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Sports Reporter, The Charlotte Mercury
John Speedway has been BRINGING IT to Charlotte sports fans since the days when sports TV meant a man in a blazer, a highlight reel, and the sheer force of personality. A walking encyclopedia of Charlotte Hornets heartbreak, Panthers lore, and minor league diamond drama, Speedway covers it all with the kind of breathless, hyperbolic passion that reminds you why sports matter in the first place. If it happens in the Queen City and somebody wins or loses, John Speedway was THERE.
Charlotte got four hits Thursday and lost by seven. Charlotte got four hits Friday and won. Shane Murphy went seven innings without walking a batter, Joey Wiemer hit a two-run homer in the second…
John Speedway·Sep 12, 2026
Buffalo answered Junior Perez's game-tying homer with nine unanswered runs and beat the Knights 11-4 at Truist Field. Charlotte drew nine walks and managed four hits.
John Speedway·Sep 11, 2026
Charlotte had lost the eighth inning twice in a row. Wednesday night it took a sacrifice fly and a bad throw to win one there, 5-4 over Buffalo.
John Speedway·Sep 10, 2026
A striker fifteen months removed from his last home appearance came off the bench and scored his first professional goal in the fifth minute of stoppage.
John Speedway·Sep 7, 2026
Ryan Preece led five laps of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 and won it. Austin Cindric led six and finished sixth. Both are in the Cup Series playoff and Shane Van Gisbergen, who won the opening stage, is…
John Speedway·Aug 30, 2026
The Charlotte Crown lost five of their first six games this year, then won the first championship in UPSHOT League history.
John Speedway·Aug 30, 2026
The Charlotte Crown play the Jacksonville Waves Saturday at 7 p.m. for the first championship in UPSHOT League history. Three August meetings produced a 32-point Charlotte blowout, a two-point…
John Speedway·Aug 28, 2026
Crown Legacy FC beat second-place Chattanooga 3-1 in Matthews and became the first team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a 2026 MLS NEXT Pro playoff spot, with four matches to spare.
John Speedway·Aug 27, 2026
Pep Biel made the MLS Team of the Matchday after a goal and an assist against D.C. United. His 19 goal contributions are tied for third in the league, behind only Evander and Messi, with two club…
John Speedway·Aug 26, 2026
Charlotte FC led 3-1 against ten-man Toronto with a half hour to play Wednesday night at BMO Field and left with a 3-3 draw. The point moved the club to 29, but FC Cincinnati passed them into fifth.
John Speedway·Aug 20, 2026
Charlotte FC has four academy graduates on Homegrown contracts. Two of them, Aron John and Nimfasha Berchimas, had surgery on the same morning this week.
John Speedway·Aug 9, 2026
There is a championship game on August 29, and Charlotte has a team in it. The Crown beat Savannah on Wednesday to clinch a spot in the first title game the UpShot League has ever held, capping a…
John Speedway·Aug 7, 2026
Charlotte FC opened Leagues Cup with a 3-0 win over Pumas UNAM on Tuesday night, banking the maximum three points from a three-match format it has crashed out of two Augusts running.
John Speedway·Aug 7, 2026
The Charlotte Crown beat first-place Jacksonville 105-73 on Sunday at Bojangles Coliseum, their seventh straight win, the longest streak in the UpShot League's first season, with a regulation scoring…
John Speedway·Aug 3, 2026
The Charlotte Knights won six in a row in Nashville, reached the best record they have held all season, then lost three straight to split the series.
John Speedway·Aug 2, 2026
Charlotte FC sold winger Kerwin Vargas to Athletico Paranaense of the Brazilian First Division for what the club calls one of the largest fees in its history, keeping a sell-on percentage.
John Speedway·Aug 1, 2026
The Indiana Fever, sitting first in the East, have signed Charlotte Crown forward Michelle Onyiah, the first player in UpShot League history to reach the WNBA.
John Speedway·Aug 1, 2026
The In-Season Challenge final came down to 24th place against 26th. Gilliland qualified 36th, ran second at the stage-two line, and beat a series champion who was making his 400th career start.
John Speedway·Jul 27, 2026
Friday's Knights-Norfolk game at Truist Field is the annual Vs. Cancer game, built around the fight against pediatric cancer with Great Clips and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
John Speedway·Jul 22, 2026
There is a professional basketball team winning in Charlotte right now, and almost nobody is talking about it. The Charlotte Crown swept a weekend in Greensboro for their third straight win, and the…
John Speedway·Jul 21, 2026
The Charlotte Knights out-hit Durham all weekend and still lost the series two games to one, stranding fourteen runners in a 3-2 finale loss Sunday.
John Speedway·Jul 20, 2026
The Charlotte Knights had beaten the Durham Bulls nine straight times this season. On Friday night in Durham, the tenth try, the Bulls broke through 8-2, and four total Charlotte hits told the story.
