NASCAR playoffs go to Watkins Glen, IndyCar finale at Nashville, F1 returns to track in Azerbaijan

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NASCAR CUP SERIES

Go Bowling at The Glen

Site: Watkins Glen, New York.

Schedule: Saturday, practice, 11:30 p.m.; qualifying, 1 p.m.; Sunday, race, 3 p.m. (USA Network).

Track: Watkins Glen International.

Race distance: 90 laps, 220.5 miles.

Last year: William Byron won his first-ever Cup Series road course event, leading 66 of 90 laps and finishing nearly three seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin. Two more Joe Gibbs Racing drivers rounded out the top five with Christopher Bell third and Ty Gibbs fifth. Kaulig Racing's AJ Allmendinger was between the JGR drivers in fourth.

Last race: Two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano began his try for a third title in strong fashion with a win in Atlanta and advanced him into the round of 12. Logano got a push from Team Penske teammate and defending champion Ryan Blaney on a final restart and took the checkered flag in overtime when a crash on the last lap ended the race with Logano out front. Daniel Suarez was second, Blaney third and Christopher Bell fourth.

Fast facts: Blaney's strong showing put him atop the driver standings after Atlanta. Bell is second with regular-season champion Tyler Reddick third. ... 2022 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson led in playoff points entering Atlanta, but he was involved in an early wreck with another playoff participant, Chase Briscoe, and finished 35th in the race. Larson is 10th in the playoff standings, 15 points above the cut line. ... Those on the wrong side of the bubble include past champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. Keselowski is one point in back of 12th-place Ty Gibbs. Truex, retiring after this season, is 19 points behind Gibbs.

Next race: Sept. 22, Bristol, Tennessee.

Online: http://www.nascar.com

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

Mission 200 at the Glen

Site: Watkins Glen, New York.

Schedule: Saturday, practice, 9:30 a.m.; qualifying, 10 a.m.; race, 3 p.m. (USA Network)

Track: Watkins Glen International.

Race distance: 82 laps, 200.9 miles.

Last year: Sam Mayer bumped Ty Gibbs on the final restart to take the lead and win at Watkins Glen. Gibbs led a race-high 70 of the 86 laps and won the first and second stages at the 11-turn road course. But he could not escape Mayer's aggressive move. Sheldon Creed finished second, followed by Parker Kligerman and Ross Chastain, who, like Gibbs, was a Cup Series regular racing in Xfinity.

Last race: Austin Hill grabbed the lead 11 laps from the end to sweep both Xfinity races in Atlanta this season. It was Hill's fourth Xfinity win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track. Hill received a push on the final lap from Corey Heim, who was making his first superspeedway start in the Xfinity Series. Chandler Smith tried to pass Hill low on the last lap and nosed in front of Hill's bumper. But Heim stayed high behind Hill and both cleared Smith. Heim tried a pass of his own before brushing the wall to lose momentum.

Fast facts: Two races remain in the regular season, with Bristol following Watkins Glen to set the 12-team playoffs. ... Xfinity's postseason starts in Kansas on Sept. 28 with Talladega and the Charlotte Roval making up the rest of the first round. The field will be cut to eight drivers after those three races. ... Justin Allgaier hold the regular-season points lead by 34 points over defending Xfinity champ Cole Custer. ... Chandler Smith is third and Austin Hill fourth. ... Sammy Smith has the 12th and final playoff spot, leading Ryan Sieg by 44 points. A pair of first time winners, though, in the final two regular-season races could push Smith outside the postseason.

Next race: Sept. 21, Bristol, Tennessee.

Online: http://www.nascar.com

NASCAR TRUCK SERIES

Last race: There was an unexpected winner in the Truck Series’ opening playoff race with 22-year-old Layne Riggs winning his first ever race at the Milwaukee Mile three weeks ago. Riggs was not part of the 10-team playoff chase, but he held off championship contender Ty Majeski for the victory.

Fast Facts: The series is off until Bristol next week. ... The playoff field will be cut from 10 to eight after races at Bristol and Kansas. ... Christian Eckes, who finished third behind Riggs, leads the playoff standings. After one race, Ben Rhodes and Rajah Caruth are behind the cut line, ninth and 10th in the standings. ... Riggs, the son of former NASCAR driver Scott Riggs, dislocated his shoulder celebrating his landmark victory. The team popped it back in place.

Next race: Sept. 19, Bristol, Tennessee.

Online: http://www.nascar.com

FORMULA 1

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Site: Baku, Azerbaijan.

