Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Blaine Perkins has signed with CR7 Motorsports to run the full 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. He announced Thursday that he will drive the team’s #9 Chevrolet Silverado, which will mark the team’s maiden foray into full-time competition, on a one-year deal.

“This is pretty special. This is my first full-time season in any of NASCAR’s top-tier series,” said Perkins. “I am looking forward to getting into the Chevrolet Silverado
this year at CR7 Motorsports. We are going to have a good year.

“[…] The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has a very diverse group of tracks. Even the dirt tracks—I have never driven a stock car on dirt, so I will definitely be working on that a lot. But I know we are going to be fast when it comes to racing there. It is really going to be fun to run all these different types of tracks.”

After finishing second in the 2020 ARCA Menards Series West championship battle, Perkins ran eight races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Our Motorsports, sharing the #23 with a variety of drivers. Despite not scoring any finishes higher than twenty-third across his first five starts, his production improved in the playoff races as he recorded top twenties in all three of his runs in such events. His best run was thirteenth at Talladega, where he also scored a stage win in the second segment.

CR7 Motorsports, owned by Codie Rohrbaugh, has raced in the Truck Series since 2018 with Rohrbaugh as driver. The team’s slate has increased over the last two years with seventeen of twenty-three races run in 2020 followed by all but two in 2021. The latter season also saw the team begin fielding the #9 for other drivers, with Grant Enfinger running nine races and Colby Howard making three starts in the playoffs. In forty-eight total starts, CR7 has eight top tens and three top fives, the best being a third by Rohrbaugh in the 2020 season opener at Daytona.

Dover International Speedway is no more. Long live Dover Motor Speedway.

Wednesday saw Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) complete its purchase of stocks in Dover Motorsports, Inc., who operates the mile-long Delaware oval, at a per share price of $3.61. The move brings the speedway into the SMI family, though it means the number of independently-owned NASCAR tracks decreases by one. Much of the circuits on the NASCAR calendar are owned by either SMI or International Speedway Corporation, the latter of which is owned by NASCAR, with Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway being the only Cup Series venues not under either umbrella.

As part of the acquisition, Dover undergoes an identity change as “Motor Speedway” is adopted, which matches with other SMI tracks like Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Las Vegas, and New Hampshire. The track will also begin using the SMI logo, though the “Monster Mile” nickname is retained.

The rename is the third in the track’s history. From its opening in 1966 to 2002, it was known as Dover Downs International Speedway to reflect the Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment complex (now Bally’s Dover) in which the speedway is located. “Downs” was dropped after the complex owner Dover Downs Entertainment broke off the racing division into a separate entity called Dover Motorsports.

SMI also finalised buying Nashville Superspeedway, which will keep its name but also have a new logo. The track, which returned to the NASCAR schedule in 2021 after a decade-long dormancy, was also previously owned by Dover Motorsports. The return was made possible as Dover Speedway gave up one of its two dates to Nashville.

Scuderia Ferrari have announced the drivers who will act as their reserve drivers to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. for the 2022 Formula 1 season, with Mick Schumacher sharing the duties with Antonio Giovinazzi.

Schumacher will combine his racing duties with the Uralkali Haas F1 Team in eleven of the planned twenty-three races of the 2022 season, while Giovinazzi will be the reserve for the other twelve events as he combines his year with racing in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

The role for Giovinazzi keeps him in Formula 1 after losing his ride at the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team at the end of 2021, and he will be busy in Ferrari’s simulator throughout the year in a bid to help the team move forward.  He will also be available to race for Ferrari’s customer teams – Alfa Romeo and Haas – should he be needed.

It is likely that should Schumacher is needed to switch to Ferrari, Pietro Fittipaldi would make a return to Formula 1 as he is a reserve driver for Haas.

Ferrari has also announced that Russian racer Robert Shwartzman will step up to the role of test driver for the team in 2022.  Shwartzman competed in the FIA Formula 2 championship with Prema Racing in 2021 and ended the year second in the standings, and he also participated in the end of year Formula 1 test in Abu Dhabi with both Ferrari and Haas.

Ferrari Driver Academy’s rising star Dino Beganovic will remain with Prema Powerteam for the 2022 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season.