John Speedway·Jul 19, 2026
Crown Legacy FC closed its homestand with a 3-2 win over Chicago Fire FC II, three different scorers and two academy players notching career firsts.
John Speedway·Jul 19, 2026
Charlotte FC signed French forward Allan Saint-Maximin, a former Premier League star and Coupe de France winner, to a three-year Designated Player contract through the 2028-29 season.
John Speedway·Jul 19, 2026
The Charlotte Knights out-hit the Nashville Sounds 14 to 10 at Truist Field on Saturday and still lost 4-2, handing Nashville its first lead of the series.
John Speedway·Jul 12, 2026
Charlotte trailed 11-5 heading to the bottom of the ninth, then scored four and put the potential winning run at the plate with two outs before a deep fly ball ended it.
John Speedway·Jul 11, 2026
Riley Unroe joined the Charlotte Knights on Wednesday, played shortstop that night, and hit two home runs from right field on Thursday in a 9-2 win over Nashville.
John Speedway·Jul 10, 2026
Munetaka Murakami doubled home a run in his second rehab game with the Charlotte Knights on Wednesday night, a 6-3 loss to Nashville that evened the series.
John Speedway·Jul 9, 2026
A big-league bat came to Truist Field on Tuesday night: Munetaka Murakami made his Charlotte Knights debut on a rehab assignment from the parent-club White Sox.
John Speedway·Jul 8, 2026
Shane Van Gisbergen won two races at Sonoma in two days. On Saturday, the trophy was decorative. On Sunday, it rearranged the Cup standings.
John Speedway·Jun 29, 2026
Charlotte took a 2-1 lead on Rochester at Truist Field behind a 10-2 blowout and an eleven-inning walk-off, then lost the final three games to drop the series 4-2.
John Speedway·Jun 29, 2026
A NASCAR season rewards consistency. The In-Season Challenge, NASCAR's five-week bracket that opens Sunday at Sonoma, rewards the opposite: surviving one head-to-head Sunday at a time.
John Speedway·Jun 27, 2026
Shane van Gisbergen has won seven Cup races, every one on a road course. If he wins Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, he'll be the first driver whose first eight Cup wins are all road courses.
John Speedway·Jun 27, 2026
Justin Allgaier has five wins, the points lead, and the best average finish in the O'Reilly Series. The one thing he hasn't done is win a road course, and Saturday's Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma…
John Speedway·Jun 27, 2026
NASCAR and the Rolling Stones announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration this week: co-branded merch, two collector vinyl pressings of the new album Foreign Tongues, and a listening-lounge show car…
John Speedway·Jun 26, 2026
Justin Haley finished sixth in the chaotic, attrition-filled Navy 250 at San Diego's Naval Base Coronado, his best run of the season and a match for the best result any Kaulig Racing Ram truck has…
John Speedway·Jun 22, 2026
AJ Allmendinger makes his 500th NASCAR Cup Series start Sunday at Sonoma, in his home state of California, a week after a season-best fifth at San Diego.
John Speedway·Jun 22, 2026
NASCAR leaves its wild San Diego street debut for Sonoma's road course and the Toyota / Save Mart 350 on June 28. Road-course ace Shane van Gisbergen sits just below the playoff cutoff, Kyle Larson…
John Speedway·Jun 22, 2026
The Charlotte Knights dropped the opener in Buffalo and won the series anyway, four games to two, closing a winning first half on a Sunday shutout.
John Speedway·Jun 22, 2026
Justin Allgaier has already clinched the Chase, JR Motorsports has won 11 road races in a row, and the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series has never been more lopsided.
John Speedway·Jun 19, 2026
Denny Hamlin has won three straight and chopped Tyler Reddick's points lead to 19. This weekend NASCAR races a street course laid through an active naval base for the first time ever, and road…
John Speedway·Jun 19, 2026
Jimmie Johnson hasn't run a Craftsman Truck Series race since 2008. Friday night he climbs back in one for the Navy 250, the series' first race on an active military base, 21 miles from his El Cajon…
John Speedway·Jun 19, 2026
The Charlotte Knights came into Buffalo riding a seven-game road winning streak and dropped the series opener 9-5, even after Kyle Teel, Michael Turner, and Nolan Jones all homered.
John Speedway·Jun 17, 2026
Oklahoma City came into Truist Field and won the first two without much trouble. Then the Charlotte Knights answered, taking three of the last four to split the six-game homestand and clinch a…
John Speedway·Jun 15, 2026
Denny Hamlin was the last man out at Pocono and grabbed the Busch Light Pole by fifty-seven thousandths of a second, his fourth of the season.
John Speedway·Jun 13, 2026
Denny Hamlin drove from the rear of the field to win the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan for the second straight week, his 63rd career Cup win tying the late Kyle Busch for ninth all-time.
