Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Carson Hocevar has been searching for his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win and it appeared to finally be in reach during Friday’s Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway, but Ben Rhodes left him waiting for another day. Both drivers led all 150 laps, but Rhodes dominated the event by sweeping both stages. Although Hocevar led much of the final segment, Rhodes passed him shortly after a restart with four laps remaining to take his first win of 2022.

Rhodes started second alongside Joey Logano, but the former took the lead right away and hit the ground running by leading every lap in Stages #1 and #2. However, it was not smooth sailing for the reigning champion as he had missed pit road between segments; although the stages were short enough that fuel and tyres were not of utmost importance hence his domination of Stage #2, the error forced him to pit ahead of the final stage.

As Rhodes began Stage #3 in thirteenth following his stop, Hocevar—who finished the second stage in eighth—inherited the lead. After only one caution was called in each of the first two stages for Andrew Gordon and Kris Wright‘s spins, the first of the final segment occurred just four laps in for an especially bizarre incident: Austin Wayne Self rammed into Matt DiBenedetto‘s rear, accidentally causing the two trucks to become connected at the bumpers. This pseudo-tandem draft was obviously not a viable “strategy” in dirt racing, forcing the two to stop on the track and wait for crews to separate them.

Three more yellow flags flew in the stage for Keith McGee‘s spin, Chandler Smith turning Christian Eckes, and Buddy Kofoid and Ty Majeski‘s spin that ended with Derek Kraus sliding into the former. The last caution set up a restart with five laps remaining. While Hocevar led the first lap, Rhodes had a run along the outside line to that he used to pass Hocevar with a crossover move. Despite Hocevar and John Hunter Nemechek‘s efforts, Rhodes pulled away.

“Second just sucks. It does. It’s terrible, especially being that close,” Hocevar told FOX Sports.

On a very sunny Easter Bank Holiday weekend, rallycross finally returned with a bang to give us plenty of fast-paced action on Saturday 16th of April with BMW Mini driver Oliver Bennett claiming a maiden outright rallycross victory in the opening round of the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy presented by Cooper Tires at Lydden Hill.
The Bristol-based driver brought along his World Rallycross and Nitro Rallycross Mini Supercar much to the fans’ excitement and gave them just what they wanted. The Xite Energy Racing driver led the way in qualifying then led semi-final one and the final race to secure his first-ever overall win.

18-year-old Patrick O’Donovan proved he belongs on the Supercar grid in his debut weekend by qualifying on the front row of the final in his Team RX Racing Ford Fiesta, then took his compulsory joker on lap one before picking his way through the field to finish in second place ahead of the reigning 5 Nations BRX Champion, Derek Tohill who suffered from clutch issues with his PFCRX Ford Fiesta in the latter stages of the final.

Six-time champion Julian Godfrey finished fourth in his own Ford Fiesta, ahead of the 2007 title-winner Ollie O’Donovan‘s brand new Proton Iriz and Tristan Ovenden‘s familiar red and yellow Citroen DS3. Roger Thomas and Steve Hill completed the list of final finishers.

Meanwhile, in the Motorsport UK Supernational Rallycross Championship, reigning champion Jason Bleasdale took a clean sweep in round one in his Vauxhall VX220, winning all three qualifying sessions and the final. Paige Bellerby‘s Lotus Exige suffered from a driveshaft issue in qualifying but still claimed second place in the final, then Darren Bleasdale piloted his own Vauxhall VX220 to third place in his first-ever Supernational event.

The trio of Max Langmaid, Will Ovenden and Owen Robbins repeated their 1-2-3 in positions from the 2021 standings in the opening round of the Motorsport UK Junior Rallycross Championship. Langmaid led from the start and was last to joker, staying clear of the battles behind. Ovenden and Robins survived a close joker merge on the previous lap, Ovenden taking the position.

Passing points is a new concept for NASCAR introduced specifically for its dirt heat races such as the Cup Series‘ date at Bristol Motor Speedway, intended to reward drivers for moving through the field by giving a point for each position improved from their starting spot. The winner of their heat received ten qualifying points, second got nine, and so on, with the driver scoring the most combined finish and passing points claiming the pole for the feature.

After the 2021 heats were rained out, the first benefactor of the passing points was Cole Custer as he finished second in his heat race but did so after starting ninth, giving him sixteen total points and the pole for Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race.

The pole is Custer’s first in his third full-time Cup season. The sixteen points topped Christopher Bell‘s fourteen for winning Heat #2 after starting fifth. Tyler Reddick, who won Custer’s qualifying race in Heat #1, improved three spots for thirteen.

“I wish we qualified because I was nervous about starting ninth, but it worked out good,” said Custer. “They did a great job with the track today. It was really racy. Obviously, they added a little bit more moisture than yesterday and hopefully, we can have some more of that tomorrow. I think our car liked it, but overall, it was a good day to start ninth and pass some cars.

