Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took victory at the Miami Grand Prix, overtaking both Scuderia Ferrari cars early in the race and protecting his lead until the checkered flag. He started the race in third and was able to overtake Carlos Sainz Jr just after the start with an assertive move through Turn One. He grabbed the lead off pole-sitter Charles Leclerc on lap nine, overtaking under DRS on the main straight. 

A late-race Safety Car saw Verstappen’s lead come under pressure from Leclerc behind, keen to take back the lead before the race’s end. Leclerc wasn’t able to pass, and Verstappen crossed the line first to bring home his third win of the season– narrowing the gap to Leclerc in the Drivers’ championship.

“It feels amazing to win in Miami, the whole atmosphere this weekend has been incredible and to win in the US is always a nice feeling. It was a physically tough race; I think I must have lost around 3kgs! 

“We had a really good pace on the minimum tire, that for sure helped to make my race. Once we had the pitstop I was just managing my time to Charles, I think we were very closely matched on the hard tire. Then the safety car came out which made it more entertaining for the fans, I had to push hard today but we made it work. I’m super pleased for the Team, we didn’t have a great start to the weekend so we’ve come far, a big thank you to everyone.”

“It is a big disappointment today” – Sergio Pérez

Team-mate Sergio Pérez was disappointed by his result in Miami, after being unable to move up from his starting position of fourth. Attributed to a sensor failure which cost him significant performance, he struggled to challenge Sainz ahead for the podium positions.  

Max Verstappen claimed his third victory of the season, after an impressive display at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix. Verstappen started the race in third position and had to get past both Scuderia Ferrari drivers which he did with ease to win the race. This now means that Verstappen has closed the gap to his rival Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ championship to just nineteen points, with everything still to play for this season.

Second and third-place was claimed by Ferrari as Leclerc fought back after a safety car to close the gap to Verstappen late on. The Monegasque driver just didn’t have enough to win and had to settle for second place. Carlos Sainz Jr rounded off the podium in third-place with much needed points for the team, after not finishing in the last two races.

Verstappen dominant in Miami

From the get go, Verstappen was eager to take advantage of the two Ferrari drivers. The Dutchman was able to do just that after a great start, he went around the outside of Sainz into Turn One and got the move done on the exit of the corner to move up into second. It only took Verstappen eight laps to make a move on Leclerc for the race lead, which he was able to do on lap nine after Leclerc had complained of left-tyre damage.

The current World Champion led the race from then on and by lap twenty-three, the Dutchman was nearly five-seconds clear of Leclerc. The Monegasque driver pitted two laps later from the medium tyre onto the hard compound, in an attempt to confuse Oracle Red Bull Racing as many expected the race to be a two-stop strategy.

Verstappen pitted two laps after Leclerc on lap twenty-seven and was able to stay ahead of him and his team-mate Sergio Pérez, who was yet to pit.

Chase Elliott closed out the 2021 Superstar Racing Experience by winning at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. He will once again race a season finale in 2022, though it will be on the dirt at Sharon Speedway this time on 23 July. The news was confirmed on Monday.

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and current points leader, Elliott entered the 2021 SRX finale at Nashville to join his father Bill, who was running the full schedule. The two battled with series founder Tony Stewart and each other, and the younger Elliott came out on top over Stewart and Bill. For 2022, Bill will only run two races at Five Flags and Stafford.

Sharon, a three-eighth-mile dirt track in Ohio, will also see the SRX débuts of fellow Cup driver Ryan Blaney and his dad Dave. The latter co-owns Sharon Speedway.

“I’m excited to get back in one of the SRX cars this season,” Elliott stated. “Last season was a lot of fun and a cool memory for me competing against my dad. The opportunity to race at Sharon Speedway and compete on dirt against the likes of Ryan and Dave Blaney and some guys I’ve looked up to my entire career is really appealing.”

Although dirt track racing is not Elliott’s strong suit, he has increased his involvement on such courses in recent times such as running the Chili Bowl Nationals and sprint cars. In December, he entered the mixed-surface Nitro Rallycross race at the FIRM, where he qualified for the final and finished eighth.

Welcome to the Superstar Racing Experience, Cole Williams. SRX announced Saturday that Williams has won the fan vote to compete in the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway race on 9 July.

