All posts by Motorsports Tribune

Nico Rosberg closed the points gap to title rival Lewis Hamilton with a comfortable Belgian Grand Prix win but the championship-leading Briton limited the damage with a sparkling drive from P21 to third and a podium finish behind Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo. The race began in dramatic fashion. Rosberg made a good getaway from pole to take the lead but Max Verstappen making his first career front-row start began slowly from P2. He was passed by the fast-starting Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, but Red Bull driverRead More

By Frank Rigas, NASCAR Wire Service ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Michael McDowell’s Twitter handle is @Mc_Driver. After Saturday, he may want to consider changing it — to something like @Mc_Winner. McDowell led 24 of the final 25 laps of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville for his first victory in 94 series races. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular finished .534 seconds ahead of his Richard Childress Racing teammate Brendan Gaughan after two late restarts, including a green-while-checkered that pushed the race to 48 lapsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – In five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, Brett Moffitt had never led a lap. But in Saturday’s Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway, Moffitt picked the perfect time to take the point for the first time. Powering around Red Horse Racing teammate Timothy Peters and five-time series winner William Byron off the second corner of the final lap at the two-mile track, Moffitt held off Peters by .098 seconds to win a NASCAR national series race for theRead More

Nico Rosberg took his sixth pole position of the 2016 Formula One season at Spa-Francorchamps ahead of Max Verstappen who became the youngest driver to claims a front-row start at a grand prix. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third and will line up on the second row with team-mate Sebastian Vettel. With championship leader Lewis Hamilton set to start at the back of the grid due to penalties incurred following a host of power unit changes, Rosberg put himself in the perfect position to claw back some of the 19-point deficitRead More

Kimi Raikkonen topped the timeheets in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix as he edged Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo by two tenths of a second at Spa-Francorchamps. Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel was third. Mercedes Nico Rosberg set the early pace with a lap of 1:48.880 set on soft tyres and that stood until almost the half way point in the session. Ferrari then sent both its drivers out on supersoft tyres and Raikkonen promptly jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:48.406. ThatRead More

Max Verstappen went quickest in the second practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, as Red Bull Racing turned a low key morning session into a headline-making afternoon outing with Daniel Ricciardo taking second spot. In the first session Verstappen finished in seventh position, behind Ricciardo. Part of the reason for that was Mercedes’ decision to run the supersoft tyre in FP1, while their rivals chose to stick with tradition and leave their performance runs until the afternoon. With Mercedes leaving the red-banded tyre alone in session two, theRead More

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of opening practice for the Belgian Grand Prix with the German also becoming the first driver to set a timed lap in a session using the Halo device, which underwent more testing. As the session got underway at Spa-Francorchamps, four cars took to the circuit sporting the cockpit head protection device – Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Rosberg. All except Rosberg used the device for a single installation lap, but as times began toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – For most of the final 200 laps of Sunday’s rain-interrupted Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick was where he needed to be – out front and in control of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Behind Harvick, who took the checkered flag 1.933 seconds ahead of runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the race was often out of control, as the essence of traditional Bristol made an emphatic appearance at the .533-mile concrete short track. Harvick’s victoryRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Bristol Motor Speedway teased its race fans with a brief taste of side-by-side action on Saturday night, before persistent storms halted the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race after 48 laps and forced postponement of the finish until Sunday afternoon. The race will resume at 1 p.m. ET Sunday and will be broadcast on CNBC. Carl Edwards led the field to green on Saturday but surrendered the top spot to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on the opening lap, asRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Team owner Rick Hendrick made two things abundantly clear during a press conference at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon to discuss the signing of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series leader William Byron. First, Hendrick had no specific update as to the status of Dale Earnhardt Jr., other than to say that Earnhardt is progressing in his recovery from concussion-like symptoms and wants to return to the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet as soon as possible. “Dale looks great,” Hendrick said.Read More