All posts by Motorsports Tribune

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas claimed his third career pole position, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by just ovet three hundredths of a second, as newly-crowned four-time champion Lewis Hamilton dramatically crashed out in Q1. The Briton, who had taken to the track early in a bid to put in a solid time in case of rain, lost control as he exited Turn 6. The back end of his car stepped out and he slid off into the tyre barriers, wrecking the front right side of his Mercedes. The crash resulted in aRead More

Valtteri Bottas beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just three thousandths of a second to top of the timesheet in an extremely tight final practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Just six hundredths of a second covered the top four drivers with Kimi Räikkönen finishing just 0.045 behind Hamilton and Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel fourth 0.013s further back. The session began under grey skies and the threat of rain, though in the end the session remained dry throughout. Räikkönen, using supersoft tyres, set the pace in the first half of theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Three red flags told the story of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway. The third of the three gave defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter the chance he needed to win the race that set the field for next Friday’s championship event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. When Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson wrecked during an intense side-by-side duel with seven laps left, Sauter inherited the lead for a restart on Lap 149 ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ryan Blaney got what he needed in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session—but only by a thousandth of a second. In the final round, Blaney covered the one-mile distance at Phoenix Raceway in 26.098 seconds (137.942 mph) to edge Denny Hamlin (137.936 mph) by .001 for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Can-Am 500, the final race in the Playoff’s Round of 8 (on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET). With the Playoff field set to be trimmed fromRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Last year at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jimmie Johnson won his seventh Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship with a serendipitous victory in the Championship 4 race. This year, Johnson will need more than serendipity. He’ll need what amounts to a miracle just to earn a shot at a record eighth title. Johnson comes to Phoenix Raceway eighth in the series standings, last among the drivers trying to survive the Playoff’s Round of 8. With one berth available in the Championship 4, theRead More

After dominating opening practice at Interlagos, Lewis Hamilton doubled up by topping the afternoon timesheets at the São Paulo circuit, edging team-mate Valtteri Bottas by just under five hundredths of a second. However, whereas Hamilton enjoyed a half second advantage over Ferrari’s third-placed Kimi Räikkönen in the morning session, afternoon practice was tighter, with Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finishing just 0.228 behind four-time champion Hamilton after the drivers had completed their performance runs during the 90-minute session. In the morning Hamilton had led the way early in the sessionRead More

Lewis Hamilton headed a dominant Mercedes 1-2 in the opening free practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the Briton finishing a tenth of a second ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and half a second clear of Ferrari’s third-placed Kimi Räikkönen. After spending the first half of the session controlling matters on Pirelli’s soft compound tyre, Hamilton switched to supersofts and after Bottas had taken top on the same compound with a time of 1:09.329, Hamilton responded by lowering the benchmark to 1:09.202. The lap was good enough to keep HamiltonRead More

Listen to “Drafting The Circuits November 09, 2017” on Spreaker. Frank Santorski and the Drafting the Circuits gang – Gray Warren, Richard Youden and Seth Eggert – weighs in on NASCAR at Texas, makes predictions for the final spot in the championship four, has a healthy discussion about the economics of the sport, and looks at the open F1 seat at Williams for 2018. Credits: Host – Frank Santoroski DTC Panel – Seth Eggert, Gray Warren, & Richard Youden Producers – Anthony Arnold & Keith Hayes Special thanks to Whoobazoo for hosting the DTC Podcast.Read More

By NASCAR Wire Service Almirola, who currently drives the No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports, takes over a ride that has been piloted by Danica Patrick for each of the last five full seasons. “I’ve known Aric since 2004 and have always been impressed with him on the racetrack,” said Tony Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing with Haas Automation founder Gene Haas. “I’ve raced with him and seen him mature into a really good racecar driver. He can compete for wins here at Stewart-Haas Racing and help our other driversRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – Denny Hamlin did almost everything right on Sunday afternoon. Despite his best efforts, however, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota left Texas Motor Speedway in a good-sized hole. Hamlin started Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 from the front row beside pole winner Kurt Busch. He led the first 46 laps, 65 overall. Hamlin was in the top spot for the final restart on Lap 289 and rolled home in third place behind winner Kevin Harvick and runner-upRead More