Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Toyota was more than thrilled with how Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway transpired. Living up to the Toyota 200 name, Toyota drivers occupied the top five positions led by Corey Heim, who secured his second career Truck win after taking the lead from fellow Tundra driver Christian Eckes in overtime.

The Toyotas of Eckes and Ben Rhodes won the first two stage. Chevrolet’s Carson Hocevar and Grant Enfinger, as well as Ford’s Zane Smith prevented the Japanese make from fully dominating as they led laps, but Hocevar would be involved in a horrific accident on the final lap that ended the race under caution: Hocevar had spun before being impacted at race speed by Tyler Hill.

Although Hocevar walked to the ambulance and gave a thumbs up, he was hospitalised for further examination.

“Following the incident on the last lap of today’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at World Wide Technology Raceway, Carson Hocevar was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation of his right lower extremity,” reads a statement from employer Niece Motorsports later in the day. “Additional medical updates will be forthcoming, with no further comment at this time.”

It was not all smooth sailing for Toyota, who lost points leader John Hunter Nemechek to a multi-driver wreck on lap 55, his first retirement of the year. The exit and second-to-last-place finish dropped Nemechek from first to fourth in the standings while Rhodes assumed the lead.

In Chevrolet’s backyard, Team Penske‘s Josef Newgarden takes pole for the Detroit Grand Prix, the seventh different driver in as many races to sit on the pole.

In the final lap of the Fast Six session, the American snatched the pole from Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing‘s Takuma Sato, who will start next to Newgarden in second.

“That was good pole,” Newgarden said post-session. “You know sometimes the car is just so good that it’s hooked up, I was so loose today but we put it together so I’m really proud of the team.”

Newgarden has been in this position before, specifically the second race of last year’s doubleheader, where he dominated from the pole but saw the win slip away in the final laps. He is determined to not let that happen again.

“…We’ve got to be really focused on the race and how we’re going to get to the end and finish it off.”

The Dakar Rally has not been kind to Adrien van Beveren since nearly missing the Bikes podium in 2017. For the 2023 Rally onwards, the Frenchman hopes a change of scenery will change his luck as he migrates from Yamaha to the Monster Energy Honda Rally Team. The news was announced on Friday.

“We are very pleased with this announcement and we have already completed together the first tests with the Honda 450 CRF RALLY,” said team general manager Ruben Faria. “There is great harmony in the team and I am sure Adrien will help us to achieve our competitive goals.”

After rising through the motocross world, Van Beveren switched to rally raid and débuted at Dakar in 2016. Despite placing sixth and fourth in his first two runs, he did not finish a Rally from 2017 to 2021 due to a laundry list of misfortunes; for instance, his 2021 race ended on the final stage due to a mechanical issue. The 2022 edition saw him lead the overall after ten stages before a string of poor finishes knocked him off the podium entirely and he settled for fourth.

Future contests with the Yamaha WR450F dissipated when Yamaha folded its off-road motorcycle programme in February, a decision that came due to the division’s struggles in recent years with its last Dakar victory coming in 1998 and most recent podium in 2014. However, the manufacturer is still maintaining its SSV arm.

Nevertheless, the shutdown left Van Beveren a free agent before hopping to another Japanese make. He will serve as team-mate to Ricky Brabec, José Ignacio Cornejo, and Pablo Quintanilla. Van Beveren is the only rider of the quartet not from the Americas.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou, have had limited edition watches made with them as the inspiration by Rebellion Timepieces. Each timepiece bought will have a signature on the back of either driver; with the purchasers having been invited to an exclusive dinner prior to the recent Monaco Grand Prix, where they were presented with their timepiece by either driver.

The exclusive dinner for the purchasers was held in Switzerland, at the team’s headquarters in Hinwil. Incredibly, the dinner was carried out in the Swiss side’s wind tunnel, a memorable setting for such an occasion. Those who bought the watch were also given a tour of Rebellion Timepieces and Rebellion Motors workshops.

Alfa Romeo released all the exciting features the watch holds.

“The RE-Volt Valtteri Bottas C42 and RE-Volt Zhou Guanyu C42, as the timepieces are known, embody the adrenaline of the race and of the daring exploits of the drivers. Featuring sculptural cases machined in coloured carbon in the hues of the two drivers’ national flags, a tinted seconds disc recalling the wheel covers of their racing car and the precision of the self-winding Rebellion Timepieces caliber, these are truly unique pieces.

