All posts by Joey Barnes

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Simon Pagenaud topped the timesheets in first practice for Sunday’s KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America. The Frenchman and IndyCar Series championship leader came in at 139.644 mph (1:43.48) around the 4.048-mile road course, with Andretti Autosport’s Carlos Munoz trailing within 0.2s. Jack Hawksworth impressively put his AJ Foyt Racing Honda up to third, while defending IndyCar champion Scott Dixon followed in fourth. Tony Kanaan recovered from a spin during the practice session to round out the top five. However, all eyes were on Josef Newgarden.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Fernando Alonso senses the end of his Formula 1 career is near and believes that the next challenge could include the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Spaniard came into F1 at 20-years-old with Minardi in 2001 and has since enjoyed two championships, 32 wins and 97 podiums in 260 starts. However, the uphill battle since reuniting McLaren has been far greater than expected and rumors of retirement have run rampant despite a contract that isn’t set to expire until the end of the 2017 season.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Daniil Kvyat became the first retirement of the European Grand Prix, exiting on lap 8 with suspension issues. The Russian enjoyed a solid Saturday, qualifying seventh and looking like a strong contender for solid points, but Kvyat’s quest came to a halt as he encountered a second retirement in the last three races. “There was an issue with the suspension, so we had to retire the car very early on in the race,” Kvyat said. “Unfortunately, we need to investigate what happened and try to understandRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pirelli have revealed their three tire compounds that will be made available for the Malaysian Grand Prix in October. The three compounds selected are the orange-marked hard, white-marked medium and yellow-marked soft tires. It is the first time since Spain that the hard compound has been selected.  The 2016 rules state that drivers must have two sets on-hand, and are required to use at least one of them. A set of softs will be made available for the Q3 qualifying session, which will returned to PirelliRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pirelli and the FIA have finally reached an agreement to keep the Italian tire manufacturer as Formula 1’s exclusive supplier until the end of the 2019 season. A deal had already been in place with Formula 1 Management for Pirelli to remain in the sport, but a testing plan needed to be agreed upon with the FIA prior to signing the contract. The agreement was to ensure that the Pirelli had enough track time to develop next year’s tires due to the wider specifications. The specificRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ricciardo has extended his contract with Red Bull Racing until the end of the 2018 Formula 1 season. The Aussie has scored three wins since making the jump from Toro Rosso to Red Bull in 2014, but has just three podiums in the last 28 races. Ricciardo has questioned the team in recent weeks with strategic errors that have cost him valuable points the past couple of races, including a potential win at Monaco. However, with the current state of F1 and technical changing loomingRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief According to Motorsport.com, JR Hildebrand will replace the injured Josef Newgarden at the upcoming Verizon IndyCar Series test at Road America on Wednesday, along with any races should Newgarden not be ready. Newgarden fractured his right clavicle and a small fracture in his right hand after a vicious crash at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Hildebrand has been in a part time role with Ed Carpenter Racing, having raced the previous three Indianapolis 500’s under its banner, along with two Grand Prix of Indianapolis. “We’re testingRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ricciardo was left disappointed once again in an underwhelming finish of seventh in the Canadian Grand Prix. The Aussie was optimistic after qualifying fourth on Saturday, but from the start of the race found himself falling behind of Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen right from the opening lap. Ricciardo then went into a two-stop strategy and fell victim to a slow second pit stop that dropped him further down the running order. Meanwhile, Verstappen enjoyed a fourth place result and has now bettered RicciardoRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – Verizon IndyCar Series star Josef Newgarden has suffered a fractured right clavicle and a small fracture in his right hand following a horrifying crash in the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. The incident happened on the exit of Turn 4 of the 1.5-mile oval when Newgarden was making a move to the outside of rookie Conor Daly, who lost the backend of his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda before sliding into the Tennessee native. The two made contact as NewgardenRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Jimmie Johnson saw his chances of winning the Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 at Pocono Raceway end after wrecking with less than 40 laps to go. The incident happened on one of the many frantic restarts as Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet slid in Turn 1, then clipped the rear of Brad Keselowski before making heavy contact with the inside wall. Johnson, a three-time winner at Pocono, has finished outside the top 20 in three of the last five races, with his only notable result beingRead More