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Josh Berry proves short-track prowess with strong effort at Iowa
It's no secret that Josh Berry is a master of short-track racing
The 33 year-old NASCAR Cup Series rookie won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville in 2021 and so far in his maiden voyage in the NASCAR Cup Series, the bullrings have proven to be where his talent shines through the most.
At Iowa Speedway on Sunday, Berry put forth perhaps the best performance of his young Cup Series career, leading 32 laps in the Iowa Corn 350 before differing strategies gave the lead to eventual race winner Ryan Blaney. Berry still finished seventh, however, closing out a solid, consistent drive for his third top-10 finish of the season.
After two straight DNF's at St. Louis and Sonoma, Sunday's top-10 run was a return to form for Berry, who had put together five consecutive finishes of 16th or better heading to St. Louis (including results of third at Darlington and 10th at Charlotte).
While Iowa was Berry's first top-10 finish on a short track in 2024, it marked his third finish of 12th or better in the four short-track races run so far. While Berry faded towards the end of the race at Richmond, finishing 11th, he ran in the top-10 for much of the night, even breaking the top-five and leading two laps. At Bristol, he was out front for 25 circuits before falling victim to extreme tire wear late in Stage Three, which relegated him to a 12th place finish.
While it's not surprising to see Berry be competitive at NASCAR's shortest venues, it should be taken as a very positive sign that his skills from the local short tracks and lower levels of NASCAR are translating to the Cup Series, which has a tendency to derail the dreams of many young talents. While Berry is on the older end for NASCAR Cup Series rookies, adapting to the rough-and-tumble nature of the toughest stock-car racing league in the world is impressive no matter a driver's age.
While only one true short-track -–the 3/4 mile Richmond Raceway on Aug. 11 – remains before the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Berry has shown immense improvement on all types of tracks, and could be a threat to point his way into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs if he continues to stack good results. In the meantime, circle Richmond on the calendar if you're a Berry fan – he may very well put on another spectacular performance if given the chance.
More must-reads:
- Ryan Blaney staves off challengers for dominant win at Iowa Corn 350
- Kyle Busch's season-long struggles exacerbated by mechanical failure at Iowa
- The 'Daytona 500 winners' quiz
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Chargers star's brutal injury shows why players should hold out with new contracts on line
Los Angeles Chargers offensive tackle Rashawn Slater was carted off the practice field on Thursday afternoon with what turned out to be a significant injury. According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, the two-time Pro Bowler suffered a season-ending knee injury. It's a massive blow to the team's offensive line and offense as a whole. It also serves as a harsh reminder as to why players will always — and should always — act on the side of caution when it comes to participating in training camp when they are seeking a new contract. In Slater's case, he's a lucky one because he just agreed to a new four-year, $114 million contract extension with $92 million in guarantees days before the injury happened. That contract was signed after he did not participate in some of the team's early training-camp practice sessions. If Slater had participated early on and had this injury happen before he was able to get his new deal signed, it would have been a devastating blow in his quest to get that pay day. Not only would the Chargers have had no incentive to pay him this season, but there is no guarantee he would have ever received that sort of contract in the future. Fans might not like the idea of a hold-out or hold-in, but you have to look at it from the perspective of the player. They have a very limited time to earn top dollar in the NFL, and there are never any guarantees. The hold-out/hold-in approach is not only a way to put pressure on the team to pay them, but it's also a matter of self-preservation. Football is a violent game. It's a physical game. It's a collision game. Injuries are always going to be a part of that. But injuries happen with much greater frequency early in the season, and especially in training camp, due to the fact that players are still working their way back into game shape and going through more intense and physical practices than they do at any point during the season. It's a dangerous time for them in terms of injuries, and that should not be overlooked when it comes to contract talks. Players have short careers and even less time to set themselves up financially. They should not be willing to take unnecessary risks when it comes to their earning power. The Slater situation shows just how delicate all of it is.
Paul Skenes continues home dominance in Pirates' shutout
Paul Skenes tossed six shutout innings and struck out eight to lead the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night. Despite allowing a career-high seven hits (five singles), Skenes (7-8) delivered another dominant performance to bolster his case for the National League Cy Young Award. Skenes also beat the Reds for the fourth time in four starts in his career and first time this season. Jared Triolo and Henry Davis each had two hits and two RBIs to give Skenes more than enough of a cushion to secure a win for the third time in his past four starts. It was Skenes' third consecutive start with eight or more strikeouts. It was also the Pirates' fifth shutout of the season in a Skenes start and their 14th overall shutout. It was the Reds' 10th shutout loss. Skenes lowered his major-league best ERA to 1.94 and continues to be exceptionally good at PNC Park, where he has not allowed an earned run since June 3. Bryan Reynolds, who also had two hits, homered in the first inning off Reds' starter Brady Singer (9-9), who lasted only 3 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on six hits, walked four and struck out two. Reynolds' home run came with two outs. Singer proceeded to issue three consecutive walks to Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen and Jack Suwinski to load the bases, setting up a two-run single by Triolo, which gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead. Cruz and Spencer Horwitz each had an RBI and Davis belted a two-run home run off Reds reliever Brent Suter in the bottom of the seventh. Gavin Lux had three hits, and TJ Friedl and Matt McLain each had two hits to lead Cincinnati offensively. But the Reds went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base. McLain and Elly De La Cruz hit back-to-back singles off Skenes with one out in the first. But Austin Hays grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat. -Field Level Media
Observations from the Seattle Seahawks Press Box After 23-23 Raiders Tie
