Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

With Cody Ware serving an indefinite suspension following his assault arrest on Monday, Rick Ware Racing has entrusted the #51 Ford Mustang to Zane Smith for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The start means he will run two races over the weekend as he is also entered in the Craftsman Truck Series event on Friday.

“Double duty! Excited to gain some more experience & fill in for @RickWareRacing in the #51 this weekend @MartinsvilleSwy,” Smith tweeted on Wednesday.

Ware was the #51’s main driver, racing full-time in the car since 2022 and was thirty-first in points after the first seven races in 2023. However, he was pulled from the seat and replaced by Matt Crafton for Sunday’s Bristol Dirt Race before news surfaced of his arrest the following day. He was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR after the development.

“We understand NASCAR’s position on this matter and accept their decision,” reads an RWR statement after the suspension. “The matter is still under investigation and Cody is fully cooperating with the authorities, as due process takes its course.”

The reigning Truck Series champion, Smith has been eyeing opportunities at higher levels including a part-time Cup schedule with Front Row Motorsports and planned starts in the Xfinity Series. After driving a third #36 car for FRM at the Daytona 500 and finishing thirteenth, he ran the first of five races in their #38 at Phoenix and placed thirty-first; the #38 is otherwise mainly driven by Todd Gilliland.

Tihomir Filipović, one of the most iconic names in Croatian rallying, passed away at the age of 67 after a lengthy illness. His daughter Iva Veronek broke the news on Wednesday.

Filipović’s career saw tremendous success on both sides of Croatia’s independence from Yugoslavia, winning the Yugoslavian Rally Championship in 1989 and the Croatian Rally title two years later. He won the Delta Rally, now a leg of the World Rally Championship, three straight years from 1989 to 1991. In 1984, he claimed the Yugoslav road racing and hillclimbing national championships.

His experience also extends to touring cars, competing in the European Touring Car Championship in the 1980s. In 1990, he entered the Paris–Dakar Rally in a Land Rover as the lone racer from Yugoslavia and reached the finish in seventy-seventh overall.

The son of former bike racer Pere Filipović, he began racing on motorcycles in his youth before entering four-wheeled professional motorsport in 1977. He retired from professional racing in 1994, but returned to the driver’s seat in 2021 for a hillclimb.

His final year of racing in 2022 saw him take part in the Delta Rally and finish twenty-third overall and third in Class 1.

Tihomir Filipović: 15 November 1955 – 12 April 2023

Chase Elliott will make his triumphant return to the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver’s seat on Sunday, 16 April at Martinsville Speedway after missing the last six NASCAR Cup Series races due to injury.

Elliott fractured his tibia after a snowboarding accident in Colorado in early March, days before the third race of the season at Las Vegas. Josh Berry, from Hendrick’s Xfinity Series affiliate team JR Motorsports, took over the #9 for the five oval races that Elliott missed and scored two top tens including a runner-up finish at Richmond. The lone road race during this stretch at Circuit of the Americas saw Jordan Taylor make his NASCAR début, qualify fourth, and finish twenty-fourth after a late spin.

Meanwhile, Elliott underwent surgery at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado, before returning home to Dawsonville, Georgia, to continue recovery. He was medically cleared to race by NASCAR on Tuesday and elected to enter Martinsville.

His timetable for recovery had projected approximately six to eight weeks, with many having expected him to return at Talladega Superspeedway on 23 April or Dover Motor Speedway the following week.

“We’re looking forward to having Chase back in his race car to pick up where he left off,” said team owner Rick Hendrick. “Since the injury, he’s worked extremely hard and focused all his time and energy on returning to the #9 team. Throughout the last six weeks, he’s stayed fully engaged with everything we’re doing, and we know he’s chomping at the bit to get on the race track and compete for wins.”

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative of Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake was pleased with the team’s second points finish of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship in Melbourne, especially after a chaotic race that saw a number of red flags.

Guanyu Zhou scored his first points of the season with an impressive drive that saw him stay out of trouble and work his way up from the back of the grid after being knocked out in Q1 on Saturday. The Chinese driver was a beneficiary of the number of non-finishes and red flags.

Valtteri Bottas finished outside the points for a second consecutive race and he was concerned himself about the lack of pace. Alunni Bravi was pleased with the progress overall and hopes that the team can recapture the pace they had in Bahrain after a challenging weekend in Melbourne.

“Today’s race shows the importance of fighting until the very end of the race. We kept pushing, we executed the race well and we placed ourselves in the position to capitalise on the opportunities when they came our way: luck is only getting a chance, we had to seize it.