John Speedway·Jun 7, 2026
Denny Hamlin was the last car out at Michigan, an hour after a practice tire failure sent his crew scrambling to rebuild the bottom of the car, and ran 195.117 mph to win the pole for Sunday's…
John Speedway·Jun 7, 2026
Cleetus McFarland, 4.75 million YouTube subscribers and a real racing résumé, is pulling double duty at Michigan on Saturday: grand marshal and driver in the No. 4 Niece Motorsports truck.
John Speedway·Jun 5, 2026
Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin have turned 2026 into a two-Toyota title fight, and they're carrying it into Michigan International Speedway, the track Ford has won at 44 times and can't win at now.
John Speedway·Jun 5, 2026
The Charlotte Knights closed their six-game Truist Field homestand against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp with a 12-4 Friday win behind Jacob Gonzalez's 19th home run, then dropped the last two: a…
John Speedway·Jun 1, 2026
Connor Hall went home to Langley Speedway and held off Niece Motorsports teammate Landen Lewis for a CARS Tour Late Model Stock win, while Caden Kvapil charged from 15th to third to extend his points…
John Speedway·Jun 1, 2026
Down 5-3 in the nightcap of a weather-made doubleheader, the Knights erupted for eight runs in the fourth, capped by Braden Montgomery's grand slam and two Jacob Gonzalez homers, to bury Jacksonville…
John Speedway·May 29, 2026
The Charlotte Knights took the Gwinnett road series four games to two. All four wins came by exactly one run. Rikuu Nishida's eighth-inning go-ahead single Sunday sealed it; Jonathan Cannon and the…
John Speedway·May 25, 2026
Daniel Suarez won the rain-shortened 600 in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, built in Kyle Busch's old shop, by Kyle Busch's old people, days after Kyle Busch died.
John Speedway·May 25, 2026
Katherine Legge crashed out of the Indianapolis 500, then drove to Charlotte Motor Speedway and finished the Coca-Cola 600, completing her Memorial Day Double attempt on a track she had never raced.
John Speedway·May 25, 2026
Hyak Motorsports has signed Clemco, an 85-year-old maker of abrasive blasting equipment, as a multi-race sponsor on Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s No.
John Speedway·May 20, 2026
NASCAR's Hall of Fame chose its Class of 2027 on Tuesday in uptown Charlotte: Kevin Harvick (first ballot, 92 percent of the Modern Era vote), Jeff Burton, and five-time short-track champion Larry…
John Speedway·May 20, 2026
Kyle Larson heads to the Coca-Cola 600 on a 36-race winless streak, his longest since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, but Charlotte is a 1.5-mile track, and no driver in the Next Gen era has…
John Speedway·May 20, 2026
Katherine Legge will attempt the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 "double" on May 24, the first woman, the oldest driver, and the first foreign-born driver to try the 1,100-mile day.
John Speedway·May 20, 2026
NASCAR and Bussin' With The Boys are launching "Racin' With The Boys," a 14-episode weekly summer show produced by Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions.
John Speedway·May 20, 2026
Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR All-Star Race from the pole at Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday, beat his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe in a side-by-side fight to the line, and became the third…
John Speedway·May 18, 2026
Spire Motorsports' fifth-annual Spring Fan Day runs Thursday, May 21, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the team's Mooresville HQ (351 Mazeppa Road).
John Speedway·May 15, 2026
Thursday at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC, NASCAR Cup driver Daniel Suárez and his first-year Spire Motorsports crew chief Ryan Sparks spent the day with the Air Force, F-15E hangar…
John Speedway·May 15, 2026
The NASCAR All-Star Race goes to Dover Motor Speedway Sunday for the first time in the event's 41-year history, the 42nd running of the showcase, three segments, 26 cars, the trophy on the line.
John Speedway·May 15, 2026
Nicolás Fernández Mercau's eighth-minute strike was all New York City FC needed to hand Charlotte FC a 1-0 defeat, the Crown's fifth straight match without a win.
John Speedway·May 15, 2026
Carles Gil's 97th-minute penalty gave New England a 1-0 victory over Charlotte FC on Saturday, the Crown's third consecutive loss.
John Speedway·May 15, 2026
Kaden Honeycutt won his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race Friday at Watkins Glen, and did it by beating Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen, the two drivers who have dominated NASCAR road…
John Speedway·May 9, 2026
A series win over Nashville. A slow start against Gwinnett. And then Saturday night, when the Knights hit seven home runs in front of the home folks and the visiting bullpen sent three position…
John Speedway·May 3, 2026
The CW is running its Cup-driver guest-analyst rotation again for six O'Reilly Series races, and Denny Hamlin opens it at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
John Speedway·May 1, 2026
Both ARCA Menards Series regional tours run on Saturday May 2: the Cook Out Music City 150 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway at 9 p.m. ET, the Bill Schmitt 173 at Shasta Speedway at 11:30 p.m. ET.
