All posts by Motorsports Tribune

By INDYCAR DETROIT – Less than one week ago, Colton Herta’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge ended in 23rd place after he struggled following contact with the SAFER Barrier in the first half of the race. What a difference six days makes. Herta earned his first NTT P1 Award of the season by taking the top spot Saturday for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on the streets of Detroit. Herta drove to his 12th career pole with a lap of 1 minute, .5475 of a second in theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MADISON, Ill. — It was with an obvious sense of pride that Michael McDowell reveled in his pole-winning run on Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. McDowell claimed his third Busch Light Pole Award of the season—and of his career—but this one came at a quirky flat track, not a superspeedway, where the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, a former DAYTONA 500 winner, is expected to excel. McDowell toured the 1.25-mile irregularly-shaped track in 32.468 seconds (138.598 mph)Read More

By INDYCAR DETROIT – Alex Palou, one of the smoothest drivers in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, sure has taken a liking to the rough-and-tumble Streets of Detroit circuit since its debut in 2023. Palou opened his defense of his Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear victory last year by leading the first practice for this year’s event Friday with a top lap of 1 minute, 1.7210 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. SEE: Practice Results Two-time and reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou will aim for hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service What if?… That’s the question that will continue to haunt us after a long day of auto racing on Memorial Day weekend. What if Mother Nature hadn’t intervened, delaying the start of the Indianapolis 500 and shortening the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night? A weather system that battered the Midwest forced Hendrick Motorsports to change plans that had been in the works for a full year. Delayed from the planned 12:45 p.m. start, the green flag at the Indy 500 flew nearly four hoursRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – A lightning delay that turned into a heavy rainstorm made a winner of Christopher Bell in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Not that Bell didn’t deserve the victory in the rain-shortened race, which NASCAR was forced to call after 249 of 400 laps were complete. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota started third, led a race-high 90 laps and won the second stage of the 14th NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. The decisiveRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Ty Gibbs saved the strongest performance of the day for the money lap in time trials for the Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Streaking around 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying session for NASCAR’s longest race, Gibbs covered the distance in 29.355 seconds (183.955 mph) to claim the first Busch Light Pole Award of his career. Gibbs edged William Byron (183.580 mph) by 0.060 seconds to become theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – With a masterpiece of strategy and modicum of good fortune, Chase Elliott won Saturday’s BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season. Saving a set of new tries for the final run in the 200-lap event at the 1.5-mile track, Elliott grabbed the lead after a Lap 183 restart and held it the rest of the way. Driving a No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a paint scheme reminiscent of the signature lookRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Nick Sanchez showed what an opportunist can do when the right moment presents itself. Taking advantage of fresh tires and a quick pit stop, Sanchez charged from the 10th position on a restart with nine laps left in Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and held off Corey Heim to win his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race of the season — and of his career. Sanchez crossed the finish line 0.507 seconds ahead of Heim, whoRead More

By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Dominant as Team Penske’s three drivers have been this month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they know it will take a perfect performance to win the Indianapolis 500.  Success in practice and qualifying doesn’t always carry into a race where anything can happen. And probably will.   They must hit the right race-day setup, their engines must run without a hiccup, and pit stops must be trouble-free just to get them into a late-race shootout for the lead, which has become common in recent years. Read More

By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske led practice Monday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Chevrolet teams dominated the speed chart.  Again.  One day after Penske drivers swept the three front-row starting spots and Chevy-powered cars claimed the first eight positions for Sunday’s race, the story was much the same Monday in race trim.  Newgarden posted the fastest lap at 226.238 mph and, after Colton Herta was second in his Andretti Global Honda, the next five were Chevy cars – Will Power,Read More