Alanis King, Racing columnistApr 25, 2024, 09:07 AM ET
Most people think of NASCAR as one thing: “Just a bunch of left turns.” But NASCAR is so much more than that — it’s a 200-mph test of skill, speed, endurance, and rule-bending.
To put that effort into words, ESPN went to Texas Motor Speedway with one question for competitors: “What do you say when people reduce your job to ‘left turns’?”
“Oval racing is managing tiny, minute differences that have huge effects,” Parker Kligerman, who drives the Big Machine Racing No. 48 car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, told ESPN. “You’re always changing. You’re always thinking about doing something different. Sometimes it doesn’t work, and you’ve got to readjust and make up for that.”
Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile asphalt oval outside of Fort Worth, with 20-degree banking in the first two turns, 24-degree banking in the last two, and 5-degree banking on the straightaways. All three NASCAR national series were in Texas when we went: the third-tier Trucks, second-tier Xfinity Series, and top-level Cup Series.
Kligerman qualified 16th for Xfinity at Texas, and he wasn’t impressed. One mistake sealed his fate, because the competition is too tight for mistakes.
“I’d say [NASCAR] is one of the most dynamic forms of motorsport in the world,” Kligarman said. “If you look at the Cup Series, the difference from first to 30th might be three-tenths of a second. It’s nothing.
“I screwed up by under-driving it into turn one. From the entry to the center of turn one, I lost three-tenths. I carried that all the way back around, and it killed me. The amount of distance I lost that in was probably 100 feet or less.”
In shape alone, road courses — the style of circuit Formula One is known for, with left and right turns — look more complicated than ovals. But road courses often have a clear path to run, known as the “racing line.” In perfect weather conditions, that often involves a wide entry to each corner, hitting the apex near the inside curbing, then running out wide to carry the most speed through the turn.
On some ovals, drivers can run all over: the low line, the middle, or even ripping the wall. Often, that changes as the race goes on.
“Road-course racing is very formulaic,” Kligerman said. “You hit point by point by point, and you adjust those points as tires fall off, brakes, et cetera. Oval racing is constantly changing. You’re constantly evaluating what your car is doing: how to move around, how to find more grip. The difference in grip might be five feet higher in the center of the corner in turn one, so at 195 miles per hour with a bunch of cars around you, you’re going to say: ‘OK, I need to be five feet higher. That’s going to allow me to rotate just a tick more, get back to the throttle about a foot earlier, and that’s going to be a faster lap time.’
“Every time you enter a corner, if you do the same thing twice in a row, you’re going backwards.”
Kligerman has three victories in NASCAR’s top-three national divisions, all in the Truck Series. He had speed at Texas but finished 25th due to a loose wheel — showing how even if a driver has a good day, things out of their control can ruin it.
“The races I’ve won, the car is important,” Kligerman said. “Execution. Being super aggressive on restarts. The ability to be super dynamic with where you run, how you adjust, how you make the car better, and what you decide to do. Lap after lap. Corner after corner.
“Restarts are the largest opportunity, aside from the pits, to make the easiest passes. Once we all start going and we’re running in a line, the cars equalize across the board. Making up time gets harder and harder, so on a restart, when you get us all bunched up and you can shoot to the inside and make three positions — that is like gold.”
But oval racing is about more than just you; it’s also about the drivers around you. Tommy Joe Martins, former Xfinity regular and current team owner at Alpha Prime Racing, said NASCAR races have “a lot of different strategies going on at any different time.”
“You’re racing really fast, you’re racing really close to a whole lot of cars, and you’re put in a lot of situations where everyone around you is going to be really aggressive,” Martins told ESPN. “I think [the strategy] gets lost, at times, for some of the people who are new to NASCAR racing.
“We’re running different tires, different track positions — people who are faster, slower. That’s all kind of mixed together, so there’s a lot of danger around every corner. You’re driving a car that’s trying to wreck every lap, especially at a place like Texas. You’re never comfortable.”
NASCAR doesn’t have “different tires” in the way some other series do. There’s usually only one dry-weather compound, but teams can run “stickers” (new tires) or “scuffs” (ones that are lightly used). Martins’ team has yet another kind of tire: ones they buy at a discount.
