Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Kyle Weatherman will drive the #4 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway, replacing Garrett Smithley. The team is also open to keeping Weatherman in the seat for the rest of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

“We’re confident we’ll have a good run Saturday at Nashville with Kyle,” said JD Motorsports owner Johnny Davis. “This is a change as we look forward to the second half of the season, and we’re hoping this will work out for the best for all involved. This series only gets tougher, and we’re putting everything together to give the #4 team their best shot.

“Garrett has been an important part of this team and what it’s been able to do over the years. We appreciate the input he has had, the strength and smarts he’s shown on the race track and the network of people and sponsors he’s brought along. We wish him only the best.”

After being an Xfinity full-timer in 2021, Weatherman has bounced between multiple teams since. His eight starts so far in 2023 have come with DGM Racing, FRS Racing, Our Motorsports, and SS-Green Light Racing, also serving as the inaugural driver for FRS. Weatherman’s best finish is fourteenth at Dover with Our.

Bayley Currey was supposed to run the full 2023 campaign in the #4 but was replaced by Smithley after just four races. Ty Dillon took over the car for the most recent round at Sonoma. The #4 is currently thirty-seventh in owner points with a best finish of sixteenth at Talladega courtesy of Smithley, while also failing to qualify thrice.

Championship contender Jake Dennis heads into this weekend’s inaugural Portland E-Prix on the back of a sensational performance in Jakarta, where he kept himself right in the fight for the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

The British driver finished second in both races last-time out in the Indonesian capital, promoting him to second in the Drivers’ Championship. He goes to the West Coast just a single point behind leader Pascal Wehrlein, with five races remaining. The race to the finish is certainly on, starting this weekend at the Portland International Raceway.

With this weekend being this season’s only race in the United States, Saturday’s trip to Portland represents Avalanche Andretti Formula E‘s home race, adding to the pressure for Dennis. It’s set to be an intriguing E-Prix given that it’s taking place on an actual race circuit, rather than a street track. The drivers will certainly be able to push right to the limit this weekend, with Dennis recognising how important a big result at the team’s home race is.

If the pressure of it being Andretti’s home race wasn’t enough, the owner of Andretti Autosport, Michael Andretti, is going to be in attendance. Dennis joked that when the “big boss” attends, things don’t normally go to plan; however, the British driver has “every bit of trust in the team” to give him a great race car in Portland.

“Normally, to be honest, whenever the big boss comes, we don’t perform all that well. But having Michael there, it’s going to be a really big event for us in general, the sponsorship, and the boss coming to a home race,” Dennis told Formula E.

After winning the World Rally-Raid Championship‘s Rally3 title in 2022, Amine Echiguer will graduate to Rally2 starting with the Rallye du Maroc on 13–18 October.

The Rallye du Maroc serves as Echiguer’s home rally, hailing from Rabat, Morocco; the event was the first of two rounds with Rally3 riders during the inaugural W2RC season in 2022. Riding for his own team, Echiguer took the Rally3 overall lead after winning Stage #1B and scored three more stage wins to secure the general victory. He previously won the rally in the 2021 Enduro Cup, the first Moroccan to achieve the feat.

At the Andalucía Rally, riding for Adventura Touareg, Echiguer chased Jeremy Miroir who won every stage and finished third, but being the only points-eligible rider to run multiple events coupled with going two-for-two in podiums secured him the Rally3 championship.

Rally3 is the lowest rung on the W2RC bike ladder, reserved for production bikes and primarily filled by amateur riders. As the final step before the premier RallyGP, Rally2 allows prototype bikes to compete alongside stock models and can go faster than their Rally3 counterparts.

Among Echiguer’s rally starts in 2023 to date are the Carta Rallye in March and the Morocco Desert Challenge the following month, both held in his home country.

Jake Drew will compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the first time on Friday at Nashville Superspeedway, driving the #66 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing.

Drew is the reigning ARCA Menards Series West champion, winning three races and scoring top tens in all but the season finale. The triumph came a year after losing the 2021 title on a tiebreaker.

Despite his success in ARCA West, team owner Bob Bruncati shuttered Sunrise Ford Racing‘s ARCA programme at the end of 2022, leaving Drew without a ride.

“I just want to thank all the great people at Ford Performance and ThorSport Racing for making this opportunity happen,” said Drew. “ThorSport and their incredible team out of Sandusky, Ohio plays a crucial role in making all this possible and I was privileged to meet and spend some time with them preparing for this race. My dream continues from winning the ARCA Menards West championship with the help of Bob Bruncati to my next big step in making my Craftsman Truck Series début. I’m thankful to be on this journey and excited to see what comes next.”