While most tracks on the SRX schedule opted to use finishes in marquee events to select a local driver such as the best average finisher in Five Flags Speedway‘s PepperJack Kennels Twins (Bubba Pollard) and the winner of Stafford Motor Speedway‘s Spring Sizzler (Matt Hirschman), Nashville elected to use a vote among six drivers. Williams competed against Pollard, Dylan Fetcho, Michael House, Stephen Nasse, and Brittney Zamora, all of whom have seen success at the Tennessee short track.

Although Zamora, the first woman to win a major race at the Fairgrounds, led the voting for much of its duration from 3 April, Williams leapfrogged her for the top spot on 4 May. He held on for the final three days to clinch the vote.

“Thankful for this opportunity! Can’t thank everyone enough who took time to vote for me. Let the countdown begin,” posted Williams on social media.

Williams is a two-time Pro Late Model champion at the Fairgrounds, winning in 2014 and 2016. A former member of the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program and current driver for Rackley WAR (for whom Zamora also races), he has continued to enjoy success in the discipline at other tracks. He won his first race of 2022 at the Fairgrounds on 2 April in PLM.

Regardless of a Jeff Gordon fan’s opinion on the current #24 driver William Byron, it probably did not feel good seeing a #24 blue/red flames car in the wall while leading with two laps remaining. Byron was battling with Joey Logano before the latter moved him aside and into the wall before pulling away to win Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, as payback for earlier contact.

Logano started on the pole and was stout as he led 108 of 293 total laps, over twice as much as the next driver (Denny Hamlin’s forty-two). Although Kyle Larson was on point early on as he battled with Logano, his race fell apart following a lap 56 spin and engine failure on lap 112. By the end of Stage #1, Logano led Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Byron, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, and Bubba Wallace. Chastain won the second stage, with Truex, Logano, Hamlin, Byron, Jones, Bell, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, and Daniel Suárez in tow.

Despite getting stage points, Busch, Wallace, and Chastain would not reach the finish. Busch wrecked out on lap 168 after Brad Keselowski hit the wall in front of him, while Chastain spun while racing for the lead on lap 196. Wallace was involved in a nine-car crash that collected him and 23XI Racing team-mate Kurt Busch, Elliott, Hamlin, Jones, Truex, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, and Cole Custer.

Shortly after the ensuing restart, Byron squeezed Logano into the turn two wall, though Logano kept going. Although Byron had the pace, Logano gradually whittled the margin before catching him on the penultimate lap.

As they entered turn three, Logano hit Byron’s rear bumper, causing him to slide up the wall. With Reddick too far back and Byron dropping out of the top ten entirely, Logano took the white and checkered flags. The win is his first points payer of 2022 after winning the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and his second at Darlington in a national series after previously taking the now-Xfinity Series victory there in 2012.

Cian Shields took his first GB3 Championship win in the reverse-grid encounter at Silverstone on Sunday, ahead of Nick Gilkes and Bryce Aron.

Shields got past polesitter David Morales off the line, while half the field went three wide through Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel but somehow survived.

Branden Oxley swept across to defend from Matthew Rees into Abbey on Lap 1 but clipped the JHR Developments car’s front wing and sent the reigning British F4 champion across the run-off area.

Nick Gilkes ran second in the early stages, 1.5 seconds clear of Morales, who in turn led Tommy Smith and Bryce Aron.

Roberto Faria pulled into the pits with a puncture on Lap 2, as Max Esterson managed to defend from Race 2 winner Tom Lebbon into Brooklands.

Vermont SportsCar, a longtime partner for Subaru‘s rally operations in North America, is the second team to confirm its commitment to the Nitro Rallycross Class E for the 2022/23 season. Series founder Travis Pastrana will drive the #199 FC1-X, while Conner Martell is in the #21.

“This is a big step for our company and team, and shows we are serious about our commitment to the sport and the future,” commented VSC head Lance Smith. “We are proud to have been a seminal force in the rise of rallycross in the USA beginning over a decade ago, but this next step into the electric space, and where Nitro wants to go with it, makes us excited and more optimistic than ever about the future of the sport. This is spectacular racing and amazing entertainment for fans and drivers. All these ingredients make for a very compelling marketing opportunity for the automotive industry and sponsors. We think Nitro RX is perfectly suited to the EV space and vice-versa.”

Pastrana founded Nitro Rallycross in 2021, during which he won two rounds and the inaugural Supercar championship via tiebreaker. The 38-year-old has extensive rallying experience which includes championships in Rally America and the American Rally Association, while rallycross stints have come in Nitro RX’s spiritual predecessors Global Rallycross and Americas Rallycross.

