Sports
Drivers embrace attention boost they get from President Trump visiting Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The buzz started small and grew louder at the sold-out Daytona International Speedway about an hour before the green flag dropped to officially start Sunday’s Daytona 500.
No, it wasn’t for Pitbull, a former car owner and Cuban American rapper and singer, taking the main stage for a mini-set.
It wasn’t for Anthony Mackie, star of the No. 1 movie “Captain America: Brave New World,” who was to tell the drivers to start their engines.
It wasn’t for “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson, who was to drive the pace car.
It was for a Boeing VC-25 which was doing a flyby near the Speedway. The plane was also Air Force One.
President Trump arrived at Daytona Beach International Airport just before noon and took the five-minute ride to the Speedway in “The Beast,” the presidential car. After Trump got out of the car, he waved to the crowd, pumping his fist. He spent time talking to drivers, both past and present, and race officials.
Trump only gave one interview, to Fox.
“I think [the Daytona 500] is fantastic, it’s great for the country,” Trump said before touting his accomplishments since taking office. He was accompanied by one of his granddaughters.
Before the race, the modified and reinforced presidential car took a couple of laps around the banked speedway. Trump was ushered to a private viewing suite in the infield.
President Trump’s presidential limousine, known as “the Beast,” takes a pace lap ahead of the Daytona 500.
(Chris O’Meara / Associated Press)
Trump was scheduled to leave the race about 3:05 p.m. and arrive back in South Florida about 4:15 p.m.
Trump also came to Daytona in 2020 in a race that was halted because of weather and eventually rescheduled.
It was Trump’s second major sporting event in a week. He was also at the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
“I wasn’t sitting next to him, but I saw that he was there at the game the other day,” said Chase Elliott, who has won NASCAR’s most popular driver seven years in a row. “I think having a sitting president come and be a part of one of our biggest days of the year — certainly what I would call our biggest event of the year — I think is special. It certainly brings a lot of eyes and a different perspective to what we do down here for this race.”
The idea that it is a moment when a president visits echoed throughout the garages.
“Any time you get big-name people to come to the 500 it’s pretty special,” said Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion. “I remember when [President] Reagan came [in 1984] and that was special.
“It’s not just the celebrities that do the pre-race concert. The Rock [Dwayne Johnson] was here last year and I got my picture taken with him. Any time we can bring big-name people to our sport shines a brighter light on how big a deal this is.”
There was little doubt it was a Trump-friendly crowd both on and off the track. But a lot of eyes were on Bubba Wallace, the only Black driver in the race. Wallace and Trump traded barbs in 2020, first when NASCAR banned the Confederate battle flag at races. Wallace had long been a proponent of excluding the flag from events because of its symbolic support of slavery. Trump criticized the decision by NASCAR.
Shortly after, a noose was found in Wallace’s garage. It led to an outpouring of support from fellow drivers and many fans. Some found it a very unifying moment in the sport. An investigation found that the rope noose had been in the garage for many months and was not directed at Wallace.
Bubba Wallace is introduced before a qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday.
(John Raoux / Associated Press)
Trump followed up with a tweet: “Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX?”
Wallace did not let it go unanswered, posting: “Always deal with the hate being thrown at you with LOVE! … Love should come naturally as people are TAUGHT to hate. Even when it’s HATE from the POTUS.”
It was no surprise that at a media event on Wednesday, the first question to Wallace was about Trump coming to race.
“I couldn’t care less,” Wallace said quietly. “We’re here to race. Not for the show.”
It was clear Wallace wanted to move on and not create a controversy.
Wallace came up as a driver through NASCAR’s diversity program. Trump has pushed to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs from the federal government and beyond.
“There are sour apples out there who never fully appreciated the [benefits] of diversity,” Wallace said later. “It’s up to you to have that good spot in your heart and just treat everybody equal and how you want to be treated and it doesn’t matter what they look like. You just have to do things right. It’s not that hard to do things right and be respectful to human beings.”
Two racing officials were asked to comment about the future of NASCAR’s diversity program, but neither responded to the request.
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After a slow first round at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia on Thursday, pace of play was a point of emphasis at the PGA Championship on Friday.
However, when an official approached Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley, they became animated.
Thomas, a longtime Team USA Ryder Cup member, and Bradley, last year’s United States captain, were on the fourth hole when they were approached by an official in a cart, and the conversation quickly turned into finger-pointing.
Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley watch from the tenth green during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Thomas said after the round that he, Bradley and fellow USA Ryder Cupper Cameron Young, who won the Cadillac Championship earlier this month, were put on the clock, with the official telling them to pick up the pace. However, both Bradley and Thomas appeared to point at the group in front of them.
“We just didn’t really agree with it,” Thomas said, citing course conditions, high winds and tough pins. “We were behind. That wasn’t our issue… It’s just the fact that we weren’t holding up the group behind us.”
Thomas said they were caught up with the pace on the very next hole.
Justin Thomas plays his shot on the 15th tee during the second round of the PGA Championship in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
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Thomas had a lengthy conversation with the official, while Bradley appeared to make his point short and sweet — though he was definitely not happy with the call.