The 23-year-old is the third driver to race the #66 in 2023 after Joey Logano at Bristol Dirt and Conner Jones. Like Drew, Jones’ nine-race schedule in the #66 comes in his first foray into the Trucks. Logano won his one-off.

While his Dakar Rally début is not for over another year in 2025, Toby Hederics has a seven-race itinerary to pursue to prepare him for the effort. In addition to rallies in his home country of Australia, he will head overseas to participate in the Rallye du Maroc in October and the 2024 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Like the Dakar Rally, the Rallye du Maroc and Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge are stops on the World Rally-Raid Championship with the former serving as the season finale on 12–18 October. The Rallye du Maroc is typically used as a dress rehearsal for competitors ahead of Dakar.

The 2024 W2RC schedule will not be released until July, though the ADDC has been part of the championship since the inaugural season in 2022. It is held in late February and early March.

Both rounds—as is the rest of the W2RC calendar—are on the Road to Dakar programme, meaning Hederics can clinch free admission into the Dakar Rally if he performs well among entrants with no prior Dakar experience.

“Preparation for Dakar is intense, just like the event itself, it will take 24 months of consistent training off and on the bike,” he wrote in early June. “With fitness and gym included along with six to [eight] hours on the bike every weekend, completed in one day to simulate conditions and fatigue!

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team CEO and Team Principal Toto Wolff was in good spirits following the Canadian Grand Prix, with the W14 showing much improved pace and Lewis Hamilton securing yet another podium.

Mercedes predicted pre-race that Canada would be a tough weekend for them, with the circuit not suiting the characteristics of their car, but Hamilton managed to secure the team their first consecutive podium of the season showing some encouraging pace.

The Brackley-based team brought in a big upgrade package at the Monaco Grand Prix a few weeks ago, completing changing the concept of their car, and after a few races, Wolff is extremely happy with the progress that the upgrades have made and he is pleased it is working well.

“Today’s race was an encouraging one for the Team. We knew that Canada was going to be one of the more difficult circuits for us, so to come away with a podium is a solid result.

“We were also not too far away from Max (Verstappen), much closer than we would have expected at the beginning of the season. The margin is still large, so we have lots more work to do. We are on a positive trajectory though and the update package clearly works well.”

Ahead of this weekend’s inaugural Portland E-Prix, the Nissan Formula E Team have launched a stylish new streetwear collection based on old racewear from the Japanese manufacturer.

Titled NISMO Thrifted, the collection has been inspired by Nissan’s tireless commitment to carbon neutrality and sustainability by 2050. As well as being based around the manufacturer’s goals, the collection is also in reconnection of Nissan’s incredible motorsport history, dating back over eight-five years. Whilst Nissan has been involved in racing for almost a century, their dedicated motorsport division, NISMO, has been around since 1984.

The reason for launching the collection in Portland is because the city is one of the greenest in the United States, making it the ideal backdrop for the launch. The collection itself has been made using second-hand clothes, to show that something incredible can be made from something which would otherwise simply be thrown out. In doing so, Nissan are hoping to promote a carbon and waste-free future, by pushing for less clothing to end up in landfill sites.

Behind the clothing line alongside Nissan is US sustainable fashion designer Mia D’Amato, founder of Boho Basement. The collection has incredibly been made using iconic upcycled retro NISMO race suits, as well as Nissan team wear and other merchandise. Nissan FE Team Principal Tommaso Volpe is very happy for the side to have worked with Boho Basement on the clothing line ahead of this weekend’s inaugural trip to Portland, with Volpe recognising that “upcycling” is becoming “more popular”.

“We’re happy to collaborate with Boho Basement on this NISMO Thrifted collection to commemorate our first visit to Portland. We’re always looking for innovative solutions to contribute towards a carbon – free and zero – waste future, not only when producing cars or racing but across all the aspects of our operations.

Nissan Formula E Team are entering this weekend’s inaugural Portland E-Prix on the back of their greatest result this season, in the second race of the recent Jakarta double-header.

The Japanese manufacturer have often shown good one lap pace this season; however, they’ve often struggled in the races when it comes to energy management. It appears they’ve gotten to grips with this though, as they finished fourth and fifth in the Indonesian capital at the start of the month. It means Nissan head to the West Coast comfortably seventh in the Constructors’ Championship, with five races remaining.

