All posts by Luis Torres

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer There’s been a saying around the paddock that even if you win races and championships at Team Penske, it’s still not enough because the biggest prize is an Indianapolis 500 triumph. For two-time defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden, it’s the only prize that remains in what’s been an illustrious career so far. However, going into the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge, there’s some immense pressure for Newgarden to deliver because he’s the only one out of the four-car stable that hasn’t won theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer James Davison was ninth fastest (224.315 mph) in Thursday’s practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, doing so with a burnt right heel. You’ve read that right, Davison has been navigating the physically and mentally demanding 2.5-mile superspeedway with a personal setback. The five-time Indianapolis 500 starter confirmed to NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch that he sustained second degree burns during the NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway two weeks ago. Since then, the 33-year-old Australian had been nursing his injury and briefly described how it’sRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Two days of practice for the Indianapolis 500 are in the books and one man has shown impressive strides where he might have become a dark horse contender for this year’s Greatest Spectacle in Racing. And that dark horse contender is rookie Alex Palou. The Spaniard hasn’t let the Indianapolis Motor Speedway intimidate him as he’s been among the top-10 fastest in not just overall speed, but on average lap runs as well. This was the case Thursday when Palou’s No. 55 Dale Coyne Racing withRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Fernando Alonso became the first accident during on-track activities on Thursday in preparation for the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500. With 49 minutes remaining in second day of practice, Alonso’s No. 66 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet ran on the bottom lane and clipped the gray berm that sits below the white line at the entry of Turn 4. It snapped his car sideways and took a shunt towards the inside wall. Alonso’s wounded car would go for a spin before resting at the entrance ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Fernando Alonso’s quest for racing’s Triple Crown began on a positive note, ending up fifth fastest (223.238 mph) during Opening Day practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Wednesday. While both full-time Arrow McLaren SP teammates Pato O’Ward (28th fastest) and Oliver Askew (31st) were getting their foot in the door at the 2.5-mile circuit, the two-time Formula 1 champion wasted no time setting a flying lap in his No. 66 Ruoff Mortgage Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. “Today was good,” said Alonso, who ran 29 main practiceRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Marco Andretti started his “Month of August” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a positive opening day, setting the second fastest overall speed at 224.345 mph during Wednesday’s practice. While it was a strong outing for his Andretti Autosport teammates with James Hinchcliffe fastest overall (224.526 mph) and Ryan Hunter-Reay fourth (223.431 mph), Andretti is simply focusing on the bigger picture with hopes of finally capturing the Borg-Warner Trophy next Sunday. It didn’t meant Andretti wasn’t satisfied with his speed right out of the gate as heRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Nearly 15 months removed from one of the lowest points of McLaren CEO Zak Brown’s motorsports career, he and the entire Arrow McLaren SP operation are making excellent strides for not just their NTT IndyCar Series program, but assuring last year’s Indianapolis 500 is just a blip on the radar. It’s no secret that McLaren’s independent effort in 2019 was an absolute disaster the moment they began testing with Fernando Alonso, something Brown admitted during Tuesday morning’s video conference. “You’ve got to get it pretty wrongRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Andy Lally made his NASCAR return last Saturday at Road America, finishing fifth in the Henry 180 which marked Our Motorsports’ second top-five of the Xfinity Series season. A few days removed from having a superb outing for a single-car operation that made the jump to NXS this year, Lally told Motorsports Tribune about his intense afternoon where he had his work cut out for as he rolled off 23rd and had to navigate through the mixed variations of weather. “We had a lot of goodRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Current NASCAR Cup Series rookie Christopher Bell will make the jump from Leavine Family Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2021, replacing Erik Jones in the No. 20 Toyota Camry. Last Thursday, JGR made the announcement that Jones will be ousted at the end of the 2020 campaign. Four days later, the team made its official decision that Bell will be the fourth driver to pilot the No. 20 car. This came to be after last Tuesday’s confirmation that LFR will sell its assets to anotherRead More