Despite committing to Group E, he will continue driving in the Supercar class for Subaru Motorsports USA.

“I’ve been driving for VSC since my very first rally nearly twenty years ago,” said Pastrana. “I’m confident we will put forward an amazing effort and I’m excited to enter this next chapter with Lance, his team, and Conner. Conner is a great kid and an amazing young American talent.”

Max Esterson has stepped up from the BRSCC Avon Tyres National Formula Ford Championship, finishing third just a few short years after stepping out of virtual racing and into physical cars.

The American took three wins last year, having previously ranked as one of the top five iRacing drivers in the United States before a year of karting in 2019.

He made a positive start to the second round of the season at Silverstone with two strong results; The Checkered Flag spoke to the Red Bull-partnered driver before Race 3.

“Started fourth [in Race 2], finished fourth, so it’s been a good weekend so far,” he said.

“Much better than Oulton Park, I’m just trying to get some points, be consistent and keep improving. It’s been good.

Tom Lebbon delivered his and Elite Motorsport‘s first win since moving up to the GB3 Championship in Race 2 at Silverstone on Sunday morning.

The Checkered Flag caught up with the 2020 Ginetta Junior champion before Race 3.

“It was a good result for me and the team, getting the team’s first win and my first win in GB3. Overall, a good result for the team and myself.”

He admitted the team expected the first win to come sooner or later, but perhaps not after a disappointing season opener from Lebbon’s side of the garage.

He took one top-ten finish and failed to finish the reverse-grid Race 3 at Oulton Park after contact with Luke Browning.

It was lights out for the first time for W Series in 2022, with Jamie Chadwick taking the victory in the USA for the season’s first double-header at the Miami International Autodrome.

Spanish racing driver Nerea Marti started on pole for the first-time in her career but did not get away well, meaning she fell from the front of the grid, allowing reigning champion Chadwick to take the lead from the starting line.

It was an unfortunate opening lap for Alice Powell, as she brought out a Safety Car after hitting the wall at the exit of Turn 7 resulting in an early retirement from the race. The session was red flagged with the remaining seventeen drivers lining up in the pits, whilst Powell’s car and the debris was cleared from the track.

The second start-up allowed Chadwick to maintain the lead with Emma Kimiläinen close behind for many laps. Battling for third was Fabienne Wohlwend and Marta Garcia, with the Spanish driver managing to come out in front after Wohlwend went wide at Turn 11.

With eight minutes of the race to go, Kimiläinen made her move on Chadwick, managing to take the lead moving herself up into first through Turn 11.

Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen is set to line up third after a tight qualifying ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. Having had to acclimate to a brand-new track and find the right setup with minimal running time, Verstappen was “pleased” with how qualifying had gone. 

“Overall, I was pleased with qualifying today, we are still trying to learn the track and trying to find a decent balance in the car. To be that competitive in qualifying was a big surprise, this is not an easy track to learn.” 

Verstappen missed out on his opportunity to fight for pole, making an error on his final run and ultimately backing out of the lap. He is, however, happy to be on the second row after severely limited running on Friday, only completing just fifteen laps as a result of a day stricken with reliability issues. 

“Of course, we want to be on pole but I think we’ve done a really good job considering where we were yesterday. It’s always going to be tricky and it’s hard to push to the limits when you don’t know the track overly well.”

Verstappen is excited to race the RB18 on Sunday, as the car has shown great straight-line speed and handling– also noting the track’s “slippery” nature outside the racing line. 

Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez will line up on the second row for the Miami Grand Prix, having finished qualifying third and fourth, respectively. Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner is looking forward to an interesting inaugural Miami race, as the team continue their battle at the front with Scuderia Ferrari. 

Qualifying resulted in a tight field at the sharp end of the grid– Horner said that small imperfections put the team out of the running for pole position, leaving a dominant Ferrari to take the first and second positions. 

“It was all about those fine margins today. It was looking positive for us after the first run, but then a small mistake for Max at turn four and that was it for him, and then Checo’s first sector wasn’t good for him, so we start from the second row tomorrow. Ferrari have done a very good job today so credit to them.”

Although the team wasn’t able to best the Italian outfit, Horner is pleased with Verstappen’s “recovery” after missing out on a substantial amount of running during the practice sessions due to reliability issues. 