“In an absolute first for the team and Rebellion Timepieces, a fragment of the cars’ bodywork is embedded in each specimen. A piece of the rear wing of Valtteri’s C42 will be featured in the timepiece inspired by the Finn, while the Zhou-themed one will include a piece of the car’s sidepod, with all the specimens coming with a certificate of authenticity issued by Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN and Rebellion Timepieces, attesting to the provenance of the piece.“

This weekend’s SCORE International Baja 500 will be quite new for Andy McMillin aesthetic-wise. While he is known for piloting a predominantly blue #31 Red Bull Trophy Truck, his truck for the 500 will come adorned in blue and silver with #38 on the numberplate instead. The livery change was long planned for McMillin and his team, but the number switch was due to circumstance and provides him with a better advantage for the race than he normally would have.

The #38 is normally used by fellow Trophy Truck racer Eric Hustead, who finished sixth in class at the San Felipe 250 in April. The Baja 500’s starting lineup is determined by one’s finish in San Felipe, meaning overall winner and Andy’s cousin Luke McMillin starts on the pole ahead of runner-up Bryce Menzies while Hustead would roll off in sixth. Conversely, McMillin endured a difficult 250 where he lost both his spare tyres after the strap attaching them to the truck fell off, followed by an abrupt overheating issue and a transmission change for a broken torque converter; by the end of the race, he was a distant sixteenth.

However, Hustead was unable to make the trip to Ensenada for personal reasons. Rather than simply letting the sixth-place starting spot go unused (which would have bumped up seventh-placed Alan Ampudia), McMillin decided to reshape the second digit of his number into an 8; the new number was revealed during contingency on Friday. Had the change not happened, McMillin would have started eighteenth as Trophy Trucks Legends entries Gus Vildósola (eighth), Rolf Helland (eleventh), and Clay Lawrence (fifteenth) had better overall finishes than him at San Felipe while Chad Broughton (thirteenth TT in the SF 250) is not entered.

McMillin will still have his own team and equipment despite the change, though any points earned by him will go towards Hustead’s total in the SCORE World Desert Championship as Hustead is the official Driver of Record. While allowing the switch has raised some debate, it is not a new concept in motorsport, let alone in SCORE which has permitted medical and personal replacements for one race per year since 2014. As explained in Clause GCD3 of SCORE’s regulations, any Driver/Rider of Record who signs all documentation but neither starts nor finishes the race would still receive points.

The Hustead/McMillin swap is not the only change as Class 7F driver Justin Park turns over the reins of his #714F to Todd Fasching. Park is dealing with medical problems such as blood pressure that necessitated a trip to the doctor during the week, though he intends to be with the team for the race if he feels healthy enough.

McLaren Racing announced an official technology partnership with Cadence Design Systems Inc. ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. Cadence’s branding was added to MCL36 as of last weekend’s race, and was also displayed on Arrow McLaren SP cars at the Indianapolis 500 to kick off the partnership. 

McLaren Racing Director of Partnerships Matt Dennington said that Cadence will play a significant role in the team’s “design operations” and will help McLaren continue to push for improved performance. 

“We’re delighted to welcome Cadence to the McLaren Racing family. Cadence is a technology leader that prioritises innovation. Its CFD and advanced electronic technologies will be crucial assets for our design operations. We look forward to a fast-paced collaboration that supports our constant drive to boost our on-track performance.

“The Monaco Grand Prix is a fantastic event to launch our partnership, and we’re excited that Cadence will join our brand across multiple race series this weekend by running on the Arrow McLaren SP cars for the Indy 500.”

Cadence’s Fidelity CFD (computational fluid dynamics) Software will be used to help McLaren better understand airflow and take on advanced design projects that will assist in the development of their cars. 

It is not the way he would have liked it to happen, but Zane Smith is set to make his NASCAR Cup Series début. Due to Chris Buescher testing positive for COVID-19, Smith has been tapped to drive the #17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang in Sunday’s race at Word Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Buescher is the first driver of 2022 to skip races for positive tests, a fate that previously claimed fellow Cup peers Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, and Justin Haley. The news adds to what had been a rough week for Buescher, whose Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday ended with a wild roll through the infield grass that resulted in a red flag, though he was unharmed. He is currently twenty-first in the standings with three top tens and a pole at Dover, though his points position will certainly drop as only eight points separate twenty-first through twenty-fourth (Michael McDowell, who sits twenty-second, is just one point back while Bubba Wallace is three behind and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. eight).

Buescher tweeted on Friday, “Getting some rest today. Thanks everyone for the well wishes. @zanesmith77 I’ve seen your success in trucks this year, the 17 is in good hands”.

