All posts by Motorsports Tribune

By INDYCAR DETROIT – Pato O’Ward led an eventful opening practice Friday for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, as drivers spent as much time learning the new downtown street circuit as they did paying attention to the time sheets. O’Ward was fastest at 1 minute, 3.0773 seconds in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on the nine-turn, 1.7-mile circuit in downtown Detroit. The event moved back to downtown Detroit this year for the first time since 1991, as it took place on Belle Isle on the Detroit RiverRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Saving fuel throughout a 66-lap green-flag run to the finish, Justin Allgaier collected his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season—and the first this year for JR Motorsports—in Monday’s twice-rain-delayed Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Allgaier, the pole winner, beat runner-up John Hunter Nemechek to the finish line by 7.829 seconds, as the top three finishers—including third-place Cole Custer—stretched their fuel mileage from a Lap 135 restart to the end of the race. Austin Hill and Ty Gibbs,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Finally.  Breaking a 59-race drought in Monday’s rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney gave team owner Roger Penske his first same-year sweep of IndyCar’s biggest race and NASCAR’s longest. With a dominant No. 12 Team Penske Ford that gained long-run speed as the race progressed, Blaney led a race-high 163 of 400 laps and held off polesitter William Byron for his first victory on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval and the eighth of his career. A day after JosefRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Grabbing the lead from Carson Hocevar after a restart on Lap 111 of 134, Ben Rhodes pulled away to win Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Rhodes, the ninth different winner in 11 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races this season, also collected a $50,000 bonus for winning the first of three events in the Triple Truck Challenge, a bonus program that could mean $500,000 for a driver who can sweep all three.  “I didn’t think we were thatRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Auto racing’s long day’s journey into night begins on the European continent and ends with NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It’s a feast for the motorsports enthusiast, from the Grand Prix of Monaco to the Indianapolis 500 to the Coke 600, which provides a perfect nightcap to the Sunday before Memorial Day. The Charlotte race is a welcome home game for the race teams, in that it takes place in theRead More

By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor INDIANAPOLIS – Of the hundreds of laps each driver has run in practice for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, they had little chance to work on one of the most important factors that could lead to victory. The last lap before a pit stop and the first lap after a stop around the 2½-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway are critical to gaining – or losing – track position. In laps and out laps, as they’re called, have won and lost this race, and there isn’t a driver inRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – Reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Will Power led practice Monday for the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge that started Race Week. 2018 “500” winner Power topped the two-hour, 10-minute session with a top lap of 39.2633 seconds, 229.222 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske as the starting field of 33 drivers continued to hone setups for Race Day. Two-time series champion Power will start 12th in the race. SEE: Practice Results “We’ve been having vibration problems,” Power said. “I think we got somewhat on topRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – Kyle Larson’s third victory in the Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race was a case of absolute dominance. It was also a case study in strategy at revitalized North Wilkesboro Speedway, with the eventual winning move made on Lap 18 of 200. That’s when Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels called his driver to the pits under caution for a fresh set of tires. Even though Larson incurred a speeding penalty exiting pit road and restarted from the rear, he charged through theRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou won the NTT P1 Award for the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday with the fastest pole speed in the history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou earned his first career “500” pole, becoming the first Spaniard to take the top spot, with a four-lap average speed of 234.217 mph (2 minutes, 33.7037 seconds) in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda during the dramatic Firestone Fast Six session. He delivered Chip Ganassi Racing its thirdRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – On wet-weather tires, Daniel Suárez fashioned a convincing victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the first of two qualifying heats for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With the win in damp conditions on Saturday night, Suárez earned the pole position for the 200-lap All-Star Race, which pays over $1 million to win. Chris Buescher won Heat 2 wire-to-wire in a race that started on slick tires before switching to the wet-weatherRead More