“We were actually quite unlucky with the timing of the first red flag: we had both cars on the right strategy to fight for the top ten, but the stoppage, and the free stop it gifted everyone else, effectively jeopardised our afternoon.

The Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) will be the United States Army‘s next step in light utility vehicles for General Motors after receiving approval for full-rate production from the branch’s Program Executive Officer for Combat Support & Combat Service Support on 30 March. Perhaps what makes the ISV unique, however, is that much of its lineage and development process comes with input from the racing world.

The nine-man vehicle is the brainchild of GM Defense LLC, a subsidiary of General Motors, and Ricardo PLC. It is based on the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 pickup truck, with ninety percent of the ISV using commercially available off-the-shelf parts that regular consumers can purchase for themselves. Still, the average civilian will spot obvious differences between the two such as the lack of a roof and doors.

The Colorado ZR2, a spin-off of the Colorado and GMC Canyon, was designed with off-roading capabilities in mind and met much of the Army’s demands such as durability in extreme heat. GM Defense also has an electric version called the ZH2.

Introduced in 2020 when GM Defense won the Army contract, the ISV was developed with input from General Motors’ Chevrolet racing division spearheaded by NASCAR Cup Series team Hendrick Motorsports and off-road programme Chad Hall Racing.

A factory driver for Chevrolet, Chad Hall races a ZR2 in Best In The Desert and other desert events like the Mint 400, winning the latter’s Mini/Mid-Size Stock Production Truck class in March. His ZR2 is fully stock save for certain modifications to meet racing safety regulations, including a suspension system and spool valve shocks developed by Multimatic Dynamic Suspensions. Shock and suspension data collected from Hall’s racing were then applied to the ISV, which he described in 2021 as a “really cost-effective way to expedite the development of products.”

Scuderia Ferrari have made a request to the FIA for a right of review over what they feel was an unjustified penalty for Carlos Sainz Jr. at the final standing restart during the Australian Grand Prix.

Sainz was handed a five-second time penalty for colliding with Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team’s Fernando Alonso at turn one, meaning he was only classified twelfth and outside the points at Albert Park despite running inside the top four throughout the race.

The Spaniard was heard complaining in an emotional manner in the pit lane prior to the final lap tour to the chequered flag, with Sainz believing that the stewards in Melbourne should have asked for his side of the story before applying the penalty.

And Ferrari believe that whilst Sainz was handed a penalty, a similar investigation for a collision between the two BWT Alpine F1 Team drivers went unpunished, whilst another clash between Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant and Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries was not even looked into by the stewards.

Sainz would regain fourth should the penalty be overturned, but Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur says that whilst talks are ongoing with the FIA, he only wants the outcome to be fair for similar incidents.

With the 2024 Dakar Rally set to be the fifth in her home country of Saudi Arabia, Maha Al-Hamali will make her début in the legendary race.

Al-Hamali is currently second in the T4 standings of the FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, opening the season with a second in her hometown Saudi Baja followed by a third at the Qatar International Baja in March. Her co-driver for both events was Annie Seel, a longtime Dakar veteran who was part of another all-female lineup at the 2023 Dakar Rally with Annett Fischer in T3.

“On the last day, we passed an area that consisted of sand dunes, white mountains, and towering heights overlooking the sea, and the color of the sea was very blue,” she recalled in a segment for Independent Arabia. “Frankly, once the view captivated me to the point where navigation alerted me that my speed was supposed to be faster because the area we were in was the Arar region where I wasn’t supposed to drive. After I finished the race, I asked about the area, and they told me to reach the borders of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“This experience is the thing that made me discover my potential, and it is the factor that doubled my passion and love for this sport. At the end of this year, I will participate in the Dakar Rally 2024, which I believe is in Saudi Arabia for the fifth time. There will be new paths in different terrains within the beloved Kingdom, and I’m very excited to go through this experience.”

In early March, Al-Hamali competed in the Rally Jameel, an all-women’s rally held in Saudi Arabia, and finished fourth overall with Taye Perry as her navigator. Perry currently works with Dania Akeel, the first Saudi woman to compete in the World Rally-Raid Championship. The inaugural Rally Jameel in 2022 marked Al-Hamali’s first time competing in rally raid; despite her inexperience, she placed third with Seel winning.

Otmar Szafnauer says it is important for the BWT Alpine F1 Team to take away the positives from the Australian Grand Prix weekend despite seeing both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon crash out at the lap fifty-seven restart at Albert Park.

Gasly had been running inside the top five for much of the race and had shown pace similar to the likes of Scuderia Ferrari and the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team in the process, while Ocon had recovered from an early pit stop to run inside the points.

