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Spire Motorsports impresses in Cup Series practice, qualifying at Phoenix
Spire Motorsports is still a relatively young NASCAR Cup Series organization, but you wouldn't know it from the speed they had on Saturday.
During Saturday's practice and qualifying sessions at Phoenix Raceway, all three Spire Motorsports entries showed pace. Carson Hocevar and Michael McDowell were the two fastest cars in Cup Series practice, while all three Spire cars managed to qualify in the top-eight. Saturday was the first time Spire has ever had multiple cars qualify inside the top-eight.
Hocevar, McDowell and Justin Haley will start third, seventh and eighth in Sunday's Shriners Children's 500, respectively.
"It was similar to COTA, I didn't think I did a good job," Hocevar told Fox Sports after his qualifying run. "Spire, I think we had all three cars in the top-eight, which is really strong. It's super important for us, at the beginning of the year, to stack stage points and have a really good run."
Saturday marks consecutive top-five qualifying efforts for Hocevar, who qualified fourth at COTA. After a runner-up finish at Atlanta, he's seeking his first Cup Series win at Atlanta.
Time will tell if Spire's Saturday speed translates to Sunday, but their performance in practice and qualifying was impressive nonetheless.
More must-reads:
- Carson Hocevar paces NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix
- Burt Myers to run No. 50 for Team AmeriVet in NASCAR Cup Series debut
- The 'Bank of America Roval 400 champions' quiz
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The NASCAR Cup Series wrapped up its regular season at the "World Center of Racing" on Saturday night with Ryan Blaney picking up his second win of the season in a thrilling finish. Here are three takeaways from the regular-season finale: Blaney surges late for second Daytona win He may not have been toward the front with two laps remaining, but Blaney maneuvered his way to the front from 13th with three laps to go, getting a huge run off turn 4 to outlast a bunch of hungry drivers searching for a walk-off win to make the playoffs. Daniel Suarez (second), Justin Haley (third), Cole Custer (fourth) and Erik Jones (fifth) were each in search of their first win of the season. Instead, Blaney played spoiler and recorded his sixth consecutive top 10 to enter the playoffs with as much momentum as anyone. Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman nab final playoff spots Despite sustaining front-end damage during the race's second caution on Lap 19, Reddick, who finished 21st, locked up his playoff spot when Alex Bowman retired from the race after being involved in the biggest crash of the night on Lap 27. Despite some near wins from several drivers below him in the standings, Bowman claimed the 16th and final spot in nerve-wracking fashion. It was not the smoothest of nights for either driver, but both find themselves among the 16-driver playoff field that will compete for a championship. Early 'Big One' crushes playoff hopes for some drivers It did not take long for calamity to strike on Saturday night at Daytona. The Lap 27 "Big One," which started when Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch made contact entering the tri-oval, claimed multiple drivers early in the race. As Wallace came back up the track after spinning toward the infield grass, he made head-on contact with Austin Cindric and also collected Denny Hamlin, two-time Daytona winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bowman, among others. Most of the big crashes at Daytona tend to take place in the closing laps, but the aggression was palpable from the drop of the green flag with one last shot to make the playoffs.
Angry Mike Vrabel vows to find 'rats' within Patriots organization who leaked major news
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel wasn't mad about how the backups performed in the team's 42-10 preseason loss to the New York Giants. He was angry that someone had leaked the news that wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk would need season-ending shoulder surgery. When asked if he had anything to add to the reports that Polk would miss the season, Vrabel didn't give the media anything aside from his unvarnished feelings. "I'd like to find out where some of these [reports] come from. Some of these rats around here. So, we'll figure that out," he added in a news conference on Thursday. Coaches and reporters are hardly the best of friends on a good day. Often, a coach will deflect if they don't want to add fuel to a report the team hasn't made official, but usually they won't deflect and promise to get the "rats" providing this information. NFL insider Jordan Schultz broke the news ahead of the Patriots' preseason finale against the Giants. According to Schultz, the decision for Polk to undergo surgery was made to ensure the 2024 second-round pick would be healthy for the 2026 season. Polk dealt with health issues throughout the offseason. It was during the second quarter of New England's preseason opener against the Washington Commanders that he took a nasty hit on a one-yard run, leading to the shoulder injury that will sideline him for 2025. Last season, Polk had a tough rookie debut, catching just 12 receptions for 87 yards and recording two touchdowns. The hope for 2025 was that he could redeem himself and become a reliable enough target for second-year quarterback Drake Maye. Expectations for Maye are much higher now with the return of Tom Brady's old offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels. Without Polk to run routes, though, the already-thin wide receiver room is nearly devoid of talent behind veteran receiver Stefon Diggs. The Patriots signed Diggs to a three-year, $69 million contract in the offseason. However, Diggs has brought some unwanted attention to the team through his offseason antics and is recovering from a torn ACL that ended his time with the Houston Texans. While Patriot fans should feel some hope in the direction of the team under Vrabel — a former defensive star for New England during the dynasty years — this roster is still in the midst of a rebuild. And with such a troubled roster, losses may pile up, and the team's relationship with the media could worsen if another season feels like a waste. So, Vrabel being upset by Polk's injury is fair, but what doesn't feel fair is to single out Patriots staff and players who are potentially talking to reporters as hostile to the organization. It's perhaps not surprising that Vrabel is willing to voice his frustrations, as he's shown no fear when breaking up practice scrums. Still, it's the job of any journalist to build relationships with staff and team members to gain reliable sources who can help them accurately report the news. While the "rats" moniker for those in the building talking to NFL insiders and the New England sports media will be swallowed up by all the other headlines as Week 1 nears, it's notable that Vrabel's time as head coach in New England is already off to a contentious start.
