By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Heading into this past Sunday’s Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Matt DiBenedetto, who drives the No. 83 Toyota Camry for BK Racing, had only recorded one top-20 in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event (Talladega 2015). DiBenedetto put himself in great position to nab a good finish this week by securing the 23rd starting spot in qualifying early in the weekend, but when the race started his racecar was on the tight side of the handling spectrum. DiBenedetto’s crew chief, Gene Nead wouldRead More
By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Sauber’s Technical Director Mark Smith has stepped down according to a press release from the team today. Smith previously worked in F1 for Caterham, Force India, Red Bull, Jordan and Renault. He joined Sauber to lead the technical department in July of 2015. His vacancy in Hinwil leaves Sauber’s Chief Designer Eric Gandelin as interim TD until further notice. Sauber’s statement is below. The Technical Director of the Sauber F1 Team, Mark Smith, has decided to go back to the UK for family reasons. He hasRead More
By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Talented Scot Paul di Resta is back in Formula One after after a two year hiatus thanks to Williams Martini Racing, which just signed the 29 year old to replace his former team mate Adrian Sutil as official reserve driver for the Grove based squad. The 2006 European Formula 3 champ and 2010 DTM champ competed in 58 Grand Prix’s for Force India between 2012 and 2013 before being replaced by McLaren refugee Sergio Perez. He then rejoined DTM, where he will continue to compete inRead More
By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Auto Club Speedway this weekend for the Auto Club 400, four different drivers have made their way to victory lane in the first four races of the season, but one familiar face has yet to win in the Cup Series, despite his domination in the Xfinity Series thus far in 2016. Of course, the driver I’m referring to is the defending Sprint Cup champion, Kyle Busch. Through the first four races, Busch has been in the huntRead More
By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Through four races in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season we have already witnessed some outstanding moments. Among those moments have been two incredible photo finishes. Denny Hamlin edged Martin Truex Jr. to the line by one-one hundredth of a second in Daytona. This week in Phoenix, Kevin Harvick bested Carl Edwards by the same razor-thin margin. But throughout the entire four races we’ve seen so far, the finishes haven’t been the only exciting aspect. We have had the pleasure of watching breathtaking racingRead More
By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Four time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon will tackle the 24 Hours of Le Mans with team owner Chip Ganassi’s factory backed Ford GT program. Dixon will be paired with fellow IndyCar champion Sebastien Bourdais along with Harry Tincknell and Billy Johnson to drive one of four cars entered in the legendary twice round the clock race. “Like any driver, it is a dream come true for me to race at Le Mans and I can’t wait to get started,” Dixon said. “TheRead More
By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla – The Verizon IndyCar Series held its season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg seeing Juan Pablo Montoya take victory in the Penske Chevrolet. The win was Montoya’s second consecutive win at the track, and the eighth overall for Team Penske at the venue. Allow me to share some observations from the weekend. 1)Aleshin is for real Almost lost in the shuffle of the weekend’s headlines was the solid performance from Schmidt-Peterson driver, Mikhail Aleshin. The Russian driver qualified his Honda-powered machineRead More
By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Manor F1 reserve driver and 2015 GP2 runner up Alexander Rossi took to the wheel of the No. 98 Andretti-Herta Autosport machine for a tough but solid debut in his first IndyCar race during today’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He finished a lap down in 12th place. A result that perhaps fell somewhat short of expectations, but one that only confirms the quality of Rossi’s talent as a newcomer to IndyCar. A difficult qualifying session saw him struggle on Saturday and start today’s race backRead More