All posts by Motorsports Tribune

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – The only thing typical about Martin Truex Jr.’s performance at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the win. The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team screwed up in qualifying on Friday—a rare occurrence in a remarkable season for the series leader. Truex failed to score points in the first stage of Sunday’s Bank of America 500, the first race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff’s Round of 12. That marked the first time since Daytona in July that Truex had finished outsideRead More

Lewis Hamilton edged closer to a fourth Formula One world championship title as he kept Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at bay to take a third career Japanese Grand Prix win. It was a disastrous day for Sebastian Vettel, however, as a spark plug problem forced Hamilton’s only real title contender to retire from the race on lap five. Hamilton now has a 59-point lead over Vettel with four races remaining. At the start Hamilton got away well to hold his lead. Initially Vettel too looked to be in good shapeRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Behind the wheel of a car on something other than a virtual race track for the first time in nearly a year, Alex Bowman warmed up for the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports ride he’ll inherit next season with a stunning victory in Saturday night’s rain-delayed Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Behind Bowman, who won for the first time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, Ryan Reed soldiered home in 12th place, one position behind Brendan Gaughan. But Reed moved on toRead More

Lewis Hamilton took his 71st career pole position and his first at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit as he beat Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by three tenths of a second with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third. However, title contender Vettel will start alongside championship leader Hamilton on the front row as Bottas is set for a grid penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change. Hamilton set the pace in Q1, rising to the top of the timesheet around 10 minutes into the session with a lap of 1:29.047 on soft tyres. He wasRead More

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas topped the final practice timesheet at Suzuka at the end of a session that was twice halted by red flags, first as Bottas himself hit the barriers and then for a crash involving Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen. Bottas posted a best time of 1:29.055s on soft tyres early in the session to finish 0.014s clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in third place, with a time set soon in the final third of the hour on supersoft tyres. In the opening period, with the Mercedes drivers outRead More

Lewis Hamilton emerged as the quickest driver of a rain-shortened second practice session in Japan as just five drivers set times. The rain started just as the second practice session was about to begin and conditions quickly worsened from a light shower into a steady, heavy downpour that resulted in the session being indefinitely delayed. Over the next 40 minutes the safety car undertook regular reconnaissance tours of the circuit and eventually the rain abated to the degree that the track was deemed driveable at 1445 local time. Ferrari’s KimiRead More

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel went quickest in opening practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by two tenths of a second. The session was interrupted, however, by a heavy crash involving Carlos Sainz. Sainz’s smash came shortly after the midpoint of the session. The Toro Rosso driver ran wide on the entry to Turn 12, after the hairpin, and lost control of his car. The Spaniard spun across the track and arrowed nose first into the barriers, scattering debris across the surface. The session was immediately red-flagged asRead More

Listen to “Drafting The Circuits October 5, 2017” on Spreaker. Frank Santoroski and the Drafting the Circuits panel – Joey Barnes, Gray Warren, Richard Youden, Christopher DeHarde and Seth Eggert, with special guest Aaron Bearden – weigh in on the first elimination round of the NASCAR playoffs, and has an in-depth conversation about the Malaysian Grand Prix and other stories within Formula One. Credits: Host – Frank Santoroski DTC Panel – Joey Barnes, Seth Eggert, Christopher DeHarde, Gray Warren, Richard Youden & Aaron Bearden Producers – Anthony Arnold & Keith Hayes Special thanks to Whoobazoo forRead More

Stefan Wilson is set to return to the iconic field of 33 in May as the British-native will take the wheel of the No. 25 Driven2SaveLives Andretti Honda for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. As the fifth entry for Andretti Autosport, Wilson will join teammates Alexander Rossi, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Zach Veach. “I’m very excited to be officially joining the Andretti Autosport team for the 102nd Indy 500,” said Wilson. “It has been a roller-coaster ride to get here, but when looking back, I’m really pleased andRead More

By Road to Indy As the only squad currently to field teams on all three rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder, Team Pelfrey has the ability to mirror the ladder series’ progression through the ranks. Dale Pelfrey first fielded a team in the IRL in the late 1990s, and today focuses on nurturing young racers, hoping to one day take a driver from karting to the Verizon IndyCar Series – all under the Team Pelfrey banner. Former MRTI racer Jonny Baker handles the team’sRead More