Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't wanna go toe to toe with Lamar Jackson over a trademark for the number eight ... with the racing superstar announcing he's making changes to his brand to appease the NFL MVP.
Dale Jr. attempted to file papers for a stylized version of the digit he used for the majority of his on-track career recently ... which was later protested by Jackson's legal team, as the Baltimore Ravens quarterback owns several trademarks related to the number.
Jackson's crew claimed granting Dale Jr. the trademark could hurt his business ... as his fans might mistakenly buy the NASCAR Hall of Famer's merch instead of his if approved.
Frankie Munizearned his highest-place finish in the NASCAR Truck Series last Friday in Daytona ... and the "Malcolm in the Middle" star hopes to build on his strong performance -- telling TMZ Sports he's "more hungry than ever" to succeed in the sport.
We caught up with the actor-turned-driver following his 10th-place finish at the Fresh From Florida 250 ... and he said he was thrilled to see everyone's hard work pay off.
"It feels amazing," he said. "Obviously, to get a top 10 is something that I had really hoped as a goal for this season, and to do it in the first race, it just re-motivates to keep going for more."
It might've started off as a silly social media prank, but Daytona 500 winner William Byron really is shooting his shot at Sabrina Carpenter now ... telling TMZ Sports he'd love to welcome her to a NASCAR race!!
The 27-year-old was targeted by an X account fresh off Sunday's big win ... which made it seem like he celebrated his second straight first-place finish at the historic race by flirting with the "Espresso" crooner in her Instagram comments.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver leaned into the joke ... following up on his X account to prove he was a good sport about it all.
Danica Patrick is taking shots at Kamala Harris' bevy of A-list backers ... accusing the group of Hollywood elites of having ties to disgraced music mogul Diddy.
The retired NASCAR driver slammed the Vice President's celebrity supporters during what she said was an unscripted speech at Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania Sunday.
Danica confirmed to the crowd she was "winging" her address, noting she wasn't "paid to be here" and that she didn't "need a telephone" to give her speech. That was an apparent dig at rapper Cardi B, who read off her phone after facing teleprompter issues during Harris' rally in Milwaukee Friday.
Frankie Muniz has McDreamy in his corner ahead of his full-time gig with the NASCAR Truck Series ... 'cause Patrick Dempsey tells TMZ Sports he hopes his fellow actor/racer crushes it!!
The 38-year-old former "Malcolm in the Middle" star -- who got into motorsports after his time in front of the camera -- was announced as the driver of the No. 33 Ford for Reaume Brothers Racing last week ... and, will have a full-time seat for 2025.
Dempsey couldn't be more stoked for Muniz ... telling TMZ Sports he's been closely following the guy's career on the track -- and, he's got what it takes to make some noise.
5:32 PM PT -- Keanu Reeves lost control of his car in his pro auto racing debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, narrowly avoiding a crash.
Keanu was coming out of Turn 9 when his car spun into the grass ... though he was able to avoid smashing into the wall.
Video shows Keanu spinning out, and after a brief pause he gets back on the track and finishes out the race.
Keanu was uninjured and he qualified 31st out of 35 cars. Next up for Keanu is another race on Sunday.
Keanu Reeves sure knows a lot more than kung fu ... and he's gearin' up to prove it Saturday as he readied to make his professional auto racing debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In exclusive pictures and video obtained by TMZ ... Keanu can be seen preparing for practice runs Saturday morning behind the wheel of the No. 92 Eagles Canyon Racing Toyota GR86.
TMZ.com
The GR Cup Series races happening over the weekend are a part of the Indianapolis 8-hour event ... but separate from the endurance race.
Michael Jordan's racing team is suing NASCAR and its CEO, Jim France ... alleging the guy and his organization are "monopolistic bullies."
His Airness' 23XI Racing -- along with Front Row Motorsports -- filed the lawsuit in federal court in North Carolina on Wednesday ... after the two teams say they refused to sign updated pacts with NASCAR over "unfair terms."
