Luis Torres Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Neither of the IndyCar Series title contenders scored bonus points as Ryan Hunter-Reay snatched the Verizon P1 Pole Award for the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway Saturday. For the three drivers who are hunting down points leader Scott Dixon, their tasks became increasingly difficult after the New Zealander’s qualifying effort. He’ll start alongside Hunter-Reay in second, with Josef Newgarden following as the highest of the chasing trio after qualifying third. The reigning series champion kept his strong pace from FridayRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — The answer is simple, it’ll take chaotic circumstances, and having a picture perfect weekend for championship contenders Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden and Will Power to prevent Scott Dixon from capturing his unprecedented fifth Verizon IndyCar Series championship at Sonoma Raceway. Among the three title chasers, Rossi is the closest to Dixon, trailing the points leader by 29 points and in many people’s eyes, the best among the three in terms of catching Dixon. Heading into Saturday, he has the most work to doRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Fourteen rounds done, seven to go, and since my first installment, there’s been so many changes across all 10 Formula 1 constructors and its 20 drivers. A few would-be contenders have gone by the wayside like Fernando Alonso and Red Bull, and others have flourished after a quiet or abysmal opening leg such as Kimi Raikkonen and Haas F1. We even saw a hot mess behind closed doors, resulting a new constructor and have so far been tremendous. In my latest installment of “Heptagon Viewpoints,”Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer As a person who’s watched the Verizon IndyCar Series on a regular basis since 2007, I’ve always wondered what my INDYCAR experience would be like. This past weekend at Portland International Raceway, I had the privilege of covering the series return in the Pacific Northwest, but it also brought some flashbacks of my days at the University of Idaho. Compared to my first NASCAR race as a credentialed media member at Sonoma Raceway in June, my first-ever INDYCAR experience was like jumping into a big pound,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Fans can always expect a blurred line of clean or dirty racing on the final lap, especially in the treacherous Turn 10, of just about every trip the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park has made since 2013. In all but two finishes, especially the last three editions, fans have been mostly outraged on the outcomes, including myself. Noah Gragson simply ran into his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Todd Gilliland, and snatched him of a maiden series win. Worse of all,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For 54 years, ABC was the main television home for IndyCar coverage, including the Indianapolis 500. During their roller coaster run, open wheel fans witnessed the good, the bad, and the ugly side of racing, and its television coverage. However, that chapter is, for the lack of a better phrase; finally over and how it bid farewell on June 2nd was callous. Knowing the second dual of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix ran past its allotted time, and local news, along with Game two ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Motorsports telecasts have been a sore subject of mine, more so this year than ever before. Fox Sports’ NASCAR coverage was beyond disappointing, ESPN’s lack of tribute towards the IndyCar Series after 54 years of memories was insulting, and Sky Sports’s Formula One broadcast just doesn’t have that race-day feel like Speed and NBC Sports had for a combined two decades in the United States It’s gotten to the point that I’ve been irritated on what’s become in racing television that I can hardly findRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Seven rounds have been completed, and all the pre-season predictions has either been spot on or have completely missed the mark. Some teams are either producing expected results like Ferrari and Mercedes while others are struggling to find sheer consistency, notably Force India’s bid of retaining the “Best of the Rest” title known as fourth in the Constructor’s Championship. In this first installment of “Heptagon Viewpoints,” I’ll highlight seven takeaways as the Formula One season has reached the one-third mark. The Emergence of Charles LeclercRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The fascinating and cruel nature of Bump Day reignited the debate of whether it’s a good idea having cars failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 compete. It’s simple, if they’re not fast enough or didn’t make the gun, they’re out. Two drivers’ aspirations of drinking the glass of milk and their heads engraved on the Borg-Warner Trophy were dashed Saturday as the charitable lass Pippa Mann and arguably, the face of IndyCar, James Hinchcliffe didn’t make the 33-car grid. Mann was bumped and didn’tRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The hot rumor that got NASCAR fans talking became a reality Wednesday as Roush Fenway Raceway announced that 2003 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth will share duties with Trevor Bayne in the No. 6 Advocare Ford Fusion, beginning at Kansas Speedway May 12th. At 46-years-old, Kenseth’s return sparked an encouraging thought about drivers past 45 being successful after what looked like his forced sabbatical diminished that possibility last season. When the announcement was made that Erik Jones was replacing Kenseth in theRead More