Practice Report Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward set the fastest pace at 225.355 mph to top Friday’s Carb Day practice for the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500. The 21-year-old ran 84 laps as he’ll look to shine at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, not only aiming for Rookie of the Year honors, but perhaps also the famed Borg-Warner Trophy. “I think it’s just been really important to try and get the best car under us for race day,” said O’Ward. I think traffic running is going to be key.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The boys of NASCAR are back in full sound at Daytona International Speedway. Saturday saw a possible indication which cars look poised of capturing the Busch Pole Award for next Sunday’s 62nd Daytona 500 and who can work together in the draft, but as the saying goes – it’s too early to tell who’s the heavy favorite right now as Daytona is an ultimate crap shoot where anything can happen and it usually does. Before qualifying practice, there was one 50-minute sessionRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — The bottom groove was the preferred lane for both Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series competitors during Friday’s practice sessions at Texas Motor Speedway. With the addition of the PJ1 traction compound, few attempted to run in the area, but it became apparent that come race day, whether or not the top groove will be utilized isn’t a topic worth ignoring. “I’m not really sure that it changes a whole lot,” Kyle Busch on the track changes. “The track does lookRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — The return of the “Carousel” wasn’t the sole subject of both Friday practice sessions for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Instead, all eyes were on both Kyle Larson and last year’s winner Martin Truex, Jr. Both competitors set blistering pace on a the dirty track surface, but the sessions proved to be relatively tamed. On the opposite end, some competitors such as Bubba Wallace and Cody Ware, struggled in both sessions as it pertained of finding a proper groove to getRead 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 PORTLAND, Oregon — The nature of track room and practice laps didn’t reflect qualifying at Portland International Raceway, and defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden acknowledged it before and after the session. Newgarden is among the 18 drivers who have never competed in an INDYCAR race at the 1.964-mile circuit, but among the more consistent top drivers on the leader board, ending up in third, sixth and ninth in the three practice sessions. He backed up his consistency by making it to the FirestoneRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by Kyle Larson led the way during Friday morning’s pre-qualifying practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Larson ran five laps at the 1.5-mile circuit, eking out last week’s winner Kevin Harvick by 0.037 seconds with a lap time of 28.323 seconds, 190.658 mph. “This year, after having the test and after having the year we had last year that really helps your confidence,” said Larson ahead of the 55 minute session. “We know comingRead More

After topping the morning session at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Lewis Hamilton doubled up in second free practice in Canada, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to top spot by 0.25s. Hamilton’s best time, on the ultrasoft compound Pirelli tyres, was a 1:14.212, almost two tenths of a second up on his pole position time of 2015. Vettel pressed the defending champion hard though. In the opening session the German was half a second adrift of his Mercedes rivals but on ultrasofts Vettel powered to a lap of 1:14.469 to get toRead More