On one hand, Chase Elliott suffered an initial setback at the start of the Round of 12 for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in needing an engine swap after qualifying but on the other hand, it would have been worse if it happened during the race instead.

The Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 discovered an engine ailment during practice on Saturday at Kansas Speedway and will start at the rear of the field.

“We went through all the things that you can check on pit road,” said Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion. “Obviously, when you have an engine issue like that, it can be difficult to identify what exactly is broke. For me, I came off Turn 2 and basically just felt like it went down a cylinder, audible change, and lost a lot of power, so I knew something was wrong and came in as quick as I could, just to try to keep from messing it up any worse. But such a bummer. What a terrible time to have something go wrong.

The Hendrick engine shop has been so good throughout my career. I don’t even think I’ve filled up a hand of engine issues that we’ve had over the course of my entire career, so I hate it, but would much rather have it happen today than tomorrow.”

To his point, it’s a long race and he can recover, especially at Kansas which is a fast wide track that provides multiple lanes for faster cars to pass. The only real hurdle is that the starting spot might deny him points by the end of Stage 1.

On the other end of the spectrum, Christopher Bell already enjoys a decent margin of error to start this round and by scoring the pole will have the opportunity to score even more stage points to pad his cushion in advance of calamitous races at Talladega and the Charlotte Roval.

Of course, winning could make it all a moot point.

“Win this week,” Bell said when asked how he can mitigate the risk of Talladega and the R I mean, yeah, that’s a great question. There really is no hiding, although it does feel like the fall Talladega race has been a lot calmer than the spring race the last couple years. I don’t know. Superspeedway racing, I’ve been very vocal, it’s not my favorite style of racing and that puts a lot of emphasis on this race tomorrow to try to get some stage points. Obviously, winning would be ideal, but certainly going to Talladega with a big cushion is our number one goal.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s glorious career began under the umbrella of his father’s team, Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI). For nine years, he drove for the family-owned outfit, forming a legacy that would eventually lead him to join Hendrick Motorsports. However, DEI is no longer around and its demise has sparked a certain question among fans.

Dale Jr’s departure from the team was sparked by his disagreements with his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, who took over the reins of the team after his father’s passing. The crux of the issue was that Junior wanted to have 51% of the ownership, but Teresa refused. The fallout made Dale Jr join Hendrick Motorsports, where he enjoyed a successful stint. Meanwhile, DEI’s fortunes dwindled, and the team eventually ceased operations. So, it is natural that fans are wondering if Dale Jr should have had co-ownership of the team. Given his immense popularity, many wonder if his involvement would have ensured the team’s survival.

Dale Earnhardt Inc. shut down in 2009 because of financial difficulties after Dale Jr left. Ironically, Dale Jr’s post-DEI ventures have thrived. His media company, Dirty Mo Media, has become a resounding success, generating millions in revenue. And thus sparking “what ifs” among fans.

One fan put out a post on Reddit after an intense discussion with their father about the whole situation. They asked, ” Was Teresa right or wrong to deny Dale Jr. ownership in DEI?” The fan explained the way that they thought about it, saying, “Had she given Dale ownership and allowed Dale, Kelley, and herself to run the company, Dale Jr. would have never left DEI, and there would likely still be 3-4 DEI cars.”

Because of Dale Jr‘s popularity and influence, they believe that he could have made the team a success and continued the team’s legacy for 20+ years. But, on the other hand, the fan’s father looked at things differently. The fan’s father said, “Dale Jr. wanted something he wasn’t owed, and Teresa should have felt no obligation to give him half the company.” The fan and their father have been debating about this for a while and have come to a disagreement

The fan also explained, “If giving Dale Jr. half the company means the company flourishing and still being a Cup powerhouse today, then there should have been no shame in giving him ownership if the alternative is that the company eventually shutters and instead of being a $1B+ company.” So when the fan and their dad could not come to an agreement, the fan took to Reddit to ask other fans for their opinion.

Mercedes have promised a “substantial” final upgrade of their 2024 car when the Formula 1 season resumes at the United States Grand Prix in late October for the season’s final six races.

The Silver Arrows’ inconsistent campaign suffered what team boss Toto Wolff described as a “painful” Sunday in Singapore last weekend when promising second-row grid positions gave way to a struggle in the race which saw them finish fourth and sixth, one minute behind Lando Norris’ winning McLaren.

Having registered only one podium finish in the four races since the summer break, Mercedes appear to have lost out on a realistic chance of salvaging a top-three place in the Constructors’ Championship – where they have ended every season since finishing fifth in 2012 – having now dropped back to 112 points behind third-placed Ferrari.

Nonetheless, the team are aiming to finish the campaign on a high with another big upgrade planned to debut on the W15 at the Circuit of the Americas on October 18-20.

Asked in the team’s Singapore GP debrief video how the team planned to spend the three-week break to Austin, technical director James Allison said: “We will be trying to figure out how to mitigate what ailed us this weekend, how to figure out how to make the tyres run better on these overheating circuits.

“We’ll be also doing quite a lot of work to bring our last upgrade of the season together.

“We’ve got quite a fairly substantial set of new clothes for the car coming for Austin that we hope will give us a decent weekend there.”

After a difficult race in which the team’s car struggled for performance in gruelling humid conditions, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton missed their usual post-race media engagements on doctor’s advice after suffering from what Wolff said was “borderline heatstroke”.

Allison said while the British pair quickly were quickly able to recover from the excursions of the race after taking on fluids, the frustration about the W15’s lack of pace lingered for longer.

“I think like the rest of us they’re feeling fed up that the car was not particularly competitive in race trim,” conceded Allison.