2024 NASCAR Cup Series - AdventHealth 400

As Miami got stuffed with the F1 race, it was time to head 1530 miles to Kansas City for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series with the AdventHealth 400 in Kansas Speedway.

After a lengthy delay, the green flag was waved and the action in Kansas was on. As Denny Hamlin won Stage 1, Chris Buescher won Stage 2, and the final stage saw Jimmie Johnson crash into the outside wall on Lap 176, triggering a chain reaction that caught Corey LaJoie, Austin Hill, and three others, followed by Harrison Burton spinning on the backstretch on Lap 192, and spin by Kyle Busch on Lap 261.

Screengrab from NASCAR

In the final lap, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher clashed for the win and it ended on a dead heat at a rate of 0.001 seconds, the closest in NASCAR history. After the closest look at the closest NASCAR photo finish, it's official. Kyle Larson wins the AdventHealth400 of the NASCAR Cup Series!

The next race is at Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400 this May 12.

F1 2024: Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix

The F1 '24 season continues in the streets of Miami, Florida for the Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix and this race delivered the biggest upset of the season.

As the lights went off, the action in Miami was underway. Max Verstappen, who won the F1 Sprint race, leads and he was nearly hit by Sergio Perez. As Oscar Piastri made four overtakes on Lap 4 to reach P2, Lap 6 saw Lewis Hamilton slip through  Nico Hulkenberg for P7, only to be regained by the latter. 

As the action heats up, Lap 21 saw trouble for Verstappen as he unintentionally cut corners and therefore pitted for new tires, a chance for Oscar Piastri to jump through the lead. As Piastri leads in Lap 28, he drops to P3 and Lando Norris jumps to P1, meanwhile, the first caution was triggered when Hulkenberg sent homegrown hero Logan Sargent out of the race.

Image: Formula 1

Lando Norris got what he deserved; his first-ever F1 career win. He beat Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc to claim his maiden victory, becoming the 21st British winner on McLaren's 110th F1 start.

After Miami, Verstappen leads with 136 points while Sergio Perez is in 2nd with 103 points, and Charles Leclerc is in 3rd with 98 points.

The next race is the MSC Cruises Gran Premio del Made in Italy E Dell'Emilia-Romagna on May 19th, 2024.

F1 Academy 2024 - Miami

The 2024 F1 Academy season continues in Miami and this two-part race set before the F1 '24's Miami Grand Prix delivered some pre-race big news.

Effective throughout the 2024 season, American Express was named the sponsor of the F1 Academy. With that, the famous credit card brand joins the F1 Academy grid with Jessica Edgar as its driver. Also, a Netflix docuseries highlighting the 2024 season of F1 Academy is coming next year.

Courtney Crone was named the Wildcard entry sponsoring QVC for the Miami race weekend, 

Screengrab from F1 Academy

Abbi Pulling, the Rodin Motorsport driver representing Alpine, swept the entire F1 Academy Miami weekend. The first part saw former W Series driver Chloe Chambers, representing Haas and Campos Racing, taste her first F1 Academy podium by placing 3rd. In contrast, Mercedes/PREMA driver Doriane Pin finished 2nd, and the second part saw Bianca Bustamante, the Filipina driver representing McLaren and ART Grand Prix finish 2nd ahead of Pin.

The next event will be in Barcelona on June 21-23, 2024.

Autobacs Super GT 2024 Series Round 2

It's May the 4th, which is known as Star Wars Day and also the penultimate day of this year's Golden Week, and the Autobacs Super GT 2024 Series with its second round in Fuji Speedway as the cars are wrapping up Golden Week with a golden opportunity of Super GT action.

Screengrab from Super GT

A 1-2 finish for the Nissan Fairlady Z RZ34 GT500 cars with the #3 Niterra Motul Z the winner and the #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z the second placer while the #17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT finished 3rd, the first podium finish for the new CIVIC TYPE R-GT racer. In the GT300 class, meanwhile, the #88 JLOC Lamborghini GT3 is the winner, while the #56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R finished 2nd and the #52 Green Brave GR Supra GT finished 3rd.

The next round will be in Suzuka Circuit this June 2nd.

Let's Do The News! (May 4, 2024)

                                     

Your daily round-up of today's news...

- Three were arrested and charged in Canada over last year's killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which triggered a diplomatic row with India.

- The British government was defeated in court again for not doing enough to meet climate targets and told it must redraft its emissions plan.