“I wouldn’t call myself a dirt racing expert whatsoever. I did it when I was younger. I raced some Ford Focus midgets when I was in my early teens and I always loved dirt, but I wouldn’t say that I’m an expert. I’m nowhere near Kyle Larson, so getting my first pole at a dirt race is pretty crazy.”

North Wilkesboro Speedway was a staple of the NASCAR Cup Series circuit from the inaugural season in 1949 to 1996, and has mostly laid dormant in the two decades since. While not a NASCAR national series, racing will finally return to the track in August and October as Speedway Motorsports announced Saturday the launch of Racetrack Revival.

Led by XR Events and SMI, the programme will consist of grassroots events on the pavement in August before the track is covered in dirt for more races in October. Much like SMI’s Bristol Motor Speedway which is having a NASCAR dirt weekend, the dirt layout will only be temporary before a full repave of the racing surface takes place the following year.

“In the midst of revitalizing historic North Wilkesboro Speedway, Speedway Motorsports will bring grassroots racing back to the famed .625-mile short track in August and October of 2022, officials announced today at a press conference at Bristol Motor Speedway,” reads a statement from the track. “Produced by XR Events, Racetrack Revival will be a multi-week grassroots racing event featuring multiple series on the current North Wilkesboro asphalt in August. Then, following removal of the pavement, Racetrack Revival will return for several weeks in October on dirt before a repave takes place in 2023.”

Tentatively, asphalt classes are the Hornets on 2–3 August, Super Late Models (12–13 August), Street Stocks (16–17 August), Pro Late Models (19–20 August), Limited Late Models (19–20 August), Limited Late Models (23–24 August), Open-Wheel Modifieds (26–27 August), and Late Model Stocks (30–31 August). Hitting the dirt two months later will be the Hornets (4–5 October), Super Late Models and Street Stocks (7–8 October), 602 Crate Late Models (11–12 October), Open Wheel Modifieds (14–15 October), 604 Crate Late Models (18–19 October), 410 Sprint Cars and Big Block Modifieds (21–22 October), Stock Cars (25–26 October), and Super Late Models (28–29).

Located in Wilkes County, North Carolina, the .625-mile (1.006-km) oval has been the target of many restoration aspirations since its closing. In 2010, the track was reopened for late model stock car series before closing again a year later. As interest in the historic venue flared again, as the 2010s progressed, the track was scanned into iRacing and “hosted” the final round of the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.

Gregoire Saucy was quickest around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the first day of FIA Formula 3 Championship testing, after Prema Racing dominated the previous week’s test at Circuito Jerez.

Franco Colapinto was second-quickest for Van Amersfoort Racing, ahead of Championship leader Victor Martins.

Morning

Friday morning began in near-perfect conditions, but there was a change to the expected line-up for the test earlier in the week.

David Schumacher was drafted in for Ayrton Simmons at Charouz Racing System, the German driver only enjoying limited running on his return to FIA F3.

Trident set the pace early on, first through Zane Maloney and Roman Stanek setting the first sub-1:33s lap of the Grand Prix circuit.

Mario Isola says Pirelli’s tyres performed pretty much as they were expected to during the Australian Grand Prix, with the majority of the field opting for a one-stop strategy.

Five drivers opted to start on the hard compound but starting on the medium compound and switching to the hard was ultimately the best way to go, with only Alexander Albon making the other strategy work to score a top ten finish.

Albon stayed on the hard compound from the opening lap right until the start of the final lap, where he finally took his mandatory pit stop and stayed ahead of Zhou Guanyu to clinch tenth place and the first point of the season for Williams Racing.

The other drivers who started on the hard compounds made their stops earlier in the race and struggled for performance up until the chequered flag.  This included BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso, who saw his chance of points disappeared as he struggled with his set of mediums, which forced him to pit a second time.

Having started on the medium compound, Charles Leclerc won the race by pitting on lap twenty-two for a second of hard compound tyres, while podium finishers Sergio Pérez and George Russell also pitted once each, on laps twenty and twenty-three respectively, both also going the medium-hard route with their strategies.

Guenther Steiner reckons the Haas F1 Team would have been a top ten contender in the Australian Grand Prix had they found the pace in Saturday’s Qualifying session at Albert Park.

Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen started fifteenth and sixteenth for the third round of the season and both were embroiled in the midfield battle for much of the afternoon in Australia, but ultimately, they came up short in thirteenth and fourteenth at the chequered flag.

Schumacher was twice lucky not to crash out after getting close to being hit by the out-of-control Scuderia Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. at the fast chicane on the second lap, before almost hitting the back of Yuki Tsunoda later in the day behind the safety car as the pack backed up ahead of him.

