KESELOWSKI STILL CONFIDENT EVEN WITH A PENALTY

Brad Keselowski was optimistic he can overcome a knee-buckling penalty that potentially ended any championship chances a mere five races into his first season as a Cup team owner.

NASCAR this week said an inspection at its North Carolina facility uncovered an illegal modification to the No. 6 Ford — a major infraction under tightened rules for the new Next Gen racecar. The Next Gen is primarily a spec car comprised of vendor-supplied parts and NASCAR will not permit any tinkering.

Keselowski, now a co-owner of RFK Racing, was docked 100 points and plummeted from 16th in the current standings to 35th. He goes into today's race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, as the lowest ranked full-time Cup Series driver.

“No, it's not crippling. It's not what we want. Nobody wants to be in this position,” Keselowski said after qualifying 26th on Saturday. “We're going to get out of this what we make of it. And we can use this as a moment to drown in our own tears, or get stronger and be better. I'm committed to the latter of the two.”

Ryan Blaney recovered from a spin in practice to win the pole. Blaney spun and made contact with the wall to leave a scratch on the back of the No. 12 Ford.

Team Penske had him ready to go when qualifying began and Blaney advanced into the final round, where his lap of 92.759 mph earned him the eighth pole of his career.

Perez on pole for Saudi Arabian GP

Sergio Perez took his first career pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand as Formula One continued amid heavy scrutiny, the day after an attack on a nearby oil depot in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia.

Perez edged the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. on his final lap, pushing his own Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen — the world champion — down to fourth.

Mick Schumacher will not compete in the race following his hard crash in qualifying. Schumacher crashed Saturday and was airlifted to a hospital for further examination before returning to his hotel. Haas F1 ruled Schumacher out of the race today and the American team said it would field just one car.

Elsewhere

Zane Smith inherited the Truck Series win at Circuit of the Americas when a threewide move for the lead went awry and Smith sailed past his rivals for the win in double overtime. John Hunter Nemechek was second , followed by Kyle Busch, his boss.

AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing) scored his first victory of the season in the Xfinity race at Circuit of the Americas.