NASCAR

Get ready to shake and bake.

Stewart-Haas Racing unveiled its Talladega Nights-themed cars for Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe. The two racers will be doing their best Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. in the Wonder Bread and Old Spice cars:

Jonathan Howard of On3 noted this will be the first time for the Wonder Bread scheme on the track since 2013 when Kurt Busch drove in a similarly decorated car. And it will be the first time for Old Spice since Corey LaJoie's car in 2019.

Preece and Briscoe will be in the Talladega Nights-themed cars for Sunday's YellaWood 500, which is, fittingly, taking place at Talladega Speedway.

Former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick was among the attendees at this week's Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert who were trapped in muddy conditions and largely unable to leave after a series of rain storms this summer.

Patrick spoke about her time at the festival in a post on her Instagram Stories:

Made it out. Stuck three times and it took four hours... but on pavement.

The challenge from weather really helped show everyone's true nature at BM and it was to step up and help each other. It is an alternate reality where everyone gives what they can and no money is exchanged. 

Too bad that couldn't be our full reality but for now... It's one magical week in the desert. Or swamp this year.

Heavy rain on Friday and Saturday led to swampy conditions and flooded roads, making it impossible for most of the 70,000 attendees to leave. Some people hiked through the muddy desert and hitchhiked to the closest town or city like Reno in an effort to escape the festival.

Burning Man is an annual arts and music festival that places an emphasis on self-reliance and trading goods among the attendees or gifting rather than the exchange of money. A temporary city is built for the event and a giant sculpture of a man is ceremoniously burnt to end the event.

Patrick, 41, is a former NASCAR and IndyCar driver. She had one win and seven podium finishes in her IndyCar career and seven top-10 finishes during her time in NASCAR. She is the only woman to ever win an IndyCar event.

Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece will return to the track this weekend in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the first time since his horrific crash at Daytona International Speedway last week.

"If I had headaches or blurry vision or anything like that that I felt I was endangering myself or anybody else here, I wouldn't be racing," Preece told reporters Saturday,. "I have a family that I have to worry about as well. This is my job, this is what I want to do, and I feel completely fine."

Preece's No. 41 Ford went airborne and flipped nearly a dozen times before coming to rest on the infield grass in the closing laps of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona on Aug. 26.

The accident occurred with five laps to go when he was bumped by Erik Jones and spun across the nose of Chase Briscoe's car and into the infield before going airborne in what was one of the more violent crashes of the NASCAR season.

"I've seen other interviews from drivers in the past that as you get sideways and as you go in the air, it's gets real quiet," Preece said. "After experiencing that, that's 100 percent true. Beyond that, everything's happening so fast, you're just flipping through the air. Until that ride stops, all you're thinking about is just trying to contain yourself.

"You tense up and you hope you're going to be OK," he continued. "Which obviously I am."

After being attended to by the AMR Safety Team, Preece was able to climb out of the vehicle before being transported to the hospital for further evaluation before being released on the morning of Aug. 27.

While Preece says he is not sore from the crash, his eyes are bloodshot and bruised from the accident.

Preece's accident eliminated him from the NASCAR playoffs as he faced a must-win situation at Daytona amid a difficult 2023 season. His best finish this year came when he finished fifth at Richmond Raceway in July.

The Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway kicks off at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Bubba Wallace landed his first career NASCAR Cup playoff berth Saturday night at Daytona, and Michael Jordan was on hand to offer his congratulations.

The Basketball Hall of Famer greeted Wallace alongside other members of the 23XI Racing team as Wallace clinched the 16th and final playoff spot.

Wallace snuck into the playoffs after Chris Buescher won the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday. He is one of only three drivers to qualify for the playoffs this season without a win. Veterans Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick are the others.

While Wallace has finished outside the top 10 in 11 of the last 12 races, his stellar string of top fives in May and his fourth-place finish in February's race in Las Vegas were enough to give him a bump.

Jordan launched 23XI Racing in 2020, with Denny Hamlin serving as a minority owner. After Jordan sold his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets earlier this year, 23XI Racing is now his main sports entity.

We'll have to see if Wallace is as clutch in the playoffs as his car owner.

Ryan Preece isn't going to allow one scary crash keep him off the track.

Preece vowed to return to the track after flipping his No. 41 Ford Mustang 10 times during Saturday's NASCAR Cup race at Daytona.

"NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece will remain overnight at Halifax Health Medical Center for continued observation," Stewart-Haas Racing said in a statement. "The driver of the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing is awake, alert and mobile and has been communicating with family and friends. Preece will undergo another evaluation by medical personnel later this morning. An update will be provided in the afternoon."

Preece's car went airborne after being contacted by Erik Jones and then sliding into the grass. He was able to exit the car on his own power and was later transported to a local medical facility.

Preece joined Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2023 season, replacing Cole Custer in the No. 41 car. He's currently 26th in the Cup standings.

Kurt Busch announced his retirement from competition as a NASCAR driver on Saturday at the age of 45.

Busch took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to post a heartfelt video in which he thanked those who made accomplishing his NASCAR dreams possible:

In July 2022, Busch suffered a concussion during qualifying for a Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, causing him to miss the remainder of the season.

Busch left open the possibility of running a part-time schedule this season, but he has not competed in any races, and he said Saturday that he and his doctors decided there are "too many obstacles" for him to overcome in his recovery to reach 100 percent and return to racing.

