Sophie Cunningham delights fans as she turns up at America's most patriotic sport on her day off

By RICH JONES, US DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR

Sophie Cunningham made the most of the FIBA World Cup break with a trip to America's most patriotic sport as she took in the latest race of the NASCAR season.

Cunningham has been back home in Missouri while her Indiana Fever teammate Caitlin Clark and Team USA won the World Cup in Germany.

With no WNBA games during the break, Cunningham has enjoyed some down time after finding herself at the center of plenty of headlines in recent weeks.

And she took a trip to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Illinois, just outside St Louis, to watch the second race of NASCAR's postseason Chase.

Cunningham was pictured posing with a number of delighted fans on social media, while she was also seen chatting to drivers before the Enjoy Illinois 300.

At one stage, she said hello to Michael Jordan on pitlane, as he attended the race as co-owner of 23XI Racing, as well as legendary former driver Jeff Gordon.

Sophie Cunningham attended the latest NASCAR Cup Series race during her WNBA time off

Cunningham was seen posing for pictures with drivers, including 23XI Racing star Riley Herbst

The race was being shown on USA Network, which also shows the WNBA, and she appeared on their pre-race show where she hailed the NASCAR community.

Cunningham said: 'You guys, you are salt of the earth people. Truly. You guys are an amazing group of men.

'I got to hang out with Ryan (Blaney), I got to hang out with Chase (Elliott), Carson (Hocevar), Austin (Dillon) was absolutely amazing.

'It's been really cool to talk to them about racing cars and what-not, but also just getting to know them outside of the track.

'You guys truly are amazing. I've had a heck of a day and it's been a lot of fun.'

Cunningham attended the Cup Series Championship race in Phoenix last year, where Sydney Sweeney was also in attendance.

'I think those are my people,' she later said. 'That's where I belong. I had one of the better weekends that I've had in a really long time.'

Cunningham has history interacting with rising star Carson Hocevar, after they both served as honorary caddies for Caitlin Clark at the Annika Pro-Am golf event last year.

Cunningham was pictured chatting to Carson Hocevar, who she has met before at a golf event

Cunningham was a guest at last year's Cup Series Championship race in Phoenix, Arizona

Hocevar, Cunningham and teammate Lexie Hull all got the chance to hit tee shots at the event, before carrying Clark's bag during her round.

'They told me, like, two or three holes prior that I was gonna hit, and I instantly turned to Sophie and Lexie and wanted them to hit with me,' Hocevar later told The Express. 'Because I was hoping that we would just all be embarrassed of our struggles.'

'I got super lucky, being able to get a hold of that one, to hit it straight and have it on TV and have witnesses that I did it is ultimately the biggest thing.

'I've only played, like, twice before, so I was not expecting a lot and I was warning everybody in advance to pack up and give me some space. All-time, moment for me that was a really cool memory.

'It was a cool dynamic and a lot of fun to be around. It was just fun to interact with them and couldn't ask for better other caddies. It was 18 holes and it felt like it breezed by because I think we were all having a lot of fun.'