Monthly Archives: December 2024

The Ones Most Interested  

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—and the places most damaged.

We’ve had three weeks or so to digest the results of the November 5 election.  We are going to offer some insights in the next few entries.

One of the amendments we voted this month proposed something that we’ve seen before—a statewide vote to force a city or an area to allow something the people there did not want.

That was Amendment 5, which would have forced the people living and working at the Lake of the Ozarks to accept a commercial casino in their midst.  Two areas of Missouri were involved: the area where a casino is proposed and an area fearful that it would be the next place forced to accept one.

We’re talking about the Lake of the Ozarks and Branson.

It might be instructive to see their thoughts about the sports wagering amendment and the casino-placement amendment. We looked at the votes in five lake counties and in five Branson-area counties.

Both groups wanted nothing to do with either proposal, sports wagering or a casino.

The five lake counties were 57% against sports wagering, Amendment 2, that barely passed statewide with only 50.074% of the votes (as of last night), a margin so small a recount can be justified if the losers want to pay for it.  The five Branson-area counties opposed it to the tune of 60%.

Amendment 5 was the issue that was most stark in its possibilities for these two areas and the message sent by these ten counties was more than no. It pretty much amounted to a “Hell, No.” Camden County rejected the proposal 10,621-14,375. Taney County swamped it 9,875-16,071.  Sixty percent of the voters in the five lake counties rejected the casino. In the Branson area, the rejection was even greater, 61.4%.

End result: People in those ten counties don’t like sports wagering but their people can do it if they want, but they’re sure don’t want them ever to do it in a local casino.

Both of these counties have promoted their areas as family-friendly tourism destinations.  Branson was worried that a Lake of the Ozarks casino would be the precedent-setter for a casino campaign in Branson. Amendment 5 would have forced one area to accept something the voters clearly did not want, and exposed the other area to a similarly unwelcome intrusion later.

Branson had a taste of this issue twenty years ago when voters defeated a proposal to put a casino next to the White River at Rockaway Beach.

How about counties that have casinos?  Amendment 3 failed in three of them—Cape Girardeau (46.4%), Lewis (Mark Twain Casino in LaGrange—46/7%), and Cooper (Boonville 48.5%).

This time, the casino industry spent ten-million dollars on a petition effort and an election campaign for Amendment 5.  Their efforts netted them less than 48% of the statewide vote.

In St. Charles County, the home of Missouri’s most lucrative casino, Amendment 3 got only 53.4%.

The spending on the Lake of the Ozarks proposal was pocket change compared to the huge amount invested in the sports wagering amendment. It took $41 million from the two biggest internet bookies to overcome the $14 million dollar opposition campaign financed by another bookie. The victory margin was only (as of last night) 4,360 votes out of almost three million votes cast.  The certified final results will be posted after the Missouri Board of Canvassers meets on December 10.  Presidential electors meet a week later. Congress is to certify the federal results on January 6.

The casinos will get their money back pretty fast.  The host cities of the casinos will lose millions because of the support their voters game to Amendment Two.

How much will they lose?  There are two factors.  The state tax rate on gambling (table games and slot machines is 21%.  Host cities get ten percent of that amount. In the last fiscal year, ten percent of the state gaming taxes collected provided $39,711,780 to the host cities.

But sports wagering will provide ZERO money from the state gaming tax, which will be only ten percent to begin with.  The State Auditor estimates casino revenues in the first five years will be $1,044,684,612.  The states ten percent will amount to $104,467,878, all of it earmarked for higher and lower education. None of it goes to the home cities. None.

If Amendment 2 followed current law, the casinos’ own home dock cities would split an additional $10,446,788.

But it’s worse than that.  If the tax rate on sports wagering were the same as it is on other forms of gambling—and the industry has never given a consistent answer why is should not be—the home dock cities would have split an additional $21,938,377 in those first five years.

The casino industry will recover more than one-half of the money it spent on the campaign by giving their own host cities the shaft. Permanently.

