All posts by Luis Torres

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — From backing up his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford into the Championship 4 to confirmation that’ll he’ll be back with the Xfinity team next year, life has been pretty swell for Cole Custer. Last Saturday, with a ravaged Mustang and on fire, Custer did his best Tow Mater (Cars) and Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) impression by limping his machine backwards to the start/finish line at Martinsville Speedway. Well aware that every position is up for grabs and can make a difference on who’llRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — Track time is everything for a NASCAR driver and Carson Hocevar could have an advantage over his Championship 4 competitors heading into Friday’s Craftsman 150 at Phoenix Raceway. Not only Hocevar will have a shot of winning the Craftsman Truck Series championship, he’ll also run his ninth Cup Series race of the year with all but one being for Legacy Motor Club’s No. 42 squad. In fact, the Michigan racer will go from qualifying the No. 42 truck for Niece Motorsports to partakingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The often treacherous pit entry at Homestead-Miami Speedway proved to be the turning point of Sunday’s 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1. Both Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson, who were the main front runners all day, were entering pit road to make their final scheduled pit stops where things went haywire. As Blaney slowly blended down to pit entry, Larson was still going fast and on the verge of colliding into him. It lead to a mistimed accordion effect where Larson had to slow down, lockRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It’s hard to imagine Martin Truex, Jr., one of the heavy favorites to win this season’s NASCAR Cup Series title when the playoffs began, had yet to score a single top-10 finish in the playoffs. That all changed when he finished eighth during Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, ending an alarming skid for the time being. At the same time, the result left a lot to be desired. “We left some on the table,” said Truex on PRN. “We took a bigRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Riley Herbst proved his worth among NASCAR’s elite racers with a ninth-place finish in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Throughout the 188-lap contest, the Xfinity Series regular led five times for 10 laps which also marked Herbst’s first Cup race he’s ever led. As the laps were winding down, Herbst’s No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang was in the mix for the win, but also became an assistance for Ford in order to keep the Hendrick Motorsports train from running away with the topRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer In a feat that hasn’t been done since the 2008 merger, Alex Palou locked up the INDYCAR championship with a round remaining last Sunday at Portland. With just four seasons under his belt, Palou has two championships in his young career with only an Indianapolis 500 victory alluding him. While he’ll have to wait until next May to see if his fifth 500 attempt is the one he wins big, all eyes are on his incredible title campaign as his win in Portland marked his fifthRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. — Putting on a complete race has been Felix Rosenqvist’s Kryptonite all season. Luck was finally on the Arrow McLaren driver’s side as Rosenqvist finished second to Alex Palou in Sunday’s BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland. It marked his second podium of the year and his best finish since joining Arrow McLaren in 2021. A much-needed result for the Swede as he’s expected to sign with a new team in 2024. As far as his race weekend is concerned, things clicked for Rosenqvist’s No. 6Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. – Last Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway certainly had its opinions. Some see it as Scott Dixon dominating the race as he lapped all but the podium en route to his second win of the season. Others look at the oval debut of the Firestone alternate tires as either overhyped or arguably worsening the product at Gateway. On paper, the race saw 10 lead changes but Dixon and Josef Newgarden led a combined total 221 of 260 laps. It’sRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. – Over the next two weekends, two Chip Ganassi Racing drivers will duking it out for the Astor Cup. But only one will hoist the trophy as Alex Palou and Scott Dixon are separated by 74 points heading into Portland International Raceway. Both men are poised in bringing CGR its 15th American Open Wheel Racing championship. However, should Palou exit Portland with a 55-point lead, he’ll win his second INDYCAR title in three years. To put it into perspective, no driver has locked upRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The final oval race of the season could also be championship Sunday as Gateway has a slew of storylines, ranging from silly season to potential history being made. Championship leader Alex Palou, who is currently dealing with drama behind the scenes with his contract, has a 101-point lead over Scott Dixon and an additional four points over Josef Newgarden. With three rounds remaining, Scott McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward and Marcus Ericsson are also in the hunt for the championship. Thus, six drivers mathematically have a chance ofRead More