English
Indian
العربية
Español
Deutsch
Türkçe
Русский
Français (Afrique)
NASCAR Contender Rankings: Kyle Larson Clear Leader As Competitors Dwindle
The only thing that is clear when talking about championship contenders is that Kyle Larson is firm as No. 1 with two victories in the first four races of The Chase. Larson’s victory and max points at Kansas on Sunday created a big gap between him and most of the field. There are only three drivers within one race worth of points (76). So not even all drivers in the top 10 of this list are considered to have a good shot. Here are my contender rankings heading into the fifth race of The Chase, which is next Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For those still in at least somewhat legitimate contention, we’ll also give a bit of an outlook for Vegas. On The Verge (Alphabetical Order): Chris Buescher (RFK Racing No. 17 Ford, -186 points behind leader): A 23rd-place finish at Kansas (partly because of damage from the wreck at the start of Stage 2) has left him with mathematical hope, but that’s about it for the title. William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet, -158): Byron finished seventh and earned nine stage points but is more than two full races behind his teammate Kyle Larson. Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet, -161): An eighth-place finish and only three stage points at Kansas was crushing to his championship hopes. Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet, -150): Being involved in an accident to start Stage 2 all but eliminated Hocevar from having any shot at the title. Ryan Preece (RFK Racing No. 60 Ford, -173): Preece was 10th at Kansas and his main priority should be consistent top 10s the rest of the way. Daniel Suárez (Spire Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet, -187): Suárez was 14th at Kansas but at least he knew he was going home to his new baby boy. Contender Rankings Cindric finished second and earned 17 stage points at Kansas for a great day. He still lost 24 points to the leader. At this point, he's probably thinking that finishing in the top 10 in points is a good goal. Unfortunately for Cindric, he has never finished in the top five at Las Vegas and was 19th in the spring race at the track. Wallace got damage in the wreck at the start of Stage 2 and rallied to finish ninth. But with no stage points, that meant he lost 48 points to Larson, which pretty much crushes any title hopes. He has just one career top five at Vegas and was ninth in the spring. Reddick needed several changes to his car for an 11th-place finish. Like his teammate Wallace, he lost significant ground to Larson to the tune of 50 points. The struggle is real. He has two top fives and five top 10s in the nine Next Gen races at Las Vegas but was 13th in the spring. Gibbs finished 17th at Kansas, a place where he really needed at least a top 10 to keep somewhat of pace with the leaders. He has a best finish of fifth (twice) at Las Vegas, including in the race last spring. A fifth-place finish at Kansas was solid but he still lost 39 points to Larson. He can gain it back but will need others to have trouble while he rattles off some wins. He has just one Next Gen top five at Vegas and that was a third in 2024 and was 16th in the spring. Logano followed his Bristol win with a 20th-place finish after he had a tire issue late in the race. He lost 51 points to Larson in a big swing. But Vegas is a good track for Logano, where he has two Next Gen victories. But his last three races were a 15th, a sixth and another 15th. Briscoe virtually has no chance at the title. He lost another 36 points to Larson, despite a fourth-place finish. But he is the one driver who could win the next two races based on his intermediate-track speed. So maybe that can give him some hope. Vegas? It’s a solid track for him, a place where he has a fourth and an eighth in his last two starts. Bell was sixth at Kansas and lost 33 points to Larson. But you can’t count him out because like his teammates Briscoe and Hamlin, he has the potential to rattle off wins. Bell has four poles in the nine Next Gen races at Las Vegas and has three top fives in the last four races there, including a third a year ago and a fourth in the spring. Hamlin is down but not out. He finished third at Kansas and lost 25 points to the leader. The good news for Hamlin? He has won the last two races at Las Vegas and led 134 laps there on his way to the win in the spring. He will be the favorite, and his championship hopes could take a pivotal turn next Sunday. The winner of two of the last three races knows it can slip away quickly. But he also knows that he has significantly cut the number of legitimate title contenders. And he’s great at Vegas. He has won twice there and finished second in the nine Next Gen races at the track. He finished second a year ago (leading 129 laps) and was seventh in the spring (where he led 62 laps). mieszalniakolorado.pl
The Vikings swung and missed in effort to find a franchise quarterback
After the 2023 season, the Vikings decided to abandon the veteran quarterback rollercoaster for a potential franchise quarterback.
