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“Hit Me Personally”- Dale Earnhardt Jr Publicly Trashes Rick Hendrick’s Star
“Hit Me Personally”- Dale Earnhardt Jr Publicly Trashes Rick Hendrick’s Star
If you’ve followed NASCAR long enough, you would know that Alex Bowman has faced an uphill battle since suffering injuries in 2021 that derailed his promising NASCAR Cup Series campaign. After leading the points and winning multiple races earlier that year, Bowman’s momentum was abruptly halted when he broke his back, putting everything on a major pause for the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. addressed the criticism directed at the Hendrick Motorsports driver, condemning the harsh remarks. He emphasized the challenges involved in recovering from such injuries, highlighting that this difficulty is often overlooked when assessing the driver’s overall performance. Although there was a time when even Earnhardt Jr. had his doubts about Bowman, he now wholeheartedly commends Bowman for his resilience in regaining his former top form. Bowman’s return to the track for the Chicago Street Race this year was no small accomplishment, and Earnhardt Jr. truly acknowledges the effort required to achieve it.
“That really hit me personally, because I too had been starting to feel like ‘Will Bowman ever get it going?’ There was a period of time when he was winning more races than anybody in the sport, there was a chunk of about six to eight-month span where he was the most successful driver in terms of victories in the sport,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained while empathizing with for Bowman. “And it’s just been a tough struggle, right? I don’t know. I’m happy for Bowman, but now we’ll see if he can carry that momentum going forward.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr understands how hard it must have been for Alex Bowman to work to pick himself up again after seeing his progress take such a drastic dip, even after he reentered the races post his recovery. He was falling behind significantly compared to his Hendrick Motorsports teammates like Larson and Byron, who were winning races left and right. To Dale, who has seen Bowman at his best, it looked like he was falling way behind. It must’ve been very difficult seeing the other cars up front while he was fighting just to get back to where he was before the injury.
While talking about his struggles in the NASCAR scene, there were moments when Alex Bowman teared up expressing how tough it has been for him to see the people he has let down – his team, Rick Hendrick, the fans, and those who counted on him. But he has refused to give up and has been pushing himself to see it through to the end of his recovery. Maybe it did take longer than he would have wanted, by nearly four years, but he eventually started to find that old spark he lost to the injuries again. And that’s what really counts at the end of the day!
Mick Schumacher is being “evaluated” for the second seat at Sauber next year and is on Mattia Binotto’s shortlist.
Schumacher, son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, spent two years on the grid in F1 with Haas from 2021-2022 before being dropped following a difficult second campaign.
The German has since played the role of reserve driver at Mercedes behind George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and is a regular presence in the paddock, but has been limited to in-house testing sessions. The 25-year-old has, however, raced this year for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship.
However, as revealed to The Independent earlier this year, he is still focused on landing a second chance in F1 but there is now only one seat unconfirmed for next year, at Sauber.
Yet Binotto, who knows Schumacher well from his time at Ferrari, revealed to Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport that Schumacher is on his shortlist to be Nico Hulkenberg’s team-mate next year.
“Definitely, we are evaluating him,” Binotto said.
“I have met and talked to him, I have known him for a long time having been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. I know the merits and advantages of him, he is one of the names we have in mind.”
Valtteri Bottas is believed to be the favourite to retain his seat at Sauber, who officially become Audi in 2026, with McLaren junior driver and F2 championship leader Bortoleto also a serious candidate alongside Williams’ Franco Colapinto.
A factor which could work in Schumacher’s favour, however, is that Sauber’s new chief technical officer, Binotto, worked with Schumacher during the German’s time as a Ferrari junior driver.
Schumacher stated in June that he is “really hungry” to carve a route back into F1 as a first choice over other motorsport series.’
“There’s a lot which hasn’t been seen yet, especially from a driving point of view,” he said.
“It’s never been a secret, my goal is to be back on the grid. I’ve shown in multiple ways that I am capable of winning championships. It’s just a matter of it fitting into somebody’s schedule, does it fit into their plan?
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Lewis Hamilton has proved an unlikely ally for Red Bull following the ‘ride height’ controversy that has dominated the build-up to the United States Grand Prix. Christian Horner’s team have confirmed ahead of the race in Austin that they have made a change to their cars following talks with the FIA, with rivals accusing them of breaking regulations.
Other teams claim the reigning Constructors’ champions are using a device which can change the ride height of their vehicles under parc ferme conditions, giving them an unfair advantage.
McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have both hit out, with the Australian pointedly saying: “Something like this is not pushing the boundaries. It’s clearly breaking them.”
Hamilton, however, has defended Red Bull. Despite his notoriously spiky relationship with Horner and Max Verstappen, which peaked during the pair’s ill-tempered 2021 title battle, the seven-time world champion has argued the team had shown initiative with their so-called ‘tea-tray’ mechanism.
“I’ve only just heard about it, before I got here,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “But I think the name of our sport is all about innovation. Red Bull have been the leaders and they’ve innovated.
“Ultimately all the teams look at the rules and try to find how to massage those rules and get the most out of it, even if it’s just over the edge a little bit. You just need to continue to evolve and be better policed.”
However the 39-year-old did slyly imply the addition to Red Bull’s cars may have been benefiting them for years before now. “At the end of the day they did a better job. God knows how long they’ve had that, and they’ve been winning championships,” he added.
“Maybe that stops now, although I don’t think that’s the one thing that’s going to stop them. But I think everyone else, we’ve got to continue to be innovators and leading rather than trying to catch up.”
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In a court filing Wednesday, NASCAR has fired back against Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin-led 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports (FRM). The organization called the lawsuit “meritless” amid a quest for more a more favorable contract.
“Plaintiffs have filed a meritless suit against NASCAR alleging baseless antitrust claims in order to obtain commercial agreements they previously rejected, and to attempt to extort more favorable contract terms,” the filing read, via Bob Packrass.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in a North Carolina federal court, accused NASCAR and CEO Jim France of “unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.”
In a filing Wednesday, NASCAR said it hopes for expedited discovery. The organization also noted its plan to have 32 Charters for the upcoming season amid the ongoing dispute.
“NASCAR has taken steps, consistent with its contractual obligations to other Charter Teams, to plan for a season with only 32 Charters,” the filing read. “NASCAR is working on reallocating funds that Plaintiffs would have received to increase prize money and other special awards for the 2025 season for the benefit of teams that timely executed 2025 Charters, as well as Open teams who can compete to win the increased prize money.”
Last week, Hamlin laid out the next steps for the lawsuit on his Actions Detrimental podcast. He explained what 23XI and Front Row will do next for the 2025 Cup Series season and beyond.
“We stated that we’ll be filing for an injunction. That’s the first thing that has to happen,” Hamlin said. “The injunction is basically we’re going to seek relief, and in injunctions, you typically have to show — again, I’m not a lawyer, so be careful here — you have to show irreparable harm if you don’t stop it.
