It’s race weekend. As a motorsports obsessed, self-proclaimed DARF, I sit here on my back porch patio, watching the Los Angeles Kings put belt to ass on the New York Islanders, in the wee hours of Friday morning.
Before we get started, let me be clear. This column is purely for fun, consisting of my personal opinions and is not meant to be taken fully serious.
We do it once a week. So without further ado, let’s get to it.
THE DARF REPORT.
Now, I will flip the channel to the WBC on FS1 and take another puff of my cigar and maybe a sip or two of the whiskey to my right. The logs on the fire burn to a crisp, while the Treaty Oak tunes echo into the Atlanta night sky.
ARCA may have already ran in Phoenix Thursday evening, but for all intents and purposes, it is now officially race weekend in the Heart of Dixie.
I’ll be headed down I-20 in just a few short hours to cover the World of Outlaws at the Talladega Short Track. The first of two nights in the “Dirty South Doubleheader” for the winged sprint cars, also known as the baddest mf’s not named the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels.
Meanwhile, the F1 folks are currently racing around the circuit in Australia. Or should I say parading? Can we even call that racing anymore? It might as well be a STEM Club building its new toy at this point. Racing? Eh not so much. Sorry, Lando Norris. You are still a car merchant, championship or not.
Alas, we have the NASCAR Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and IndyCar all in Phoenix this weekend. Thankfully, it no longer decides the championship of the sport either. But… it will hold 3 pretty big races in 2 days this weekend.
Tyler Reddick looks to make history, becoming the first NASCAR Cup Series driver to open the season with four-straight wins. 23XI, the same organization that dominated the courtroom in December, is already kicking butt on the track, too.
Oh, and shoutout Michael Jordan, too.
Now, on the O’Reilly side of things, I have to give props to a driver I often critiqued in the past. Austin Hill could realistically have 3 wins of his own to open up 2026. He won Daytona, should have won Atlanta before a late turn from Ross Chastain and then finished second at COTA to SVG, the unofficial race car God of road courses.
Pretty good, eh?
Alright, O’Reilly should put on a show at Phoenix Saturday night, but I must say, I am disappointed none of the IndyCar guys had the guts to try their hand in an O’Reilly ride for JRM or JGR. I mean, really guys? Alright, whatever.
Byron is racing O’Reilly though and favored to win. However, I think Allgaier and Austin Hill have a strong say in that too.
On the IndyCar side, I again ask, why are no NASCAR guys giving this a go? Feels like a missed opportunity for a crossover here. Bummer.
Alex Palou dominated St. Pete last weekend. He is the obvious favorite here, seeing as he figured out the whole oval racing thing last season finally. But… I still think someone else gets one this weekend. Palou will win at least 10 races this year, but I’m going with a Team Penske rocketship on Saturday at Penske’s playground.
They won so much in the NextGen (Eltoncar) if you’re familiar with my lingo, they had to move the championship to Homestead. Expect them to dominate at a “new” track for IndyCar too.
I want to pick Josef Newgarden, but Scott McLaughlin was so fast in St. Pete and I think he’s beyond due for another statement. Plus, his buddies SVG and Bubba Wallace have likely shared some tips on this place with him.
Scotty Mac, IndyCar oval winner at Phoenix. Turn in the bet slip.
Okay, so that’s the big races. The F1 Netflix Racing parade is on Saturday night at 11 p.m. or something if you want to see a bunch of overpaid NPC’s parade around in climate-friendly submarines.
I’ll tune in because it’s “wheel” but my expectations are pretty darn low, that’s for sure.
Still, I am hopeful Ferrari’s speed from early season testing and FP1 holds on race day. We’ve heard this story before, haven’t we. I’ll believe it when I see it, but man wouldn’t it be nice.
Just let Verstappen dominate the rest of the beta club or Ferrari rise to the top, please. Another Papaya championship with Lando (fraud) Norris would likely be a sport ender.
Oh, and poor Fernando Alonso, man. Come on over to IndyCar or even NASCAR, pal. We actually race cars over here. Yes, really.
Now, on to the things I am most passionate about this weekend.
The next 48 hours I will converse down I-20 with hopes of attending an Outlaws race at the Hornet’s Nest in Dega, a baseball game at the Carnegie Hall of College Baseball in Starkville and an Iron Bowl of Basketball in Tuscaloosa. I’ll stop at my favorite BBQ spot in the world, Hank’s in Columbus, along the way. (Trust me, I know ball when it comes to BBQ) and it’ll be a great time.
So, whatever the hell happens this weekend, it’ll be pretty magical.
My Alabama Crimson Tide have a chance to end Auburn and Steven (nepo baby) Pearl’s season on Saturday in the abomination of a basketball arena that is The Hangar, otherwise known as Coleman Coliseum.
If they don’t, they’re still safely in the NCAA Tournament field and life goes on. Race cars turn left in the Heart of Dixie. F1 parades through Kangaroo town in Australia. EltonCar (NASCAR) takes to Phoenix, as does PenskeCar (IndyCar), while we get to fesat on Gary Puck (NHL) and college hoops all weekend long.
There’s also the World Baseball Classic, in case you needed more Team USA wins to your sports fix. And then there’s golf at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Puerto Rico Open, while we all wait for The PLAYERS Tournament to ruthlessly claim it’s the fifth major of golf next week. (I am a big fan of 17 I must say).
Lastly, I finish out this DARF rant by watching Trae Young join Nicole Briscoe on SportsCenter in a Washington Wizards quarter zip to talk ball.
What a weird feeling. As a long suffering Atlanta Hawks fan, I was delusional enough to think we might actually be good this season. We began the year with better odds than the Boston Celtics to win the East.
Now, Boston is back to juggernaut status in a “reload” year for them and the Hawks are still stuck in the damn play in rounds. Oh, and Jayson (tryhard) Tatum is back.
So, that’s the DARF report for this weekend.
If you read all the way down to this point, follow my socials @JaxFry9 on Instagram and talk some wheel.
My winners for this week are Max Verstappen, Scott McLaughlin, Denny Hamlin and Justin Allgaier in the big show. Meanwhile, on the Outlaws side I am going with Emerson Axsom at Dega and Anthony Macri at the Mag.
Before I go, I leave you with three final thoughts.
Rod Brind’Amour is the Nate Oats of hockey. Take that as you will.
The Carolina Hurricanes are the Atlanta Braves of hockey.
Carolina must make a trade if it hopes to ever get through the ECF.
Roll Tide, turn left and goodnight.