However, after the red flag for debris on the run down to turn three following Kevin Magnussen’s brush against the wall, a late restart saw chaotic scenes up and down the grid, and Gasly and Ocon found themselves on the same part of the track, the subsequent collision pushing them both into the wall.

Szafnauer, the Team Principal of the Enstone-based team, admits it is disappointing for Alpine to leave Australia without any points after a promising day, but they can be satisfied that they were involved in the battle for the big points for much of the afternoon.

“While it’s disappointing to leave here with zero points, we can be satisfied and positive with the performance of our car today,” said Szafnauer.  “We showed we can race with our close rivals ahead and, indeed, close cars down and be clinical when it counts.

A promising race for the BWT Alpine F1 Team unravelled in a spectacular way in the Australian Grand Prix, with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon crashing out together at turn two after the chaotic lap fifty-seven restart at Albert Park.

Gasly had been playing a starring role in his third race for Alpine and was on course for a top five finish only for his race end abruptly after crashing with Ocon. The former Scuderia AlphaTauri driver ran wide at turn one and was unaware of his team-mate on the outside, the two colliding as a result.

Stewards in Australia investigated the incident but deemed no penalty was necessary for either driver, which will be a relief for Gasly as he sits only two penalty points away from a one-race ban.

“I’m very disappointed in the outcome of today’s race,” Gasly said after the race.  “We were in fifth place for most of it, chasing Carlos [Sainz Jr.] for fourth place and we showed really good race pace.

“For us to be so close to scoring ten points and leaving without any is a bitter one for us to take. Right now, we must focus on the positives and that is how we managed our race and how we were able to take the fight to our rivals ahead.

It is Heim Time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. On Tuesday, Sam Hunt Racing announced Corey Heim will make his Xfinity début at Dover Motor Speedway on 29 April, driving the #24 Toyota GR Supra.

“It means so much to get a start in the Xfinity Series,” said Heim. “I’ve watched all three national series of NASCAR for as long as I can remember, and to be able to make the next step up is a dream come true.”

“It’s certainly exciting to join SHR. Sam and I have talked about running races for a few years now. To be able to finally put something together is awesome and worth the wait. I want to have a strong run in my début. I have the resources needed to succeed on and off the racetrack with Toyota Racing Development and Sam Hunt Racing. With that being said, I have no set expectations, just going to go out and give it my all.”

Heim is in his second Craftsman Truck Series season, having won Rookie of the Year honours and two races in 2022. The Toyota Racing Development driver, driving for TRICON Garage after migrating from now-Chevrolet Kyle Busch Motorsports, is currently seventh in points after six races with four top tens and a best finish of fourth at Las Vegas. He placed fourteenth during his ROTY campaign with two wins, two poles, and ten top tens in sixteen races.

While the Truck Series does not race at Dover, he finished sixth in the ARCA Menards Series East race there in 2020.

Stéphane Peterhansel is nicknamed “Mr. Dakar” thanks to his record fourteen overall victories at the Dakar Rally, including six on two wheels and eight on four. While he has not raced a major rally raid on a bike since the 1990s, he will return to his roots at the Morocco Desert Challenge on 23–30 April.

Technically speaking, Peterhansel will not be competing in the MDC. Rather, he will ride a Yamaha Ténéré 700 as part of the Ténéré Spirit Experience, a non-competitive adventure category intended for Ténéré owners hoping to take part in rally raids with factory assistance from Yamaha. As riders in the category are not racing against each other, they will follow a different route from the main rally.

The TSE is overseen by his wife Andréa Peterhansel, who serves as co-general manager and spokeswoman for the programme, and Marc Bourgeois. The latter, former manager of Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team, and his company MBSM is providing gear for TSE participants.

Yamaha shuttered its bike rally raid programme after 2022, but formed the TSE the following year to promote the Ténéré line of rally bikes; the Ténéré is named after a desert in the Sahara that the Dakar Rally ran through in its original Paris to Dakar format. The TSE will also be present at the Hellas Rally in Greece on 21–28 May, followed by the Transanatolia in Turkey on 2–9 September, and the Tunisia Desert Challenge on 20–29 October.

Peterhansel is closely connected to Yamaha, having been a factory rider for the brand for all ten of his Dakar Rally entries on bikes from 1988 to 1998. He won the overall from 1991 to 1993, 1995, and in 1997 and 1998. He switched to cars in 1999, from which he claimed eight more victories (2004, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021).