Schedule: Friday, practice 1, 5:30 a.m.; practice 2, 9 a.m.; Saturday, practice, 4:30 p.m.; qualifying, 8 a.m.; Sunday, race, 7 p.m. (ESPN).

Track: Baku City Circuit.

Race distance: 51 laps, 306.049 kilometers (190.170 miles).

Last year: Sergio Perez took advantage of a fortunately timed safety car to beat Max Verstappen to the victory, adding it to the sprint event he secured there. Pérez took the lead when he managed to save time pitting during a safety car period after Verstappen had come in a lap earlier. The two didn’t fight for position after that, but Pérez said they “pushed to the maximum” as he fought to keep the lead. Verstappen finished second and Charles Leclerc third.

Last race: One pit stop turned out to be enough for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari, which earned a rare victory in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Leclerc held off Oscar Piastri and McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who started on the pole. Ferrari’s one-stop strategy paid off for Leclerc as he won his second race this season. Max Verstappen’s struggles continued with a sixth-place finish that extended his longest drought since 2020 to six races.

Fast facts: Defending series champion Max Verstappen has a 62-point lead over Lando Norris with eight races left. Charles Leclerc is 86 points behind in third. ... F1 racers head to Singapore next week before a month-long break until resuming the series in the United States with a a race in Austin, Texas, in mid-October. ... Verstappen had won seven of the first 10 races, the last which came in Spain in late June. But Verstappen has had only two podium finishes in the past six races.

Next race: Sept. 22, Singapore.

Online: http://www.formula1.com

INDYCAR

Big Machine Music City Grand Prix

Site: Lebanon, Tennessee.

Schedule: Saturday, practice 1, 11 a.m.; qualifying, 2:15 p.m.; practice 2, 5:15 p.m.; Sunday, race, 3 p.m. (NBC).

Track: Nashville Superspeedway.

Race distance: 206 laps, 267.8 miles.

Last year: Kyle Kirkwood won the event, which was a held down at the Nashville Street Circuit. Kirkwood led 34 laps to finish ahead of pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin. Alex Palou was third, followed by Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon.

Last races: Scott McLaughlin and Pato O’Ward took 250-mile twin races two weeks ago at the Milwaukee Mile. McLaughlin, a New Zealand native, steered his Team Penske Chevy to victory on Sunday, holding off the Honda of countryman and Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon by .4558 seconds for his third win this season. Penske teammate and two-time series champion Will Power appeared to have wiped out a 43-point deficit to series leader Alex Palou before spinning out and finishing 10th, blowing a huge chance to snatch control first place from Palou with the CGR driver sidelined by an electrical issue. The night before, O’Ward dominated for 133 of 250 laps in his Arrow McLaren Racing Chevy for his third win this season.

Fast Facts: Alex Palou holds a 33-point lead over Will Power heading into this year's season finale. Palou is looking for a second straight championship and third in four years. ... IndyCar is running at Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2008 because of construction downtown. ... Scott McLaughlin is 50 points behind in third. ... The event at Nashville Superspeedway will mark IndyCar’s first finale on an oval in a decade. Nashville has hosted eight IndyCar events.

Online: http://www.indycar.com

NHRA DRAG RACING

Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, Mohnton, Pennsylvania.

Last event: Clay Millican won the Top Fuel class while Austin Prock won Funny Car at the prestigious U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Millican qualified 13th in his dragster but beat Steve Torrance (sixth), covering the track in 3.792 seconds at 327.82 mph for his first win this season and seventh overall. Prock outdueled Ron Capps for his fifth win this season.

Fast facts: Doug Kalitta leads Justin Ashley by just 36 points with Shawn Langdon 50 back and Torrance 55 behind. Prock leads Funny Car by 348 points over Bob Tasca III, followed by Matt Hagan, J.R. Todd and Capps.

Next event: Sept. 20-22, Concord, North Carolina.

Online: http://www.nhra.com

WORLD OF OUTLAWS

Nashville West Showdown, Bakersfield, California; Federated Auto Parts Yosemite Showdown, Merced, California.

Last events: Michael "Buddy” Kofoid passed leader Shane Golobic and held on through heavy lapped traffic to win at Stockton Dirt Track. The victory followed up Kofoid's success at Huset's High Bank Nationals in Brandon, South Dakota, a week earlier. On Saturday, Carson Macedo won the Tom Tarlton Classic at Kings Speedway in Hanford, California. Macedo's win came in an event that honors Tarlton, Macedo's great uncle. The Tarlton family gave the teenage Macedo a chance to run in their No. 21 car to learn his craft.

