Sports
NASCAR Notebook: Austin Dillon can’t wait for teammate Kyle Busch to win again
Mar 22, 2026; Darlington, South Carolina, USA; Richard Childress Racing Austin Dillon (3) comes out for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images FORT WORTH, Texas — During a question-and-answer session with reporters on Friday afternoon, Austin Dillon made a comment about Richard Childress Racing teammate Kyle Busch that raised eyebrows.
“I talked to Kyle, and his next win is going to be the biggest of his career, if you think of it the right way,” Dillon said.
That’s a bold assertion, given that Busch has amassed 63 NASCAR Cup Series victories during a career that has consumed more than two decades and produced two Cup championships. The list includes victories in such Crown Jewel events as the Brickyard 400 and Coca-Cola 600.
However, Busch is currently in the throes of a winless streak that reached 103 races last Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. That’s what prompted the comment from Dillon, who has a vested interest in the organization founded by his grandfather, Richard Childress.
“All the stuff that has been said and brought up over this year, I feel like if he puts his head down and takes that team back to Victory Lane, that’s going to be the biggest win of his career,” Dillon said.
“So, that’s what we’re all fighting for. We want to see that. As a competitor, that’s what I’d like to see.”
Busch won three races in 2023, his first season with RCR and the second year of NASCAR’s Gen 7 race car. His victory at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on June 4, 2023 was his most recent.
After a barren first 10 races of 2026, RCR announced a crew chief change on Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet, with Andy Street replacing Jim Pohlman in that vital role.
“We’ve got to put the train back on the tracks and have a direction of what we need to do in order to be able to go forward,” Busch said after finishing second in Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
“I feel like the 3 car (Dillon) has done a good job of that lately. Those guys are clicking on all cylinders and making things look good for them, and we’ve got to be able to do the same so we can carry our weight and help improve the program.”
CHRIS BUESCHER HOPES TO END JINX AT HIS HOME TRACK
To say Texan Chris Buescher has been snakebit in his home state is putting it mildly.
In 16 starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Buescher has never scored a top 10. He has led just two of the 5,006 laps he has run at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway. His average finish is 21.9.
Nevertheless, Buescher frequently has shown speed at Texas, and he’s looking for a breakthrough in Sunday’s Wurth 400 Presented by LIQUI MOLY (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“We’ve had more tire failures here than any other race track,” Buescher said. “Early on, we came here and had speed, but we were still understanding the new (Gen 7) car, the sensitivities to having tire blowouts.
“We’ve had days here when we’ve been pretty good, and it’s started drizzling–the great fog from five or six years ago, right? Unfortunately, I was the one who found the moisture that ended the race for three days before we got back going…
“You go through the years here, and I feel like we’ve had very few days here where we haven’t been competitive, but, man, the stats don’t show that. I hope we fix that this go-round–I think we can.”
CHALLENGING TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY HAS FEW MASTERS
Perhaps the most telling statistic relative to the difficulty of Texas Motor Speedway is the active streak of top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track.
Daniel Suarez leads the category with three straight top 10s. Austin Dillon has two. No other NASCAR Cup Series driver has more than one.
“That’s not very long,” Suarez said with a laugh. “We’ll take the small victories, right? It’s just very tricky. It doesn’t take a lot for you to crash or get out of the groove. I love it, though. I think it’s a great race track.
“I would say that five, eight years ago, more drivers used to hate this track, but right now, the race track is getting to a point where it’s not a brand new race track anymore. It’s tough. There are some bumps. It’s getting some wear. So, it’s a lot of fun.”
The consensus among Cup drivers is that passing is difficult at Texas because of the narrow nature of the racing line. Suarez doesn’t see it that way.
“I think it’s already to the point where we have two-and-a-half lanes in (Turns) 1 and 2 and maybe two or two-and-a-quarter lanes in 3 and 4,” Suarez said. “I think it’s getting wider every single year, so that’s positive.”
PIT CREW IS A CONSISTENT ASSET FOR JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
For the past two seasons, John Hunter Nemechek’s pit crew has been a consistent presence at LEGACY Motor Club.
“We have some new guys and also some veteran guys,” Nemechek said on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. “I think my front tire changer Scottie (Brzozowski), I think pitted for my dad (Joe Nemechek) back in the early 2000’s. He’s been changing tires for 20 plus years and still (has) some of the best metrics as far as tire changers go.”
In fact, Brzozowski was a mainstay at Hendrick Motorsports, where he changed tires for both Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 team and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88.
“It’s pretty cool to be able to have a group of guys like that,” Nemechek said of his crew. “It’s the same group that I’ve had the last two years as well. We took everything in-house, I think it was ‘25. I think that was when we started taking everything in-house.”
— By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
Sports
Report: Wizards acquire C Deandre Ayton from Lakers
Oct 26, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton (5) reacts to a call during the fourth quarter of the game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Lakers are trading center Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards in exchange for guard Jaden Hardy and two second-round draft picks, ESPN reported Friday.
The picks are in 2031 and 2032, per the report.
Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 72 games (all starts) in his lone season with the Lakers in 2025-26.
