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McDowell dominates Brickyard 200 for 2nd NASCAR crown jewel victory
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Michael McDowell raced to his second NASCAR crown jewel victory Sunday, dominating the Brickyard 200 — and putting himself in the playoffs for the second time in three years.
The 38-year-old Arizona driver who has made more than 450 career starts beat Chase Elliott across the yard of bricks by 0.937 seconds in the road-course race that had only one yellow flag. Pole winner Daniel Suarez was third as the regular season winds down.
McDowell, also the 2021 Daytona 500 winner, gave Front Row Motorsports its fourth victory.
“We did it, we won Indy,” he shouted into the radio. “So thankful.”
McDowell made it look easy this time, too, winning the first stage, finishing behind only Denny Hamlin in the second stage and then inheriting the lead on Lap 54 during a round of pit stops and never trailed again. He led a career-best 54 laps in the 82-lap race.
He had to sneak through traffic following a wild crash to win at Daytona.
“These guys gave me everything today,” he said. “We had the fastest car. I don’t know if it was dominant, but it felt dominant.”
Shane van Gisbergen finished 10th in his second career start, failing to become the first Cup driver to win his first two career starts. Van Gisbergen won in his NASCAR debut on the streets of Chicago in early July.
LARSON’S DOUBLE
Kyle Larson’s late-night arrival after winning the Knoxville Nationals sprint car race Saturday in Iowa, didn’t make any difference to the 2021 series champ. He still made it to a scheduled news conference before noon to unveil Arrow McLaren’s No. 17 car for next May’s Indianapolis 500.
Larson is scheduled to attempt the double and the two cars will feature familiar colors — the traditional blue and white paint scheme with a touch of papaya for the 600-mile Charlotte race and papaya, blue and white livery the McLaren team.
“Obviously, I’m extremely excited, but at the same time, I’m so busy racing and trying to take care of my family that I haven’t — like it hasn’t really set in yet that it’s truly a reality,” Larson said. “When you have days like today and you unveil the car, all those little steps, it definitely makes it seem more real. But I’m sure once things slow down in the off-season and I have a lot of time to sit around and think about the upcoming season is when it’s really going to hit.”
BYRON
William Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet started from the back of the field Sunday after failing inspection three times Friday. Then he was forced to do a drive-thru penalty at the end of his first lap.
But the series’ only four-time winner this season snaked his way back through the field to finish 14th.
UP NEXT
The series makes its annual stop at Watkins Glen next Sunday, the second-to-last regular-season race.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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Save the Dates: Clinton Kelly and Stacy London’s Return, Real Housewives Check Into Love Hotel and More

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Anti-Hamas protests break out in Gaza Strip over demands to end war

Anti-Hamas protests broke out in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday as hundreds of Palestinian men took to the streets to call for an end to the war with Israel.
Videos of the protest began circulating on social media on Tuesday and come as Israeli air strikes and offensive operations against Hamas have continued since the first phase of an internationally-brokered ceasefire ended earlier this month, before a second phase could be secured.
One such video shared with Fox News Digital by the Center for Peace Communications showed protesters chanting, “Hamas get out!”
Palestinians attend a rally calling for an end to the war, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2025. (AFP via Getty Images)
ISRAEL ORDERS IDF TO SEIZE MORE GAZA TERRITORY IF HAMAS DOESN’T RELEASE HOSTAGES
The man filming the protest provided his own commentary, which reportedly said, “Gaza’s people don’t want wars. They demand the end of Hamas’ rule. They demand peace.”
“Gazans turned out in anti-Hamas street demonstrations, braving gunfire and prison, in 2019 and again on July 30, 2023. This is the most substantial mass protest since then,” Joseph Braude, president of the Center for Peace Communications, told Fox News Digital. “It highlights Gazan aspirations to end the war by ending Hamas’ reign of terror, alongside the release of all hostages.
“Gazans are expressing anger at Al-Jazeera and global media generally for covering only Hamas, ignoring the voices of Gazan civilians,” he added. “The more attention these brave souls get, the more they can help bring change for the better to Gaza and the broader region.”

Palestinians flee to areas they consider safe following intensive attacks by the Israeli army on the northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahia and Jabalia, on March 25, 2025. (Abd Khaled/Anadolu via Getty Images)
MOTHER OF INJURED HAMAS HOSTAGE DIRECTS PLEA TO ‘EVERY MOTHER IN THIS WORLD’ TO HELP SECURE SON’S RELEASE
Palestinian civilians have taken the brunt of Hamas’ brutal and deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which resulted in the death of some 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of 251 others. Fifty-eight of those hostages remain in Hamas captivity, but only 25 are believed to still be alive 535 days later, including American hostage Edan Alexander.
The Hamas-run Gaza’s Health Ministry reported on Sunday that some 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 600 over the last four days after Israel officially ended the tenuous ceasefire by launching air strikes after negotiations on hostage releases stalled.
The ministry also reported that over 15,600 Palestinian children have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023.

A woman holds an image of hostage Edan Alexander during the Global Day of Unity and Prayer with Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the relatives of those taken captive during the Oct. 7 attack. (Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Israeli news agency TPS-IL, Gaza activist Hamza al-Masry also took to Telegram to share footage of the protest and said, “It is time for our people in all the governorates of the Gaza Strip to come out like them and to be united and united in one message.
“The people of Gaza want to stop the torrent of bloodshed of our people, and enough is enough,” he added.
World
At least six people killed in Israeli attacks on southern Syria

The violence in the border area marks increased friction between Israel and Syria.
At least six people have been killed in an Israeli attack on Koya in southern Syria, the country’s foreign ministry says.
The Israeli military said the attack on Tuesday took place after armed fighters opened fire towards Israeli troops, without specifying whether the Israeli forces were located within Syrian territory when they were targeted. It said its troops returned fire and that an Israeli warplane struck the fighters. It gave no details on casualties but said “hits were identified”.
Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned “the continued Israeli aggression on Syrian territory, which saw a dangerous escalation in the village of Kuwayya” in the southern Deraa province.
It called for an international investigation into the Israeli attacks on its territory, describing them as a “blatant violation of its sovereignty”.
The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the attack on Koya “in the strongest terms”.
“This fascist aggression represents a serious escalation of Zionist violations against the Syrian Arab Republic and its brotherly people, and a new war crime,” it said on Telegram on Tuesday.
The violence in the border area comes at a time of rising tensions between Israel and Syria, where a new interim government led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa has been installed after opposition fighters toppled former leader Bashar al-Assad last December.
In the wake of al-Assad’s removal, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on military sites in Syria and sent its troops across the border into a UN-patrolled buffer zone, saying they will thwart any threats. Syria’s leadership has said it does not intend to open a front against Israel.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it had “struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian military bases of Tadmur and T4”, referring to bases in Palmyra and another 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the city. On Friday, the military carried out strikes on the same bases.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on Tuesday that Israel’s strikes on Syria “risk further escalation”.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Kallas said the pair had discussed Israel’s actions.
“And we [the EU] feel that these things are unnecessary, because Syria is right now not attacking Israel,” Kallas said.
The foreign ministry in Jordan also condemned Tuesday’s incursion and bombardment as “a dangerous escalation” that risked fuelling “further conflict and tension in the region”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarisation of southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council on Tuesday that he was “concerned by Israeli statements on the intention to stay in Syria” and demands for the full demilitarisation of the south.
At an Arab summit in Cairo in early March, Syria’s al-Sharaa also called on the international community to pressure Israel to “immediately” withdraw its troops from southern Syria, calling their presence a “direct threat” to peace in the region.
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