Fast facts: Macedo's eighth win of the season pushed him to second in the driver's standings, where he's 110 points behind leader David Gravel. Donny Schatz is third, 134 points behind Gravel.

Next events: Sept. 20-21, Tulare, California.

Online: http://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco celebrates with his teammate Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz of Spain in the Ferrari garage after winning the Italy's Formula One Grand Prix at the Monza racetrack, in Monza, Italy, Sunday, Sep.1, 2024 (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands is on his way to the starting grid before the Formula One Italian Grand Prix race at the Monza racetrack, in Monza, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

FILE - Will Power, of Australia, prepares to drive during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

Chase Briscoe (14) is involved in a wreck with Kyle Larson (5) around Turn 2 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Greg McWilliams)

NASCAR playoffs go to Watkins Glen, IndyCar finale at Nashville, F1 returns to track in Azerbaijan

Joey Logano, center, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

NASCAR playoffs go to Watkins Glen, IndyCar finale at Nashville, F1 returns to track in Azerbaijan

BANGKOK (AP) — Floods and landslides in Myanmar triggered by last week’s Typhoon Yagi and seasonal monsoon rains have claimed at least 226 lives, with 77 people missing, state-run media reported Tuesday. The new figures push the total number of dead in Southeast Asia from the storm past 500.

The accounting of casualties has been slow, in part due to communication difficulties with the affected areas. Myanmar is wracked by a civil war that began in 2021 after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Independent analysts believe the ruling military controls much less than half of the country’s territory.

Typhoon Yagi earlier hit Vietnam, northern Thailand and Laos, killing almost 300 people in Vietnam, 42 in Thailand and four in Laos, according to the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance. It said 21 people were killed in the Philippines, with another 26 missing.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Monday that an estimated 631,000 people may have been affected by flooding across Myanmar. There were already 3.4 million displaced people in Myanmar at the beginning of September, according to the U.N. refugee agency, mostly because of war and unrest in recent years.

Heavy rains from the typhoon and the seasonal monsoon brought widespread flash floods to Myanmar, especially the central regions of Mandalay, Magway, Bago and the Ayeyarwaddy Delta; the eastern states Shan, Kayah, Kayin and Mon; and the country’s capital, Naypyitaw.

Some flooded areas have started to see water levels recede but others in the Shan and Kayah states remain critical.

More than 160,000 houses have been damaged and 438 temporary relief camps have been opened for more than 160,000 flood victims, Myanma Alinn reported. The military government announced that nearly 240,000 people have been displaced.

Myanma Alinn said 117 government offices and buildings, 1,040 schools, 386 religious buildings, roads, bridges, power towers, and telecom towers were damaged by the floods in 56 townships.

It also said nearly 130,000 animals were killed and more than 259,000 hectares (640,000 acres) of agricultural land were damaged by the floods.

The U.N.’s humanitarian affairs agency said food, drinking water, medicine, clothes, dignity kits, and shelters are urgent needs for the flood victims but alleviation efforts are hampered by blocked roads, damaged bridges and ongoing armed clashes.

Vice Senior Gen. Soe Win, the second-ranking member of Myanmar’s ruling military council, said the country had received relief aid from other countries, and some humanitarian assistance from the Association of Southeast Asia, will arrive soon.

Soe Win, speaking at a meeting of the National Disaster Management Committee on Monday, said that the extent of flooding in the capital was unprecedented, and cleaning and rehabilitation activities in the flooded areas began Thursday as the water level declined.

Myanmar experiences extreme weather during the monsoon virtually every year. In 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 people around the Irrawaddy River delta. The then-military government was harshly discredited when it delayed acceptance of outside aid.

Local residents carry food on their cart, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Local residents carry their belongings along a flooded road, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Local residents carry food walking in the rain, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Local residents carry their belongings along a flooded road, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Local residents wade through flooded water at a broken bridge, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Local residents wade through flooded water at a broken bridge, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Local residents travel by boat on a flooded road, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A boy wades through a flooded road, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A women and child wade through a flooded road, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Local residents wade through flooded water at a broken bridge, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Flood victims receive relief supplies from a private donor in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Flood victims take rest at temporary camp opened at monastery in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A chicken stands on wooden beam of a half-submerged building along a flooded road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A woman looks out at flooded areas in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Local residents wash clothes along a flooded road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)