Magnussen also had a run-in with Tsunoda as he was forced to take avoiding action at the same chicane Sainz went off at, but unlike the Spaniard, the Dane was able to avoid the gravel trap and keep going, although he fell behind his team-mate in the incident.

Steiner, the Team Principal at Haas, believes the team were out of luck on Sunday due to the timing of the safety car, but despite having a strong car and the drivers performing well, they fell just short of the points.

The first round of the 2022 Intelligent Money British GT Championship has started as it means to go on, with thrilling racing at every turn and the qualifying sessions were no exception! The first of the GT4 sessions saw both Ams and Silvers taking to the track, setting the grid for the first race in the Bank Holiday Weekend bonanza.

Steller Motorsport took pole in the first qualifying session, with Richard Williams on driving duties for the #42 Audi R8 LMS GT4 very nearly setting a new lap record, but not quite. That honour instead went to Darren Turner of Newbridge Motorsport, who in the second GT4 qualifying session pipped Sennan Fielding to the pole with Steller Motorsport having to settle for second place on the grid.

GT4 Am/Silver 1:

Whilst the headline news is the Audi taking the double pole for Race One following Shaun Balfe‘s exceptional drive in the GT3 Audi R8 LMS EVO II GT3 Am qualifying session, it wasn’t quite so assured for Richard Williams, as initially there was a three way battle for pole and he was not a contender.

Topping the table from the start of the session was Jack Brown in the Century Motorsport #90 BMW M4 GT4 who was in close competition with both Tom Edgar in the #48 Toyota Gazoo Racing UK Toyota GR Supra GT4 and Benji Hetherington; team owner/driver of the #51 Valluga Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS – one of several teams making their British GT debut this year.

Once Williams had warmed up however he put in a flying lap that was a clear half second quicker than his competitors, coming in at 1:42.395 – a time he would then better by another 0.003s, but no-one was matching him. Hetherington did his best to catch the Steller Audi, however his fastest time, gaining him the other spot on the front row was 0.653s slower than the pole sitter.

Qualifying for the opening rounds of the 2022 Intelligent Money British GT Championship season saw 17 of the 18 GT3 machines take to the track at Oulton Park to put in their best lap. Shaun Balfe for the eponymous Balfe Motorsport took pole position for race 1 on his return to the championship after a year out racing in Europe.

Richard Neary of Team ABBA Racing put in a strong performance in his Mercedes-AMG GT3 to claim the top spot in GT3 Silver/Am, second on the grid overall with a well mixed melange of Pro/Am and Silver/Am competitors seeded throughout their wake.

It was GT3 Pro Qualifying where the excitement really built as a succession of Silver, Gold and Platinum drivers did their best to defeat the circuit qualifying lap record. Adam Carroll did it first but it was series debutant Jules Gounon who obliterated the lap record to claim the top spot for race 2 on Easter Monday.

In GT3 Pro qualifying it was more as we would expect with a solid block of six Pro/Am cars at the top of the table. The fastest Silver driver was Jamie Caroline, newly promoted from GT4 and showing promise for RAM Racing’s second car in seventh overall.

GT3 Am:

John Ferguson led the field out for GT3 Am qualifying and was expected to do well with a new tyre and a circuit which favours the big and grunty V8 Mercedes-AMG over more refined equipment. The RAM Racing driver was straight away quick and put in a provisional pole time but couldn’t keep hold of it for long.

Mick Schumacher had an eventful first Australian Grand Prix last Sunday, but the German’s search for a first top ten finish continues after ending the day thirteenth.

Schumacher was lucky to avoid a second lap retirement after coming close to being hit by the out-of-control Carlos Sainz Jr. at the fast chicane at the back of the circuit, while he also was close to hitting the back of Yuki Tsunoda’s Scuderia AlphaTauri while behind the safety car later in the race.

He felt the pace of his VF-22 was not far off what was needed to be a top ten contender, but ultimately the speed was not there when he needed it to be, and he was left outside the points when it mattered.

“It was a very eventful one,” said Schumacher. “Right from the beginning with Carlos coming around and cutting back across the track, I think we got missed by a few meters there, and obviously Yuki under the safety car coming quite close together.

“I think in terms of pace we were not too far off, it’s just unfortunate that there’s not a huge amount of passing opportunities here. Lots was learned, some positives, so we’ve just got to take it away with us and hopefully be better in Imola.”

