All posts by Motorsports Tribune

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer In a move designed to strengthen a relationship that dates back more than 60 years, NASCAR announced today the acquisition of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). Both NASCAR and ARCA, a Midwest-based sanctioning body for stock car auto racing, share a long history: ARCA founder John Marcum raced against Bill France Sr. and worked as a NASCAR official. More recently, the series has provided a valuable platform for talented drivers looking to make it to NASCAR’s national series. “Our NASCAR family has longRead More

By FIA Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo went quickest in the second practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, edging Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by 0.069s. Last year’s winner at the Baku City Circuit, Ricciardo was straight into the groove in the late afternoon session claiming top spot 10 minutes into the 90-minute practice period. Ricciardo worked his way up to a best early supersoft of time of 1:43.512s and before the field began to move to ultrasoft-shod qualifying runs as the session approached the half-way mark. The Australian again establishedRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took top spot in the first practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but there were problems for Red Bull Racing as Max Verstappen crashed. The Dutch driver led the way in the opening half an hour of the session, setting the pace with a time in the mid-1m45s bracket. That left him marginally clear of Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, as the Renault-powered team began the weekend brightly. The outlook darkened soon afterwards, however, as Verstappen lost control on the approach to Turn 5Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer One of the feel good stories of the chaotic and carnage-filled ending to the season-opening ARCA Racing Series event at Daytona International Speedway was the second-place finish of Willie Mullins. The 37-year-old driver out of Fredericksburg, Va. avoided multiple late-race accidents to cross the stripe in the second positon for his own Mullins Racing team. It was just the 12th ARCA start for Mullins, with the majority of those coming at New Jersey Motorsports Park, before debuting at Daytona in 2016. “It’s a win forRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer The ARCA Racing Series goes from one of the shortest tracks on the schedule to the largest as the series hits Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for race No. 4 of the 2018 season. After an extremely chaotic race in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, this event is sure to be another thriller, but hopefully with a bit less mangled sheet metal when all is said and done on Friday. The Track Talladega Superspeedway is a 2.66-mile tri-oval with 33 degrees of banking in theRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will make its first visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, marking IMSA’s first appearance at the circuit since a GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series event in 2013, for the two-hour and 40-minute Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio on Sunday, May 6. The race features a 35-car entry list across three WeatherTech Championship classes, Prototype (P) with 14 entries, GT Le Mans (GTLM) with eight, and GT Daytona (GTD) – which returns to action after sitting outRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Our Motorsports announced today that they will field a second car for Josh Williams in Friday’s ARCA Racing Series General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway. Williams’ breakout season in ARCA came in 2016, when he won two races and recorded five top-five and 11 top-10 results. Williams ran just one ARCA race last season while also competing in seven NASCAR XFINITY Series events. The 24-year-old driver has made eight starts behind the wheel of the No. 90 Chevrolet thus far this season in the XFINITYRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer SALEM, Ind. – Salem Speedway, a 0.555-mile oval with 33-degress of banking, is a difficult track for seasoned veterans and even more so for rookie drivers. Sixteen-year-old Colby Howard made his ARCA Racing Series debut in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 behind the wheel of the No. 78 Mason Mitchell Motorsports Chevrolet. When the checkered flag flew after 200 laps on Sunday afternoon, Howard crossed the line in the eighth position. “Salem is so different compared to anywhere else I have ever raced. It is reallyRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The first three races of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship have reinforced one thing about racing in the Prototype class: competition is really tough. Heading into its debut season in the WeatherTech Championship at the beginning of this year, expectations for the two-car Acura Team Penske program and the new ARX-05 Daytona Prototype international (DPi) race cars were high. And with good reason. After all, the driver lineup includes a pair of WeatherTech Championship Prototype champions racing alongside a pair ofRead More

By INDYCAR BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Monday, April 23, 2018) – Josef Newgarden raced on cruise control in today’s completion of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by America’s First. Even a return of rain late in the race didn’t prevent the Team Penske driver from collecting his third Verizon IndyCar Series win at Barber Motorsports Park in the past four years. Newgarden drove the No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet to a 9.9607-second victory at the hilly 2.3-mile, 17-turn permanent road course, despite increasingly treacherous track conditions as rainRead More