NASCAR recovers from early washouts to produce decent racing in season marred by antitrust lawsuit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR opened the season with near washouts in the first two races of the year that could have set the tone for a miserable 2024 campaign.

Instead, the top motorsports series in the United States showed it could be flexible, moving its preseason race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum up a full day to set the stage for an unpredictable year.

There were 18 different winners, including Austin Dillon, who was disqualified from advancing to the playoffs for the aggressive driving that secured his victory. Joey Logano was the controversial Cup Series champion and triggered discussion about the fairness of the playoffs.

NASCAR heads toward the 2025 season with a points-paying Cup Series race outside the United States for the first time in the modern era: A trip to Mexico City, a highlight for the first year of NASCAR's new, 7-year multi-partner television package. It also continues to fight a federal antitrust lawsuit filed by two teams, one of them owned by Michael Jordan.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps found himself defending the four drivers racing for the title last month and promising to take a look at the format if warranted. He also touted positive television ratings and what worked for the series in 2024.

“It says the sport is resilient and the sport is growing,” Phelps said.

In incredible rain.

The third running of the exhibition Clash at the Coliseum was under threat before the teams arrived because of heavy rain headed toward California. With an eye on the radar, NASCAR knew there was no way it would able to race on its scheduled day.

So officials crammed an entire two-day event into one Saturday — a day the Coliseum wasn't even supposed to be open to fans — in an unprecedented move that cost NASCAR dearly in both television ratings and money.

“We did something we had never done before. We pulled a race up a day, and we raced on Saturday night,” Phelps said. “Got crushed in the ratings, right? Saturday night is the lowest-rated day of the week, but it was the right thing to do.”

Rain also postponed the season-opening Daytona 500 in February, and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was rain shortened — that one ruined Kyle Larson's shot to complete the Indy 500-Coke 500 double. The Chicago street race was also interrupted by rain, making three of the biggest events of the season dampened by weather.

And yet, Phelps noted that NASCAR had climbed out of 27% ratings hole by the end of the season.

“If you had asked me at the beginning of the year, ‘I will bet you that you can dig out of a 27% hole at the 500 and then two double-digital ratings declines on your next two highest rated races,’ I would have said there is no way that’s going to happen," he said. “And we sit here for our Cup races, we are in the positive numbers.”

Most of the winners were familiar faces: Larson, with a series-high six wins, and Daytona 500 winner William Byron was among five drivers who scored three victories apiece this season.

Logano, who won his third Cup championship, had only one regular-season victory. But he won three playoff races to become only the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win three or more Cup titles.

There were some surprises, too. Chase Briscoe and Harrison Burton won the final two races of the regular season to snag the final two playoff spots in the 16-driver field. It was bittersweet for both.

Briscoe represented Stewart-Haas Racing, which essentially closed at the end of the season. Burton, a first-time Cup Series winner, won in his final season with Wood Brothers Racing.

Dillon earned his first victory in nearly two years with a win at Richmond Raceway that ultimately was thrown out by NASCAR because he wrecked two cars in the closing laps. There are also allegations that Richard Childress Racing bought the setup information on Dillon's car from a Joe Gibbs Racing employee. JGR has refused to comment and no formal complaint has been lodged.

At the penultimate race of the season, with spots in the championship on the line, NASCAR levied heavy fines against multiple teams for cooperating with each other in order to help drivers representing the same manufacturers. NASCAR found it manipulative and said it won't rule out driver suspensions in the future.

NASCAR also won't rule out taking a look at the playoff format after the title was won by Logano, who was technically eliminated from the field after the second round. But when Alex Bowman's car failed inspection following the elimination race, Logano was reinstated and went on to give Roger Penske his third consecutive Cup Series title.

NASCAR was adamant the correct four drivers raced for the title — Logano, regular-season champion Tyler Reddick, Byron and 2023 champion Ryan Blaney — but said it would review the system if needed.

“We are always looking if there are opportunities for us to tweak something,” said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR chief operating officer. “We are not the only sport where the best statistical team does not get to the Final Four or the Super Bowl or the World Series. We’re not going to go away from playoffs. We read fans and everything. We will, as we always do, we’ll absolutely look at what form the playoffs take in the offseason.”

NASCAR for more than two years was locked in contentious negotiations with the teams over its revenue-sharing model, based on charter agreements. A deal described by the teams as a “take-it-or-leave-it” final offer was presented 48 hours before the start of the playoffs in September.

Of the 15 teams that held 36 charters, 13 signed. The two that refused — 23XI Racing, which is owned by NBA Hall of Famer Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by businessman Bob Jenkins — are now suing NASCAR over antitrust claims.