Busch made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2000 and became a full-time driver for Roush Racing in 2001, which was the team he spent his first six seasons with.

He would later race for Penske Racing, Phoenix Racing, Furniture Row Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and 23XI Racing over the course of a 23-year Cup Series career.

It didn't take Busch long to establish himself as one of the elite drivers in the sport, finishing third in the points standings in only his third season, and winning the points championship in 2004.

That would prove to be Busch's only title, but he finished 10th or better in the standings on nine occasions.

Busch is likely a surefire future NASCAR Hall of Famer, as he ranks 25th on the all-time Cup Series wins list with 34 and 12th in career Cup Series starts with 776.

He also has a Daytona 500 win to his credit, having won the Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing in 2017.

Busch is the older brother of another NASCAR legend and future Hall of Famer in Kyle Busch, who is ninth on the all-time wins list with 63.

Several high-profile NASCAR superstars have announced their retirement from the sport in recent years, and Busch will soon be joined by Kevin Harvick, who previously announced he is stepping away after the 2023 season.

NASCAR announced Saturday that Legacy Motor Club suspended driver Noah Gragson indefinitely for violating NASCAR's member conduct.

According to TMZ Sports, screenshots emerged Saturday showing Gragson liking an Instagram post that featured a meme mocking George Floyd, who was a Black man murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis in 2020.

Although NASCAR didn't say so explicitly, it is believed that liking the post was the catalyst for the suspension, as Gragson later apologized for his "lack of attention and actions on social media."

Legacy Motor Club announced that Gragson will be pulled from the No. 42 Chevrolet for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Josh Berry, who has competed in eight Cup Series races this season as a replacement driver for Hendrick Motorsports, will replace Gragson on Sunday.

Berry is an Xfinity Series regular who finished fourth in the points standings of NASCAR's No. 2 series last season, and is fifth so far this season.

Gragson, 25, is in the midst of his first full-time Cup Series season after running 18 Cup Series races last season.

This season, Gragson has competed in 21 Cup Series races with his best finish being 12th place at Atlanta in March. He is 33rd in the points standings.

Gragson's greatest success has come in the Xfinity Series where he has 13 career wins to his credit and finished eighth in points in 2019, fifth in 2020, third in 2021 and second in 2022.

One of NASCAR's biggest stars is ready to move on.

From his house that is.

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Busch has decided to sell his $13 million lakefront mansion in Denver North Carolina after owning the property for over a decade, according to Front Office Sports.

Over 15,000 square feet, the mansion is located in a gated community and includes a number of amenities, such as a gym, game room, heated pool. boat dock and even a private beach for anyone that wants to get their tan on in solitude.

Busch, 38, is a native of Las Vegas but has lived at the mansion along with his wife Samantha and their two children for a while,

"The owners are just ready to move elsewhere after living in the home for so long," Heather Gibbs of Corcoran HM Properties told the Charlotte Observer on Saturday.

Gibbs is representing the "East Denver Revocable Trust," which has been listed as the owner of the property, according to Yahoo Sports.

Busch bought the property for $7.5 million back in 2012. So, he's sure to make a pretty penny whenever the mansion gets taken off the market.

A worker has died in Chicago while preparing for the NASCAR Chicago street race.

WGN9 reported that 53-year-old Duane Tabinski died during the setup for the race. No cause of death was given, although police reports indicate that he may have been electrocuted. He worked on the lighting and stage crew.

"On Friday afternoon a contractor suffered a fatal medical emergency," a NASCAR spokesperson told local news outlets. "We are coordinating with local authorities on this tragic incident. We share our condolences to the family and their loved ones."

A witness said that the tragic incident occurred near the start/finish line, with power going out and an ambulance arriving shortly after. The starting line is west of Buckingham Fountain, right within the city's downtown 'Loop.'

The race is set to be the first-ever street race conducted in the NASCAR Cup Series and will take place in Grant Park. The event is scheduled for Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Tabinski founded and operated a stage lighting company, and the official Twitter account released a statement in memory of his life.

Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will not race this weekend in NASCAR's Grant Park 220 street race in Chicago following the deaths of his wife's parents and a nephew, per ESPN.

On Monday, the bodies of Jack Janway, 69, his wife, Terry Janway, 68, and their grandson Dalton Janway, 11, were discovered at a home in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Muskogee police spokesperson Lynn Hamlin said investigators believe Terry Janway shot and killed her husband and grandson before shooting herself.

Johnson, who is racing on a part-time schedule this season as the co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, was gearing up to participate in NASCAR's first-ever Cup Series street race.

"The Johnson family has asked for privacy at this time and no further statements will be made," Legacy Motor Club said in a tweet.

Hamlin said police responded to a 911 call by a woman who reported a disturbance with a gun before hanging up. Upon arriving at the scene, police found one person dead near the front door and then heard another gunshot from further inside, where the two other bodies were found. Hamlin confirmed that the three people found dead were the parents and nephew of Johnson's wife, Chandra Janway.

"We are saddened by the tragic deaths of members of Chandra Johnson's family," NASCAR said in a statement. "The entire NASCAR family extends its deepest support and condolences during this difficult time to Chandra, Jimmie and the entire Johnson and Janway families."