All posts by Luis Torres

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Third-place starter Simon Pagenaud never got a chance of getting past Turn 1 after retiring from the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in California Sunday. Entering the first corner, fifth-place starter Graham Rahal was sent high across the track by Scott Dixon, and passed him. As soon as he got by the multi-time champion, Rahal tapped into the back of Pagenaud’s No. 22 DXC Technology Chevrolet, sending the 2016 Long Beach race winner around with his left rear hitting the concrete wall. Rahal wentRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Noah Gragson’s dream of climbing the NASCAR ladder took another positive turn as Joe Gibbs Racing announced Thursday that he’ll run three consecutive Xfinity Series race, beginning in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway in Virginia April 20th. The Camping World Truck Series sophomore will also run at both Talladega Superspeedway and Dover International Speedway to complete his set of races in the No. 18 Switch Toyota Camry. “I’m fortunate and very honored to make my NASCAR Xfinity Series debut for Joe Gibbs Racing atRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Defending NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion Alon Day may have some stiff competition this season as former multi-series NASCAR champion Bobby Labonte will look to add a Whelen Euro Series championship to his illustrious accolades this season. The announcement was made by RDV Competition Monday as the Corpus Christi, Texas native will compete full-time, piloting the Yacco sponsored No. 18 Toyota. With the announcement of Camping World Truck Series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb running at the weekend opener at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, SpainRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Erik Jones and his No. 20 Reser’s Toyota Camry race team delivered in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, finishing a season-best fourth after leading 64 of 334 laps. It’s Jones first top-5 of the season and improved from 12th to 11th in points, 123 markers behind points leader and race winner Kyle Busch. “The Reser’s Camry was really good. We didn’t qualify where we wanted to this weekend,” said Jones. “It was kind of a – kind ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer On the 25th anniversary weekend of Mario Andretti’s 52nd and final INDYCAR Series win, his grandson Marco carried the famous black and white Newman-Haas colors that both Mario and Marco’s dad, Michael, drove for many seasons during Saturday’s Desert Diamond Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. The hope of  charging to a third career win looked possible early on after jumping up four spots from his 20th-place qualifying effort at the start. Despite the early climb up the running order, the night didn’t provide theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway saw just two cautions for 24 laps and two other incidents that didn’t warrant a yellow flag from on top of the flag stand. However, the incident proved detrimental to the outcome of four drivers, after each made contact with the SAFER Barriers after going up across the 1.022-mile oval. The first retirement of the race came at the hands of Verizon INDYCAR Series debutant Pietro Fittipaldi on Lap 40. After an impressiveRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Dale Coyne Racing will enter Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona with two cars in the top-10. Leading the field to the green flag will be Firestone St. Petersburg Grand Prix winner Sebastien Bourdais, claiming his first oval pole since The Milwaukee Mile in 2006. While the talk in the paddock is about the senior driver, Bourdais’ part-time teammate also made some noise after qualifying 10th. Pietro Fittipaldi, who’s making his Verizon INDYCAR Series debut, set aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer JGL Racing announced Thursday that 19-year-old Tony Mrakovich of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania will run two NASCAR Xfinity Series races in the No. 28 Extreme Energy Solutions Ford Mustang, beginning at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 April 14th. “(Bristol) is one of the toughest tracks on the circuit,” said Mrakovich. “Some of the sport’s most prestigious names have gone to Victory Lane here, so if you can have a good day at Bristol, you’ve accomplished quite a feat. I’m so thankful for Extreme Energy’s supportRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Motorsports has its share of stories, especially when it unites two different families coast-to-coast during difficult time periods and raising awareness for autism. For one weekend at Auto Club Speedway, that was the case for the Lombard family from Simi Valley, California and Ryan Sieg Racing from Georgia. The two families partnered up, as Sieg’s No. 39 Chevrolet Camaro had Lombard Bros. Gaming, a three-year-old gaming company owned by brothers Joseph and Zachary aka “N2SC4R” and “MAGNUM05” on YouTube, became his primary sponsor in theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Knoxville, Tennessee native and Xfinity Series regular Chad Finchum announced at a promotional event on Wednesday that he’ll be making his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway April 15 for Carl Long’s MBM Motorsports. It’ll mark MBM’s first Cup start since the 60th Daytona 500 when 66-year-old Mark Thompson finished 22nd. Finchum said he’s blessed that Long has confidence in him despite running 12 Xfinity Series races in a span of two years. “I’ve been blessed with opportunities to run NASCARRead More