John Speedway·Apr 30, 2026
Corey Day won Talladega last Saturday by leading exactly one lap, the last one, for Hendrick Motorsports. Six days later, the same Concord-Mooresville pipeline runs at Texas, with Kyle Larson in the…
John Speedway·Apr 30, 2026
Carlos Pérez drove in four. Aaron McGarity picked up the win. Charlotte hung a six-spot on Jacksonville in the fifth inning at 121 Financial Ballpark and closed a six-game road trip with two straight…
John Speedway·Apr 20, 2026
Tyler Reddick has won five of the six races Michael Jordan has attended this season. The one Jordan missed was the one Reddick lost. The numbers, not the narrative, tell the story.
John Speedway·Apr 20, 2026
Rockstar Energy announced its first-ever NASCAR Cup Series sponsorship, partnering with Tyler Reddick and Charlotte-based 23XI Racing. The deal puts the yellow star on the No.
John Speedway·Apr 16, 2026
Saturday night, Byron runs the No. 88 for JR Motorsports. Sunday afternoon, he's in the No. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports. Same Kansas weekend, same Charlotte story, thirty miles on either end of I-77.
John Speedway·Apr 16, 2026
Mario Camilletti delivered a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning Friday night to give Charlotte a 9-8 win over Memphis, tying the series 2-2.
John Speedway·Apr 11, 2026
The Charlotte Hornets enter the final weekend of the regular season at 43-37, ninth in the East, with two games left, Detroit tonight and the Knicks on Sunday at MSG.
John Speedway·Apr 10, 2026
Through three games at Truist Field, the Memphis Redbirds lead the Charlotte Knights homestand series 2-1. A complete recap of the wild first half, and what's left on the schedule starting tonight.
John Speedway·Apr 10, 2026
Kyle Larson is the defending winner of Saturday night's Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol, and he's not eligible for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus.
John Speedway·Apr 9, 2026
Rajah Caruth earned his first Dash 4 Cash spot at Rockingham with a two-position move in the final nine laps. Now he takes it to Bristol, in a different car than he qualified in, with Jesse Love…
John Speedway·Apr 9, 2026
Justin Allgaier enters Saturday's Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol with seven Dash 4 Cash wins and $700,000 collected, both all-time records.
John Speedway·Apr 9, 2026
Brent Crews turned eighteen on March 30. Six days later, the Hickory native was leading the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway in his first career start at this oval distance…
John Speedway·Apr 4, 2026
William Sawalich won his first O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday, becoming the youngest winner in track history in his 42nd career start.
John Speedway·Apr 4, 2026
23XI Racing, built in Huntersville by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, has four wins in seven races to start the 2026 Cup Series season. Tyler Reddick leads the standings by 82 points.
John Speedway·Apr 2, 2026
Lee Pulliam, the late model legend making his first NASCAR national series start, led 40 laps at Martinsville, caused a 19-car pileup on a late restart, apologized immediately, and still finished…
John Speedway·Mar 28, 2026
Darius Rucker confirmed as co-owner of Legacy Motor Club on the Dan Patrick Show. Plus: O'Reilly Series posts its biggest Darlington audience in seven years, Denny Hamlin signals Tyler Reddick's…
John Speedway·Mar 25, 2026
Tyler Reddick won the Goodyear 400 at Darlington from the pole for his fourth Cup victory in six 2026 races, beating Brad Keselowski by 5.8 seconds despite cool shirt and electrical issues.
John Speedway·Mar 22, 2026
LaMelo Ball dropped 29 on Memphis. The Checkers scored three in the first period. Charlotte FC put up six goals. Three home games, three blowouts, one Saturday in March. Charlotte went 3-0.
John Speedway·Mar 22, 2026
Friday night at Darlington, Carson Hocevar charged to the lead and lost it to a blown tire with four laps to go. Sunday he goes back out in Dale Earnhardt's 1981 Wrangler colors.
John Speedway·Mar 22, 2026
The Charlotte Checkers have clinched the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season, and this city is barely paying attention.
John Speedway·Mar 22, 2026
Three wins in a row. Thirty-seven and thirty-four. LaMelo Ball dropped 29 on the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night at Spectrum Center, and your Charlotte Hornets are about to make some playoff noise.
John Speedway·Mar 22, 2026
Daniel Dye got indefinitely suspended for mocking IndyCar's David Malukas with a homophobic voice on a livestream. This isn't a cancel-culture story.
John Speedway·Mar 21, 2026
Corey Heim chose to restart ninth in double overtime at Darlington, then drove to the front on the last corner to beat Ross Chastain and win the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race.
John Speedway·Mar 21, 2026
