All posts by Motorsports Tribune

Nico Rosberg set the quickest time of opening practice for the Austrian Grand Prix, finishing almost four tenths of a second clear of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The German also went a full three seconds quicker than his P1 time from the same session last year. There was trouble for Max Verstappen, though, with the Red Bull Racing driver exiting the session with broken front suspension after tangling with new kerbs at the Red Bull Ring. Rosberg benefited from a re-surfaced track to set blistering pace and used the supersoftRead More

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – The road course portion of the rigorous Tatuus USF-17 prototype development program wrapped up yesterday at Road America with accolades for the state-of-the-art next-generation chassis that will form the backbone for the first two steps on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system – the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires – beginning in 2017. Mazda sports car talent and USF2000 steward/driving coach Joel Miller handled testing duties which also included outings at NCM Motorsports ParkRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Is Tony Stewart having fun yet? In his last year of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, Stewart came to Sonoma Racing asserting on Friday he wasn’t having much fun driving a Sprint Cup car. That all changed in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the 1.99-mile road course, where Stewart bulldozed Denny Hamlin into the outside wall in Turn 11, executing a dramatic last-lap pass for his first victory since June 2, 2013 at Dover. In the three years since that victory,Read More

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – The premier level of the Mazda Road to Indy provided plenty of excitement this morning as Uruguayan Santiago Urrutia, last year’s winner of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, made light of treacherous conditions at Elkhart Lake’s scenic Road America circuit to claim his second Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires race victory for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian. Brazilian teammate Andre Negrao secured his best finish to date in second, while yesterday’s winner Zach Veach completed a fine weekend by taking third forRead More

By Chris Knight, NASCAR Wire Service MADISON, Ill. – A gutsy decision to use the bottom lane for a restart with two laps to go paid off for Christopher Bell, who earned his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in Saturday night’s third annual Drivin for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park. Bell, driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra, survived a chaotic and intense second half to edge Ben Rhodes to the checkered flag, giving KBM its 50th victory in the series, tying RoushRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Carl Edwards ran a lightning-fast lap in the first round of Saturday’s knockout qualifying at Sonoma Raceway—and it worried him. “After that first lap—I have to be honest—I sat here and thought, ‘Man, I’m really going to screw this up on the second one,’ ‘cause the first one was really good, but it held on for the pole, and so I’m really excited.” Edwards toured the 1.99-mile road course in 1 minute, 14.392 seconds (96.301 mph) in the first round andRead More

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Young Australian drivers ruled the roost when the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda hosted a pair of races today at Elkhart Lake’s Road America. Anthony Martin, 21, led home countrymen Jordan Lloyd, 20, and Luke Gabin, 21, to complete an impressive 1-2-3 sweep in the opening race this morning, then won again in the afternoon to claim a share of first place in the championship standings with seven races remaining in the 16-race season. Brazil’s Victor Franzoni and Canadian Parker Thompson joined Martin onRead More

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Aaron Telitz, from Birchwood, Wis., bounced back into contention for the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires – and the chase for a Mazda Scholarship to graduate to Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the next level of the Mazda Road to Indy, in 2017 – following an impressive double victory today for Team Pelfrey at Road America. Telitz started on the pole for both races and his superiority was never really challenged. Argentinean rookie Nicolas Dapero (Juncos Racing) and Frenchman Nico Jamin (Cape MotorsportsRead More

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Zach Veach has developed quite an affinity for the state of Wisconsin. Almost two years on from his most recent race win – at the historic Milwaukee Mile oval – the 21-year-old from Stockdale, Ohio, bounced back to prominence today at Elkhart Lake’s equally renowned Road America circuit by scoring an emphatic victory in the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Road America Presented by Cooper Tires. Veach qualified his Belardi Auto Racing Dallara-Mazda IL-15 squarely on the pole, then led from flag to flag inRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Since when is finishing last a good omen? It could be for Kyle Busch, who finished 43rd at Michigan last year before scoring the breakthrough victory at Sonoma that propelled him into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and ultimately to the series championship. A year later, Busch comes to Sonoma fresh from another last-place run at Michigan—40th this time because of the smaller Sprint Cup starting grid under the Charter system instituted this season. Last year, Busch missed theRead More