While Kligerman and Big Machine Racing run a mid-tier budget in Xfinity, Martins and Alpha Prime are a lower-budget operation. A new set of four tires costs Martins about $2,500, and for the Texas race, NASCAR allowed Xfinity teams a maximum of six sets (totaling $15,000 per car). Tire sets often don’t transfer to other events, so teams use them or lose them.
Alpha Prime will often buy a few sets, then wait. If other cars wreck, Martins can buy their extras and save about $1,200 per set.
“There are disadvantages to this,” Martins said. “For teams that just want to show up and buy an entire allotment, they know exactly the size, runout, and spring rate on each of the tires. The more you buy, the more that you can kind of group those up and say: ‘These are going to be my best set of left-side tires. These are going to be my best set of right-side tires.’
“We’re buying them off of a Truck team or a team that fell out of the race, so we’re kind of just taking four tires and throwing them on the car. But financially, it’s a big advantage.”
Martins’ drivers also have to watch those around them. A good day for Alpha Prime is a top-15 or top-20, but they’re racing cars with higher budgets — and drivers who are less afraid to wreck for a good finish.
“The consequences are different for different teams,” Martins said. “For us, we’re in a position where our backup car really isn’t much of a car. It’s going to involve a lot of work to get it ready, and our drivers have to be hyper-aware of that. There are risks in practice or qualifying that they probably can’t take, whereas some other drivers can be more aggressive. You just have to count on your drivers being smart enough to understand the situation they’re in.”
Discomfort is a theme in NASCAR, whether it comes from the car itself or the risks around it. But in Kligerman’s notes for Texas Motor Speedway, he wrote: “You have to be comfortable in the uncomfortable.”
“That’s oval racing to a T,” Klilgerman said. “You have to just be OK that at 195 miles per hour, that the car is going to wiggle around. It’s going to move, and it’s going to feel really unsettling. And you’ve just got to tell yourself that’s OK.
“If you do that better than anyone else, you should be able to win.”
MILWAUKEE — Andrew Vaughn is back in the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers and making quite an early impression with his new team.
The Brewers called up the former Chicago White Sox slugger from the minors on Monday after a sprained left thumb landed first baseman Rhys Hoskins on the injured list. In his Brewers debut, Vaughn smashed a three-run homer off All-Star right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the first inning of Milwaukee’s 9-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Vaughn acknowledged his homer felt particularly good given the circumstances.
“You definitely black out running around the bases,” he said. “It’s special. It put us ahead against a really good pitcher and really good team.”
Vaughn became the fifth player in franchise history to homer in his first plate appearance with the club. He was the first Brewers hitter to accomplish the feat since Gabe Gross in 2006.
And it’s just the start Vaughn could use as he seeks to rejuvenate his career.
The 27-year-old Vaughn hit 72 homers for the White Sox from 2021-24, but he had tailed off lately. He posted a .699 OPS last year that was a career low at the time. He followed that up by batting .189 with a .218 on-base percentage, five homers and 19 RBI in 48 games for Chicago before getting sent to the minors on May 23.
After acquiring Vaughn in a June 13 trade that sent pitcher Aaron Civale to the White Sox, the Brewers kept him in the minors. A spot on the big league roster opened up when Hoskins got hurt last weekend.
Vaughn gives the Brewers a right-handed option to pair with left-handed hitter Jake Bauers at first base while Hoskins is out. Bauers, 29, is batting .214 with a .331 on-base percentage, five homers and 18 RBI in 54 games this season.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Hoskins’ stay on the injured list “can be weeks, not days,” potentially giving Vaughn an extended audition. Hoskins, 32, has hit .242 with a .340 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 42 RBI in 82 games.
Vaughn had been hitting .259 with a .338 on-base percentage, three homers and 16 RBI in 16 games with the Brewers’ Triple-A Nashville affiliate.
That represented a major step forward after his struggles with the White Sox.
“I feel like my swing consistency’s been a lot better – swing decisions, just working in the cage and getting it right,” Vaughn said before Monday’s game. “There were some keys I worked on, just simple things. Don’t want to do a whole revamp of the swing because it’s probably impossible during the season, most hitters would say. Just small keys and getting it right.”
Vaughn wasted no time endearing himself to his new teammates. He started a 3-6-3 double play to end the top of the first inning before delivering his 409-foot shot over the wall in left-center field in the bottom half.
