All posts by Motorsports Tribune

By Owen A. Kearns, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Ben Rhodes took the lead on the final restart and held off Christopher Bell to capture his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career win in Saturday night’s Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Rhodes, who earlier in the season lost what appeared to be a sure victory at Kansas Speedway when a piece of debris punctured his Toyota’s radiator, blocked Bell’s last-gasp effort by going all the way to the track’s apron to take the checkered flag.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – Once Ryan Blaney got the lead in Saturday’s Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway, it was “game over” in the second NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoff race of the season. After Playoff driver William Byron led every lap of the 60-circuit first stage and banked a playoff point, Blaney took the lead off pit road under caution on Lap 64. Blaney kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford out front the rest of the way, except for one lapRead More

Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth career Malaysian Grand Prix pole position, equalling Michael Schumacher’s Sepang record, as the qualifying hopes of title Sebastian Vettel wrecked by a mechanical issue that saw him dumped out of the session at the end of Q1. Kimi Räkkönen was left to uphold Ferrari honour and the Finn almost claimed his second pole of the year as he got to within five hundredths of a second of Hamilton’s pole time. Third place on the grid will be taken by Max Verstappen with team-mate Daniel RicciardoRead More

Ferrari continued to set the pace in Sepang, with Kimi Räikkönen edging team-mate Sebastian Vettel by 0.162, to claim top spot in final practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo was third, just five hundredths of a second behind Vettel. Räikkönen’s table-topping time of 1:31.880 came late in the session after Vettel had slotted into P1 ahead of Ricciardo. It was another inconclusive day for Mercedes, however, with Valtteri Bottas finishing fourth, almost half a second adrift of Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton ending the session inRead More

Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in second practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, six tenths clear of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, as the session was ended early by a heavy crash involving Haas’ Romain Grosjean. Vettel’s performance run on the Pirelli supersoft compound tyres netted a best time of 1:31.261. Team-mate Kimi Räikkönen was second, 0.604 seconds adrift, while Daniel Ricciardo was third for Red Bull Racing, just over two tenths further back. It was a trickier session for championship leader Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. BothRead More

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the quickest lap of a weather-disrupted opening practice session in Malaysia, as heavy rain led to a delayed start and a shortened outing for F1:s teams at the Sepang Circuit. Verstappen posted a time 1:48.962s on intermediate tyres late in the session to finish 0.757 seconds clear of teammate Daniel Ricciardo, with third place going to Fernando Alonso, though the McLaren driver was a further second behind. The session was due to start at 11am local time but intermittent showers in the morning gaveRead More

By INDYCAR INDYCAR is providing ample time for manufacturers and teams to learn the new universal aero kit during offseason testing, with the sanctioning body for the Verizon IndyCar Series announcing testing guidelines for the 2018 season. The testing regulations, developed in cooperation with series teams and manufacturers, have been distributed to INDYCAR stakeholders and are split into offseason and in-season testing categories. The offseason testing window began Monday and runs through March 29, 2018. The in-season testing window runs from March 30-Sept. 16, 2018. Team testing highlights • Each VerizonRead More

Listen to “Drafting The Circuits September 28, 2017” on Spreaker. Frank Santoroski and the Drafting the Circuits panel – Gray Warren, Richard Youden, and Seth Eggert– catch you up on the Cup Series playoffs and discuss tire-shredding burnouts, Joey Logano’s “Time-Out,” the new Indycar chassis, and the latest driver movement in Formula One. 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. Social Media: Follow DTC on Facebook Follow DTC on Twitter Follow WhoobazooRead More

By Colton Herta, Driver Columnist Providing an inside look for the fans, Colton Herta contributed the latest driver journal to Motorsports Tribune to discuss his rookie campaign in the 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires season. The 17-year-old Californian and second-generation star enjoyed two wins, seven podiums and a series-leading seven poles with Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing en route to third in the overall championship standings. Looking back on my first season in Indy Lights, I think I was most surprised by the speed we had in the first few weeks. I thoughtRead More

By Road to Indy When Pabst Racing took the stage at the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires season-ending awards dinner, it was the culmination of over 20 years of dedication to nurturing the careers of young racing talent, and a lifetime devoted to motorsports. Winning the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Team Championship highlighted a season that team owner Augie Pabst describes as one of the most successful – and enjoyable – of his life. Augie Pabst III literally grew up at the racetrack. TheRead More