It is a large PGA Championship field, with 156 golfers at the course and groups even starting their rounds on the back nine. The scores have also been rather high, with just 25 players below par at the time of publishing.
Aronimink also features a shared tee box on 1 and 10, holes 9 and 17 crossing paths, and a lengthy par-3 eighth hole that’s causing problems. Three par-3s are over 200 yards on the course, and there is also a 457-yard par 4 on the fourth.
Keegan Bradley prepares to putt on the 14th green during the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
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As Chris Gotterup put it on Friday, “You’re not going to get any four-and-a-half hour rounds out here.”
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The Sparks are finally in the win column, but the outcome was in doubt late Friday night.
Behind double-digit scoring from all five starters, the Sparks had by far their best offensive showing of the season, shooting 63.8% during a 99-95 win over the expansion Toronto Tempo.
The Tempo didn’t make things easy, cutting the deficit to two points late and later trailing by just three with 31 seconds remaining and possession of the ball. Marina Mabrey missed a three-point attempt before late Tempo fouls gave the Sparks enough of a cushion to win.
Kelsey Plum nearly claimed a double-double with 27 points and nine assists, while Dearica Hamby had 19 points with seven rebounds and Nneka Ogwumike scored 20 points.
Erica Wheeler, who started in place of Ariel Atkins (concussion), scored 10 points with seven assists and was a plus-16 as the primary ball handler after starting the season two for 16 from the field. That freed up Plum to be in position to score, setting up a much more efficient Sparks offense.
Toronto was shorthanded in the frontcourt without starting center Temi Fagbenle (right shoulder), and the Sparks trio of bigs had a field day with 54 points in the paint.
The Sparks came out firing on Friday, opening with a 17-2 run.
The Tempo went on a 10-0 burst heading into the second quarter but the Sparks countered to maintain momentum and led 46-38 at halftime.
A Wheeler three-pointer early in the third quarter gave the Sparks a 20-point lead. The Tempo cut it to three midway through the fourth while Brittany Sykes (27 points, seven assists) sparked Toronto’s rally. The Tempo put up more shots than the Sparks, 70-58, largely because of a 10-2 offensive-rebounding gap.
Cameron Brink’s 10 points were the only ones provided by the Sparks’ bench, while the Tempo got 42 points from reserves.
Toronto was coming off its first win in franchise history on Wednesday when it defeated Seattle but struggled against a more complete offensive team in the Sparks.
In her return to Los Angeles after winning a national championship with UCLA this spring, Tempo rookie Kiki Rice netted 11 points.
Kate Martin made her Sparks debut as a developmental player with Atkins and Sania Feagin (lower left leg) unavailable and picked up one rebound in six minutes.
The Sparks will face Toronto again on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
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The WNBA season has been in session for about a week, so it is far too early to make assumptions about teams. That doesn’t mean we won’t make them; it’s just too early to really believe it. I lost my first WNBA bet this season, so I’m hoping to avenge that loss here as the Sky take on the Mercury.
The Chicago Sky are one of the most poorly run franchises in basketball. They have had some great names on their team and only one championship to show for it.
Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner shoots over Indiana Fever guard Aerial Powers in the first half at PHX Arena. (Rick Scuteri/Imagn Images)
There really isn’t a clear indication of what is wrong with the franchise, but they’ve never been able to retain their talent. Aside from Kamilla Cardoso, I can’t name a player on this team that they’ve actually drafted. They just seem to get good players and then show them the door.
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Even though they’ve had questionable front office decisions, they seem to have put together a solid team for this season – something I didn’t expect before the season started.
They are 2-0, which is too early to really say they are a good team. I also want to reserve judgment until they face a team with a longer history than last year. The Portland Tempo played their first-ever game against the Sky, and Golden State was good last year, but still is in just their second season of existence.
The Phoenix Mercury are actually considered one of the best franchises in the league. I’m sure there are issues that people have reported, but for the most part, they have good facilities, and people want to play for their team. They made it all the way to the WNBA Finals last season before falling to the Las Vegas Aces. This year, they are looking to restart that journey and see if they can win the last game of the year.
Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper dribbles the ball in the second half at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., on July 27, 2025. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
It will need to come with some better play than they’ve shown through three games this year. They are just 1-2 for the year with a 0-1 home record. The lone win was a blowout victory over the Aces (a clear revenge game if we’ve ever seen one). Then they lost the next two games against Golden State and Minnesota. Losing to the Lynx wouldn’t be a problem, but they didn’t have Napheesa Collier, who still has an ankle injury.
I expect the Mercury to make some adjustments for this game. They haven’t looked very crisp to begin the year, but they’ve been strong on offense, averaging 87 points per game.
The Sky are going to keep relying on their offense to do just enough and their defense to lock in. The Sky do have an edge on the interior, so they can get buckets fairly easily down low. I like the over 166.5 in this game.
Chicago Sky guard Skylar Diggins chases the ball during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on May 13, 2026. (Bob Kupbens/Imagn Images)
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I also think it is worth betting on Kahleah Copper to go over her point total. Copper had two rough games before she broke out in the last game. Now she has the same sight lines and can attack the bigs from the Sky with her athleticism. Since going to Phoenix, she has scored 29, 7, 16, 25 and 28 points in five games against them.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
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