All posts by Motorsports Tribune

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Coming into Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Chase Briscoe hadn’t tested nor even fired the engine on the No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Briscoe indicated his goal was to finish the race and learn the most he could by completing all the laps. Mission accomplished, as he finished 15th in his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut with a clean race car. It was a solid debut for the 23-year-old driver with less than 50 races of experience on pavement and the next step in a careerRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer The last time the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited Atlanta Motor Speedway, a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck piloted by Christopher Bell dominated the weekend, winning the pole, both stages and the race. The boss of KMB looks to repeat the feat, as Kyle Busch took the top spot for Saturday afternoon’s Active Pest Control 200. Busch put down a lap at 179.743 mph (30.844) in the No. 4 Toyota to earn the 19th pole of his Truck Series career. It’s the second pole of theRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer In a final round of qualifying that featured a great mix of veteran and youth, Christopher Bell turned a lap at 181.76 mph (30.60 seconds) to take the top spot for Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bell, in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, edged out Joey Logano to earn his second series pole in just his 10th start. “This one’s probably a little bit more enjoyable,” Bell said with a large grin when asked if this poleRead More

SASKATOON, SK – Exclusive Autosport is excited to announce that Igor Fraga will join the team for the 2018 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. The 18-year-old Japanese-born Brazilian will make his Mazda Road to Indy debut this season after starting the year in the FIA Formula 4 NACAM Championship, in which he has already produced two wins. Fraga comes to Exclusive Autosport with an impressive open wheel resume that includes being crowned the 2017 Brazilian F3 Academy Champion. “We’ve been able to test with Igor a couple timesRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Ryan Newman was within seconds of breaking a pole drought that dates to 2013 – until Kyle Busch made his final-round qualifying run at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Covering the 1.54-mile distance in 30.024 seconds (184.652 mph) in the money round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session, Busch edged Newman by .038 seconds to win his first pole of the young Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, his first at Atlanta and the 28th of his career. Starting up front is certainly a benefitRead More

WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING is pleased to announce that Oliver Rowland will join the team as its Official Young Driver for the 2018 Formula One season. Oliver will assist the team with simulator work at the Williams factory in Grove, and will drive the FW41 in the Young Driver Test. Oliver finished third in last year’s FIA Formula 2 Championship, taking race wins in Monaco and Hungary, as well as a total of 10 podium finishes. In the same year, he was appointed as Renault Sport F1’s Development Driver, which includedRead More

Indianapolis, IN (February 23, 2018) – Juncos Racing announced today that Mexican Alfonso Celis Jr. will join the team for the 2018 Indy Lights Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Celis is the second driver to commit to the reigning 2017 Indy Lights Champions. Alfonso Celis Jr. (Puebla, Mexico) joins the Indy Lights Championship after a successful season in the World Series Formula V8, where he claimed one pole and one win to finish third in the championship. Celis was also a Formula One Reserve Driver for Sahara Force India FormulaRead More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – A new season of competition in the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires is almost set to commence. All three rungs on the world’s premier open-wheel development ladder – the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires – will be in action beginning Friday, February 23, for the annual Spring Training open test which will take place over four days at Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida.Read More

By Mazda Motorsports IRVINE, Calif. – Victor Franzoni, Oliver Askew, Keith Donegan and Selin Rollan have selected the teams to which they will take their Mazda Road To Indy and Mazda Road to 24 Scholarships for the 2018 racing season. After capturing the 2017 Pro Mazda championship, Franzoni will compete in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires championship with Juncos Racing. Askew, the 2017 USF2000 champion, moves up to the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires with Cape Motorsports. The winner of the Mazda Road to Indy ScholarshipRead More

By Ben Rhodes, Driver Columnist (Editor’s note: Ben Rhodes, driver of the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford F-150 forThorSport Racing, one of the longest-tenured teams in NASCAR competition. Rhodes will contribute to Motorsports Tribune throughout the season, providing a firsthand look behind the scenes of his 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series campaign from behind the visor.)  Rhodes outlines his season ahead and what he’d like to see accomplished with the No. 41 team, while reflecting on this past weekend’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway, andRead More