NASCAR has since revoked the charter offers to the two teams, which held two each. The charters guarantee a spot in the field in all 38 races as well as guaranteed revenue. The teams can still compete as “open” cars but will not have the same protections. Both teams had agreements to buy charters from Stewart-Haas Racing to expand their organizations to three cars, but NASCAR said it will not honor those transfers.

The teams have asked for a December hearing in search of an injunction to clear the situation up a little bit before the charters expire at the end of this year. NASCAR on Monday asked for the suit to be dismissed outright.

The ramifications are huge but it isn't clear how 23XI and Front Row can or will proceed if there isn't resolution by February. An attorney representing the teams, Jeffrey Kessler, contends the drivers and sponsors can leave both organizations if the cars aren't chartered. And, without the transfer of the SHR charters, expansion is in question even though both teams have hired drivers for 2025.

It's a messy fight that will likely linger until a judge either reaches a decision or a settlement is made — and nobody knows if that will be before the preseason Clash, which will be held for the first time at Bowman-Gray Stadium in North Carolina on Feb. 2.

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

NASCAR auto racing driver Denny Hamlin speaks ahead of the NASCAR awards ceremony in Charlotte N.C., Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Reed)

Car owner Roger Penske speaks ahead of the NASCAR awards ceremony in Charlotte N.C., Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Reed)

FILE - William Byron celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 19, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

FILE - Kyle Larson poses with the trophy with his daughter Audrey, 6, after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

FILE - Car owner Michael Jordan watches from the pits during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)

FILE - Joey Logano celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series Championship auto race for the championship at Phoenix Raceway, Nov. 10, 2024, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Jewish settlers mounted a string of attacks on Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank overnight, burning homes and clashing with Israeli troops.

There were no immediate reports of any Palestinian casualties.

The Israeli military said Jewish settlers attacked the village of Beit Furik after troops arrived in the area to dismantle an unauthorized farming outpost they had built nearby. It said the settlers hurled stones, wounding two members of the paramilitary Border Police, and one group entered the village and burned property.

The West Bank has seen a surge in settler violence since the start of the war.

In Lebanon, a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has held despite Israeli forces carrying out several new drone and artillery strikes on Tuesday, killing a shepherd in the country's south. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed keep striking “with an iron fist” against perceived Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire.

Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel last year in solidarity with Hamas militants who are fighting in the Gaza Strip. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.

Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war in Gaza has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

Here's the Latest:

BEIT FURIK, West Bank — Jewish settlers mounted a string of attacks on Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank overnight, burning homes and clashing with Israeli troops.

There were no immediate reports of any Palestinian casualties.

The Israeli military said one group entered the village, where they threw stones and burned property. An Associated Press reporter saw a blackened home and a destroyed car on Wednesday morning.

The military said Jewish settlers attacked the village of Beit Furik after troops arrived in the area to dismantle an unauthorized farming outpost they had built nearby on land privately owned by Palestinians. It said the settlers hurled stones, wounding two members of the paramilitary Border Police.

Settlers also attacked the village of Huwara, which has been the target of several previous attacks — even before the outbreak of the war in Gaza — and clashed with troops near Rujeib, another Palestinian village.

Israeli police and the Shin Bet security agency said in a statement that they were investigating the settler attacks. They said they arrested eight Israelis for suspected property damage and assaulting security forces.

The West Bank has seen a surge in settler violence since the start of the war, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel. Settlers have also raced to establish new farming outposts that rights groups say are among the biggest drivers of the violence.

The UN’s humanitarian office said settler attacks on Palestinian farmers during the recent olive harvest season “at least tripled” in 2024 compared to the last three years.

Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for an independent state.

The West Bank is home to some 3 million Palestinians who live under Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in cities and towns. Some 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship live in more than 100 settlements across the West Bank, many of which resemble suburbs or small towns.

Most of the international community considers the settlements to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medics said an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip killed at least five people, including four children, on Wednesday.

The Awda Hospital, which received the bodies, said the five were gathered outside of shelters in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, which dates back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

The hospital said another 15 people, mostly children, were wounded in the strike.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,500 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said Wednesday it had returned the bodies of two militants who crossed into Israel from Jordan in October and shot two soldiers.

The militants entered Israeli territory south of the Dead Sea on Oct. 18, shooting and wounding two soldiers before being shot dead by Israeli troops. Hamas praised the incursion but not claim responsibility for it.

The Israeli military did not release the names of the militants who carried out the attack.

A burnt house following a settler attack that damaged vehicles and houses in the village of Beit Furik, in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Mohammed Hanani looks at his burnt car following a settler attack that damaged vehicles and houses in the village of Beit Furik, in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Mohammed Hanani looks at his burnt car following a settler attack that damaged vehicles and houses in the village of Beit Furik, in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

A man carries a sack of donated flour distributed by UNRWA at the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man grabs a sack of donated flour at a UNRWA distribution center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli armoured vehicles move on in an area at the Israeli-Gaza border, seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)