I can show you the math; the casinos wouldn’t.

The manifest shortcomings in taxes can only be remedied by adoption of another amendment. A campaign that focuses on those shortcomings and either corrects or overturns Amendment 2 might be considered, given the paper-thin margin of victory for sports wagering. It would be interesting to know the reactions of city councils in the thirteen host cities if they are ever shown these numbers. I doubt the industry, its leaders, or its supporting organizations have ever given these figures to the cities

The casino industry has never been put on the defensive at the Capitol or at the ballot box.

And maybe it should be, as we will discuss in our next commentary because what could be coming will be only worse.

SPORTS: GOING OUT IN STYLE AT FAUROT FIELD; IMPROBABILITY REIGNS IN KC AGAIN; HIGH SCHOOL FB SEASON ENDING

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MIZ)—Brady Cook and Luther Burden III have played their last game at Faurot Field, a 28=21over Arkansas on a frigid, snowy day in Columbia. It’s the first time in recent memory that the Tigers have played in the snow. One report says there hasn’t been a regular-season snow game in the SEC since 1993. Cook and Burden scored the deciding last eight points in the game.

Yesterday, Burden announced he’s available in the NFL Draft.

The Tigers got ten points on their first two possessions but didn’t score on their next four. But the second half was different until late. Arkansas got a touchdown to go up 21-20 with 4:19 to go, leaving plenty of time for a Missouri com back, and Cook’s 30-yard bolt up the wide-open middle gave Missouri a 26-21 lead with 1:53 left.

With plenty of time for Arkansas to reach the end zone one last time and steal the win, the Tigers decided to go for two—-and Burden capped off his career catching a Cook pass for a two-point conversion.

(Cook and Burden are among eighty players named as pre-season candidates for the Maxwell Award that goes to the nation’s best offensive football player. Neither made the final three, announced a few days ago.)

Arkansas, needing a touchdown and conversion to tie, drove into Missouri territory as the clock wound down but a Hail Mary pass was knocked down with the clock hitting zero.

Missouri finishes 9-3 with a wining SEC record. Arkansas split its 12 games. Both are headed for post-season play.

(MIZBOWL)—Missouri will learn by next Sunday noon where it will play its final game of the season.  Bowl selections will be announced starting at 11 a.m., our time. The top six bowls will be reserved for the twelve teams that make the playoffs.

Here’s how that works:  The five highest-ranked conference champions will get automatic bids. The seven highest-ranked teams after that will join the field.  The top four seeds will have first round byes.

The remaining four will play on the fields of the higher-ranked team in each matchup. The six major New Year’s Day bowls will host quarterfinal games—Fiesta, Peach, Rose, and Sugar. The semifinal games will be played a week later in the Orange and Cotton Bowls. The last college football game of the season will be January 20 in Atlanta.

(THE POLLS)—Missouri’s win over Arkansas put the Tigers more solidly into the top 25, but a 9-3 team beating a 6-6 team is not worth a significant jump.  Missouri is 20th in the coaches poll and 22nd in the AP sportswriters poll.

Of passing interest is that UNLV is ranked 19th among coaches as well as sportswriters.  UNLV’s head coach is Barry Odoms, the immediate predecessor of Eliah Drinkwitz. UNLV (10-2) plays Boise State for the Mountain West Conference championship next weekend.    (ZOU)

(GOING FOR TEN)—A bowl win will give Missouri a chance to post double-digit wins in back-to-back years, something that has happened only once before. Missouri has had only five double-digit winning seasons in their 123-year history.

Missouri’s first 10-win season was 1960 when they went 10-1 although the only team to beat them that year, Kansas, later forfeited the game, for using illegal players, leaving Missouri with an 11-0 record (with an asterisk and a bowl win against Navy).  Missouri went 12-2 in 2012 and 11-3 in 2014.  Last year, of course, they were 12-2.

