Matt DiBenedetto‘s car for Sunday’s Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN) will throw back to a sports car rather than a stock car.
Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Toyota will pay tribute to the turbo-charged GTO Celicas that won the driver’s championship in the IMSA GTU (under three-liter) category in 1987 with Chris Cord.
This championship-winning IMSA GTO program carried the red, orange and yellow striped color scheme which is associated with Toyota in American motorsports.
Joining their brethren in other sports, the NASCAR world took to social media upon learning the tragic news of the death of Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant, killed Sunday morning in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Bryant had met a number of NASCAR drivers in his career, including Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano. They were among a number of NASCAR notables who took to social media to mourn Bryant:
So sad to hear the awful news about @kobebryant. One of the best athletes and competitors of all time in professional sports. RIP to the š
— Joey Logano (@joeylogano) January 26, 2020
I didnāt know @kobebryant but Iām very saddened about the news heās been killed in a helicopter crash! Sad day!!
— Darrell Waltrip (@AllWaltrip) January 26, 2020
Such awful news…. So much accomplished yet still so young. R.I.P. https://t.co/l7gNaUpVY4
— Steve Letarte (@SteveLetarte) January 26, 2020
Unbelievable news, Rest In Peace @kobebryant.
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) January 26, 2020
The #NASCAR community and all of us with @NASCARONFOX send our thoughts and our prayers to the families of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and the other 3 victims from todayās tragedy! #GodBless #RIP #FB
— Larry McReynolds (@LarryMac28) January 26, 2020
Man, this news of @kobebryant is so sad. Scary to think how fast something can go wrong and change the course of an amazing life that he built for he and his family to live and enjoy. Sad day for sports! Thoughts/prayers to his family and friends. š #BlackMamba
— Clint Bowyer (@ClintBowyer) January 26, 2020
Life is precious, and it sucks that we get reminded by tragedies like this. Never take our time here on this earth for granted #RIPMAMBA
— Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (@StenhouseJr) January 26, 2020
I didnāt know @kobebryant but the sting is still real and will last a long time.
Traveling week to week and day2day is a part of any athlete or performerās life even after retirement. Weāve lost too many good men and women along the way… #GodSpeed
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) January 26, 2020
I was praying it wasnāt true when I first heard about the passing of Kobe…heart breaking š
— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) January 26, 2020
Unbelievable news about Kobe Bryant. Heartbreaking feelings like this are so deep. Last time my heart dropped like this was when @NASCAR lost Dale Earnhardt Sr. RIP Kobe Bryant #legend4ever
— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) January 27, 2020
Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion crew chief Chad Knaus and wife Brooke are expecting their second child.
Brooke made the announcement Saturday on her Instagram account.
The couple, already parents to one-year-old son Kip, will soon be adding a daughter to their growing family.
Brooke Knausās Instagram post said the baby is due in July.
Kip figured prominently in the baby revelation, coming at the end of mom and dadās ski run while vacationing in Telluride, Colorado:
Kyle Larsonās hope of following up last weekās Chili Bowl win with a triumph in Australiaās prestigious Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic fell far short Sunday.
Larsonās bid to race his way into the 24-car finals of the three-day race at Premier Speedway in Warrnambool, Australia, ended when he flipped (uninjured) on the opening lap of a last-chance qualifying heat race earlier in the evening.
#DVDownUnder REPLAY: @KyleLarsonRacin's luck
at @SungoldStadium continues to not be on his side as he ends up upside-down in Turn 1 during tonight's Heat Race 8. #48GASC pic.twitter.com/0s2hXTkeD7— DIRTVision by Drydene (@dirtvision) January 26, 2020
Instead of being one of the featured drivers in the Classicās 40-lap finale ā the largest and most popular sprint car race of the year in the land down under ā Larson was left to watch the event from the pits and cheer on Dyson Motorsport teammate and fellow American Carson Macedo.
Even that didnāt go very well, as Macedo flipped his own sprint car on the first lap of the Classic, resulting in a last-place finish. The highest finishing American was Cory Eliason, who ended up fourth.
Meanwhile, it was an all-Australian podium, with James McFadden winning the Classic for the second time in his career, followed by James Veal and Kerry Madsen.
In eight days, Larson went from capturing what he called the biggest win ever of his racing career on all levels ā the Chili Bowl in his 13th try last Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma ā to nothing but bad luck and utter frustration throughout his Australian journey.
Larsonās first race on Wednesday in the Kingās Challenge at Borderline Speedway was rained out.
Then, in the first night of the Classic on Friday, Larson wrecked heavily in his first heat race, including flipping (he was uninjured). After his team repaired his car, Larson went back on the track, only to suffer a blown engine that knocked him out of contention to race in that eveningās feature event.
After not being on the schedule to race in Night 2 of the Classic on Saturday, Larson had one last chance to make Sundayās featured championship event.
A total of 80 drivers battled it out in the B, C and D Mains for the eight remaining spots in the A Main, but Larson would end up not being one of those — as can be seen in the second line of the following tweet by his team:
Feature lineups for #48GASC at @SungoldStadium ā @carson_macedo will lineup seventh in B-Main 2.
20-laps | Top four transfer to the A@KyleLarsonRacin is done for the night. pic.twitter.com/xtgX1facUR
— Kyle Larson Racing (@KLRteam) January 26, 2020
Larson now returns to the United States to prepare for the Daytona 500 on February 16.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch was looking forward to his first stint at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The two-time Cup champion was less enthused about his second turn behind the wheel in the IMSA season opener. Busch will climb back into the No. 14 Lexus RCF GT3 at 2 a.m. Sunday, just past the midpoint of the endurance race classic at Daytona International Speedway.
āThatās going to suck, yeah,ā Busch deadpanned. āThatās exactly when I told them I did not want to run, and I got it.Ā Thank you very much.
ā(Iām) the new guy.Ā I pulled the short straw.”
Click here to read more about how Busch felt about his AIM Vasser Sullivan car.