While the Paris 2024 Olympic Games take place over the course of the next two weeks, one sport that won't be represented is auto racing. Perhaps it should be, though — after all, it's an international sport, and there are global competitions between drivers of different disciplines on equalized playing fields.
Just imagine what an auto racing Olympic field could look like. The Netherlands have Max Verstappen. Spain has Alex Palou. New Zealand has Scott Dixon. The United Kingdom has Lewis Hamilton. It could be anyone's race to win.
The United States has plenty of big names in the racing world as well, many of them competing in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NTT IndyCar Series. With that in mind, here is a theoretical list of five drivers who could have represented Team USA if their sport had been part of the 2024 games.
A no-brainer. Larson is the most recognizable name in American auto racing, and he's at the apex of his powers as he currently leads the NASCAR Cup Series in points and wins in 2024 despite missing the Coca-Cola 600. More importantly, one of his greatest strengths is his adaptability to any type of vehicle or race track, with a resume on dirt that's just as impressive as his stock car career.
In a theoretical Olympic auto racing competition, one has to imagine there would be a diverse set of events for drivers to run. That makes Larson the perfect ace to headline Team USA, and he'd give the squad a great chance at gold in anything he competes in.
Back-to-back defending Indianapolis 500 winner. Two-time IndyCar Series champion. The best American open-wheel driver of his generation and a beloved fan favorite. Newgarden is another obvious choice, despite being in the midst of his worst season since joining Team Penske as he currently sits ninth in points.
Throughout his career, Newgarden has excelled on ovals in IndyCar, with 16 of his 30 career wins coming on such tracks. Should there be an open-wheel oval event in this theoretical competition, he'd be the top candidate to carry the banner for Team USA.
Busch is the most accomplished active driver in NASCAR with 63 Cup Series wins and two titles in exactly 700 career starts. And his combined win total of 231 in all three series is the most in NASCAR history. He is currently having one of the worst seasons of his career as he takes his lumps with a struggling Richard Childress Racing team, but he himself hasn't run out of talent by any means.
Busch's place on the Olympic squad would be more of a lifetime achievement award than an honor of currently being one of the best drivers in the world. That said, perhaps the global stage would be able to reignite the fire inside of him.
Sargeant, who currently drives in Formula One for Williams Racing, is the first American to compete in the series since Alexander Rossi ran five races in 2015 and the first full-timer from the states since Scott Speed. He's struggled in his two seasons in F1, scoring only one career point thus far, but he would give Team USA some versatility with his experience at a level of racing that no one else can provide.
There are plenty of candidates who could fill the final slot here with NASCAR's Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott and IndyCar's Colton Herta at the top of the list. However, every squad needs the young hotshot, and there's no one better to fill that role than Zilisch, who at 18 already has a case for being one of the most versatile racers in America.
Included among Zilisch's accolades are a Rolex 24 class win and a CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy. He's perhaps the most intriguing talent to enter the NASCAR ranks since Larson and, in an alternate universe, an impressive performance in Paris with Team USA's auto racing squad could have served as his official coming-out party.
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Perhaps the worst-kept secret in the NASCAR garage has been officially revealed. On Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, Trackhouse announced that 19-year-old phenom Connor Zilisch, a seven-time winner in Xfinity Series competition in 2025, will replace Daniel Suarez in the organization's third Cup Series car for 2026 and beyond. Red Bull and WeatherTech will serve as two of Zilisch's primary sponsors in 2026. A car number was not announced. Zilisch has made three Cup Series starts with Trackhouse Racing in 2025 and is widely regarded as one of the best prospects in NASCAR history. He won in his Xfinity Series debut at Watkins Glen in September 2024 and is a championship favorite in the Xfinity Series this season. Suarez announced that he would not return to Trackhouse — a team he's driven for since 2021 — on July 1, opening up a seat for Zilisch. Suarez has not yet announced his plans for 2026. Zilisch will join a Cup Series lineup of Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen for 2026. "We got a bunch of guys that win a bunch of races, including Connor," Marks said during the news conference. "I never thought I would make it anywhere in racing," an emotional Zilisch said. It's safe to say Zilisch has made it, and race fans will likely be hearing his name for decades to come.