If Missouri wins its bowl game, Drinkwitz will move into a tie with Al Onofrio for most wins by an MU football coach. Onofrio was 38-41 in seven years. Drinkwitz is 37-24 in five years. He is only nine wins away from tying Warren Powers in fourth place. (ZOU)

(CHIEFS)—Are they the worst 11-1 team in NFL history or just in recent memory?  Or are they the luckiest 11-1 team in NFL history or just in recent memory.

Whatever. It’s better to be lucky than good sometimes and the Chiefs’ win over the Raiders Friday was definitely that.  Their propensity to give away leads and then to make a hairbreadth escape was on full display in that game. The Chiefs had one of the worst teams in the NFL this year down 16-3 in the third quarter only to see the Raiders take a 17-16 late lead. The Chiefs regained the lead on on substitute-substitute kicker Matthew Wright’s 31-yard field goal. He would kick the deciding fourth one in the fourth quarter; the chiefs got into the red zone five times against the lowly Raiders and had to settle for only one touchdown and four field goals.

Wright hit field goals of 25, 47, 35, and 32 yards while his counterpart for the Raiders, Daniel Castor missed from 56, 55, and 58 yards.  A three-and-out by the Chiefs left the Raiders with time to get close enough for a wining kick with the clock running out but Castor never had a chance  to finally hit a three-pointer when a premature center snap turned into a fumble by quarterback Aidan O’Conell that was recovered by the Chiefs’ Nick Bolton with the clock showing only zeroes.

Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes broke Len Dawson’s record for career touchdowns with his only TD pass of the game in the first half.  But he was again hampered by miserable pass protection from his offensive line, most notably from left tackle where the Chiefs this year have tried three guys and yanked them all during a game.  For the second game in a row, Mahomes was sacked five times. He also was pressured eleven times.

Mahomes let his frustration about the left tackle situation show in the postgame news conference although he was uncomfortable throwing anyone under the team bus. “I trust those guys to go out there and make it happen. I’ve seen those guys play, and they’ve played at high levels, and so, the coaches made a move, and I thought the guys went in there and did a good job. I’ve got to trust it—I think there was times I didn’t trust it there on that last drive, and if I can trust it and maybe make some of those throws, then we’re not in the situation we were in at the end of the game.”

Coach Andy Reid benched his latest disappointment at left tackle—Wanya Morris for the last two series of the game–and moved left guard Joe Thuney to that position and put Mike Caliendo in at left guard. He said after the game that Morris was “struggling a little bit” protecting Mahomes’ blind side. “It’s disruptive to any offense if their quarterback’s getting hit and not able to get the ball off…You’ve got to do better than what we did out there.”

Morris became the starting left tackle three games into the season after rookie Kingsley Suamataia struggled in the first two weeks of the season.

But the Chiefs, by hook or by crook, are 11-1, the first team to lock up a playoff spot, their tenth consecutive year in the playoffs. Only the New England Patriots, in the Tom Brady era, have more than that, 11.

(CHIEFS SCHEDULE)—Future Chiefs Hall of Fame Defensive Tackle has an axe to grind with the NFL schedulers and he’s going to grind it through the players association in the off-season.

He calls the schedule “awkward,” and argues teams should have a late-season bye week when schedules look like the Chiefs schedule this month:

Chiefs at Cleveland Sunday, December 15;

December 21, Texans in Kansas City;

Christmas Day, Chiefs at Pittsburgh.

After that they won’t play again until they finish the regular season on January 5 in Denver.

Jones prefers that teams facing that kind of a schedule have their bye week just before starting that kind of series of games.

(HIGH SCHOOLS)—High School Championship Weekend three days away with three games Friday and three more on Saturday at Faurot Field in Columbia. A seventh game will be played Saturday afternoon in St. Joseph on Craig Field at Missouri Western’s Spratt Memorial Stadium to decide the 8-man championship.  North Shelby (9-4) plays Archie 13-0).

