In one week, an exciting title battle will take place in a motorsports finale.
After a bad strategy call from the McLaren team allowed Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen to claim the victory in the Qatar Grand Prix, the 4-time defending champion moved up to 2nd in the Formula 1 standings, just 12 points behind points leader Lando Norris. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri is also still alive in the points, 16 points back.
With 25 points up for grabs to the winner at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, there are scenarios where Norris, Verstappen, Piastri each emerge as the 2025 champ.
Will Verstappen, who was more than 100 points out of the title fight as recently as August, complete a miraculous comeback and claim his fifth straight championship?
Will Norris hold off his two competitors and claim his first championship?
Can Piastri overcome the longest odds of the top 3 to become one of the youngest F1 champs ever?
Natural is better
What’s the lesson of all this? It shows that natural championship battles are much more engaging than anything that is manufactured, as we’re seeing in other racing series.
A curious thing is happening in NASCAR’s B-series, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity), as we head into 2026.
This series, which has been dominated by Chevy and Toyota teams in recent years (especially by Chevy and JR Motorsports), will have essentially no presence from Ford teams in 2026.
The news has long been out that Haas Factory Team will switch from Ford to Chevy starting in 2026 in O’Reilly Series, and today it was announced that RSS Racing will be moving from Ford to Chevy as well, and continue partnering with Haas Factory Team.
What it means is that, from a distance, it looks like Ford is giving up on the series for now. No major teams are currently affiliated with Ford, and anything that remains (Potentially AM Racing, and some of the backmarker teams who help fill out the field) is not going to earn them many strong finishes.
As someone who has watched teams like Roush Racing and Penske Racing dominate this series in the past, that’s tough to see.
BROOKLYN, MICH. – If you've ever wanted to get a lap in at Michigan International Speedway, now is your chance.
The track will host the 17th annual MIS Cares Charity Track and Toy Drive event on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 9 a.m. to noon. Fans are encouraged to donate a non-perishable food item or a new, unwrapped toy in exchange for a drive around the track in their personal vehicle.
Donations from this event go to support local charities, including St. Mary’s of Good Counsel Parish Food Pantry, Jackson County Toys for Tots, and Lenawee County Toys for Tots.
“We’re ready to kick off the holiday season in just a few weeks and the MIS Cares Charity Track and Toy Drive is the perfect event to start spreading holiday cheer,” said Joe Fowler, Michigan International Speedway President. “It’s important to give back to the community and to play a role in helping make the upcoming holidays special for families in the Irish Hills is what it’s all about.”
Guidelines for participants running laps at the track include:
— Speed limit of 65 MPH
— No passing allowed
— Valid driver’s license required
— Must be age 18 or older.
— Must be properly insured (and able to show proof of insurance)
— No burnouts allowed anywhere on property.
— Drivers are responsible for ensuring all passengers are properly restrained.
— Must maintain the speed of your group.
— Must stay above yellow line
— Street legal passenger vehicles are allowed, but no RV’s, motorcycles, or tractor trailers.
— For safety reasons, Michigan International Speedway officials may refuse track access at their discretion.
— Those attending can access the event via US-12 entrance.
— If weather prevents driving on the track, make-up date will be scheduled.
Nite Lites
Another upcoming event at MIS is Nite Lites, which is also Michigan’s largest Christmas Light display
This event will be held at MIS from Nov. 21 through Jan. 4. Hours for this 5-mile drive-thru display are 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday; and 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays.
Cost to attend is $35 per car/vehicle, while limos, motorhomes and minibuses are $50 each, and tour buses are $100. Cash and credit cards are accepted, and you can visit www.nitelitesshow.com for more information.
Looking ahead to 2026, fans can purchase tickets for the 2026 NASCAR race weekend at Michigan International Speedway at www.mispeedway.com.
DETROIT — Five weeks after lowering the curtain on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season with a Victory Circle celebration, Cadillac Racing continues preparations for 2026 championship runs with a two-day test at Daytona International Speedway.
In addition to eight returning Cadillac Racing drivers seeing track time in the Nos. 10 and 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.Rs and No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, Cadillac Formula 1 Team test driver Colton Herta and American stock car racing star Connor Zilisch will take the wheel of a Cadillac Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) racecar for the first time.
Five sessions November 14-15 for GTP competitors are scheduled on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course, which will host the 2026 season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.
Herta, 25, who will contest the upcoming FIA Formula 2 season with Hitech Racing, recently was confirmed to compete in the 2026 IMSA Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta endurance races in the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R.
NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season champion and rookie of the year Zilisch will get an early look at Daytona International Speedway – where he’ll make his NASCAR Cup Series full-season debut in February in the No. 99 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing – by driving the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R campaigned by Action Express Racing at the test.
“Hopefully, we’re going to make the most of it and see if this can lead to more opportunities for me in the Cadillac because it would be super cool for me to be able to race at the highest levels of endurance racing,” said Zilisch, 19, of Mooresville, North Carolina. “That’s always been a dream of mine.”
Championship weekends are supposed to be celebratory. Fun. Thrilling.
While the losing team’s fans may be upset, they can still appreciate a game well-played between competitors.
2025 Championship Weekend was a whole different vibe for NASCAR, and not in a good way.
With nonstop talk going into the weekend about the legitimacy of the one-race battle for the title, we knew the results were going to be looked at under a microscope.
To be frank, this weekend at Phoenix had a funereal feel to many fans, who saw this as the end of an era where changes that have been implemented have had unintended consequences that have hurt the sport’s integrity — and as the weekend played out, we saw two more heartbreaking examples of why this playoff format needs to end and a major reset is needed for the sport in 2026.
Friday Miracle from Heim, but disappointment for Zilisch on Saturday
To start the weekend, disaster was averted on Friday courtesy of a late 7-wide banzai move by Corey Heim that allowed him to claim a title that rightfully should have already been his. If he hadn’t won the championship due to late cautions, it would’ve been a travesty, as Heim had perhaps the most dominant season ever in the series’ history. So, we got through one day without a calamity.
But then our luck ran out.
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