Saturday was not a good day for Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders, two players competing for a spot on the 53-man roster of their respective teams, the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Hours after Shedeur took more sacks (five) than completions (three) and had a heated moment with Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, Shilo was ejected from the Buccaneers' preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. "Bucs S Shilo Sanders has been ejected from tonight's game following an unnecessary roughness penalty," Scott Smith of the Buccaneers posted on X. Shilo appeared to take exception to Zach Davidson hitting and blocking him after a play had ended before the rookie took a swing at the Bills' tight end. The ejection came at a bad time for Shilo, who was competing with Kaevon Merriweather and Rashad Wisdom for the No. 4 safety spot on the depth chart. Before the game, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said that Shilo's output against the Bills would be big in his evaluation before the team has to trim the roster to 53 players by Tuesday. "Shilo's very aggressive, very young, very hungry," Bowles said. "He can make plays in the box and we know he can run down and give us 100% on special teams, so this last week is going to be very important for those guys to show up." Following the ejection, Shilo lost critical playing time to show his strengths on the field. He also showed the coaching staff a short temper and cost Tampa Bay with an unnecessary penalty. Shilo will end his preseason with four total tackles. He has shown he has the talent to be in the league, but Shilo's role will likely be as a practice squad player until his play and mental strength develop.
According to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, New York Jets starting quarterback Justin Fields did not throw a pass that traveled 10 yards in the air during his two preseason appearances. Some have voiced concerns about the Jets' passing attack with Fields in the lineup, but he insisted while speaking with reporters on Tuesday that he's "fine with taking eight-yard completions every play." On Wednesday, Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand addressed Fields' comment. "He's going to play the play the way the defense allows him to play it," Engstrand said about Fields, per Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic. "So if they're going to allow him to take a shot down the field, he's going to take it. If they don't allow him, he's going to check the ball down, and we'll move on to the next play. We're all good with that." Fields completed just one of five passes for four yards in the Jets' 31-12 loss to the New York Giants on Saturday. According to Fox Sports, he connected on four of nine pass attempts for 46 yards across his first two preseason appearances of the summer. Despite such lackluster numbers, first-year Jets head coach Aaron Glenn suggested on Tuesday that he is ignoring "the noise that happens on the outside" regarding the team's passing offense. On Wednesday, Jets passing game coordinator Scott Turner praised Fields for knowing when to take a checkdown and when to challenge an opposing defense. "I think you've seen a lot of quarterbacks in this league, Josh Allen pops into mind, who really cut down his turnovers last year and won MVP by not always trying to make the big huge play, but make the right play. Justin has done a nice job with that," Turner said. ESPN stats show that Fields averaged 6.9 yards per pass attempt over six starts and 10 appearances with the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. Per Pro Football Reference, 22 qualified quarterbacks had a better yards per pass attempt average for the 2024 campaign. Dan Graziano of ESPN noted Wednesday that the $10M guaranteed that the Jets owe Fields for 2026 "won't prevent them from" looking for an upgrade at the position next year if he doesn't make "a major leap as a passer." It's still early into this experiment, but there's no sign that such a leap is coming anytime soon.
Rece Davis doesn't want to see the College Football Playoff expand to two dozen or more participants. The longtime host of ESPN's "College GameDay" said on Saturday, per On3's Nick Schultz, that the Big Ten Conference's idea being floated around that could grow the CFP to 24 or 28 teams is "absurd." Davis made his comments on ESPN just before No. 17 Kansas State and No. 22 Iowa State were set to battle in the opener of the 2025 college football season from Aviva Stadium in Dublin. According to a recent report by ESPN's Pete Thamel, the Big Ten's idea is in the early stages of being discussed. This proposal would eliminate conference title games and offer a sizable number of automatic bids to the four power conferences. "I’m just going to say this flat-out: I don’t believe they’re serious about this,” Davis said on "College Football Countdown," per Schultz. "I believe this is like when you go to sell your house, and you say, 'I’m going to ask $1 million more than I’m willing to settle for.' They’re trying to get something back on the other side because on its face, this is absurd. It’s absurd, on its face. So they have to be looking for something else. That’s my guess." CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello reported on Aug. 18, citing sources, that the Big Ten's CFP expansion idea isn't off to a great start and has caught stakeholders off guard. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti recently floated the two expansion models to athletic directors in that conference, per Marcello. The Southeastern Conference, the other dominant league in college football, was later informed. Others conferences weren't told about the idea until reports leaked out, according to Marcello. A CFP executive said to CBS Sports, "We sound like immature children throwing garbage against the wall." Per Thamel, in the 28-team model, the Big Ten and the SEC would each command seven automatic bids, while the ACC and the Big 12 would both get five. There would then be two auto bids for non-power-four conferences and also two at-large teams. At the conclusion of the 2025 season, there will be a 12-team CFP. The event also had 12 participants last season, with Ohio State winning, and before that, four teams. Over the past year or so, stakeholders have discussed potentially expanding the CFP to 16 participants. However, an agreement hasn't been reached due to different conferences wanting a different number of automatic bids versus at-large teams, according to Thamel.