Michael Waltrip joins ownership group of AF1's Nashville Kats
FILE - Michael Waltrip looks on at the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Feb. 14, 2010. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip has joined the ownership group of the Nashville Kats, a founding franchise of the Arena Football 1 league.
The Kats announced Waltrip joining the group Friday along with his craft beer company Michael Waltrip Brewing. The ownership group already includes former NFL coach Jon Gruden with Jeff Fisher, a former coach of the Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee Titans, majority owner.
Advertisement
"We now have three living legends attached to the Nashville Kats — Jeff Fisher, Jon Gruden, and Michael Waltrip — all with the ultimate goal to win championships and raise the AF1 to its ultimate potential along with any team associated with the AF1,' said Bobby DeVoursney, the Kats' CEO and managing partner.
Waltrip's brewery now is the team's official craft beer. The team also plans a 'Waltrip Winner's Circle' fan zone for the upcoming season.
The Kats play the Southwest Kansas Storm on Sunday in Clarksville in the AF1 semifinals.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Nottingham Forest extends manager Nuno Espirito Santo's contract after European qualification
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been rewarded with a contract extension for leading the club to its first European qualification for almost 30 years. The 51-year-old Nuno signed a three-year deal to stay at the City Ground until at least 2028, the Premier League club said on its website Saturday. 'Nuno masterminded an incredible 2024-25 season for Forest, guiding the club to its highest league finish in 30 years and thus qualifying for UEFA European competition for the first time since 1995-96,' the club said. Nuno's team enjoyed away wins over Liverpool and Manchester United, and strung together the club's longest top-flight winning streak since 1967. Forest was on course for Champions League qualification after beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away in April, but only one more win in the last five games meant it had to settle for seventh place. Only the top five qualified for Europe's premier competition. Forest had to settle for the third-tier Conference League competition — and will learn its playoff-round opponent when the Aug. 4 draw is made. Club owner Evangelos Marinakis remonstrated with Nuno on the field after a 2-2 draw with Midlands rival Leicester dented its Champions League hopes. The club later said that Marinakis' concern was about the handling of injured player Taiwo Awoniyi. On Saturday, Marinakis only had words of praise. 'Nuno has made a great impact and performed very well during his time with us so far,' the Greek businessman said. 'He has demonstrated that he maximizes player performance and is an expert at developing players, whilst also embedding our young talent into the first team set-up.' Nuno, who previously managed Wolves and Tottenham, took over at Forest from the fired Steve Cooper in December 2023 and helped the team avoid relegation on the final day of the season. 'I am delighted to be able to continue our journey at this fantastic football club,' the manager from the island country of São Tomé and Príncipe said of his contract extension. 'Since we arrived at Forest, we have worked extremely hard to create a special bond between the players, the fans and everyone at the club, which helped us achieve great things last season.' ___ AP soccer:


San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Nottingham Forest extends manager Nuno Espirito Santo's contract after European qualification
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been rewarded with a contract extension for leading the club to its first European qualification for almost 30 years. The 51-year-old Nuno signed a three-year deal to stay at the City Ground until at least 2028, the Premier League club said on its website Saturday. 'Nuno masterminded an incredible 2024-25 season for Forest, guiding the club to its highest league finish in 30 years and thus qualifying for UEFA European competition for the first time since 1995-96,' the club said. Nuno's team enjoyed away wins over Liverpool and Manchester United, and strung together the club's longest top-flight winning streak since 1967. Forest was on course for Champions League qualification after beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away in April, but only one more win in the last five games meant it had to settle for seventh place. Only the top five qualified for Europe's premier competition. Forest had to settle for the third-tier Conference League competition — and will learn its playoff-round opponent when the Aug. 4 draw is made. Club owner Evangelos Marinakis remonstrated with Nuno on the field after a 2-2 draw with Midlands rival Leicester dented its Champions League hopes. The club later said that Marinakis' concern was about the handling of injured player Taiwo Awoniyi. On Saturday, Marinakis only had words of praise. 'Nuno has made a great impact and performed very well during his time with us so far,' the Greek businessman said. 'He has demonstrated that he maximizes player performance and is an expert at developing players, whilst also embedding our young talent into the first team set-up.' Nuno, who previously managed Wolves and Tottenham, took over at Forest from the fired Steve Cooper in December 2023 and helped the team avoid relegation on the final day of the season. 'I am delighted to be able to continue our journey at this fantastic football club,' the manager from the island country of São Tomé and Príncipe said of his contract extension. 'Since we arrived at Forest, we have worked extremely hard to create a special bond between the players, the fans and everyone at the club, which helped us achieve great things last season.'

an hour ago
Supreme Court widens court options for vaping companies pushing back against FDA rules
WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with e-cigarette companies on Friday in a ruling making it easier to sue over Food and Drug Administration decisions blocking their products from the multibillion-dollar vaping market. The 7-2 opinion comes as companies push back against a yearslong federal regulatory crackdown on electronic cigarettes. It's expected to give the companies more control over which judges hear lawsuits filed against the agency. The justices went the other way on vaping in an April decision, siding with the FDA in a ruling upholding a sweeping block on most sweet-flavored vapes instituted after a spike in youth vaping. The current case was filed by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., which had sold a line of popular berry and menthol-flavored vaping products before the agency started regulating the market under the Tobacco Control Act in 2016. The agency refused to authorize the company's Vuse Alto products, an order that 'sounded the death knell for a significant portion of the e-cigarette market,' Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion. The company is based in North Carolina and typically would have been limited to challenging the FDA in a court there or in the agency's home base of Washington. Instead, it joined forces with Texas businesses that sell the products and sued there. The conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the lawsuit to go forward, finding that anyone whose business is hurt by the FDA decision can sue. The agency appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that R.J. Reynolds was attempting to find a court favorable to its arguments, a practice often referred to as 'judge shopping.' The justices, though, found that the law does allow other businesses affected by the FDA decisions, like e-cigarette sellers, to sue in their home states. In a dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said she would have sided with the agency and limited where the cases can be filed. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids called the majority decision disappointing, saying it would allow manufacturers to 'judge shop,' though it said the companies will still have to contend with the Supreme Court's April decision. Attorney Ryan Watson, who represented R.J. Reynolds, said that the court recognized that agency decisions can have devastating downstream effects on retailers and other businesses, and the decision 'ensures that the courthouse doors are not closed' to them. ___