Here’s the schedule for the 11-man teams:

Friday: 11 a.m., Class 4—Festus (11-2) vs. St. Louis Lutheran North (12-1)

3 p.m., Class 2—Fair Grove  (14-0) vs. Lamar (10-4)

7 p.m., Class 6—Nixa (13-0) vs. St. Louis DeSmet Jesuit (11-2)

Saturday: 11 a.m., Class 3—Seneca  (13-0) vs. Wardsville Blair Oaks (12-1)

3 p.m.,—Class 1—Adrian (12-1) vs. Hamilton Penney (9-4)

7 p.m.—Class 5—Jefferson City Helias Catholic (12-1) vs. Platte County (13-0)

The Missouri State High School Activities Association televises the games on its website.

Racing toward the end—

(INDYCAR)—One of INDYCAR’s most popular drivers is getting another chance to show his skills in a Formula 1 car with one team and might have a chance with a new American team that will join the series in 2026.

McLaren, the team he drives for in Indycar, has listed him for the last couple of years as a member of its driver development team and as a reserve driver although the team already has two young guns in its cars—Lando Norris and Oliver Piastri.  He’ll have another chance to run tests in the 2024 F1 car at the season’s wrap-up race in Abu Dahbi. Although his chances of moving into one of the present team cars for 2025, observers think he might be a candidate for the new Cadillac F1 team that starts competing in ’26.

O’Ward finished second in the 2022 Indianapolis 500 after fiercely contesting for the lead at the start of the last lap. A caution flag prohibited another charge for the lead on the final turns, leaving Marcus Ericcson in the lead at the checkered flag.

This year, he couldn’t hold off Josef Newgarden in the closing yards of the and lost by .34 of a second.

(NASCAR)—One of the next-gen drivers taking over in NASCAR says he’d like to follow Kyle Larson’s lead and run the Indianapolis 500 and the 600-mile NASCAR race on Memorial Day weekend, too.   But there’s a hangup.

Christopher Bell drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, which uses Toyota powerplants.  Toyota does not build engines for INDYCAR, although it once did.  Toyota is reluctant to have one of its drivers in a car powered by competing companies. Chevrolet and Honda provide engines for the INDYCAR series.

Toyota fielded cars in the INDYCAR and the CART series while open wheel racing was split into two warring camps. But it pulled out in 2002 after seven seasons. It has been fielding Camrys in NASCAR Cup races since 2007.

(FORMULA 1)—F1’s year comes to an end this weekend at Abu Dhabi. Max Verstappen wrapped up his fourth championship a couple of weeks ago.

(Photo Credit: Brady Cook (12)  and Luther Burden III (3) after beating Ohio State last year: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)

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What Next? 

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The casino industry spent a record $41 million dollars to convince few more Missourians to vote in favor of sports wagering than voted against it—very few—out of about three million votes cast.

It will be a mistake to think the industry is satisfied with the sweetheart arrangement voters approved. The casino industry is changing rapidly, and the legislature and the voters need to be preparing for the next change in law that will benefit casinos and disadvantage the state, our schools, and their own host cities.

We don’t profess to be an expert or some kind of Casino Nostradamus, but we have been studying this industry and its proposals for several years now. It is not hard to find industry and scholarly articles pointing to a much different industry materializing in the next ten years or less. The casino industry is being altered by demographic changes. But rapidly changing technology will let the industry respond to those demographic changes.

Amendment 2 was just the first step. The policy set by Amendment 2 is likely to be the template for state policy as casinos move increasingly to remote betting on ALL gambling offerings.

We know from experience that technology often moves faster than the development of reasonable and fair regulation of it, making this a time for correction of shortcomings of the past coupled with anticipation of problems in the future. The state will be well-served by a adopting a policy of correction and anticipation, although there is considerable doubt that such a policy will be enacted a Missouri Legislature that is heavily influenced by industry pressure and largesse. Whether voters who can be wooed by absurd amounts of money spent on advertising that is low on the honesty scale would approve a policy unfriendly to the casinos is problematic.

A couple of years ago, Joey Richardson wrote for Gamblingsites.org, “(Casinos) are going to need to change what they offer and how they offer it if they want to continue to attract new customers.”