The ride ended up being bumper cars without the bumpers.
Minnesota had earned the 11th overall pick in the 2024 draft. Four quarterbacks had been drafted in the first eight picks. As the clock ticked toward their pick at No. 11, the Vikings feared being leapfrogged by the Broncos at No. 12.
And so the Vikings gave up a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick to move up from No. 11 to No. 10. (They also received a seventh-rounder from the Jets as part of the deal.) They used the pick not to take Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, but to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
His rookie season was lost to a meniscus injury during the preseason opener. And while the 2024 season went well with free-agent Sam Darnold stepping in, the Vikings opted to go all-in with McCarthy for 2025, allowing both Darnold and Daniel Jones to leave via free agency.
McCarthy won his debut game on a Monday night in Chicago. A Week 2 loss in Atlanta resulted in an ankle injury that caused McCarthy to miss the next five games. He returned in Week 9 with an upset of the Lions in Detroit. Three straight losses followed, and a concussion in Green Bay caused McCarthy to miss what was a 26-0 low point in Seattle with undrafted rookie Max Brosmer at the helm.
But then McCarthy returned. He won three in a row, missed the Christmas Day win over the Lions (Brosmer got a little redemption, but not much, in the defense-driven performance), and won the regular-season finale against the Packers. While the Vikings' postseason hopes were dashed after the shutout loss to the Seahawks, the Vikings finished strong under McCarthy.
Still, the two-year body of work wasn't enough to keep the Vikings from pouncing on the opportunity to add Kyler Murray in free agency, on a bargain-basement deal (thanks to the Cardinals owing him more than $35 million in 2026). The competition between Murray and McCarthy lingered into training camp, with Murray getting the job in the days before the preseason opener.
At that point, it seemed that a fresh start for McCarthy would be beneficial for both sides. The vibes were clearly off, even though the team and the player did their best to conceal any dysfunction. The fact that McCarthy slipped behind Carson Wentz on the depth chart underscored the reality that it was just a matter of time before McCarthy would be gone.
Opportunity knocked after the Giants lost Jaxson Dart to a knee injury. Still, the Vikings got merely a fifth-round pick for McCarthy — after giving up the 11th pick in 2024, a fourth-round pick, and a fifth-round pick to get him (with the seventh-round pick in return).
It's always prudent for a team that has made a mistake to admit it and move on. Doubling down helps no one. Still, there's a price to be paid for acknowledging to such a major blunder.
And while no one knows what was happening behind the scenes, the early-season performances from Murray and Wentz suggested that maybe, at some point in 2026, the Vikings would have needed McCarthy to play. His absence puts more pressure on the team to make it work with Murray and/or Wentz (and, if necessary, with Brosmer).
The Vikings also need to quietly hope that McCarthy doesn't become a competent contributor for the Giants. If he does, the Vikings would join the list of franchises that used a high pick on a rookie quarterback, failed to develop him, and folded the tents prematurely.
Why Mercedes thought Max Verstappen was "on some sort of massive bungee cord" in Azerbaijan GP
That picture altered abruptly when the safety car was deployed after Alex Albon's Williams became embedded in the wall at Turn 5 on lap 31. Russell's margin vanished as the ...Keep reading
County pride and England chaos relegated Hundred to summer undercard | Ali Martin
Franchise tournament remains an enigma after an unexpectedly dramatic men’s international summer and a thrilling Championship title race
After pumping astronomical sums of money into English cricket, the headline act of the summer should probably have been the Hundred’s rebirth under private ownership. After all, the decks were relatively clear.
There was no Ashes series or Indian arm-wrestle in Test cricket to hog the limelight, rather a small-plates menu of touring teams. The Women’s T20 World Cup was on home soil, but for all that it outstripped its 50-over equivalent in 2017 by way of impact the men’s football World Cup dominated. Plus, folks kind of knew Nat Sciver-Brunt’s England side was not ready to derail the Australian machine.
Continue reading...