Actor Adam Driver will play a key role in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, the 107th running of one of the biggest motorsports events in the world.
While Driver won’t actually be driving, of course, the House of Gucci star will serve as the 2023 Indy 500 honorary starter. He joins a long list of celebrities who have helped kick off the high-profile event nicknamed “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
To officially start Sunday’s 500-mile race around Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s iconic 2.5-mile track, Driver — who’s known for other films like Marriage Story and Logan Lucky — be perched above the start-finish line to wave the green flag as Indy 500 pole winner Alex Palou leads the field into Turn 1.
Driver is lucky: He’ll have perhaps the best view of the start of the race.
The 2023 Indy 500 is set for Sunday, and the green flag is scheduled to fly at 12:45 p.m. ET on NBC. Coverage begins at 9 a.m. ET on Peacock before moving to NBC at 11 a.m. ET.
NASCAR returns to North Wilkesboro for the first time since 1996, and some teams are rocking special All-Star Race paint schemes.
Halfway through the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, the NASCAR All-Star Race is back, but this time, it’s visiting a historic track.
For the first time since 1996, the Cup Series will race at the newly renovated North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina. The All-Star Race is set for Sunday (8 p.m. ET, FS1) and will be a 200-lap race around the 0.625-mile track. And, as always, a $1 million prize is on the line for the All-Star Race winner.
The 21 drivers who are guaranteed a spot in the All-Star Race are Cup race winners from 2022 and 2023, former All-Star Race winners still competing full time and former Cup champs still competing full time.
Among drivers not already eligible, one will join the field as the winner of the fan vote, while the other two will race their ways in via the All-Star Open — a 100-lap qualifying race ahead of the main event.
So ahead of the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race, here’s a look at 30 paint schemes for the drivers with guaranteed starting spots, along with a few from those hoping to qualify for the race.
In 2024, Kyle Larson will attempt the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, aiming to race 1,100 miles.
Kyle Larson is getting a chance that some NASCAR drivers, and racers worldwide, only fantasize about — a chance to run the Indianapolis 500, one of the biggest and most prestigious races in the world.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ, one of the most versatile racers in the U.S., will attempt to qualify for the 2024 Indy 500, thanks to a two-year partnership between Hendrick Motorsports, his current NASCAR team, and Arrow McLaren in the IndyCar Series.
“It’s been something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time,” Larson said Thursday at a press conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is preparing for the 107th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on May 28.
“I wanted to be patient and kind of wait for the timing to feel right. It feels right. Having Hendrick Motorsports be extremely supportive of it, supporting the efforts with Arrow McLaren, it’s something that I’m extremely excited about.”
Larson — who has two wins in the No. 5 Chevrolet through the first half of the 2023 NASCAR regular season — continued at his press conference:
“Jeff kind of told me that I get to live out a dream of his. That’s really special also to me.
“I’ve obviously come here a lot in a stock car. I lived in the area for a couple years. So this place for a long time felt like home or a second home to me.
“In my opinion, this is the biggest race in the world, so you want to be a part of the big ones. Hopefully someday be a winner of a big event. Look forward to it. Happy to be here today. Look forward to kind of taking in as much knowledge as I possibly can in a single day, just trying to better prepare myself for whenever I get behind the wheel.”
Gordon described racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as “every race car driver’s dream,” and he’s lived that dream as NASCAR’s winningest driver at the iconic 2.5-mile track with five checkered flags. But as his NASCAR career took off, the Indy 500 never became a reality.
The NASCAR Hall of Famer added:
“Like Kyle said, it’s true, I did say to him he’s going to be able to live out a dream of mine. I go back to the mid to late ’80s when I was living here in Indiana, raced all around here. …
“I don’t know if really the right opportunity or it ever became serious enough after that to become a reality. So to me, this is equally as exciting because, one, I sure as heck right now don’t want to drive into Turn 1 at 238 miles [an hour] — whatever they’re running — but Kyle does. Kyle is capable of it.”
NASCAR Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon during practice for the 2015 Crown Royal 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)
For the 2023 Indy 500, McLaren is fielding four cars with the team’s regular drivers Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist, along with Tony Kanaan. Next year, thanks to the partnership orchestrated by Gordon, Larson would be the team’s fourth or possibly fifth car, as the Associated Press noted.
The Indy 500 is a grueling physical challenge in itself. But with Larson still running full-time in NASCAR, his 2024 Memorial Day Weekend will be doubly difficult.
He’ll attempt the “Memorial Day Double” by racing in the Indy 500 early in the afternoon before heading down to Charlotte Motor Speedway for NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600, held annually on the same day. Should Larson complete both events, he’ll end up racing for 1,100 miles.
Only four drivers have ever competed in the “Memorial Day Double,” and Tony Stewart in 2001 is the lone one to finish both events. Kurt Busch is the most recent NASCAR driver to attempt it in 2014, finishing sixth in the Indy 500 before engine problems kept him from finishing the Coke 600.