To put it bluntly, the 2023 Dakar Rally was a disaster for Team Audi Sport. Despite the fanfare for their new RS Q e-tron E2 and a strong start as Carlos Sainz won the opening stage, the team instead struggled to keep up with the top-level Toyota Hiluxes and Prodrive Hunters before Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel crashed out and Mattias Ekström finished outside the top ten.

As the German manufacturer sits in the drawing board room, a report from MARCA revealed there is growing hesitance about returning for the 2024 Dakar Rally due to concerns about the performance gap between them and their rivals.

The RS Q e-tron E2 competes in the new T1.U subcategory for electric/hybrid T1 cars, which the FIA hopes to eventually become the top level for rally raid amid a growing shift towards alternate power sources, while the Toyota Hilux and Prodrive Hunter are used in T1+ for upgraded petrol cars. The World Rally-Raid Championship employs a system called “Equivalence of Technology” that allows the W2RC Committee to modify the acceleration of T1.U and T1+ cars based on data accumulated over three-day stretches, in order to ensure a level playing field between them. Such a system is also used by the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA under the term “Balance of Performance”.

EoT was applied for Stage #5 of the Dakar Rally, which allowed Audi to boost their E2’s power by eight kilowatts to 266 kW; the number was set after the Committee found that T1+ cars showed more power by 9.3 kW across the first three legs. Nevertheless, Toyota quickly denounced the decision as unfairly giving their rival more horsepower. Ironically, Toyota and Prodrive went on to dominate the rally as the former’s Nasser Al-Attiyah won Stage #5 and claimed his second straight victory while the latter’s Sébastien Loeb won seven stages to finish runner-up.

Sainz and Peterhansel crashed together in Stage #6, with the former then fracturing his vertebrae in another wreck three stages later, while Ekström mustered a fourteenth-place overall finish. Audi Sport GmbH Managing Director Rolf Michl told MARCA that the difficult terrain and power gap prompted their drivers to push the car harder than usual, resulting in the accidents.

As M-Sport and Neil Woolridge Motorsport continue development of their Ford Ranger T1+ ahead of its planned début at the 2024 Dakar Rally, the project recently enlisted two-time winner Nani Roma to test the vehicle. Speaking with DirtFish, M-Sport owner Malcolm Wilson revealed multiple drivers are candidates to drive the Ranger in 2024, so much so that “there are more people knocking on our door than there is in WRC.”

The Ranger was revealed in 2022 with hopes of racing the 2023 Dakar Rally, but supply chain worries and snags in testing resulted in the start being postponed. With another year to iron out any wrinkles, the project continues testing with the hope of racing in 2024 though it is dependent on the results presented.

NWM has overseen most testing in their native South Africa, though M-Sport has also been heavily involved. Unlike the blue truck used in initial testing, the test Ranger features a camouflage livery.

Two Ranger T1+ trucks compete in the South African Rally-Raid Championship with Neil Woolridge’s sons Gareth and Lance Woolridge. The former finished runner-up overall to the Toyota DKR Hilux T1+ of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan in the season-opening Nkomazi 400 in March; the DKR Hilux T1+, produced by South Africa’s SVR Hallspeed, is the top truck in rally raid today, having won the last two Dakar Rallies.

Roma won the Dakar Rally on a bike in 2004 followed by a four-wheel triumph in 2014. In 2021, he helped develop the new Prodrive Hunter and finished fifth at Dakar for Bahrain Raid Xtreme. After crashing out of the 2022 edition, he took a hiatus from racing to focus on bladder cancer treatment. Despite recovering by the end of the year, the timetable for return was too close for him to enter the 2023 Dakar Rally, ending his twenty-six-year streak of running the race.

Fourteen trucks will kick off the 2023 Stadium Super Trucks season at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, including a quartet of newcomers among the cast of returning faces.

Bruce Binnquist, David Bernstein, Trey Hernquist, and Joshua Thomas are making their series débuts. Binnquist, Bernstein, and Hernquist hail from desert racing backgrounds, with Binnquist currently leading the Unlimited Off-Road Racing Triple Crown UTV Championship while Hernquist competes in SCORE International; the two recently raced together in the Mint 400 Limited Race in March. Bernstein competes in sand drag racing in Southern California.

Thomas is the son of Brett Thomas, who ran SST in 2015. The younger Thomas will use the very nice #69, his father’s number when he competed in the trucks.

While not his first rodeo, Myles Cheek will run his second SST race after last competing at Long Beach in 2017.

Ryan Beat, another returnee from the world of short course, will race at Long Beach for the first time; Beat ran at Nashville in 2022 after three years away from the series. He intends to run at least two SST rounds in 2023, including Nashville in August, with additional starts depending on funding.