Millennials who have grown up on video games and who learned during the pandemic how to live their lives without leaving their homes already are having a major impact on the future of businesses of all kinds. Past discussions of internet sales taxes as a meager protection for brick and mortar businesses were one of the beginnings of this trend that gained momentum in the pandemic era when working from home became viable.

Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in Indiana became one of the first casinos to have a Pac-Man video slot machine, in September of 2017. Blackjack revenue for casinos is about half what it was in 1985 when it was responsible for 85% of table game revenues. Richardson noted in his article that casinos already had brought in new games to fill the gap—Caribbean stud, Three Card Poker, and Casino Holdem among them. All can be played remotely—if laws are changed to allow it.

Although Richardson doubts brick and mortar casinos will die out, Mehul Boricha, at Techrival.com has suggested virtual reality casinos could be on the way. He wrote, “Rules and regulations will always continue to influence future casinos. Various regulatory bodies come up with new and stricter policies that online casinos and games have to adopt without losing their grip on their innovation and creativity.” The new world of casino gambling that is being born in front of us will be a challenge not only to tomorrow’s legislature but to the gaming and lottery commissions that will have to regulate it. The gambling industry prefers not to make or be forced to make an investment that will allow regulatory bodies to prepare for the changes they must make to balance public responsibility with private profit.

Marketing Manager Emily Rodgers with driveresearch.com reported on August 2, 2023 that the growing preference for online or mobile app betting among three-quarters of sports bettors indicates a significant shift in the gambling industry towards digital platforms, offering convenience, accessibility, and potentially contributing to the overall increase in sports betting activity worldwide. She says convenience (78%) and easy deposits (75%) are the top reasons people prefer online/mobile sports betting. She argues that these top factors highlight the importance of user-friendly and seamless platforms in the gambling industry, factors that not only attract more bettors but also contribute to increased customer retention and engagement. She says digital channels are in the future for casino gambling, beginning with sports wagering..

Online sports betting revenue is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate (CAGR) of 10% during the next 5 years.

The introduction of AI (artificial intelligence) in sports betting will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the industry. One example is the way systems record information in digitized ledgers  known as blockchain, which is being adopted globally. Blockchain applications will help automate real-time data, expedite payments and wagers, and provide in-the-moment security and monitoring – including cryptocurrency transactions that are not allowed in Missouri, yet.

The sports betting marketplace grew ten-fold from 2019 to 2021 while netting nearly  $7B in revenue from $83B in total bets placed on sports in 2022.

Another report by marketdecipher.com revealed similar findings. In fact, its estimated $85B in bets placed in 2023 is forecast to balloon to $288B total by the end of 2032.

Virtual reality sports betting took a step forward with the launch of the VR22 sports betting  platform last October. The service allows users to take in a 360-degree live gaming experience as if they were there in person. Users can interact with the game or match in real time including the ability to place wagers down to a specific play – and even purchase merchandise or NFTs.

Missouri already has remote betting although it has been on a small scale.  In the past several years, a few of our casinos have had what they call “hybrid” wagering.  If a table is too crowded to allow additional players, gamblers are referred to a computer terminal that lets them place bets at the table as if they were physically there. It has been done on a small scale and has generated generally small profits. But it’s an experiment and it works.  Whether the terminal is fifty feet from the table or 50 miles and at someone else’s table, it is still sports wagering. And it is part of gambling’s future.

Another reason present casinos need to reach the public where it is, instead of waiting for the public to come back, is the threat of widespread competition. It is a very real threat and the first part of it could be in business in a few years.  We’ll talk about that in our next edition.

Sports: Another Bowl-Bound Missouri Team; Workmanlike Tigers Win; Chiefs Play Down to Opponent’s Level; & etc.

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by Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing editor

(Friends;  For some reason, Mediacom failed to publish all of last week’s postings. One looked at ten Missouri counties that were especially interested in the Lake of the Ozarks Casino proposition defeated last month.  The second one will look at what the casino industry might have up its sleeve next.

