Breaking News Category

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Ariz. – For the second consecutive weekend, Brad Keselowski struggled on a Saturday. The 2012 Sprint Cup champion qualified seventh in the Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, but struggled with a daunting pace put forth by the Toyota’s of Joe Gibbs Racing, led by a victorious Kyle Busch. Keselowski managed to lead nine laps, but overall struggled at the bottom half of the top 10 before settling for ninth. The finish is a rough one for all involved as Keselowski was alsoRead More
By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Will Power claimed his sixth pole at the Streets of St. Petersburg in the waning seconds of the Firestone Fast Six Session while Team Penske swept the top four spots for the second year in a row, and with a stomach flu no less. Power first broke his own track record in Q1 with a lap of 1:00.5768 and come the second session he made an astonishing lap of 1:00.0658, nearly a half second quicker his track record set a year agoRead More
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season-opening Indy Lights Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Lucas School of Racing turned out to be a race of two halves. Returning series veteran Zach Veach looked to have the spoils within his grasp until hindered by a mechanical problem, whereupon Felix Serralles, from Ponce, Puerto Rico, took full advantage and sped on to a clear victory. Serralles’ form and good fortune ensured that the British Carlin team remains undefeated on the streets of St. Petersburg followingRead More
By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Ariz – Coming off a sixth place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and momentum in his corner, Ryan Blaney isn’t looking like a rookie, but rather a driver on the rise, a driver on the cusp of breaking through for his first win in the Sprint Cup Series. With the Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway set to get underway Sunday, it’s important to know how this season began. The 2016 season began with refreshing news that Wood Brothers Racing, one of NASCAR’sRead More
By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer Heading into qualifying this afternoon, Penske Racing’s Will Power set the fastest time in the final practice session for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the opening round of the 2016 season for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Power, a two-time winner of the event, crashed heavily in Friday morning’s practice, and came back to lead the afternoon session which was interrupted for track repairs. Today’s session went forward without incident, save for a brief red-flag to retrieve the Andretti Autosport Honda entry of RyanRead More
By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Ariz – Jimmie Johnson met with the media early this morning to clarify the accident he had in qualifying, which forced the team to go to a backup car for Sunday’s Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. The accident happened in Turn 2 during the final round of knockout qualifying. In an interview yesterday, Johnson could not confirm what happened, only saying “I don’t know for sure.” Johnson, 40, would later confirm through Twitter that the steering wheel came off. This morning the six-timeRead More
By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Ariz –  Qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday afternoon turned into one of the more odd sessions of the early season, and it became all the more interesting after Jimmie Johnson wrecked in Turn 2 during the final round. The six-time Sprint Cup Series champion put down a lap that ended fifth best on the timesheets, but following the hard crash Johnson will have to start the Good Sam 500 in a backup car at the rear of the field. Johnson, 40, spoke aboutRead More

Posted On March 11, 2016By Motorsports TribuneIn Breaking News, Cup, Headline News

Kyle Busch leads JGR sweep of Phoenix qualifying

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Running the fastest lap of the day when it counted most, Kyle Busch paced a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the top three starting spots for Sunday’s Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway (on FOX at 3:30 p.m. ET). Busch covered the one-mile distance in 26.014 seconds (138.387 mph) in Friday’s final round of knockout qualifying, a session interrupted by Jimmie Johnson’s hard wreck against the Turn 2 wall. The Coors Light Pole Award was Busch’s first of the season (after an inspectionRead More
By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Will Power recovered from crashing out of the first practice session to click off the fastest lap of the day in the final seconds of a delayed practice session at the Streets of St. Petersburg. A portion of the racing surface in turn 3 came apart just nine minutes into the session. That brought out the red flag for nearly 45 minutes while the track was repaired. Once the action restarted, 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon led for much of theRead More
By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Ariz. – Heading into Phoenix International Raceway, perhaps no one in the XFINITY Series has more momentum than Daniel Suarez. The 2015 Rookie of the Year, Suarez has opened the first three races with three top 10’s, including a runner-up finish last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That finish enabled Suarez to take over the championship lead for the first time in his young NASCAR career. Suarez, 24, is no stranger to Phoenix International Raceway. The NASCAR Drive for Diversity graduate raced in NASCAR’sRead More