All posts by Motorsports Tribune

By FIA Max Verstappen completed a clean sweep of quickest time in practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, with the Dutchman topping the timesheet in FP3 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, more than two tenths of a second clear of championship leader Lewis Hamilton and title contender Sebastian Vettel. Verstappen went quickest late in a weather-compromised final practice session, moving ahead of Sauber’s impressive Charles Leclerc with his first qualifying-style lap on hypersoft tyres. The Dutchman set a time 1:16.385 to lead the Monegasque driver by 0.674s. Mercedes driver HamiltonRead More

By FIA After topping the morning timesheets at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Red Bull Racing again scored a 1-2 in the second practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen outpacing team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by 1500ths of a second. The Dutchman stopped at the edge of the track late in the session, however, with an apparent engine issue. In the morning session the Red Bull duo were comfortably clear of the rest of the field, though Mercedes and Ferrari minimised hypersoft running in FP1, but in the qualifyingRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The drama-filled closing hours of the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans on Oct. 13 brought a thrilling conclusion to a successful 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and not just on the racetrack. The 2.54-mile Road Atlanta road course in Braselton, Georgia that has hosted the prestigious event run for the 21st time in 2018 was packed with race fans as perfect weather conditions combined with world-class racing brought one of the largest audiences ever for the event. And those fans wereRead More

By FIA Max Verstappen headed a Red Bull Racing one-two in the opening practice session for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, with the 2017 race winner here beating out team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by almost half a second. Verstappen and Ricciardo set their quickest times on Pirelli’s hypersoft tyres and while both Mercedes and Ferrari ran on the pink-banded tyre during the 90-minute session, they posted their best laps on the ultrasoft tyres as they minimised running on the softest tyre in Pirelli’s range. As such, championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who canRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Sunday afternoon’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway was the elimination race for the Round of 12, leaving four drivers out of playoff contention upon the completion of 267 laps at the 1.5-mile oval. Despite the playoff drama, the race was fairly uneventful and featured just three caution flags, with the only non-stage break yellow for an expired engine on the No. 24 Chevrolet of William Byron. Chase Elliott earned his third victory in the last 11 races, beating Kyle Busch toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – It took 99 races for Chase Elliott to get his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. Ten events later, the scion of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott has three wins, the latest coming at Kansas Speedway in the Sunday’s Round of 12 elimination race in the series Playoffs. Elliott took charge in the Hollywood Casino 400 when Kevin Harvick was hit with a pit road speeding penalty on his last green-flag pit stop on Lap 214 of 267. AfterRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The championship focus in the NASCAR XFINITY Series this season has been primarily around rookie Christopher Bell and veteran Justin Allgaier. And rightfully so, as the duo has combined to win 11 races and amass 83 playoff points. But lurking closely behind has been Daniel Hemric. The 27-year-old driver earned his second consecutive pole position for Saturday afternoon’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway and dominated the majority of the race in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. But once again,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – John Hunter Nemechek grabbed his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in a race that threw the championship battle into chaos. Pulling away with three laps after the final restart on Lap 169 of 200, Nemechek took the checkered flag 5.200 seconds ahead of Daniel Hemric to win the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, the venue where his father, Joe Nemechek, won his final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in 2004. Though Nemechek fell far behind Hemric after sliding throughRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Saturday afternoon at Kansas Speedway was the first race of the second round of the NASCAR XFINITY Series playoffs. All eight playoff contenders qualified inside the top-12 and everything appeared set for a great battle amongst the best drivers in a series with the tagline “Names Are Made Here.” Mayhem broke loose as the field barreled into Turn 2 on the first lap when Justin Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet got loose and made contact with Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Toyota, touchingRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time of the final practice session for the United States Grand Prix, outpacing Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen by less than a tenth of a second as championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished third. On Friday, Vettel’s hopes of maintain a fragile title challenge were hit when he incurred a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently during a red flag period, but he bounced back this morning as F1’s teams finally got some dry running at the Circuit of the Americas. Ferrari focusedRead More