CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves claimed a spot in the season-opening Daytona 500 as part of a slew of rule changes NASCAR announced Friday.

Castroneves is guaranteed a spot in the field under a new provision that earmarks a starting position for what NASCAR called “world-class drivers” who enter a Cup Series race. Before the Friday change, Castroneves was going to either have to earn his spot in the 40-car field on speed in time trials or finishing position in a qualifying race.

If he failed to do either, the Brazilian would be in the field as a 41st car and four open spots would still remain for drivers hoping to race in the Feb. 16 “Great American Race.” Castroneves will be driving for Trackhouse Racing in his NASCAR debut at age 49.

Under the new rule, if the provisional is used, the driver/car owner will not be eligible for race points, playoff points or prize money. Cars that finish below the driver who uses the provisional will have their finishing position adjusted upward one spot and also have their prize money, race points and stage points adjusted.

If the provisional car wins a race and/or stage, that car will be credited with the race win. It will not count toward playoff eligibility. The second-place finisher will inherit first-place points, but will not receive playoff points or playoff eligibility.

Among other changes issued Friday:

Playoff waivers: NASCAR said if a driver misses a race for anything besides a medical emergency, the driver will forfeit all current and future playoff points and will start the playoffs with a maximum of 2,000 points.

Covered under medical emergency would be emergencies for the driver, the birth of a child or a family emergency, as well as age restrictions.

It means that Kyle Larson, who is scheduled to again race in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 for a second consecutive year, must return from Indiana to North Carolina and compete in the Cup race. It was a point of contention last year when rain delayed the 500 in Indy, Larson was late to arrive in North Carolina for the 600, and by the time he got to the track, rain had stopped that race.

Larson never got to compete in the Coca-Cola 600, and NASCAR hemmed and hawed for a lengthy amount of time before finally granting him a waiver.

Waivers previously came with no penalties such as the loss of playoff points.

Penalties to manufacturers: After the penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway was marred last year by allegations of manufacturers banding together to push their drivers into the championship race, NASCAR vowed to look at how it can stop such manipulation in the future.

NASCAR said that, moving forward, violations by manufacturers may result in the loss of manufacturers points, and/or loss of wind tunnel hours. NASCAR will assess such penalties for violation of the vehicle testing policy, wind tunnel policy, event roster and code of conduct.

Performance obligation: NASCAR did not give many details on this change other than “verbiage around the 100% rule is replaced with a focus on ‘manipulating’ the outcome of an event/championship.”

Practice and qualifying: New practice and qualifying procedures were formally added to the rulebook. Group practice goes from 20 to 25 minutes; single-round qualifying at all tracks but superspeedways, which will have a final round for 10 cars; and starting position is determined solely by qualifying results instead of row-by-row designation based on which qualifying group the car was in.

Suspension deferral: NASCAR said all suspensions that are a result of a technical penalty can be deferred without appeal for the next race following a penalty. All other suspensions are effective immediately.

Damaged vehicle policy: NASCAR has altered this policy for the Cup Series after many complaints about how the rule was applied last year.

Vehicles on the DVP clock may drive to the garage or be towed to the garage and will not be ruled out of the race. Previously, if a car on the DVP clock was towed to the garage or drove to the garage, it was out of the race.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.

Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.

Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.

He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.

“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”

“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.

Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.

Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.

In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.

He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”

“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”

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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.

Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.

Wind energy powered 20% of all electricity consumed in Europe (19% in the EU) in 2024, and the EU has set a goal to grow this share to 34% by 2030 and more than 50% by 2050.

To stay on track, the EU needs to install 30 GW of new wind farms annually, but it only managed 13 GW in 2024 – 11.4 GW onshore and 1.4 GW offshore. This is what’s holding the EU back from achieving its wind growth goals.

Three big problems holding Europe’s wind power back

Europe’s wind power growth is stalling for three key reasons:

Permitting delays. Many governments haven’t implemented the EU’s new permitting rules, making it harder for projects to move forward.

Grid connection bottlenecks. Over 500 GW(!) of potential wind capacity is stuck in grid connection queues.

Slow electrification. Europe’s economy isn’t electrifying fast enough to drive demand for more renewable energy.

Brussels-based trade association WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson summed it up: “The EU must urgently tackle all three problems. More wind means cheaper power, which means increased competitiveness.”

Permitting: Germany sets the standard

Permitting remains a massive roadblock, despite new EU rules aimed at streamlining the process. In fact, the situation worsened in 2024 in many countries. The bright spot? Germany. By embracing the EU’s permitting rules — with measures like binding deadlines and treating wind energy as a public interest priority — Germany approved a record 15 GW of new onshore wind in 2024. That’s seven times more than five years ago.

If other governments follow Germany’s lead, Europe could unlock the full potential of wind energy and bolster energy security.

Grid connections: a growing crisis

Access to the electricity grid is now the biggest obstacle to deploying wind energy. And it’s not just about long queues — Europe’s grid infrastructure isn’t expanding fast enough to keep up with demand. A glaring example is Germany’s 900-megawatt (MW) Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm. The turbines are ready to go, but the grid connection won’t be in place until 2026.

This issue isn’t isolated. Governments need to accelerate grid expansion if they’re serious about meeting renewable energy targets.

Electrification: falling behind

Wind energy’s growth is also tied to how quickly Europe electrifies its economy. Right now, electricity accounts for just 23% of the EU’s total energy consumption. That needs to jump to 61% by 2050 to align with climate goals. However, electrification efforts in key sectors like transportation, heating, and industry are moving too slowly.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has tasked Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen with crafting an Electrification Action Plan. That can’t come soon enough.

More wind farms awarded, but challenges persist

On a positive note, governments across Europe awarded a record 37 GW of new wind capacity (29 GW in the EU) in 2024. But without faster permitting, better grid connections, and increased electrification, these awards won’t translate into the clean energy-producing wind farms Europe desperately needs.

Investments and corporate interest

Investments in wind energy totaled €31 billion in 2024, financing 19 GW of new capacity. While onshore wind investments remained strong at €24 billion, offshore wind funding saw a dip. Final investment decisions for offshore projects remain challenging due to slow permitting and grid delays.

Corporate consumers continue to show strong interest in wind energy. Half of all electricity contracted under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in 2024 was wind. Dedicated wind PPAs were 4 GW out of a total of 12 GW of renewable PPAs. 

Read more: Renewables could meet almost half of global electricity demand by 2030 – IEA

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