All posts by Motorsports Tribune

Lewis Hamilton continued to set a blistering pace ahead of qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, eclipsing Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen by almost half a second and beating championship leader Nico Rosberg by more than six tenths of a second. The first portion of the session was dominated by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the Australian driver setting an early marker of 1:36.483 on medium tyres. However, until the half hour mark approached neither Mercedes driver had been out on track and when Hamilton and Rosberg eventually appeared, onRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service If you don’t consider Martin Truex Jr. one of the favorites to win this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, you haven’t been paying attention to the first two races in the Chase. Truex won the Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway and had perhaps the fastest car a week later at New Hampshire, though he dropped to seventh at the finish after a late restart. Now he comes to Dover, the track closest to his childhood home in Mayetta, N.J., full of confidence—and notRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service As a Sunoco rookie in his first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Chase Elliott has found the first two playoff races surprisingly “normal.” Elliott comes to the elimination at Dover tied for ninth in the standings, 16 points ahead of Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon, the first two drivers below the cut line. But Elliott expects that, as the rounds of the Chase progress, the intensity will ratchet up significantly. “I think the further you get into it, the more it is goingRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – For the second time in the first three Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races this year, rain played havoc with Sprint Cup qualifying, forcing cancellation of Friday’s knockout time trials for the first elimination race of the playoffs. This is the third straight Sprint Cup event at Dover for which qualifying has been cancelled because of rain. With the field set by the rule book, Brad Keselowski, whose No. 2 Team Penske Ford leads the owners’ standings, will start Sunday’sRead More

Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the second practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix, edging out championship-leading team-mate Nico Rosberg by just over two tenths of a second. In the morning session, Rosberg had finished half a second clear of Hamilton, though he had been a step softer in tyre use on his best lap, running with soft compound Pirellis compared with medium tyres for the defending champion. However, when both drivers bolted on soft compound tyres for performance runs in the afternoon session it was Hamilton who heldRead More

Formula One World Championship leader Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of opening practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix in a session that was red-flagged when Kevin Magnussen’s Renault caught fire in the pit lane. Magnussen had just two installation laps on the board when returned to the garage with a suspected fuel leak. As his car was wheeled back into the car he was suddenly told to jump out as flames burst from the airbox behind his head. The fire was quickly brought under control but fuel continued toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – For all appearances, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. were going to settle Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 between them. Truex led a race-high 141-of-300 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Kenseth led 105. From a restart on Lap 249 until the fifth caution of the race on Lap 285, the Toyota drivers ran 1-2, with Kenseth playing defense from the lead and Truex trying every trick he knew to get past Kenseth’s No. 20 Camry. Truex would dive insideRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Remember last week, when Kevin Harvick was trapped a lap down at Chicagoland Speedway, finished 20th and fell out of the top 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings? Remember last year, when Harvick crashed at Chicagoland and ran out of fuel while leading at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and had to win at Dover to advance in the Chase? That’s all moot, now that Harvick redeemed himself with a victory in Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Larson tends to undersell his prowess at short tracks in general and at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in particular. To hear him tell it, you would never suspect that the driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet finished third and second in the first two of his five starts at the Magic Mile. And on Saturday, in final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice for Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN) – the secondRead More

By Chris Knight, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, KY – A huge push from Daniel Suárez on a restart with four laps to go in Saturday night’s eventful VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 sent Elliott Sadler ahead of Ryan Blaney to win the opening race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase at Kentucky Speedway. Sadler’s third win of the season and 13th of his XFINITY Series career was about more than just stamping his way into Round 2 of the Chase. The Emporia, Virginia, native fought for the win while thinking of his mother,Read More