joey barnes Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – Blake Koch’s championship hopes took a hit Friday afternoon at the start of opening practice for Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway. The 31-year-old Florida native was on his first lap at the 1.5-mile oval when the car veered right and hit the Turn 2 wall and severely damaging his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. “Something broke on the car,” Kock said about the incident. The damage was enough to warrant the team to bring out the backupRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen discussed the layout of the Circuit of the Americas, home of the United States Grand Prix, and admitted the design allows for great racing. The 3.427-mile, 20-turn permanent road course has been hosting Formula 1 since 2012 and has become a favorite among teams and drivers with its steep uphill opening corner, a mix of fast-flowing corners, continuous elevation changes, long straightaways and a triple-apex right hander to go along with a few heavy braking zones. In four attempts at the Austin-based track, theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Ryan Newman will return to Richard Childress Racing after signing a multi-year extension that will keep him with the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet beyond the 2017 season. The 38-year-old Hoosier will be back for his fourth year with the organization and 16th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. “I am pleased to continue driving for Richard Childress Racing,” Newman said. “Our goal to win a championship all but turned into a reality during our first year together. I feel like since then, we have some unfinishedRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Since the departure of Josef Newgarden to Team Penske, Ed Carpenter Racing has now become the best remaining option for drivers seeking a ride for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. A smaller team in numbers to industry giants such as Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport, team owner and part-time driver Ed Carpenter has made the most of his organizations time in North America’s top open wheel series. Newgarden showed tremendous pace throughout the Month of May and the 100th Indianapolis 500 presented byRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sergio Perez has announced that he will remain at Force India for the 2017 Formula 1 season. The 26-year-old Mexican’s was the center of speculation on his eventual destination for next season, including Ferrari and Haas, but despite several delays with Force India he will return with the team. Bob Fernley, Force India’s deputy team principal, said on Friday that he was confident the details in the deal would be finalized with Perez. Perez’s return to the Silverstone-based squad means that he can continue to addRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Less than a week after becoming the Verizon IndyCar Series’ newest champion, it has been confirmed that Simon Pagenaud will carry the No. 1 on his Team Penske Chevrolet next season. Although automatic in some racing circles throughout the world, the ability to move to the No. 1 is at the champion’s discretion in North America’s top open wheel series. The last driver to make the switch was Pagenaud’s teammate, Will Power, in 2014. Tim Cindric, president of Team Penske, confirmed through Twitter that the 32-year-oldRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief It has been an eventful rookie year for Max Chilton in the Verizon IndyCar Series, and Motorsports Tribune’s editor-in-chief, Joey Barnes, sat down with him to discuss the experience, the goals for the final two rounds and more. Driving the No. 8 Gallagher Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Chilton qualified sixth for Sunday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen presented by Hitachi at the historic Watkins Glen International. The Brit continues to show progress through the second half of the season, with three of his four topRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Haas F1 Team has confirmed that 18-year-old Charles Leclerc will make his Formula 1 debut in opening practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The current ART Grand Prix driver in GP3 is set for other Friday sessions in the VF-16 at Hungary, Germany, Malaysia and Abu Dhabi, replacing Esteban Gutierrez. “This is a fantastic opportunity to get seat time in a Formula 1 car and I can’t thank Haas F1 Team and Esteban enough,” Leclerc said. “I’m honored by the faith Haas F1Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Josef Newgarden has been officially cleared to race for this weekend’s KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America. The talented 25-year-old was granted the opportunity to practice in both the morning and afternoon sessions on Friday, ending the day 15th on the combined timesheets. Newgarden, who is less than two weeks removed from a crash at Texas Motor Speedway that resulted in a broken right clavicle and fractured right hand, cited the pain on Friday but maintained his goal was to press on for Sunday. JR Hildebrand,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ricciardo was left disappointed once again in an underwhelming finish of seventh in the Canadian Grand Prix. The Aussie was optimistic after qualifying fourth on Saturday, but from the start of the race found himself falling behind of Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen right from the opening lap. Ricciardo then went into a two-stop strategy and fell victim to a slow second pit stop that dropped him further down the running order. Meanwhile, Verstappen enjoyed a fourth place result and has now bettered RicciardoRead More