“Max has been on the back foot today, he’s down on laps on the other guys and still learning about the track so it’s a good recovery from him.”

Tom Lebbon won the second GB3 Championship race at Silverstone, to give himself and Elite Motorsport their first win in their second season in the Championship.

Joel Granfors started from pole for the second time, ahead of Lebbon and Luke Browning.

Everyone made it through Copse cleanly, before Lebbon got past Granfors into Maggotts.

Max Esterson held station in fourth place, while McKenzy Cresswell‘s Chris Dittmann Racing car began to smoke exiting The Loop on Lap 1.

Alex Connor made his way up the inside of John Bennett into Brooklands on Lap 2 to go into P11, but the Elite Motorsport driver took the place back a lap later.

In what could have been dubbed the FIA World Endurance Championship 3 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps due to time lost in caution periods, Toyota Gazoo Racing took their sixth consecutive victory at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps with Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez.

The race was tormented by heavy rain much earlier than expected, with the first specks falling on the track at the end of hour one. From then it was more a race of survival to keep the cars on the circuit for the 106 drivers rather than a race of speed, only really drying in the final hour. Tyre strategy became much more important as putting slicks on at the right or wrong time could make all the different come the end of the race, something that was discovered by pole-sitting Glickenhaus Racing.

Bitter Sweet Victory for Toyota

The American privateer team led the pack away in the hands of Olivier Pla, with the Alpine Elf Team trying to find a way around the outside of La Source. It was a costly move, allowing both the Toyota to get the run on the French car and demote it to fourth overall and in class. Within the first hour, the pace advantage the Toyotas had was proving too much for the Glickenhaus, but it held the lead impressively and stayed within range of the Toyotas once they had passed to drop it to third.

It was at the end of the first hour that the first of three red flags came out. This was the only red flag due to an incident, as they other two were waved thanks to torrential rain and too much standing water on the track. It was the ARC Bratislava that got unlucky going through Stavelot and pitched into the tyre barriers. Spinning around, Miroslav Konopka nearly collected one of the Toyotas as his LMP2 car came to a halt in the middle of the track. Konopka was fine and got out the car unaided once the red flag had waved.

During this red flag, the rain fell hard pushing the FIA to restart under the Safety Car. But even during this period cars were spinning off, showing that the heavy rainfall and lack of running had made the circuit’s track surface treacherous. It wasn’t, however, the wet track that brought woes to the Toyota garage as a hybrid failure saw the then-leading #8 slowing to a stop on track. Sebastien Buemi managed to get the car moving again after a full reset and electrical cycle trackside, but the second stop brought about the end of the race for half the Japanese garage.

Justin Allgaier faced an uphill battle if he wanted to go back-to-back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington Raceway, but he was more than up for the challenge. He led seventy-six of 147 laps, twenty-one more than JR Motorsports team-mate Noah Gragson as he held off said ally in overtime to win for the first time in 2022.

A rained-out qualifying placed Ty Gibbs on the pole and Allgaier in third, but the latter started at the rear due to a battery change. As Allgaier knifed through the order, Gibbs and Gragson traded the lead in Stage #1 with Gragson winning out. Josh Berry, Allgaier, Riley Herbst, A.J. Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Landon Cassill, Ryan Truex, and Friday’s Truck Series race winner John Hunter Nemechek followed. Timmy Hill and Jeb Burton were responsible for cautions during the stage, while Sheldon Creed exited with an engine failure.

Allgaier led his first laps of the day between stages and to kick off the second, holding the top spot before Myatt Snider wrecked on lap 76. Gragson and Allgaier battled for the lead only for the former to go two-for-two in stage victories, while Gibbs got by Allgaier to place second again. Nemechek, Tyler Reddick, Berry, Sam Mayer, Allmendinger, Truex, and Herbst.

The Allgaier/Gragson duel continued in the final segment until furious charges from Allmendinger and Reddick enabled them to join the fight. Unfortunately for Reddick, a tyre went down and sent him into the wall. Allmendinger, who was on older tyres than Allgaier and Gragson, led to begin overtime but quickly fell back.

Gragson’s chase failed as Allgaier scored his first win of the year and snapping a thirty-four-race winless streak dating back to last year’s spring Darlington event. That race also saw JRM cars finish first and second, with Berry filling the latter.