All posts by Motorsports Tribune

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Busch’s celebratory burnout produced a cloud of smoke over the frontstretch at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but Ryan Preece’s first run in top-of-the-line equipment made an even bigger impression in Saturday’s Overton’s 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series race. After a major snafu on pit road took a potential win away from Brad Keselowski, who had arguably the fastest car at the Magic Mile, Busch cruised to a 10.425-second victory, collecting his third win in six starts this season, his sixth at NHMSRead More

By INDYCAR TORONTO (Saturday, July 15, 2017) – Simon Pagenaud has put himself in the thick of the hunt for a second straight Verizon IndyCar Series title without earning the pole position for a race in 2017. Until today, that is. The reigning series champion set a track record for the current layout on the streets of Exhibition Place to capture the Verizon P1 Award and first starting position for the Honda Indy Toronto. The driver of the No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet will lead the 21-car fieldRead More

Lewis Hamilton took his fifth British Grand Prix pole position and the 67th pole of his career with a blistering final flying lap in qualifying to beat Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by more than half a second. The Finn’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel was third. Q1 began in greasy conditions and with drizzle falling. The weather and the expectation that it might worsen led to a flurry of activity as soon as the pit lane lights went green. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo set the first time on inters, a lap of 1:42.966Read More

Four-time British Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton went quickest in final practice at Silverstone, edging championship leader Sebastian Vettel by just three hundredths of a second in a session that ended with rain falling across the Northamptonshire circuit. In advance of the session race control reported that there was an 80% chance of rain across the 60 minutes of running and the risk of precipitation meant that unlike many FP3 sessions the front runners were on track early as they attempted to get last minute set-up work and quali simsRead More

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas maintained his grip on the top of the timesheets at Silverstone but he was pushed hard by team-mate Lewis Hamilton who finished under five hundredths of a second adrift of the Finn. Bottas had topped the opening session by just seven hundredths of a second but his time of 1:29.106 was eclipsed early in the session as Hamilton quickly dipped into the 1m28s bracket on soft tyres. He then improved to time of 1:28.543 to sit six tenths ahead of the rest of the field. Half anRead More

Valtteri Bottas set the quickest time of opening practice for the British Grand Prix, finishing seven hundredths of a second ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel became the first driver to run with the new Shield frontal impact protection system being trialled by the FIA. The Shield, a transparent open canopy system constructed using polycarbonate and extending down the nose of the car, was fitted to Vettel’s Ferrari ahead of the session. He then completed a single installation lap with the device in place before returning toRead More

By INDYCAR NEWTON, Iowa (Sunday, July 9, 2017) – The victory drought is finally over for Helio Castroneves. Now his chase toward a first Verizon IndyCar Series championship is in high gear. The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner ended a three-year, 54-race streak without a win by taking the checkered flag today in the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. In the process, the driver of the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet closed within eight points of the championship lead after 11 of 17 races. “We’ve been close (to winning)Read More

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took his second career Formula One victory with a powerful yet controlled drive lights to flag win ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo held off a late surge from Lewis Hamilton to take the final podium position. Bottas got away best at the start, but so good was his getaway that there was the suspicion the Finn had jumped the start. Further back Max Verstappen made the poorest start, bogging down badly when the lights went out. He was swamped by rivals andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – After all was said and done, the dominant car won the race – but not without extreme complications. With just over a lap to go in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. held a lead of more than 15 seconds over second-place Kyle Larson, with only eight cars remaining on the lead lap. But before Truex could take the white flag signaling the final lap, the engine in Kurt Busch’s Ford expired, dumping oil on the 1.5-mileRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – As Kyle Busch spun his No. 18 Toyota wildly during his celebratory burnout at Kentucky Speedway, the right rear tire exploded with an audible pop after it hit the drain below the apron. It was an astute call by crew chief Eric Phillips that enabled Busch’s tires to survive long enough to win Saturday afternoon’s rain-delayed Alsco 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at the 1.5-mile track. In effect, Phillips was the architect of Busch’s second victory this season, his fourth at KentuckyRead More