This year’s NASCAR Cup Series season is now over after 36 points races and so does the Sports Benches weekly sports news for 2026.
It’s been a big year particularly following more NASCAR than ever before while rugby union has certainly changed and so does Netball where it’s now selective with a greater on-site focus. We also couldn’t forget the year’s moments like the other rugby code NRL alongside Soccer, Swimming and Athletics.
Finally, covering Jack Doohan again was at right time lately even if that didn’t lead to another F1 seat with more coming later plus bits of IndyCar too.
There’s lots more to look back at anytime whether it’s Week 1, 15 or 36 as Sports Benches will return next Saturday for almost everything GH for a while!
NASCAR Cup Series Championship Weekend from Homestead-Miami
Ryan Blaney certainly knows how to turn a setback into triumph, especially the last few laps after a topsy-turvy twilight shift for Team Penske. He had a wonderful start from 9th then lost track position having been out of reach for a while before the late yellow arrived & Blaney was unreal in that last restart shootout for the race win.
Tyler Reddick came so close to a record-breaking seven Cup wins in a single season this year for 23XI Racing.
His No.45 Toyota Camry was also consistent running aggressive up high where he got away with the lead for a while and again at the final start.
Unfortunately, his corner exit speed struggles in the dying laps allowed Blaney to swoop in ahead of the white flag leaving Reddick to settle 2nd.
Now here’s an extensive Team Hendrick look starting with William Byron following his big 2nd half turnaround. If it wasn’t for the late yellow when Daniel Suarez and Todd Gilliland bumped into each other, he could’ve won that race too but otherwise it was a relatively quiet night for the No.24 Chevy Camaro in 3rd.
Finally, the man of the hour goes to Kyle Larson now 3x Cup champion where simply finishing well in Stage 1 would do it.
He’s a fighter who uppercuts his trademark dirt track skills out week in, week out while finishing well what Kyle has got left.
He’s the example why he picked the right time to win races by turning these into championships. And apart from kissing the walls too much, please don’t do it at Daytona because he still needs that first 500 win soon!
Jack Doohan Post No.7, Sports Benches Update
It’s now the 7th time in a space of two months since he’s on Sports Benches this year after he drove an F1 car again but that was in a TPC running with Haas.
Unfortunately, that may not have automatically led towards a race seat for next year, not even as an last-minute replacement driver for the final 3-4 races – despite the internal kerfuffle that erupted before last weekend in Mexico City.
That driver in question won’t be missed who should’ve been made way for Jack after 2023 then at Alpine having simply overstayed his welcome.
Now everything has to start all over again for Jack by hopefully coming back better whenever that next big opportunity may be.
Good news though: he’ll be back racing this weekend at Le Castellet in the relocated Asian Le Mans Series across Europe due to the ongoing US-Iran war.
The team Jack will race for is AF Corse’s LMP2 entry alongside WEC ace Phil Hanson and Alex Demirdjian.
Interestingly, they were on his radar once before but then timing wasn’t right back then after being frozen out by Alpine due to contractual complications.
Also, he’s coming off a reasonably okay ELMS campaign earlier this year. So since he’s there now, this could potentially lead towards the No.83 Ferrari 499P Hypercar also with Hanson & perhaps Yifei Ye by March next year.
To Haas, thank you but maybe best to stay remotely elsewhere with Audi rather than giving up for good.
IndyCar 3rd engine long-running status quo
Here’s hoping the 15 + years IndyCar 3rd engine question can finally be addressed with just one team, three full-time entires and spare PUs.
My ideal “factory team” would be AJ Foyt Enterprises who has deep history with the series, particularly the Indy 500.
Dream OEM & Engine partner? Genesis and Advanced Engine Research!
I’m not asking for a 3rd maker to supply multiple teams when we’re fine with just Chevy and Honda where Independent engine makers powering alone would be awesome like AER’s own 2.4L V6 engine that was previously used in the LMP1 class of the World Endurance Championship during the late 2010s.
Don’t forget Toyota used to have a similar engine size also in the same competition but unfortunately, the only thing holding back is the commercial/investment return.
Where do we start? It’s best to reduce risks where Lotus failed back in 2012 by taking a leaf from Dodge who just officially announced their plans to return in NASCAR next year with just two full-time cars for Kaulig Racing.
It’s up to IndyCar to encourage greater manufacturer participation as I hope this post would give others OEMs some serious thought. If going to Barcelona, Spain next year can take considerable constructive effort, why can’t a 3rd engine partner?
