MADISON, Ill. (AP) — After getting spun out by Carson Hocevar in the Southern 500, Brad Keselowski issued a warning: “His day’s coming, and it’s coming hard. Watch out, Carson.”
Promotional posters are billing Sunday's race at World Wide Technology Raceway as Round 2 in a “A Rivalry Worth Watching: Hurricane Hocevar vs. Bad Brad Keselowski.”
While the dispute is between only those two, it's caught the attention of the 16 drivers competing in NASCAR's new postseason Chase for the championship who could get caught up in a wreck as collateral damage.
“When two guys have gone at it the weekend before, you’re definitely aware of it, especially if they’re right in front of you running nose to tail,” said Ryan Blaney, who is third in the Chase standings. “You’re going to pay a little bit more of attention of when they get next to each other.”
Or, as Joey Logano said: “You've been living under a rock if you don't know who they are."
Keselowski didn't exactly back off of his threat for retribution, saying Saturday that he'll “figure it out in the moment.” Keselowski is out of the running in the Chase, so there’s more at stake for Hocevar, who ranks 12th.
“Obviously my car’s not in the playoffs or Chase, but we still have lots to race for and commitments and things we want to do, and a lot of people that work really hard on the car," Keselowski said. "I have to balance that with the fact that different things happened last weekend, and that’s always a challenge.
“It’s my challenge this weekend is to balance out maximizing the performance I can this weekend while also not letting a fire spread.”
But Keselowski's efforts to prevent further damage to his team's cars could ignite problems for someone else's championship hopes.
“Obviously, if Brad’s around him, I would keep my eyes peeled a little bit more,” said Kyle Larson, who's in seventh place in the Chase. “But more just like when you’re behind it, you’re hoping something cool happens ... and you don’t get caught up in it. But yeah, it'd be funny.”
Perhaps no one feels the difference of the Chase more than Chase Briscoe.
Under last year's playoff format, Briscoe's win at Darlington clinched him a spot in the next round and made the trip to Gateway essentially a bye week because there was no requirement to keep racking up championship points.
“If I didn’t win this weekend, it didn’t mean anything,” said Briscoe, who is fifth in the Chase. “So it’s way more stress now, I think, just knowing that you can’t have a bad week. The elimination can happen at any point because you can just mathematically be out of it.”
Blaney said under the old playoff format, “the mindset was just don’t mess this up and go have a decent three races and get into the next round.”
“Now you can’t do that. You can’t ease your way into the Chase,” he said. “You have to stay in touch with the top guys for 10 weeks.”
That's a change of pace from the old playoff format, which eliminated drivers from championship contention every few races.
“Every week, I’m treating it like it’s the last race,” said Denny Hamlin, the current Chase leader. “So I mean, I think it’s more 10 weeks of the anxiety versus the only three times, and then you got your finale. So I think that the intensity and the anxiety for 16 guys is here every week through this format.”
After having his 25-point Chase lead cut to 12 last week, Hamlin heads to a track where's he is the defending champion and finished runner-up the previous two years. Still, he was reserved in his level of confidence at the 1 1/4-mile oval in suburban St. Louis that’s known for vastly different turns at the two ends of the track.
“We had race-winning pace when it mattered, but I don’t think we’ve been as good as the results have shown,” Hamlin said. “So there was a lot to dig into this week and try to get better at.”
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Carson Hocevar is introduced to fans prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Marcel Reed had three touchdown passes and the defense scored twice in the fourth quarter as No. 10 Texas A&M pulled away late for a 48-20 victory over Arizona State on Saturday.
The Aggies led by 4 before Reed threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Mario Craver on the second play of the fourth quarter to make it 31-20.
Tyler White fumbled before a punt later in the fourth and Arizona State (1-1) recovered on the Texas A&M 34. But A&M's T.J. Searcy hit Cutter Boley as he threw on the next play and 261-pound defensive end Marco Jones grabbed the ball and rumbled 55 yards for the score.
“Time slowed down and I was like I’m going to go get it,” Jones said.
A&M (2-0) led 41-20 later in the fourth when Julio Humphrey intercepted Boley and returned it 45 yards for another score.
Texas A&M’s offense struggled to get going and was inconsistent at times, with Reed going 15 of 25 for 163 yards with an interception before the defense turned this game into a blowout.
“At times we played ugly, but we did the winning things right,” coach Mike Elko said. “We don’t want to live like that, but that’s what we did today, and that’s how we got the win.”
Boley was 21 of 34 for 254 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Reed Harris, a Boston College transfer, had a career-high 189 yards receiving with two scores after he had 137 yards receiving and two TDs last week.
“They had a really, really good plan and big credit to our kids for staying composed, hearing the adjustments, listening to the adjustments,” Elko said.
Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham didn't take any solace in his team outgaining the Aggies 369-255.
“Stats are for losers,” he said. “Our stats showed that we played well and they’re for losers and that’s a great example of it. But it does show that we can be competitive, it does show that we can hang and it does show that we have a good football team. But we’ve got to clean up the important things.”
Lyrik Rawls made a diving interception on Reed’s first throw of the second half and the Sun Devils added a field goal on the ensuing drive to cut the lead to 17-13.
Reed found Isaiah Horton in the corner of the end zone on a 13-yard reception on A&M’s next possession to push the lead to 24-13.
Harris got in front of safety Dalton Brooks for a reception later in the third and simply outran him to the end zone for a 58-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-20 before Boley's late mistakes doomed the Sun Devils.
Arizona State muffed a punt with about six minutes left in the first quarter and Texas A&M recovered the ball on the 8. Rueben Owens gave the Aggies an early lead on his 2-yard scoring run three plays later.
A 21-yard TD catch by Harris tied it 7-7 near the end of the first.
The Aggies regained the lead when Reed found Horton wide open in the end zone for a 4-yard score with about nine minutes left in the second.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils have a dynamic offense and if they can cut down on their mistakes, they could be a contender in the Big 12 Conference.
Texas A&M: The Aggies must limit big plays and Reed will need to be more accurate if they hope to stay undefeated as they begin Southeastern Conference play next week.
Horton had two touchdown receptions after scoring once in his Texas A&M debut last week following his transfer from Alabama.
Elko has been impressed with the work of the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Horton so far.
“We needed that big receiver,” Elko said. “And you saw where the big receiver can help you in the red zone.”
The normally maroon-clad crowd at Kyle Field instead wore red, white and blue on Saturday to commemorate Friday's 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Fans in the upper deck wore red, the middle sections donned white and those in the lower level wore blue. The field was decorated for the remembrance, with one end zone painted red, the other one blue and the Texas A&M logo at midfield painted to look like the flag.
Arizona State: Opens Big 12 play against Kansas in the Union Jack Classic at Wembley Stadium in London next Saturday.
Texas A&M: Hosts Kentucky next Saturday.
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Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed (10) is tackeld by Arizona State linebacker Owen Long (22) after a 18 yard scramble during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
Arizona State quarterback Cutter Boley (8) looks to pass downfield against Texas A&M during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
Arizona State wide receiver Reed Harris (3) catches a pass over Texas A&M cornerback Julio Humphrey (6) before scoring a touchdown during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed (10) looks to pass downfield against Arizona State during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
