All posts by Motorsports Tribune

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time of final practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix finishing ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg slipped to fourth and fifth respectively. The title-contending Mercedes pair had comfortably topped both opening practice sessions but on a hot, sunny afternoon at the Yas Marina Circuit, both were eclipsed in final practice as Vettel finished 0.290s clear of Hamilton and almost four tenths ahead of Rosberg. Vettel was joined in beatingRead More

Nico Rosberg closed to within a tenth of a second of title rival Lewis Hamilton in second practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the Briton continued to set the pace at Yas Marina Circuit. In opening practice Hamilton outpaced Rosberg by more than three tenths but in the early evening session, on ultrasoft tyres, the championship leader found more pace and ended the 90 minutes just 0.079s behind his team-mate with a lap of 1:40.940. Sebastian Vettel was third quickest for Ferrari and after being 1.1s behind HamiltonRead More

Lewis Hamilton outpaced team-mate Nico Rosberg by almost four tenths of a second in first practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as the pair’s title-deciding duel got underway at the Yas Marina Circuit. Hamilton goes into the final race of the 2016 season needing to reverse a 12-point deficit to Rosberg in order to take a fourth career title and the defending champion set about the task in the right way by settting a session-best time of 1:42.869 to finish 0.374s clear of his Mercedes team-mate and sole titleRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Kyle Busch came up short in defending his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing sixth in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Busch finished third in the championship standings, five points behind race-winner and seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and two points behind second-place Joey Logano. “It’s very challenging,” Busch said of how tough it is to repeat as champion. “The biggest thing is you just don’t know where anybody is until the end. I mean, (Jimmie)Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Homestead, Fla. – Call him Seven-Time. Jimmie Johnson joined NASCAR’s most exclusive club on Sunday, winning the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim his seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, putting the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on par with icons Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. “You’re a good man, you’re a great champion, and now you’re a seven-time champion,” crew chief Chad Knaus radioed to Johnson, who grabbed the lead from Kyle Larson through Turns 1 and 2Read More

*Editor’s Note: The Motorsports Tribune NASCAR staff got together for a round table discussion about the upcoming Ford EcoBoost 400 (Sprint Cup Series Championship Race) in Homestead. They weigh in on three questions about the penultimate race. QUESTION 1: Which non-Chase competitor could steal the show Sunday at Homestead? JOEY BARNES, (Editor-in-Chief): Chase Elliott. He has been fast all weekend and it would be a fitting end to see him finally take that next step in the final race of his Sprint Cup Series career. TOBY CHRISTIE, (NASCAR Editor): HeRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Daniel Suarez started from the pole position after turning a lap at 169.924 mph  in knockout qualifying and led a race-high 133 laps en route to winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and the XFINITIY Series championship. The 24-year-old driver from Monterrey, Mexico became the first Latin American driver to win a NASCAR national series championship and is the first graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program to win a NASCAR XFINITY Series championship. “Man, I don’t think IRead More

Mexican-born Daniel Suarez utilized a wild restart with four laps to go in Saturday night’s Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, to take the lead. Once he got to the lead, Suarez pulled away and secured the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. Your browser does not support iframes. Video Credit: NBC SportsRead More

On a late restart with less than 10 laps to go in Saturday night’s Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Cole Whitt opted to stay on the track, while the rest of the field pitted. Whitt, who had the speed of an 18th place car was placed in front of the field with 30-plus lap old tires. When the green flag was shown, Whitt spun his tires and stacked up the outside lane on the restart. This foiled Erik Jones’ and Justin Allgaier’s chances at winning the NASCAR Xfinity SeriesRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Competition between NASCAR manufacturers isn’t confined to the race track. In a press conference featuring executives from Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota, Ed Laukes of Toyota couldn’t pass up an opportunity to needle Chevy’s Jim Campbell. “Let me apologize for those 16 Monday mornings,” Laukes quipped, referring to Toyota’s 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories this season. “Let me apologize for last night,” retorted Campbell, referring to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship Chevrolet driver Johnny Sauter won on Friday. AllRead More