However—–

For blog history reasons, we are publishing last Tuesday’s sports essay today–or we hope we are—and we will then publish our regular Tuesday sports post later today–or we hope we will. Actually, we hope Mediacom publishes it. At last.

We solicit your interest particularly in the story about the two OTHER Missouri football teams headed for bowls.

On Wednesday, we will post the piece we intended to post last Monday and on Thursday we will post the column intended for last Wednesday.

With some luck we should be back to our regular schedule next week.

Or maybe not.  We aren’t sure Mediacom, our long-standing internet supplier, will do its job this time either.)

(BOWLS)—A second Missouri football team is headed for post-season play.  Truman State University rallied from an 0-3 start to finish 7-4, demolishing Southwest Baptist 55-3 in the regular season finale.

The Bulldogs are off to the America’s Crossroads Bowl for the fourth time in five years. Their game December 7 will be a rematch with Tiffin, a team they beat 28-27 in 2022.  Truman State is in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Tiffin Dragons represent the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.  The school is in Tiffin, Ohio and finished the regular season 8-3. The schools are similar in offense and defense. Truman outscored opponents an average of 33-21. Tiffin came in at 35-18. Tiffin QB Alex Johnson threw for 2780 yards. Truman Sophomore QB Dylan Hair thre for 2235 yards and ran for 516 more.

The America’s Crossroads Bowl is played in Hobart, Indiana. The game is played on the field of Hobart High School. It is one of three bowl games for Division 2 teams that do not make the 28-team field playing for the national championship. Six of the remaining 134 D2 teams play in the post-season bowl games, held on December 7 this year.

Last week we mentioned that the University of Central Missouri Mules will play a Heritage Bowl game on December 7 against the University of Texas-Permian Basin in the Heritage Bowl in Corsicana, Texas. It is played at the Corsicana High School stadium.

(MIZBOWL)—And where will Missouri go bowling?  Depends on who you consult.  CBS Sports thinks the Music Bowl against Michigan on December 20 in Nashville, giving Missouri a second straight clash with a Big 10 team. College Football News says it’s the Las Vegas Bowl December 27 against former Big 8 rival Colorado. Athlon Sports likes Missouri in Las Vegas, too, but against Washington. And ESPN thinks it will be USC that will be the opponent in the Las Vegas Bowl. Action Network says it’s the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville Florida January 2 against Louisville. 24/7 Sports agrees on the Gator Bowl but would match Missouri with Duke.

(MIZCONNECT)—Only two quarterbacks and three receivers in Missouri history have connected for 20 or more career touchdowns.  Brady Cook and Luther Burden III linked up for their 20th TD in last weekend’s game against South Carolina. Chase Daniel did it twice—25 with Chase Coffman and 22 with Jeremy Maclin.

(MIZARK)—Missouri looks to go 9-3 against Arkansas Saturday, a team that is 6-5 and still smarting from last year’s 48-14 whipping. Arkansas is 0-6 against Missouri on Faurot Field and 2-9 overall. But the last two games there have been Missouri’s by only two points each.  (ZOU)

Oh, about the basketball team. It has won five straight games against lesser opponents after opening with a loss at Memphis. (ZOU)

(CHIEFS)—The Chiefs are 10-1 after wasting a 20-9 halftime lead against the Carolina Panthers with their too-familiar second half doze threatened them with a loss to team with clearly less credentials. The Panthers got a two-point conversion with 1:46 to go to tie the game at 27-all. Patrick Mahomes bailed out the Chiefs again with a 33-yard run that put them in field goal range and backup kicker Spence Schrader gave them the win with a 31-yard field goal as the clock reached zero.

One expected the Chiefs, now 10-1, to have an easier time with the Panthers, who drop to 3-8.

Individually, Travis Kelce moved into the number three NFL career record book for most career receiving yards, moving past Antonio Gates and now trailing only Jason Witten of the Cowboys and Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, who got most of his years while playing for Kansas City.