Ayton, who turns 28 on July 23, has averaged 15.8 points and 10.1 rebounds in 470 career games (463 starts) with the Phoenix Suns (2018-23), Portland Trail Blazers (2023-25) and Lakers.
Hardy, who turns 24 on Sunday, split the 2025-26 season with the Dallas Mavericks and Wizards and averaged 9.2 points in 57 games (four starts).
A second-round pick in 2022, Hardy has averaged 8.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 235 games (19 starts) with the Mavericks (2022-26) and Wizards. He has canned 38.6% of his career 3-point attempts (324 of 839).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dream looking to halt slide vs. streaking Valkyries
Jun 26, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) vies for a rebound against Golden State Valkyries center Kiah Stokes (41) during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Trending in opposite directions, the Atlanta Dream meet the Golden State Valkyries for the third time in 11 days on Saturday afternoon in College Park, Ga.
Atlanta (12-8) dropped all four games on a road trip that began with defeats on June 24 and 26 at Golden State. It marks the longest skid for the Dream since a four-game stretch in August 2024.
“I think we’re playing hard,” Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said after Thursday’s 81-76 loss to the Washington Mystics. “But we have to make some shots. We’ve got to find a way to win even when we don’t shoot it well and the other team does.”
The Dream have averaged 76.8 points during the losing streak, which pales in comparison to their 90.4 points per game during their first 16 contests.
Rhyne Howard leads Atlanta with 18.9 points per game, followed by Allisha Gray at 18.3. Newcomer Angel Reese has amassed 14.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per contest.
None of the three, however, were named Thursday as All-Star Game starters for the July 25 contest. Reese was offended on behalf of her teammates.
“I think they work so hard and they put a lot of work in, and the way that they’re guarded every game and they have to adjust. The reason why we’re where we are is because of those two,” Reese said. “For us not to have anyone (in the starting lineup) was just a slap in the face, but they’re not going to say anything. I am.”
Golden State (13-7), meanwhile, has won three straight games and saw leading scorer Gabby Williams (15.8 ppg) named as a starter for the All-Star contest in Chicago.
Williams has helped push the Valkyries to the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference standings heading into the start of a five-game road swing.
“What’s most important is our next game and that’s it,” Golden State coach Natalie Nakase said. “We don’t look too far ahead. I think that’s what keeps our players really level-headed and focused on each team.”
Janelle Salaun adds 12.5 points per game for the Valkyries and Veronica Burton chips in 12.2 points with 5.4 assists.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Canada hope healthy captain Alphonso Davies can help shock Morocco
June 18, 2026; Vancouver, Canada; Canada’s Luc de Fougerolles and Alphonso Davies before the match. Mandatory Credit: Simon Fearn-Imagn Images Canada coach Jesse Marsch knows his side will need every advantage it can get against Morocco in a round of 16 match in Houston on Saturday.
That includes figuring out how best to use captain Alphonso Davies coming off an injury.
The Bayern Munich left-back played the final 15 minutes of Sunday’s 1-0 win over South Africa in his first appearance since sustaining a hamstring injury in early May. He immediately set up Promise David for a shot just outside the left post and provided a boost to the Canadians.
“I thought he had a good impact on the game and, more than anything, what you saw is that South Africa really respected him when he came in,” Marsch said. “So, we will be thinking about how to use Alphonso again in this game, whether from the start or off the bench.”
Davies has 15 career goals for Canada and has reached a status that he is featured on a collection of McDonald’s World Cup cups with the likes of David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Lamine Yamal and Christian Pulisic.
Canada claimed their first knockout victory when Stephen Eustaquio scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time against South Africa.
But Marsch knows Morocco are on another level — and not just because Morocco rank sixth in the updated (but unofficial) FIFA world rankings compared to No. 54 South Africa. (Canada are 30th.)
“Preparing for Morocco is like a gory, horrible nightmare,” Marsch said. “It’s like, I don’t want to watch them play. They’re too good.”
His sleeplessness likely relates to trying to stop attacking midfielder Ismael Saibari, who scored in all three group stage matches. On Wednesday, it was announced he will move to Bayern Munich, joining Davies, from PSV Eindhoven.
After Morocco beat the Netherlands 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 tie in the round of 32, Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said it’s time the world take notice.
“Morocco has gained everybody’s respect now,” he said. “It’s not because of what we’ve said. We’ve now shown it.
“(The players) know that behind them there are millions and millions of people. We played when it was 2 in the morning in Morocco and we’re certain that most people stayed awake. That gives you the energy not to give up, to keep going and to believe in yourself.”
The teams met in the final group stage match at the 2022 World Cup with Morocco prevailing 2-1. The Moroccans then downed Spain and Portugal to become the first African nation to reach the final four.
Ouahbi knows anything can happen in a knockout match.
“Nobody can stop us if we play the football we know how to play,” he said. “But nobody is unbeatable. If we get things wrong, we’ll go home.”
The winner will play France or Paraguay — who meet Saturday in Philadelphia — in the quarterfinals in Foxborough, Mass., on July 9.
–Field Level Media
Report: Wizards acquire C Deandre Ayton from Lakers
Dream looking to halt slide vs. streaking Valkyries