Nissan Team Principal Tommaso Volpe has revealed that the team are “looking to replicate” their recent Jakarta performance this weekend, in a bid to catch the top six. It’s certainly set to be an interesting E-Prix, given that it’s taking place on an actual race track. With the Portland International Raceway not being a street circuit, Volpe has admitted that setting up the car “will be a challenge” in Portland, where Sacha Fenestraz and Norman Nato will be aiming to “put on a good show”.

“In Formula E, it’s really difficult to be consistent but of course we’re looking to replicate our performance from the second race in Jakarta. Portland will be an interesting one as it’s not a street circuit. We expect to see very high top speeds and a lot of energy management, making strategy extremely important.

“Setting the car up to suit this track will be a challenge and we are looking at the best way to be efficient and quick around this circuit. It’s great that Formula E is racing in the USA, it’s a huge market for Nissan and a country that loves motorsport, so hopefully we can put on a good show for the fans!”

Rookie Sacha Fenestraz heads to the inaugural Portland E-Prix this weekend glad that Saturday will see a “more level” playing field, given that the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has never visited the Portland International Raceway.

The Frenchman goes to the West Coast having claimed an excellent result in the second race in Jakarta. The first race was nothing special for the rookie as he claimed nineteenth; however, he matched his best ever FE result in the second race after finishing fourth. He’s now finished fourth in two of the last three races, something which has given him lots of confidence.

Looking ahead to this weekend, Fenestraz is expecting a very strategic race due to how vital energy management will be, giving him the impression that the race will be “similar to Monaco or Berlin.

“I’m really looking forward to racing in Portland, it’s another brand-new venue, which makes the playing field more level as nobody on the grid has raced here before. We’ve been really close to the podium positions in recent races, which proves that we have a strong car and team behind us. I think the race may be similar to Monaco or Berlin, leading might not be the best strategy.

“We are very motivated following the result in Jakarta and we’ve kept working hard since to improve further. It’s also going to be amazing to race in America, the fans and environment are always great there, so I’m excited for it.”

Noah Gragson has been medically cleared to return to action for the next NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday. NASCAR will also grant him a waiver that allows him to remain eligible for the playoffs should he qualify.

Gragson missed the most recent Cup race at Sonoma due to a concussion he sustained in a hard crash at Gateway. Craftsman Truck Series driver Grant Enfinger, who races for Legacy Motor Club‘s Truck satellite GMS Racing, made his Cup début and finished twenty-sixth in the #42.

He ultimately missed just a single race, somewhat aided by the Cup Series taking a week off on Father’s Day weekend.

Despite receiving a waiver, Gragson faces a massive uphill battle if he hopes to make the playoffs as a rookie. He and the team have struggled mightily in 2023, sitting thirty-third in points with a best finish of twelfth at Atlanta; prior to his injury, he was thirty-second.

Gragson has raced at Nashville twice in the Xfinity Series, finishing eighth in 2021 and thirteenth the following year.

It had long been rumoured but is now a reality: Josh Berry will be Kevin Harvick‘s successor in the #4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing starting with the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. The team announced his signing on Wednesday.

Berry’s rise to the Cup Series has been regarded as an old-school approach, having spent much of his career in grassroots racing with modest but insufficient funding to climb the stock car ladder before getting his break in the Xfinity Series. Driving for JR Motorsports, he made the Championship Round in 2022 after a three-win season and is currently fifth in the 2023 standings.

Since 2021, he has made ten Cup starts all in substitute duty. His top-level début came at that year’s Dover race while Justin Haley was out for COVID-19 protocol, then replaced Haley’s team-mate Corey LaJoie at Michigan later in the season for the same reason. Two years later, he filled in for the injured Chase Elliott at JRM parent team Hendrick Motorsports and impressed at Richmond where he finished second, followed by a three-race stretch in Hendrick driver Alex Bowman’s car with another top ten at Dover. His “super sub” role has also applied in the Xfinity and Truck Series.

He is represented by Harvick’s talent agency KHI Management, which coupled with his results in both series made him a natural candidate to replace the retiring Harvick. Rodney Childers will remain on the #4 team as his crew chief.”