(SPEAKING OF GREAT CATCHES)—A young Chiefs fan, who looks to be 9 or 10 years old, hoping to get a high five, or at least noticed, by his favorite player—Nick Bolton—was reaching over the railing at the Chiefs’ tunnel and went over it head first.

But Defensive Tackle Tershawn Wharton caught him. He was lifted, unharmed, back to the grandstand.

(CARDINALS)—Weekend reports contain nothing significant for the Cardinals but, as is sometimes the case, tell about the good fortunes of FORMER Cardinals. In this case it’s about former closer Giovanny  Gallegos.  He has signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers. He’s 33 and didn’t live up to expectations with the Redbirds last year, appearing in only 21 games and posting a 6.53 ERA. In 2021 and ’22, Gallegos saved 14 games in each year. His lifetime ERA is 3.49. This means the players are eligible for arbitration.

On the outside looking in are relievers Adam Kloffenstein

The Cardinals have offered contracts to NL reliever of the year Ryan Helsley, and four other pitchers—JoJo Romero, Andre Pallante, and John King as well as position(s) player Brendan Donovan.  They did not offer a contract to pitcher Adam Kloffenstein.

Speeding right along—

(ANDRETTI)—-Michael Andretti’s dream of fielding a Formula 1 team appears at last to be coming true.  The key has been the alignment with Cadillac for engines—the team will be known as Cadillac F-1—and with TWG Global, owned by billionaire Mark Walter who owns, among other things, the Los Angeles Dodgers. TWG also owns Andretti Global.  Michael’s role in the operation is unclear after stepping away from the team several weeks ago and taking an advisory role.

Father, Mario, has been named to the board of directors of the team. Mario ran Formula 1 races for 15 years, 1968-1982 and was the F1 champion in 1978 while driving for Lotus, becoming only the second American (Phil Hill in 1961 was the first) to win the title. He is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), the Daytona 500 (1967) and the F1 championship. Until recently he had been one of the drivers for the IndyCar Experience in an Indy car made into a two-person vehicle driven at racing speeds before Indycar races. He’s 84.

The CEO of the TWG Global business will be Dan Towriss, who joined Andretti as co-owner of Adretti Global Motorsports. Andretti stepped away from the team several weeks ago and will be an advisor.

(FORMULA 1)—Max Verstappen wrapped up his fourth straight Formula 1 championship with a sixth place finish at Las Vegas. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton gave Mercedes their first 1-2 finish of the year with Carlos Sainz in a Ferrari taking the other podium slot.

Verstappen is the fifth  driver in F1 history to win four straight world championships. Two races remain but Verstappen’s points lead cannot be overcome.

(INDYCAR)—Two men, one face, one trophy.  Sculptor will Behrends has carved his second bust of Josef Newgarden, the winner of this year’s Indianapolis 500. The face will be engraved into the famous Borg-Warner trophy, the second consecutive year Newgarden’s image has been through this process, by Reid Smith.  Behrends has been creating winners’ busts since 1990 and Smith has been the engraver since 2021.

Newgarden will try to become the first driver to win three straight 500s next May 25th.

(NASCAR)—Joey Logano has celebrated his third NASCAR Cup championship with a reflective speech on the culture of NASCAR. Here’s the highlight:

“When I think about what we do on the racetrack sometimes, it’s kind of pointless, right? We drive around in circles just to end up in the same place at the end of day. You kind of think about it, that’s kind of goofy. But if you take the opportunity God’s given us to talk to people, to inspire others to live a life of generosity, that’s when these scenarios and driving in circles isn’t just driving in circles anymore. … When you think about (the flooding) in Western North Carolina, I’d say probably at least one person at each table around here probably made a huge impact at some point for the Hurricane Helene victims. I saw a lot of too people up there helping out and that, to me, is probably something that I’m most proud of this industry, being a part of that.”

He’s the fifth driver to win three NASCAR championships.

(Photo credit: Bob Priddy, Indianapolis 2019)