All posts by Brian Eberly

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer When the ARCA Racing Series takes the green flag on Sunday afternoon at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Logan Seavey will make his debut and take the next step up the ladder as part of the Toyota Racing development program. Seavey will pilot the No. 20 Toyota for Venturini Motorsports on the one-mile dirt track in Springfield as well as again on Labor Day weekend on the dirt at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. Coming off a 2017 season in which he won POWRi Lucas Oil NationalRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer 2014 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards championship team Mason Mitchell Motorsports (MMM) will cease operations effective immediately. The team captured the drivers and owners championship with the series in their first season of competition during the 2014 season. The team made 123 starts in the series with 32 different drivers during their five-year span racing with the circuit. “I would like to thank all of our fans, sponsors, drivers, past and present employees for your support and hard work over the years,” owner MasonRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — The NASCAR XFINITY Series typically delivers great story lines every time they roll in to the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway and Saturday’s US Cellular 250 was no exception. Ross Chastain earned a fourth-place result for JD Motorsports and tied the best finish of his XFINITY Series career in his 125th start. Chastain qualified in the 18th position, right in line with his season average, and picked up a few positions during the 60 laps that comprised the first stage. But while pitting underRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — The NASCAR K&N Pro Series competes at Iowa Speedway on Friday night for the first of two races in 2018 where the stars and cars of the East and West Series will go head-to-head in the same event. One of those stars quickly making a name for herself is 17-year-old Hailie Deegan. In a post-Danica Patrick world, NASCAR is seeking the next female to take the reins. Deegan has begun to gain national attention not because she’s the only female driver competing full-timeRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer MARNE, Mich. — The forecast heading into Saturday’s ARCA Racing Series Primera Plastics 200 at Berlin Raceway was ominous and unfortunately it held true, as heavy and persistent rains forced the cancellation of the scheduled 200-lap event. With overcast skies throughout the afternoon, teams were able to get on track for practice. But after 45 minutes of the scheduled 90-minute session, the skies opened up and rain halted on-track activity. While the rain briefly subsided, it picked up again prior to qualifying and the fieldRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer MARNE, Mich. — Heading in to Saturday’s ARCA Racing Series activity at Berlin Raceway, the forecast was less than ideal with a high percentage for rain throughout the day. With overcast skies throughout the afternoon, teams were able to get on track for practice. But after 45 minutes of the scheduled 90-minute session, the skies opened up and rain halted on-track activity. While the rain briefly subsided, it picked up again prior to qualifying and the field was set based upon practice speeds. Fifteen-year-old CarsonRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Winning races usually requires the right combination of skill sprinkled with a little bit of luck, as often times drivers will say they would rather be lucky than good. With 50 laps to go in Saturday night’s ARCA Racing Series Sioux Chief PowerPEX 250 at Elko Speedway, Gus Dean was a lap down in the 10th position. When the dust and speedy dry settled at the checkered flag, Dean was pulling the No. 32 Gree Cooling Products/Baker Distributing Chevrolet into victory lane for his secondRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa— Heading into Sunday afternoon’s Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway, Spencer Pigot had just five top-10 results in 32 starts, with his best career finish a seventh-place showing at Mid-Ohio in 2016. An unexpected lack of rear grip cost Pigot a lot in qualifying and his No. 21 machine lined up back in the 18th position on the 22-car starting grid. But after a solid 300 laps at the 7/8-mile oval, he had earned his first podium result, crossing the stripeRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Battling four-wide with 15 laps to go in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway, Robert Wickens got around Spencer Pigot for the third position and everything looked set for the Canadian duo to share the podium as his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports teammate James Hinchcliffe was poised to earn the team’s first victory of the 2018 season. That all changed when the caution flag flew for just the second time of the race with seven laps to go when Ed Carpenter got sidewaysRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa— After getting behind the wheel of one of his team’s Chevrolets at a recent Iowa Speedway test, team-owner Mason Mitchell decided he had to drive when the ARCA Racing Series rolled into his hometown track. Mitchell announced to the team on Monday morning at the competition meeting that he would drive a second entry for the team in Saturday night’s Fans with Benefits 150. Mitchell hails from West Des Moines, Iowa and parked it in victory lane at the 7/8-mile oval in aRead More