All posts by Joey Barnes

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Chip Ganassi sees the relationship between his team and fellow NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick’s only improving as they move forward. Hendrick Motorsports has supplied engines to Chip Ganassi Racing since the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. However, after Stewart-Haas Racing elected to move from Chevrolet to Ford, which is set to start in 2017, it terminated the alliance built up between SHR and Hendrick. This situation led to speculation that CGR may become even more closely affiliated with the 11-time NASCARRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Felipe Nasr put in one of the more heralded performances in a ninth place effort from the last row on the grid in a weather-plagued Brazilian Grand Prix. The outing gave the 24-year-old his first finish in the points on home soil and Sauber’s first since the U.S. Grand Prix last year. The second-year driver avoided trouble that found several competitors and ran the entire race on the full wet tire compound en route the surprising finish. “It was amazing, it was like a dream comeRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Lewis Hamilton made it look easy. With terrible conditions hitting the Brazilian Grand Prix due to a persistent rain, the three-time F1 World Champion  led lights-to-flag for his 52nd career victory and now sits alone in second on the all-time wins list (Michael Schumacher is first with 91). In what looked to be a difficult race, the 31-year-old Briton didn’t see it that way. “For me I was generally just chilling up front,” Hamilton said. “When it rains, that’s usually a good day for me andRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen’s Brazilian Grand Prix came to an early and abrupt end on a restart on lap 20. Extremely wet and treacherous conditions delayed the start of the race by 10 minutes while the grid also drove eight laps behind the safety car. The 37-year-old Finn, who started third, became one of the many victims of the trying conditions, with Romain Grosjean wrecking out on the warmup prior to the start and Marcus Ericsson being collected on lap 13. The heavy impact along the long straightRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Romain Grosjean spun off at while heading to the grid and missed the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix. The 30-year-old Frenchman was set to start seventh, but wet conditions enabled him to lose the rear of the car on the long straightaway heading to the start/finish line. The incident caused irreparable damage to the left rear to the Haas F1 Team driver’s VF-16 and left a vacant spot on the grid at the start. “Yeah, I’m sorry for the fans, for Haas and for everyone,”Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Romain Grosjean admitted that advancing to Q3 was unexpected for himself and the Haas F1 Team en route to qualifying seventh for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix. The 30-year-old Frenchman expressed his satisfaction in returning to the final round of qualifying for the first time since the Japanese Grand Prix. “It’s good to be back in Q3, especially after the last two races where we were out in Q1 and really struggling,” Grosjean said. “Here we’ve been trying some new brakes, focusing on making them work asRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen put in one of his best qualifying efforts of the season ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix with a third place effort on Saturday, but wasn’t overly impressed with the lap. The 37-year-old Finn bettered Scuderia Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel, who could only manage fifth, and Red Bull Racing teenager Max Verstappen. The 2007 F1 World Champion is in the midst of a battle with both in securing fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship, trailing Vettel 187-178 while also being ahead of Verstappen byRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Force India announced that it has signed Esteban Ocon to a multi-year agreement beginning for the 2017 Formula 1 season. The 20-year-old Frenchman is a Mercedes junior driver and has been racing with Manor Racing for the last seven rounds, starting since the Belgian Grand Prix. The 2015 GP3 Series champion had been serving as a reserve driver with Renault and had been tabbed for a full-time seat prior to signing with Force India. Ocon will team with Sergio Perez next year, replacing Nico Hulkenberg, whichRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Haas F1 Team announced that it has signed Kevin Magnussen to replace Esteban Gutierrez in a multi-year deal beginning with the 2017 season. The 24-year-old Dane leaves Renault Sport F1 Team and will team with Romain Grosjean, who returns to Haas for a second consecutive year. “This is a fantastic opportunity and I’m very happy to be a part of Haas F1 Team,” Magnussen said. “Obviously, I’m confident in my abilities as a Formula One driver, but I’m also very confident of what Haas F1 TeamRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup recently endured one of its most trying days last Sunday in the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The event, delayed by rain, was also ended prematurely due to the same. However, that isn’t where the problem sits. Not entirely. You see, there is a massive amount of buildup for Chase races and perhaps no place more so than the 1.5-mile oval track – the site where many fans have witnessed raw emotion from drivers and teams asRead More