FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — NBA top rookie Cooper Flagg got a fast ride on the track Sunday before the NASCAR race in Texas with another 19-year-old, Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch.
A week after being named the NBA Rookie of the Year, the Dallas Mavericks' 6-foot-9 forward was the honorary pace car driver for the race in Texas.
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Honorary pace car driver Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, center left, prepares for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Honorary pace car driver Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg prepares for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg reacts to a question about driving fast during a news conference before acting as honorary pace car driver for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg answers a question before acting as honorary pace car driver for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
But several hours before leading the 38-car field to the green flag at the 1 1/2-mile track, Flagg was the passenger in that 2026 Chevrolet Corvette. It was driven then by Zilisch, who is in his first full Cup season with Trackhouse Racing after winning 10 races in NASCAR's second-tier series last year.
“We got going pretty fast, and I think half the ride I was more scared of what was going on,” Flagg said. “I've never been in a car going that fast, so it was pretty cool.”
Zilisch was driving well over 100 mph while giving Flagg an up-close look at the track.
So what do a couple of 19-year-old guys talk about while going around the track?
“I don’t know much about racing, but I think just being able to connect on the fact that we’re both young in our respective sports ... that was really cool, and to be able to talk to someone that’s going through a lot of similar things at a time in your life," Flagg said. "There’s just not many people that have been through this type of stuff at this age, so I think it was cool to connect on that.”
It was the first time Flagg, who was born and grew up in Maine, had been to any NASCAR track. But his parents in 1999 started going regularly to races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with Tony Stewart being their favorite driver.
Flagg said his parents, who were with him, hadn't been to a NASCAR race in a while since they got busy following him and his two brothers. During their visit to Texas, they got to meet personally with seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time champ Jeff Gordon and owner-driver Denny Hamlin.
On the warmup laps, Hamlin drove his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota alongside the pace car driven by Flagg. Hamlin then backed off and pulled up to the bumper before settling back to the second row and his starting spot of fourth for the green flag.
Flagg set a host of records as an NBA teenager and edged his former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel for the NBA rookie award announced last Monday. Flagg was the first rookie since Michael Jordan, now a NASCAR owner, in 1984-85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba and AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing
Honorary pace car driver Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, center left, prepares for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Honorary pace car driver Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg prepares for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg reacts to a question about driving fast during a news conference before acting as honorary pace car driver for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg answers a question before acting as honorary pace car driver for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States will launch an effort on Monday to “guide” stranded ships from the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said, giving few details about a sweeping effort to help hundreds of vessels and some 20,000 seafarers.
Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that “neutral and innocent” countries have been affected by the Iran war, and “we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.”
“Project Freedom” would begin on Monday morning in the Middle East, Trump said, adding that his representatives are having discussions with Iran that could lead to something “very positive for all.”
Iran’s effective closure of the strait, imposed after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, has shaken global markets.
Ships and seafarers, many on oil and gas tankers and cargo ships, have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began. Crew members have described to The Associated Press watching intercepted drones and missiles explode over the waters, and running low on drinking water, food and other supplies.
Many sailors come from India and other countries in south and southeast Asia.
“They are victims of circumstance,” Trump wrote, and described the effort as a humanitarian gesture “on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran.” But he sounded a warning: “If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”
Trump’s statement was quickly shared by some Iranian outlets, which described his announcement as a “claim.”
Trump spoke hours after Iran said it was reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal to end the war and made clear these are not nuclear negotiations. The fragile three-week ceasefire appears to be holding.
Earlier Sunday, a cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz said it was attacked by multiple small craft, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported. It was the latest in at least two dozen attacks in and around the strait since the Iran war began.
All crew on the unidentified northbound cargo ship were safe after the attack off Sirik, Iran, east of the strait, the British monitor said. Iranian officials have asserted that they control the strait and that ships not affiliated with the United States or Israel can pass if they pay a toll, challenging the freedom of navigation guaranteed by international law.
Iran denied an attack, the semiofficial Iranian outlets Fars and Tabnak reported, and said a passing ship had been stopped for a documents check as part of monitoring.
The monitor said it was the first reported attack in the area since April 22. Tehran has effectively closed the strait by attacking and threatening ships, and the threat level in the area remains critical.
Iranian patrol boats, some powered only by twin outboard motors, are small, nimble and hard to detect. Trump last month ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the strait.
The British military monitor also said Sunday it had received reports that ships near Ras al-Khaimah, the northernmost emirate in the United Arab Emirates and close to the strait, have received radio warnings to move from anchorages. It was not clear who sent the VHF messages.
Tehran is reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal to end the war, Iran’s judiciary Mizan news agency cited Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying.
But “at this stage, we have no nuclear negotiations,” Baghaei said. Iran’s nuclear program and enriched uranium have long been the central issue in tensions with the U.S., but Tehran would rather address it later.
Iran’s proposal wants other issues resolved within 30 days and aims to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire, according to Iran’s state-linked media.
Trump on Saturday said he was reviewing the proposal but expressed doubt it would lead to a deal.
Iran’s 14-point proposal calls for the U.S. lifting sanctions on Iran, ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing forces from the region and ceasing all hostilities, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, according to the semiofficial Nour News and Tasnim agencies, which have close ties to Iran's security organizations.
Mediator Pakistan's prime minister, foreign minister and army chief continue to encourage the U.S. and Iran to speak directly, according to two officials in Pakistan who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Trump has offered a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes, along with fertilizer badly needed by farmers around the world.
Tehran “will not back down from our position on the Strait of Hormuz, and it will not return to its prewar conditions,” Iran’s deputy parliament speaker, Ali Nikzad, said Sunday.
The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran in any form, including digital assets, to transit the strait safely.
Meanwhile, the U.S. naval blockade since April 13 is depriving Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. The U.S. Central Command on Sunday said 49 commercial ships have been told to turn back.
“We think that they’ve gotten less than $1.3 million in tolls, which is a pittance on their previous daily oil revenues,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Sunday. He said Iran's oil storage is rapidly filling up and "they’re going to have to start shutting in wells, which we think could be in the next week.”
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Anna from Lowville, New York. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
A cleric walks around Marvi old market, in Tehran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People walk as Iranian flags hang in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People view rugs at the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People walk through Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman reacts to the camera at Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman looks at jewelry in the window of a gold shop at Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
An Emirati patrol boat, left, is near a tanker anchored in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from a coastal road near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
A child holds an Iranian flag through the window of a vehicle in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A groom and bride ride on their motorbike in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vehicles drive past a billboard with graphic showing Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of U.S. President Donald Trump in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
