, because Hill simply can’t afford it. His performance in each upcoming event will need to be borderline flawless just to stay in the running. The stakes being this high are exactly why every NASCAR fan should keep an eye on Austin Hill’s playoff run. Whether he flames out or pulls off a near-impossible comeback, it’ll be a spectacle guaranteed to make headlines. In a sport that thrives on rivalries, chaos, and redemption arcs, Austin Hill might be the story of the season. Final Thoughts At the end of the day, Austin Hill’s playoff waiver wasn’t exactly the lifeline it seemed at first glance. NASCAR’s decision feels more like a compromise designed to keep competition interesting while maintaining the integrity of the sport, or at least their version of it. Hill may have the chance to fight for the title, but he’ll have to do it against all odds. Love him or hate him, every NASCAR fan must admit that Austin Hill is anything but boring.
Kevin Love reportedly has preferred buyout destination
Kevin Love is eyeing a return to his roots. The five-time NBA All-Star big man Love has a preferred destination on the buyout market, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported on Tuesday. Love would like to end up in Los Angeles. Now 36 years old, Love spent the last two-and-a-half seasons with the Miami Heat. He averaged just 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds over 10.9 minutes per game in 2024-25 but still managed to shoot 35.8 percent from three on the year. Earlier this summer however, the Heat traded Love to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team blockbuster deal. Now Love, a 17-year NBA veteran, is pursuing a contract buyout from the rebuilding Jazz. Though he is a native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Love played his college ball in Los Angeles at UCLA. He also has ties to both L.A. teams — he won an NBA championship with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and was also coached on that team by Tyronn Lue, who is now head coach of the L.A. Clippers. Both the Lakers and Clippers are currently sitting at 14 guaranteed contracts each. While they still have spots for two-way and Exhibit 10 players, that means the Lakers and Clippers are both down to their final open roster spot. The ex-rebounding leader Love still has some value, though probably more so as a jokester than as a contributing rotation piece. While Love clearly wants a homecoming to Los Angeles, he may have some convincing to do for either the Lakers or the Clippers to give him that final open roster spot.
Brewers righty deserves consideration as dark-horse Cy Young candidate
The Milwaukee Brewers' trade with the Boston Red Sox early in the season flew under the radar. The Brewers acquired former top prospect Quinn Priester from the Red Sox, sending outfield prospect Yophery Rodriguez to Boston on April 7. Pitching prospect John Holobetz was sent to the Red Sox on May 5 to complete the trade. Priester had been expected to be a top-of-the-rotation arm, lauded for his athleticism and plus fastball and curve. However, he struggled during his time in the majors in 2023 and 2024, posting a combined 6.23 ERA and a 1.555 WHiP over 99.2 innings, striking out 69 batters with 41 walks while serving up 19 home runs. Despite a solid outing in his only appearance for the Red Sox, Priester remained in Triple-A as nothing more than pitching depth. That changed with his arrival in Milwaukee. He has exceeded expectations, either as a traditional starter or following an opener. Priester has posted a 3.15 ERA and a 1.190 WHiP over his 114.1 innings for the Brewers, striking out 93 batters with 38 walks. Opponents have mustered a meager .228/.294/.382 batting line in 471 plate appearances with just 13 homers. The Brewers' 64-48 record entering Tuesday is the best in the majors despite a nondescript rotation. While Freddy Peralta is a top-of-the-rotation arm in his own right, staff ace Brandon Woodruff missed all of 2024 and most of the first half of 2025. Pitchers such as Chad Patrick, Tobias Myers and Jose Quintana are back-of-the-rotation arms at this point. The Brewers needed someone to step up with Priester being the unlikely hero. Pitchers Paul Skenes and Zack Wheeler are the prohibitive favorites to win the National League Cy Young Award. BetMGM does not have Priester listed as one of the 10 most likely candidates to take home the hardware. However, Priester's performance, coupled with the Brewers' success this season, is worthy of attention. If he can continue to perform at this level, Priester deserves at least some consideration on the ballot.
Padres already demoting one of their trade-deadline acquisitions
The Padres announced they’ve optioned JP Sears to Triple-A El Paso. They recalled reliever Sean Reynolds and will go with a nine-man bullpen in the short term. Sears will spend at least 15 days in the minors unless he’s brought up to replace a player going on the injured list. San Diego acquired Sears alongside Mason Miller in last week’s massive deadline deal. The 29-year-old southpaw made his team debut Monday night. He allowed five runs in as many innings on 10 hits and a walk against the Diamondbacks. Sears took the loss in a 6-2 defeat. He’d carried a 4.95 earned run average over 22 starts with the A’s. Monday's performance pushed his ERA to 5.12 across 116 innings. It’s a bottom-10 mark among pitchers to log at least 100 frames. Sears had the highest home run rate among that group, offsetting his nearly league average 20.3% strikeout rate and solid 6% walk percentage. This is the first time in two-and-a-half years that Sears heads to the minors. He broke camp with the A’s in 2023 and has been in the majors since then. Sears has also avoided the injured list for that entire time. As a result, he’s tied for fifth in MLB with 87 starts since the beginning of the ’23 season. The durability is the big selling point, as his production (4.62 ERA/4.56 SIERA) over that stretch is that of a fifth or sixth starter. The demotion shouldn’t have any impact on Sears’ service trajectory. He has already surpassed the three-year mark and will qualify for arbitration next winter. He’s under team control for three seasons beyond this one. While he’ll probably be back up at some point this year, it may require an injury elsewhere in the rotation. San Diego optioned Randy Vásquez over the weekend. They have a four-man rotation of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and deadline acquisition Nestor Cortes. Darvish and Cortes will get the ball for the next two outings. San Diego is off Thursday and could turn back to Pivetta and Cease on extra rest for their first two games of the weekend series against the Red Sox. That’d point to the series finale on August 10 as Michael King’s return date. King threw 61 pitches in what is expected to be his final rehab start on Sunday, via the MLB.com injury tracker. He’d be on six days rest for his first MLB appearance since he went on the injured list in late May with a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder.
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