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is the second team to join Nitro Rallycross‘ fledgling Group E division for the upcoming 2022/23 season. On Thursday, the team announced a continued partnership with Joel Christoffersson‘s JC Raceteknik to field four FC1-X cars in Group E. Drivers were not immediately revealed.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Joel Christoffersson and his entire team for our FC1-X programme moving forward,” said DRR owner Dennis Reinbold. “Joel and his team are a perfect fit for our organisation and goals within Nitro Rallycross, as we share the same vision, goals and objectives for our team and our growth within this new era of global Nitro Rallycross competition. We partnered with Joel and his organisation in 2021, and have continued through the offseason and have hit the ground running.”

DRR stands out from other Nitro RX teams in that it also competes in the NTT IndyCar Series. The former full-time IndyCar operation currently has two IndyCar entries that intend to enter May’s Indianapolis 500 in Santino Ferrucci and Sage Karam. With the exception of a 2015 stint with Chip Ganassi Racing and a pair of 2019 starts for Carlin, all of Karam’s IndyCar career has been with DRR since his début in 2014.

Karam’s involvement with DRR further extends to the rallycross arm, where he spent the 2019 Americas Rallycross and 2021 Nitro RX seasons in their developmental tiers. He enjoyed tremendous success in both as he never finished lower than second in five ARX2 races and won five of nine Nitro RX NEXT races en route to a runner-up championship placement.

2021 saw DRR field season-long NEXT cars for Karam and Lane Vacala, the latter of whom finished fifth in points. Simon Olofsson and John Holtger ran two rounds apiece for the team while Connor Martell had four. Olofsson and Vacala were previously team-mates in RallyX Nordic.

The Long Beach street circuit is one of the most prestigious tracks on the NTT IndyCar Series calendar, and played host to a fantastic race that saw Josef Newgarden hold off Romain Grosjean and Alex Palou for his second consecutive win of the season.

For five members of this rookie class, this was their first Grand Prix of Long Beach. It proved to be difficult for many, as half of the class did not finish the race while only one finished in the top fifteen. What issues plagued the young stars? Who managed to shine bright? We’re going to break it all down in this week’s IndyCar Series Rookie Report.

KYLE KIRKWOOD – A.J. FOYT ENTERPRISES

QUALIFYING: TWELFTH – RACE: TENTH (+2)

Kirkwood once again showed his talent this weekend, and was the only rookie to finish inside the top fifteen. This was the best finish of his young career so far, and his first career top-ten finish in the NTT IndyCar Series.

What’s most impressive about Kirkwood’s weekend is his consistency. In both practice sessions as well as the race, Kirkwood finished in tenth place. The only blemish being his twelfth-place qualifying performance, which wasn’t much of a blemish at all. Kirkwood became the first rookie to reach the second round of qualifying, beating out race-winning talent in Graham Rahal and Rinus Veekay in the first round of qualifying to advance.

The Florida native was elated after the race, and shared how proud he was of the team’s work despite difficulties overtaking.

Roberto Faria took his 11th podium in the GB3 Championship in Race 1 at Oulton Park on Saturday afternoon, his first with Carlin.

The Sauber Academy prospect held off debutant, British F4 champion Matthew Rees for much of the race, before the JHR Developments driver’s challenge faded.

The Checkered Flag spoke to Faria after the race.

“Rees was a bit faster with used tyres. We had the pace in quali but then it dropped a bit,” he said.

“In the middle of the race he started to drop as well, probably because [the Tatuus MSV-022 has] more downforce this year, so he was probably more heavy and the tyres were overheating.

Mike Krack admitted the Australian Grand Prix was a frustrating one for the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team as they failed to score a top ten finish for a third consecutive race.

Lance Stroll ended the day twelfth after a hard tyre gamble almost paid off, but a returning Sebastian Vettel ended his day in the barriers at turn four to end a weekend to forget for the four-time World Champion.

Vettel’s weekend started with a mechanical issue in first practice that prevented him from participating in the second session, while both he and Stroll crashed out in final practice before both were eliminated in Q1 in Saturday afternoon’s Qualifying session.

Krack, the Team Principal at Aston Martin, said the team just did not have the pace to fight for a top ten finish across a weekend where everything seemed to go against the Silverstone-based squad.

“We had a frustrating end to a weekend to forget,” said Krack.  “Sebastian had an accident on the exit of Turn Four, and was taken to the Medical Centre for precautionary checks, but I am glad to say he is OK.

Luke Browning dominated the first race of the weekend, and the 2022 GB3 Championship at Oulton Park to win by ten seconds.

The Checkered Flag spoke to the Hitech GP driver after the podium presentations.

“We’ve put a lot of hard work in behind the scenes, tremendous hard work, honestly,” he said.

“The guys have been working so hard over winter, a lot of preparation in testing and I think it’s paid off.”

Browning, from just 15 minutes up the road in Kingsley, enjoyed plenty of local support throughout Saturday, after setting the fastest times in pre-event testing and taking pole for Races 1 and 2 on Saturday morning.