Browns HC, Shedeur Sanders clear air on controversial benching during two-minute drill
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders appeared to be frustrated with Kevin Stefanski when the head coach took him out for the final offensive drive of Saturday's preseason game. The Browns made a curious decision to put in Tyler Huntley to lead the offense in the final two minutes of their final preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams at Huntington Bank Field. Huntley, who has almost no chance of making the 53-man roster, engineered a six-play, 46-yard drive that ended in a game-winning field goal to give the Browns a 19-17 win. Following the game, Stefanski was asked about why Sanders approached him before Huntley went in. Stefanski claimed the rookie quarterback was just being a competitor, and there was nothing more to it than that, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Sanders told reporters he didn't know the Browns were benching him for the two-minute drill. "I didn't know I was out, Sanders said via video from ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi. "I was on a bike that was powering up... I was powering up for that two-minute drive. Because that's just a situation every quarterback dreams for... I thought I was in. So then (Stefanski) told me I wasn't in. I was like, 'Ok.'" Sanders left the game after leading the offense to five straight punts. He struggled in his second preseason appearance, going 3-of-6 passing for 14 yards. The fifth-round pick took six sacks for -50 yards. Sanders didn't want to leave on that low note. The Browns shouldn't have let him. Stefanski should have given Sanders the chance to run the two-minute offense and gain valuable experience instead of giving reps to a player who won't be on the roster by Tuesday afternoon.
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Yankees' late implosion against Red Sox reveals bigger issues
If the New York Yankees are going to stay in contention for a postseason berth, the issues that surfaced in the ninth inning of Saturday's 12-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox must be resolved. Trailing 5-1 heading into the final frame at Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox jumped on reliever Paul Blackburn for seven runs to turn the game into a laugher and put Boston in position for a sweep of the four-game series on Sunday. While the immediate reaction would be to point to Blackburn as the cause of New York's late struggles, a deeper look into the game reveals that the 31-year-old right-hander's teammates did little to help him escape from what became a 71-pitch outing. Playing right field, Giancarlo Stanton became an easy target for the aggressive Red Sox, taking extra bases when possible against the lumbering slugger. Playing just his ninth game in the outfield this season, Stanton showed that, at this stage of his career, his legs aren't going to get him to base hits quickly. Knowing Stanton would be slow to get to any kind of hit, Boston runners took advantage, including Trevor Story's ninth-inning single to right with Jarren Duran already on first base. With Stanton having to come up to field the ball, Duran didn't hesitate, going from first to third and beating Stanton's throw to the bag. What the Yankees saw from Stanton on Saturday should be an immediate reminder and warning sign that his days of doing anything productive outside of hitting are likely past him. Another problem in the ninth was a wild overthrow from Anthony Volpe on David Hamilton's grounder. While Volpe's throw went way over the head of first baseman Ben Rice, a closer look at the replay showed that Volpe hesitated and might have had a play at second base had Jazz Chisholm Jr. been covering the base. The loss was the third consecutive win by the Red Sox in the Bronx, a problem in and of itself for a Yankees team that is battling with Boston in the American League wild-card race. But the bigger problems are the optics of that ninth inning as well. With Yankees fans already frustrated with manager Aaron Boone, watching their arch-rival play fundamentally sound baseball while the Yankees botch the small things that become big innings will only make the temperature rise in the Bronx. While Yankees batters may have hit an MLB-leading 210 home runs this season entering Saturday's action, it's not just about the long ball. As Saturday showed, if New York can't do the little things right, not even the big hits may be able to keep the Yankees alive in the postseason hunt.
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