“I’ll be perfectly honest, this was not a big group of people that we had to make the choice from,” said team co-owner Tony Stewart. “We literally put all of our eggs in one basket and we put them on this kid. He’s somebody that we all feel like is the right fit to step into the #4 car in the future and we’re all super excited to have him at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

BWT Alpine F1 Team came away from the Canadian Grand Prix with four points added to their tally, as Esteban Ocon crossed the line eighth on Sunday and team-mate Pierre Gasly finished twelfth after a tricky recovery drive. 

Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer felt that the team missed out on a greater haul of points at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve due to their strategy decision to take two pit stops as opposed to one, which had proved to be a competitive alternative for rival teams. 

“It’s not been a straightforward afternoon with Esteban in the points and Pierre unfortunately missing out. 

“I think we have many things to learn from the race as we saw both Ferraris, Sergio [Perez] and Alex [Albon] make the one-stop strategy work, whereas we planned a one-stop but converted to a two-stop on both cars, which probably was not the optimal approach given the final outcome. That’s something we’ll review to see what we can do better going forward.” 

Szafnauer was impressed with Ocon’s drive, starting from a solid sixth place and gaining positions before ultimately dropping back behind a few one-stop runners. Gasly, on the other hand, had to “play catch-up” after being knocked out in Q1 on Saturday after being impeded by Carlos Sainz, who ended up taking a grid penalty for the incident.

TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team head to the inaugural Portland E-Prix this weekend having reclaimed the lead of the Constructors’ Championship in Jakarta, where Pascal Wehrlein claimed the team’s first win since Cape Town.

After enduring a few challenging rounds, Porsche returned with a bang in Jakarta, where Wehrlein also reclaimed the lead of the Drivers’ Championship. The German manufacturer certainly enjoyed a “strong performance” in South East Asia, with Team Principal Florian Modlinger having been proud of his side’s “brilliant team effort”.

“Our strong performance can’t be attributed to individual parameters. In Jakarta, we put in a brilliant team effort under extreme conditions, for which I cannot thank our team at the racetrack and in Weissach enough. The squad was very well prepared for this challenge.

“The track characteristics and the external conditions suited our car well. Qualifying was our best so far this season and this was crucial for Pascal’s incredible victory in the first race. We have to build on this performance in Portland and try to focus on extending our championship lead with another top result.”

Looking ahead to Portland this weekend, Formula E’s trip to the West Coast represents the start of the final three venues of the 2022/23 season, which Modlinger is expecting to go down to the wire in the London season finale. This weekend’s twelfth round of the season is certainly going to be an intriguing one, given that it’s being held on an actual race track.

Pascal Wehrlein heads to the inaugural Portland E-Prix this weekend having regained the lead of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Jakarta, where he returned to winning ways.

After losing the lead for the first time in four months in Monaco, Wehrlein entered the Jakarta double-header with a clear goal, to get his championship lead back. With victory in the opening race in Jakarta and a sixth-place finish in the second, that’s exactly what he did. His win marked his first time on the podium since the end of January in Diriyah, highlighting how long it’d been since he’d featured amongst the top three.

Reflecting on Jakarta ahead of this weekend on the West Coast, Wehrlein was quick to point out that himself and the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team are “still a force to be reckoned with”.

“Jakarta was a mega weekend for us with my win in the first race and a good harvest of points in the second event. This meant we regained the lead in the world championship that we lost in Monaco and it underlined that we’re still in the game, that we’re still a force to be reckoned with. The joy and relief were huge.

“As far as qualifying is concerned, after Monaco we analysed what went well in the first races and what we could’ve done better midseason. We drew the right conclusions from this. We now aim to turn all of this into a top result in Portland.”

Andrea Stella has called upon the FIA to explain why the race stewards at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve deemed that Esteban Ocon’s BWT Alpine F1 Team car was being driven safely, despite the rear wing on the A523 shaking wildly for much of the day.

Lando Norris, who was following Ocon for much of the second half of the Canadian Grand Prix, was heard saying that the wing appeared ‘dangerous’ over the radio, but the Frenchman was allowed to continue to finish eighth without the stewards showing him the black and orange flag.

Stella, the Team Principal of the McLaren F1 Team, says the FIA has previously given duty of care back to the teams, but he insists talks need to take place with the Sporting Advisory Committee about what happened in Montréal.

“The race direction now leaves the duty of care to the teams,” Stella is quoted as saying by Crash.net. “It’s the team’s call to say ‘we should retire the car’ or ‘we should leave the car out’. 

“It’s a tricky one because teams, when they are in a competition, you have a conflict of interest in terms of safety of everyone involved and maximising your result.