All posts by Joey Barnes

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Denny Hamlin headed into Martinsville Speedway with high hopes to overcome mistakes from recent visits at the half-mile oval, but Sunday’s STP 500 proved no different for the defending Daytona 500 champion. Hamlin, 35, had five wins in 20 previous races at Martinsville, including 16 top 10 finishes, but he acknowledged earlier in the week that recent mistakes have hurt his chances to secure wins. Sunday proved to be no different. From the start of the race Hamlin was a man on the move, but itRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Heading into Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, Mikhail Aleshin appeared to have a top 10 within reach, until mistimed strategy and a spin coming to pit road ended the Russian’s chances and left him with an ill-fated result of 17th. Aleshin, 28, was out to prove early on that his No. 7 SMP Racing Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda could keep up with the daunting pace Chevrolet teams set in qualifying at the Desert Mile. The Russian started 13th and was one ofRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief In his Verizon IndyCar Series oval debut, Max Chilton hung with some of the best in the business en route to a stellar seventh place finish in the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday night. Chilton’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, soared to his 39th series win, but it was the former Formula 1 driver that had other drivers, notably Graham Rahal, impressed by his performance. “I was just happy Chilton didn’t get me because, my God, ChiltonRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gets back to racing this weekend at Martinsville Speedway and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is worried about some recent changes made by the sanctioning body. Earnhardt, 41, has recorded 13 top-five finishes at Martinsville, including a win in 2014 and addressed his apprehensiveness over NASCAR’s recent gearing adjustment for the .526-mile short track oval. “I think NASCAR took a little bit of the gear away at Martinsville,” said Earnhardt. “That concerns me a little bit because you don’t have the throttle responseRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief There may be no single driver more excited for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix than Kimi Raikkonen, who returns to the site which was one of his standout performances since his return to Ferrari. Last season, the Finn was a man on a mission as he tore chunks of time out of Lewis Hamilton’s lead in the closing stages at Sakhir International Circuit before finishing a close second to the Mercedes driver. Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, has shown flashes of brilliance during his second stintRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Marco Andretti’s No. 27 Honda will get a new look for four races this season as United Fiber & Data return to Andretti Autosport. The company announced during the offseason that it was returning to the team as an associate sponsor and will now officially serve as a co-primary sponsor for Verizon IndyCar Series races at Phoenix, Long Beach, Pocono and Boston. A major sponsor for former Andretti Autosport driver James Hinchcliffe during both the 2013 and 2014 seasons, United Fiber & Data now joins SnappleRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief In a report from GPUpdate.net, Monza officials have restated their belief that the Italian circuit will strike a new deal with Formula One Management as they strive to remain on the calendar beyond the 2016 season.  Negotiations have been going on for several months, with reports surfacing out of the Italian media that a deal had not been reached and that Formula 1 would likely move to Imola or Mugello in 2017. Monza dismissed the surfacing reports and insists that they are focused on finalizing aRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pirelli has revealed that their new ultra-soft tire compound will debut at this season’s Monaco Grand Prix. The ultra-soft tire is designed to be used at all streets circuits, beginning at the famous Monte Carlo race. Formula 1’s main tire supplier since the 2011 season, Pirelli will also have super-soft and soft compounds available to choose from. 13 sets in all are available to the teams. One of each compound will be set aside by Pirelli, which will see the super-soft and soft tires set asideRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Force India is handing Alfonso Celis Jr. the keys and allowing the young Mexican to make his official Formula 1 debut at the opening free practice session during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. Celis, 19, will replace fellow countryman Sergio Perez at the Sakhir International Circuit, in what will be his first of seven scheduled outings for the 2016 season. The development driver took part in a Pirelli tire test at the end of last season at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and alsoRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief For decades drivers from all around the world have been enamored with the Indianapolis 500, more specifically, NASCAR drivers. Many of whom grew up hoping one day to compete in the historic event. Cale Yarborough, Donnie Allison, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch are just some of the notable names that have competed in the Indy 500. Busch made his IndyCar debut two years ago in the 2014 race at the Brickyard, starting 12th and finishing an impressive sixth en route to winning Indianapolis 500Read More