In the suit, the teams said they wanted more when it came time to extend their charter agreements beyond 2024 -- namely, a bigger piece of the revenue pie -- but France and NASCAR wouldn't budge.
Layne Riggs was so pumped over his first career NASCAR Truck Series win on Sunday ... he literally DISLOCATED HIS SHOULDER celebrating the dub!
The 22-year-old second-generation driver notched the victory at the Milwaukee Mile during the LiUNA! 175 -- the opening race of the Truck Series playoff.
After earning the big victory -- moving him to 12th in the standings -- Riggs pumped his fist into the air to celebrate his big moment. The only thing was, a few pumps later, he found himself on top of his truck with a dislocated shoulder ... and needed the help of his pit crew to pop it back in!
Caitlin Clark's used to shooting from logos, but one NASCAR team just revealed the WNBA superstar will actually bea logo this weekend!!
Stewart-Haas Racing announced Tuesday they've put an image of the Indiana Fever rookie squarely on the hood of Josh Berry's No. 4 Ford Mustang ... and will officially debut the cool look at the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The paint scheme is all part of a partnership between the racing team and Panini America, which just recently released a "Caitlin Clark Collection" of trading cards.
The 108th Indianapolis 500 is goin' down this weekend ... which means someone will be dousing themselves in cow juice to celebrate winning the whole thing -- and a former champ is giving TMZ Sports the lowdown on the best milk for the job!!
One of the coolest parts about the iconic race is the post-race festivities ... when the big winner chugs from a massive jug of dairy to commemorate the milestone.
The Indiana Dairy Association works alongside the race organizers to keep the tradition alive ... with three options to choose from -- whole, 2% and skim.
NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. going all Mike Tyson on Kyle Busch at the All-Star Race just set him back financially -- he was just fined $75K for his involvement in this past weekend's wild brawl.
The racing organization handed down the punishment on Wednesday ... saying not only will RSJ have to write out a hefty check, but his dad was suspended indefinitely for his role in the scrap as well.
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As we previously reported, the two drivers confronted each other after Sunday's event ... with Stenhouse pissed after Busch seemingly caused him to wreck on purpose at the beginning of the race.
If Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch wanna take their beef from garages and pit roads to an actual squared circle ... TMZ Sports has learned Celebrity Boxing is more than willing to put on the bout for them.
Damon Feldman -- the honcho of the fight org. -- said in a video message Monday he's ready to put the wheels in motion on a boxing match between the NASCAR stars ... as soon as they give him the green light.
"Come on, NASCAR," Feldman said, "let's make this the biggest deal in the country!"
NASCAR's All-Star race Sunday night looked a whole lot more like a UFC event -- at least at the end -- when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hauled off and socked Kyle Busch in the face for wrecking into him earlier in the evening.
The scene was chaotic ... after getting run over by Busch in the second lap of the contest at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina, Stenhouse Jr. waited all night long to confront the NASCAR superstar in the raceway's garage.
He got in Busch's face, told him he was pissed over the crash ... and then he threw a right hand that connected with the driver's left cheek. He appeared to throw at least one more punch -- before all hell then broke loose.
A brutal crash went down in the closing moments of NASCAR's Geico 500 at Talladega on Sunday ... taking out several cars in the final lap and paving the way for Tyler Reddick to come away with the win.
The dramatic moment took place right before the checkered flag was waved ... when Michael McDowell -- who led 36 laps of the race -- triggered the chaos after attempting to block Brad Keselowski.
The two traded places multiple times, but McDowell's last effort made contact with Keselowski ... and that's when Michael's Ford Mustang turned sideways and caused the massive wreck.
A baby Bubba is on the way ... NASCAR star Bubba Wallace and his wife, Amanda Carter, just announced they're about to become mom and dad in the fall!!
The couple revealed the awesome pregnancy news on their Instagram pages Wednesday evening ... sharing a photo of them in a car with a sonogram hanging from the rearview mirror.