- Conservative Ben Houchen was re-elected as the mayor of Tees Valley despite the party's heavy losses demonstrated by the Labour Party's recent victory in mayoral races in York and North Yorkshire, which includes Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's constituency. Sources say that the Labour Party would have won 34% and the Conservatives 25% if local results were replicated across the entire UK.

- Kenya issued a warning that a powerful cyclone could be about to hit coastal areas.

- Spain's government announced that a national prize for bullfighting is to be abolished over animal welfare concerns.

- Rally driver Sebastien Ogier was granted knighthood by French President Emmanuel Macron.

- The F1 Academy docuseries is coming to Netflix this 2025. The docuseries will be produced by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine.

- BBC announced that the final episode of Gavin & Stacy will air this Christmas Day on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer. The series finale will be written by James Corden and Ruth Jones, who played the titular characters.

TTFN.

Let's Do The News! (May 3, 2024)

                                    

Your daily round-up of today's news...

- The 10-day Balikatan exercises in the West Philippine Sea have been concluded. The Philippine Navy lauded the maritime drills with the US as a success despite threats from China.

- The DSWD will help jeepney drivers who cannot drive because of their opposition to the PUV modernization.

- The Bureau of Corrections is awaiting the commitment order of convicted businessman Cedric Lee. Last night, Cedric Lee surrendered after he, Deniece Cornejo, and two others were sentenced to life over the assault of IT'S SHOWTIME presenter Vhong Navarro.

- The Bureau of Immigration warns foreigners of penalties for bomb joke incidents.

- The Labour Party wins the Blackpool South by-election, taking the seat from the Conservatives in a blow for PM Rishi Sunak.

- Police officers broke down barricades to clear a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of California in Los Angeles. Overnight, hundreds of officers entered the site and by Thursday morning most protesters had gone. Demonstrations are continuing at dozens of universities across the US; there have been more than 1,000 arrests in total.

- Russia blamed for GPS interference affecting flights in Europe.

- The first-ever Renault Symbioz E-Tech Hybrid crossover was unveiled.

2025 Renault Symbioz

- Ferrari unveiled its newest V12 flagship super grand tourer, the 12 Cilindri. Available in coupe and Spider variants, the 12 Cilindri's 6.5L V12 engine produces 820bhp of power and 677Nm of torque, hitting a 0-100kph time of 2.9 seconds and flat-out at 350kph.

2025 Ferrari 12 Cilindri

- Boy group TWS is preparing for their June comeback.

- The NCAA could pay more than $2.7B to settle antitrust suits, according to reports.

TTFN.

Volvo EX40 and EC40

Formerly known as the XC40 Recharge and the C40, the two electric crossovers from Volvo have been renamed as the EX40 and the EC40 as the Swedish carmaker's plans to become an EV-only brand have gone in full circle.

2025 Volvo EX40

2025 Volvo EC40

Although they look the same as the now-defunct XC40 Recharge and the C40, the first-ever EX40 and the EC40 are picking up where the recently deceased former selves left off in the name of mobility for all.

 

2025 Volvo EX40 interior

2025 Volvo EC40 interior

While the styling and the interior layout look and feel the same as the XC40 Recharge and the C40 it replaced, so does the boot space of up to 1286 liters for the EX40 and 1196 liters for the EC40, not to mention the driving feel between them, which in their case, civilized, relaxing, well-poised, and thanks to the most advanced safety features Volvo has championed, it's surprisingly safer as well, the EV powertrains saw a major shake-up with the addition of a new flagship version.

In addition to the 238PS rear-wheel-drive Single Motor and the 408PS all-wheel-drive Twin Motor variants, the EX40 and the EX40 received a new Performance variant where a special Performance drive mode bumped the 82kWh Twin Motor powertrain with an additional 34PS of power, bringing the power output of 442PS. It will go from 0-100kph in four and a half seconds and being a new-normal Volvo, the maximum permitted speed is 180kph. 

Asked about the driving range, the EX40 Twin Motor Performance variant is good for 538km while the EC40 Twin Motor Performance does 552km, which is more. Both can hit 80% in less than 30 minutes while charging at a 50kw DC charging station at a public place.

The EX40 starts at 607,000 kr while the EC40 starts at 625,000 kr plus additional costs. Both can be ordered online.

Even with the name change, the Volvo EX40 and the EC40 deserve some attention.

Photo: Volvo Cars