“To have him show up first day, not know anybody at noon, and then he’s in there and then kind of get a huge hit in the first inning to kind of open things up was a great way to say, ‘Here I am,'” Murphy said.
Vaughn is eager to keep making those kind of statements.
“That’s pretty cool, just to be a part of something bigger than myself, being part of the Brewers,” Vaughn said. “Just trying to do anything I can to help this team win.”
In other Brewers news, shortstop Joey Ortiz was held out of the starting lineup for a second straight game after going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts Saturday in a 4-2 loss at Miami. Ortiz is hitting .209 with a .269 on-base percentage, six homers and 28 RBI in 87 games this season, though he showed progress by posting a .748 OPS in June.
Murphy said Ortiz has been swinging better lately, but must make better swing decisions.
“I want him to give me his best approach at the plate,” Murphy said before Monday’s game. “We’ve given him a lot. We’re playing him every day, and we need him, and he can’t just have lapses at the plate like that. He’s got to fight through that.”
A Kansas legislative committee has extended a deadline for the Chiefs and Royals to take advantage of a stadium financing plan from the state.
The Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council on Monday unanimously approved the extension to use bonds to cover 70% of a new stadium’s cost if the teams decide to relocate to the state. The new deadline is June 30, 2026, although the committee indicated it is seeking an answer from the teams by Dec. 31 of this year.
Chiefs president Mark Donovan requested the extension late last month in a letter to Kansas Senate president Ty Masterson. The Royals verbally requested an extension around the same time. The deadline expired on June 30 but was retroactively extended Monday.
“Together, we have the opportunity to bring the National Football League to Kansas, anchored by a world-class domed stadium, new team headquarters, a state-of-the-art practice facility, and a vibrant mixed-use and entertainment district,” Donovan wrote in his letter to Masterson.
The Chiefs and Royals have played for more than five decades at the Truman Sports Complex on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri, where Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium share parking facilities. But leases with Jackson County are due to expire in January 2031, and the two franchises have been trying to plot a course forward for years.
Last year, Jackson County voters defeated a sales tax extension that would have helped to finance an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium — the home of the Chiefs — and a $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown Kansas City.
Last month, however, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session to approve a stadium financing deal that included disaster relief for the St. Louis area, where a series of devastating tornadoes caused widespread damage. The legislation authorizes bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums in Missouri, plus up to $50 million in tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.
If they choose to stay in Missouri, the Chiefs have floated plans for a $1.15 billion renovation of Arrowhead Stadium. The Royals have insisted all along that they intend to build a replacement for Kauffman Stadium.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt has long professed his affinity for Arrowhead Stadium, which was built by his father and team founder Lamar Hunt. But he also is keenly aware of the revenue streams available by building a new domed stadium, including the chance to host the Super Bowl, the Final Four and other marquee sporting events.
Donovan commented Monday on the Chiefs’ looming stadium decision.
“Now, it’s literally getting down to the final points and making sure that everybody’s in agreement on what we need to do, and that we have all the pieces lined up,” he told reporters. “Because our job is to go to the Hunt family and suggest, ‘Here are your two options; they both make sense.'”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
In discussing his second All-Star selection with reporters on Sunday, Buxton beamed as he described the excitement of his 11-year-old son, Brix, who regularly plays the Home Run Derby on the MLB: The Show video game at home.
“He always is like, ‘Dad, if you do this, I want to bring you a towel!’ and I’m like, ‘All right.’ That’s all he cares about. He wants Dad to do it so he can bring me a towel and a Gatorade. And for me, that’s special,” Buxton said. “Out of everybody there, all the people he’s going to see, that’s what he wants and cares about. So, it’s the small things that add up to the big ones.”
The 31-year-old Buxton will be the eighth Twins hitter to take part in the Derby. Justin Morneau won the event in 2008.
Alonso was named a National League reserve for the All-Star Game in a season when he has hit 20 homers. He won the Home Run Derby in 2019 and 2021. It wasn’t held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m not necessarily called this year to do it,” Alonso said, according to MLB.com. “I love the event. It’s a sick event. I just didn’t really feel motivated to do it this year. I just figured I’d take a break, use the break as recovery and get back at it, help the team win in the second half.”
Although he’s not participating this summer, Schwarber left the door open to taking part next season when the All-Star Game will be held in Philadelphia. Schwarber has 27 homers this season and made his third All-Star team.