While the Camping World Truck Series is a level below the Xfinity Series, RFK turns to Smith as the Trucks are supporting Cup at Gateway while Xfinity is in Portland. In spite of Smith’s lack of Cup experience, he is easily the top choice among the three full-time Ford Truck drivers as the only one with a win in 2022 (three, in fact; he is the only driver so far with multiple victories this year) and is third in points. He has also placed runner-up in the championship in two straight years.

In three career Truck starts at Gateway, Smith has two top tens and a best finish of fifth in 2018.

Championship Off-Road is gearing up for its third season of competition, which begins on Saturday, 4 June at Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway, as the premier level of short course off-road racing in the Midwestern United States. As with any new motorsport season, many drivers return, depart, or move up to different classes, but the series itself has also introduced various changes.

Not one of such modifications happened to the schedule, which visits the same five circuits in the same order as 2021: Antigo on 4/5 June, Crandon International Raceway on 25/26 June for the Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run, ERX Motor Park‘s Off-Road National on 15/16 July, the Dirt Cirt Motorplex Off-Road National on 30/31 July, the Island Resort and Casino Off-Road Rumble at Bark River International Raceway on 13/14 August, and the season-opening Crandon World Championship Off-Road Races on 2/3 September.

If anything, the tracks themselves are the ones undergoing change as Crandon is in its first season with track president Cliff Flannery doubling as owner. ERX’s round will be a crucial one for its future amid local debate about noise disrupting the neighbourhood, and an independent noise study is expected to be conducted during the Champs weekend.

Even before racing truly begins, the season kicks off with a new twist as Friday night will see the debut of a tournament called the Yokohama Duel of Champions driven by Vision Wheel. Sixteen Pro 2 drivers are organised into head-to-head battles of three laps each, with the winner advancing to the next round; the overall winner gets $10,000. Fans attending the race are also eligible for rewards as those who predict the overall victor will be entered into a sweepstakes for a set of Yokohama tyres and Vision Wheels, while anyone whose bracket is perfect wins $3,000. The knockout format is commonly seen in disciplines like drifting while Formula E, Nitro Rallycross, and even the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race have used it to determine starting lineups.

While Pro 2 driver Ryan Beat is not taking part in the Duel of Champions (per the COR Podcast), 2022 will still be a busy season as Ryan Beat Motorsports will field five entries. Besides the #51 for himself and the returning Pro Lite trucks of Carson Parrish and Mason Prater, the team adds Brody Eggleston (Pro Lite) and Gray Leadbetter (Pro Spec). Eggleston finished fifth in the 2021 Great American Shortcourse Pro Lite standings while Leadbetter is enjoying a burgeoning career that saw her become the youngest driver and first woman to win in COR’s Sportsman SxS class (fifteen years old at Crandon).

For the remainder of the current Formula 1 season, the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN and ProTech Monte-Carlo will partner up in a technical partnership. The collaboration will see the pair work on the latest technology developed by the car care and aesthetic specialist.

Since 1989, ProTech Monte-Carlo have developed precision aesthetic solutions to renovate, embellish and protect cars. The announcement which was made on 24 May 2022, explained how the pair are working towards maximising the C42′ performance through innovative methods.

The Monegasque company which is well known for the reliability they bring to motorsport teams, has established a new functional treatment which will limit the impact of external aggressions. This new innovation will help reduce brake dust, as well as reduce the chances of the paintwork collecting scratches and dents.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal of Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN is excited to see the improvements that can be made to their bodywork with the help of ProTech Monte-Carlo.

“Our sport is one in which every detail is pushed to the limit to provide ultimate performance, and ProTech Monte-Carlo is going to help us apply this philosophy to our bodywork. Their existing solutions are already the industry gold standard, and we are looking forward to working with them to develop even more advanced products that will help us, and all ProTech Monte-Carlo customers, in our pursuit of performance.”

On 24 May 2022, Sauber Technologies announced the birth of a brand-new partnership with EOS, in what will be a three-year manufacturing technology collaboration.

EOS are a leading supplier in manufacturing solutions, which they do through industrial 3D printing. The pair entered a partnership at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, where the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN collected eight-points through Valtteri Bottas.

The partnership will initially be focused around developing and manufacturing aerodynamic spoiler designs, as well as end-use parts for race cars and production aids.

As part of the new pairing, Sauber Technologies will install EOS’ P 500 3D-printer, the pinnacle of 3D printing technology.