Larson said it’s humbling for him to be one of the few to attempt “The Double,” but, of course, he’s looking forward to the daunting task.
“It will be crazy,” he said.
“There’s going to be a lot to soak in over the next year, and I look forward to the challenge. I love racing new vehicles to challenge myself and learn something new. I feel like ultimately it makes me a better race car driver.”
All the celebrity sightings at the Miami Grand Prix can be a bit overwhelming for even the most seasoned Formula 1 reporters — particularly when it comes to U.S. athletes. And that led to quite the on-air blunder from Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle last year.
During the 2022 Miami Grand Prix, Brundle caught up with Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero and conducted an interview thinking he was speaking with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. It made for one of the more uncomfortable interviews we’ve seen in a long time, and Brundle clearly heard all about it as he returned to Miami.
Well, on Sunday, Brundle did his best to put the mistake behind him.
This time, Brundle found Banchero and correctly identified the 6-foot-10 NBA forward. The interview went much better this time around, and Banchero was especially gracious in the second interview with Brundle.
“I’m honored that you know my name now, man,” Banchero said.
Fans were happy to see this much-needed reunion as well.
A flurry of caution flags turned the middle stage of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway into a bit of a slog, but an epic battle between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin in the final laps delivered one of the most exciting finishes of the year – and moments later, tensions boiled over on pit road as Ross Chastain landed a punch on Noah Gragson.
The battle for the race win came down to Larson and Hamlin, and after several unsuccessful pass attempts, Hamlin tapped Larson’s rear quarterpanel on the final lap, sending the No. 5 Chevrolet into the wall. The win ended a long drought for Hamlin, and likely locked him into the 2023 playoffs.
Fans were unhappy with Hamlin’s methods, however, and showered him with boos when he climbed out of the car at the start/finish line to celebrate.
Gragson was unhappy with Chastain for running him up the track and into the wall earlier in the day. Gragson approached Chastain on pit road and grabbed his firesuit, and Chastain responded by landing a right jab.
Because why would the Formula 1 driver for Aston Martin continue to make references to the singer on TikTok if he’s actually dating her?
Although there’s another question to be asked: Why hasn’t Alonso fully come out and denied the pairing when asked about it twice?
So, for now, we’ll chalk all of this up to trolling gossip. Because Alonso’s latest TikTok is the driver working out with the sounds of Swift’s 22 accompanying it. The caption?
“I’m lifting 22s” with the winky emoji. And of course there’s Alonso winking to the camera.
Or … maybe he’s really hinting that he’s actually dating Swift.
It’s probably the former, right? Because if you were dating the one of the world’s biggest music superstars, you probably wouldn’t flaunt it publicly … right?
I’m getting ahead of myself. Because I should explain: As F1 fires up for race week in Baku, Azerbaijan, Alonso sent out his latest TikTok. It’s captioned “race week era” (you know, like the Swift’s Eras Tour) with a wink emoji. The soundtrack? A spedup version of Swift’s Karma. And Alonso winks at the camera.
Let’s kick this off with a disclaimer: We are merely in the gossip, extremely unconfirmed rumors stage of talk about F1 legend Fernando Alonso dating music legend Taylor Swift.
There’s talk of Swift ending a six-year relationship with now-ex Joe Alwyn. Alonso revealed recently that he and longtime partner Andrea Schlager had ended their relationship.
And suddenly, as of late, the subject of Alonso and Swift popped up seemingly out of nowhere, so much so that NASCAR drivers are talking about it both online and in person.
Bubba Wallace was asked about it after the NASCAR race at Talladega and had this to say:
Bubba Wallace is all of us when we first heard the rumour about Fernando Alonso and Taylor Swift – "good for him, daaaamn, good for her" 😅 pic.twitter.com/7eoPNOCGie
Two NASCAR drivers were thankfully OK after a gnarly wreck at Talladega on Saturday.
The NASCAR world held its breath on Saturday as a gnarly crash sent one driver on a barrel-roll wreck and another into the inside wall.
During the Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR drivers Blaine Perkins and Dexter Stacey landed in scary situations as they wrecked their vehicles while going into a turn on the track.
Stacey’s car seemed to veer away from the race first in the turn and smacked into Talladega’s inside wall. However, Stacey said after the race that he was fine and that the hit wasn’t as bad as it looked.
It’d be Perkins who would get the brunt of the accident. He got hit on the passenger’s side as he was losing control of his car on the turn. The vehicle started to flip in the air after taking contact before landing on the hood and barrel rolling six times on the track’s backstretch.
Once Perkins’ car finally came to a stop, parts and pieces had flown off and the vehicle looked like a shell of its former self. You could even see a stray tire hopping away from the wreckage.
Thankfully, the AMR Safety Team quickly got to Perkins and helped him walk off the track after he was able to safely exit the damaged vehicle.
While Perkins was thankfully OK and was getting additional medical attention, his Ollie’s Bargain Outlet-sponsored car looked absolutely demolished as it was being hauled off the track.
