Denny Hamlin won his third Daytona 500 on Monday in an exciting photo finish and became only the fourth driver to win it in back-to-back years, but his celebration at the historic achievement was dampened by a near-tragedy when fellow NASCAR driver Ryan Newman crashed violently near the end of the race.
"I notice things are weird. The crowd's not really saying much, there's not much roaring going on. I was supposed to do an interview at the start-finish line, and there's no one there to do that," Hamlin told Cheddar about the eerie aftermath. "I went into Victory Lane and that's when they told me he had a pretty bad accident."
While there had been some criticism at the initial celebrations that took place at the stadium, the Gibbs team apparently was unaware of the severity of the accident at the time.
He went to visit the now-recovering Newman and his family at the hospital to show his support after the race.
"It's a tough, tough finish, obviously. It looks like he'll come out of this, and that's really, really encouraging," Hamlin said. "Once we get down the line, get a few days, weeks down the road, we'll be able to enjoy it on our end."
Hamlin, who drives Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 11 Toyota, reflected on how sometimes those immersed in the sport can take their safety for granted.
Despite the frightening finish, Hamlin still stands among the greats in NASCAR with the other five racers who have won three or more Daytona 500's in the sport's Hall of Fame. While the victorious driver said he knew that the feat was significant, he still had trouble processing the entirety of it in such a short time following the competition.
"I've won now two of the closest finishes in Daytona 500 history. I don't even know what all this means," he said. "It's great to have those trophies sitting in my living room, and I get to think about it well after my racing career is over. And I get to talk to my kids about what all has happened."
Naz Aletaha, head of esports partnerships for Riot Games, said that the "priceless" experiences with new global sponsor Mastercard will start with the world championships in October, offering premium content and behind the scenes access to the biggest event for esports lovers.
Mastercard, seeing a market opening in the skyrocketing popularity of esports, signed a deal to become first global sponsor for Riot Games' "League of Legends." Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer for Mastercard, said the company will become exclusive payment service provider for the game. The deal represents the largest mainstream sponsorship thus far in the esports world.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
As the online gaming world continues to boom, professional sports organizations are working to marry the online and physical sports world. Hugh Weber, president of the New Jersey Devils, said that there is a way for live esports events to be compelling enough to translate to ticket sales.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Chris Raybon, senior editor at The Action Network, breaks down the best bets for sports fans heading into Week 2 of the NFL Season.
The company's recent growth on the back of a newly invigorated gaming segment is only the beginning, according to president and CEO Bracken Darrell. He said in an interview on Cheddar that esports could become "the biggest sport in the world," and Logitech will be there as its top hardware provider.
If you had any lingering doubts that eSports had gone mainstream, they would have been erased when the North American League of Legends Summer Split took over the Oracle Arena ー home to the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Cheddar was there for the last stop before the World Championships in South Korea next month.
Bettis, known as "The Bus" when he was an unstoppable running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, voiced support for the NFL player protests but also said he thought the league was "doing the right thing" in a tense situation.
Serena Williams's altercation with a chair umpire during the U.S. Open final was just the latest example of women being treated differently than their male counterparts in the sport. But whether things change by the Australian Open in January, said the Washington Post's Cindy Boren, is hard to say.