Markus Glasser, Senior Vice President EMEA at EOS is hoping that with the help of Sauber, the pair can “set new benchmarks”.

Nigel Mansell will attend this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed at the end of June, with the 1992 Formula 1 World Champion set to drive some of his former racing cars.

2022 marks the thirtieth anniversary of his one and only World Championship triumph, and Mansell will be reunited with the car that took him to the title, Williams Racing’s brilliant FW14B.

Mansell will also drive up Goodwood’s historic hill track in a Team Lotus 91 from 1982, Scuderia Ferrari 639 and Scuderia Ferrari 640 as the festival honours one of the legends of Formula 1, who started one hundred and eighty seven Grand Prix between 1980 and 1995, winning thirty-one of them. 

He also won the CART IndyCar World Series in 1993 after opting to not to defend his Formula 1 title, winning five of the thirty-two races he competed in for Newman/Haas Racing.

“I’m thrilled to be coming to the Festival of Speed this year!” said Mansell.  “It’s always a wonderful event and I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel of some of my cars again and celebrating thirty years since my World Championship with all the Goodwood fans.”

André Lotterer is looking to extend his remarkable record of making it into the Qualifying duels in each of the opening eight races of the 2021-22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season this weekend in Indonesia.

The Tag Heuer Porsche FE Team driver says the statistic of being the only one of the twenty-two drivers on the grid to qualify inside the top eight in every race shows he has a strong car and team, and he is eager for another duel appearance in the Jakarta E-Prix this weekend.

“I’m pleased with this statistic,” said Lotterer. “It means that I have a fast car and that my engineers work well together.

“Without them and the team, I couldn’t have achieved something like this. We’re doing everything we can in our preparations to create the conditions for such performances in the simulator.

“So far we’ve managed to take what we’ve learned and implement it in all qualifying sessions. I’m very pleased about that.”

Alexander Sims is hoping to carry the form he was able to show across the Berlin E-Prix weekend can continue as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship races in Indonesia for the first time this weekend.

The Mahindra Racing driver made it into the Qualifying duels for the first time at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit and made it all the way to the final, where he ultimately lost to Edoardo Mortara, and he scored his first points of the season with a ninth-place result.

Heading to Indonesia for the Jakarta E-Prix, Sims says it is exciting to race on a brand-new circuit, and looking at the track, he says it is important to get into a rhythm so not to lose any time.

“After a decent Berlin, where progress continued from Monaco, I’m hopeful that we can keep the momentum going and adjust quickly to the new track,” said Sims.  “It’s always exciting to go to a new circuit.

“At Jakarta there are lots of flowing corners with one corner going into the next and into the next. This means it will be important to get on top of the driving aspect quickly and get into a rhythm.

Stoffel Vandoorne holds a twelve-point advantage at the top of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Drivers’ standings heading into the eighth round of the season, the first-ever Jakarta E-Prix.

The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team driver has been in good form in recent events, taking victory in the Monaco E-Prix before finishing third in both races of the Berlin E-Prix a few weeks ago.

Vandoorne says the Jakarta E-Prix will be an unknown quantity for all teams and drivers, but he is up to the challenge of learning the track and continuing his strong form in the first race of the second half of the season.

“New city, new circuit,” said Vandoorne.  “Jakarta is a bit of an unknown quantity for everyone, but I like discovering new tracks. It’s always exciting.

“I like the challenge when you don’t know exactly what to expect. I also think that we are strong as a team in such situations. We’re well prepared, know what’s possible and now have to use that to our advantage.

Nitro Rallycross has announced that its second round will be held at Strangnas Motorstadion in Sweden for the upcoming season. 

The announcement may come as a surprise as fans typically can expect the event to be at Holjes Motorstadion but the fans can expect an action-packed weekend no matter the venue. 

The event will of course feature Scandinavian stars like Robin Larsson, Andreas Bakkerud, and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky with more drivers to be announced before the date. The weekend will also feature all three classes of racing as Group E, Supercars, and NRX NEXT. Additionally, a special Crosscar feature will be held over the weekend as well. 

Series creator Travis Pastrana said, “We are so excited to bring Nitro Rallycross to Sweden. The fans are super passionate about motorsport and it is home to some of the rallycross’ biggest names. Touring the world with Nitro Circus, the crew always looked forward to the energy the Swedish fans brought to the arena. I’m not sure there is a better fit for the high-adrenaline thrills and door-to-door racing of Nitro Rallycross.”

Tickets have gone on sale for the event and racing can be expected to start on 30/31 July 2022.