HENDERSON, Nev.—The Las Vegas Raiders came to Seattle tonight to battle the Seahawks and left with an unimpressive 23-23 tie. Our latest Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast offers our thoughts and observations from the first preseason game of the 2025 season for the Silver and Black tonight versus the Seattle Seahawks. You can watch the entire podcast below: Pete Carroll came back to the place he called home for many years today, and while reverent and respectful of the Seahawks and the fans, he didn’t hide his jubilation at being the coach of the Raiders. After the game today, Carroll spoke to the media about the preseason tie. We have a partial transcript of what Carroll said below. HEAD COACH PETE CARROLL Give us your overall impressions. I know you haven't seen the film. PETE CARROLL: I've seen the film. Got that done just now. Have everything in this steel trap right now. Well, we started really poorly. We had a really hard time. The official got us five times that we assessed penalties, other ones they let us go. Miserable looking first quarter. We kind of hung in the game as far as trying to win the game. We didn't run the ball very well in the first half. We didn't do very much of anything very well. But we stayed close. It was the opportunity for us to face that up and then come on back and see what you can do in the second half to finish the game. It was a marvelous second half for our guys as a team. We did so many cool things that we weren't able to do. We ran the ball better. We protected the quarterback better. The quarterbacks made their throws, guys made their catches and gave us a chance to win the football game on the last play of the game. That's kind of all we can hope for. Bud Grant taught me that a long time ago. So winds up being a tie. Too bad. I thought Treven (Ma’ae) had two huge plays in the game. The big sack, but also he blocked a kick. Said he never blocked a kick in his life. Welcome to the NFL. Cam (Miller) and Shed (Shedrick Jackson) with his touchdown catch, gorgeous play. Our ability to keep coming back, keep coming back. The sidelines were electric. The guys understood what we were talking about. It just takes one play at the end if you can get it done. We got a chance to feel that. The most important thing that is we take that forward, that we know we ain't never done, it ain't ever over. We're going to keep hanging until we get a chance to win the game. Q. Any update on Alex Bachman? PETE CARROLL: He is fine. He's had an ankle that's bothered him. He just wrenched it a bit and came back. He played after that. He's okay. Q. (On the run defense)... PETE CARROLL: We made some really glaring errors. We made errors. Couple times when we were pressuring, we just didn't hit stuff clean enough. But as the game went on, we played way better. I thought they did a nice job running the football. I thought that was a really obvious part of their game. In the end we need to do better. Q. Cam Miller gets in there for the first time, a couple scoring drives. Getting thrown into the fire the way he did, your thoughts? PETE CARROLL: We knew he would get the chance in the fourth quarter to do this. He did a terrific job. I'm so proud of him for hanging in there through all the situations. If you remember, it was almost like the mock game. Almost like that game. He kind of did the same thing there, too. Really credit to him, the guys that made the catches. We'd appreciate it if you would follow us on X @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr , and let’s talk about the Silver and Black’s training camp and Pete Carroll’s comments.
Five NBA coaches starting 2025-26 season on hot seat
When an NBA team is struggling, it can change the players or the coach. With free agency all but done, rosters are set — so it's the men on the sidelines who are most vulnerable. Here are five NBA coaches who will start the season on the hot seat. 1. Willie Green, New Orleans Pelicans Green is in a precarious position entering his fifth season with the Pelicans. His team took on future salary to add Jordan Poole from the Washington Wizards in June, a win-now move, but also added two lottery picks in Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen. They traded next year's first-round pick to get Queen, so they expect to make the playoffs. Still, the team's success depends on the health of Zion Williamson, who has missed a combined 199 games over the last four seasons. Green's short leash is partly because his new bosses, Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver, didn't hire him. With Queen already injured, Green will be an easy scapegoat if the Pelicans struggle to start the season. 2. Nick Nurse, Philadelphia 76ers Nurse is in his third season with the 76ers, where he had a first-round loss in 2024 and a miserable 24-58 record last season. Now the Sixers are hoping for better health for the entire roster, from big man Joel Embiid to last summer's big free-agent signing, Paul George, as well as a return for second-year guard Jared McCain. But there's no reason to expect Embiid and George to improve their health when they're a year older and have had more surgeries. With Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey all on long-term maximum contracts, Philly doesn't have a lot of simple fixes — except on the sidelines. 3. J.J. Redick, Los Angeles Lakers The Lakers were a very different team when they hired J.J. Redick to be their head coach, fresh off his gig hosting a podcast with their franchise player, LeBron James. Now, James has only one year left on his contract, while Luka Doncic signed a maximum extension. Redick led the Lakers to the third-best record in the Western Conference, but made questionable moves in the playoffs, like using only five players in the second half of a loss. His job security depends on whether Doncic likes playing for him. If not, the team that fired Frank Vogel two years after he won a title and axed Darvin Ham after two seasons won't hesitate to cut ties with Redick. 4. David Adelman, Denver Nuggets Adelman performed remarkably after taking over the Nuggets with three games to go in the regular season. He led Denver to a seven-game victory in the first round before falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round. The Nuggets gave him the permanent job in May. The shadow looming over Denver is that three-time MVP Nikola Jokic declined an extension this summer. If the Nuggets think keeping Adelman will help them re-sign Jokic next summer, he's in good shape. If not, Michael Malone can tell Adelman that Denver won't think twice about making a change. 5. Doc Rivers, Milwaukee Bucks The Bucks were forced to retool after Damian Lillard's Achilles tear, losing Brook Lopez and adding center Myles Turner. There's uncertainty about how the new team will do, or whether superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to stay with the Bucks. With two first-round series losses as Bucks coach so far, Rivers could be done in Milwaukee, especially if his best player wants out, too.
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