The seventeen-year-old Swede is staying for a third season with Prema after racing for them in Italian and ADAC Formula 4 Championships in 2020 and in FRECA in 2021, and he will be looking to build on his experience from 2021 when he returns to the category next year.

Beganovic took one podium finish in the final round of the season at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza to end the year thirteenth in the final standings, and he will be aiming high when the series returns at the same circuit in April.

“I’m thrilled to be back in the Formula Regional European Championship next year and extend my relationship with Prema and the Ferrari Driver Academy for another season,” said Beganovic.  

“We worked incredibly hard to put ourselves in a position to win races towards the end of the year, and I can’t wait to try and build on that momentum in 2022. The championship is fantastic and I’m excited to be back!”

Chris Dittmann Racing has filled two of its three seats for the 2022 GB3 Championship, with F4 British Championship race-winner McKenzy Cresswell joining the Tewkesbury team on Wednesday.

In just his first season out of karting, he took third in the British F4 standings after winning six races, more than eventual champion Matthew Rees and Matias Zagazeta in second.

The British driver also finished runner-up to JHR Developments team-mate Rees in the Rookie Cup, over 100 points ahead of the third-placed driver in the category after 11 overall podiums throughout the season.

His performance, and those of Rees, Dougie Bolger, Abbi Pulling and Joseph Loake also helped JHR to the Teams’ Championship ahead of Fortec Motorsport.

In finishing just a point behind Zagazeta and 26 behind Rees (equivalent to a Race 1/3 win with the fastest lap), Cresswell made enough of an impression on Chris Dittmann for his eponymous team to sign the 15-year-old for 2022.

Bob Keselowski, former NASCAR and ARCA owner/driver and the father of drivers Brad and Brian, has passed away after battling cancer for the last two years. He was 70 years old. Brad announced the news on Wednesday.

“My dad will always be my hero,” read Brad’s statement. “He was quiet and understated, but that didn’t change the impact he had on me or that I watched him have on everyone who knew him. I am forever grateful for what I learned from this man, and I will remember him every day.”

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Keselowski was one of the biggest names in what is now the ARCA Menards Series. From 1986 to 1994, he won twenty-four races and the 1989 championship, and finished in the top four every season outside of his first.

In 1995, he brought his K Automotive Racing team up to the NASCAR Truck Series in time for the division’s inaugural season. He competed in the Trucks on a full-time basis until 1997 with starts taking place through 1998, during which he won at Richmond in 1997 and scored fifteen total top tens. Keselowski also made a Cup Series start in 1994 for Jimmy Means; his older brother Ron raced in the series in the 1970s.

After ending his racing career, he began supporting his sons’ endeavours as a team owner and crew chief. Brad ran the full 2005 Truck schedule for K Automotive Racing, during which he finished twenty-first in points, before climbing the NASCAR ladder with various teams and reaching the top level, where he won the 2012 Cup title and is now an owner/driver. Brian mainly remained with the family team and engineered a Cinderella story at the 2011 Daytona 500 when he qualified the K Automotive car for the race with his brother’s aid and father’s guidance. After last racing in 2015, Brian became an Xfinity and Truck Series crew chief.

Jesse Little is heading back to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. On Wednesday, he announced he will drive for Young’s Motorsports. His truck number and sponsorship were not immediately revealed.

Little competed part-time in the Truck Series from 2015 to 2020, mainly for his family-owned operation. In thirty-four career starts, he scored seven top-ten finishes with a best run of sixth at Iowa in 2018.

2020 saw Little move up to the Xfinity Series and run the full schedule for JD Motorsports. He finished nineteenth in points with a pair of top tens (both tenths at Pocono and Daytona). He jumped to B.J. McLeod Motorsports for 2021, though he did not enter every race as he started twenty-three of thirty-three rounds (including a DNQ). The Daytona Road Course saw his best finish that year in fourteenth.

The son of former Cup Series driver Chad Little, the younger Little made two starts in the top series himself in 2018, finishing thirty-fifth in both at Kentucky and Bristol. Before debuting in the national series, he was a regular in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East, and placing sixth in the 2014 standings and scoring two career victories.

“Everyone at Young’s Motorsports is excited to add Jesse Little to our team lineup next season,” Young’s Motorsports head Tyler Young stated. “Jesse is an exceptional driver with not only a lot of knowledge but also devotion and drive. His sound work ethic is going to be contagious and we cannot wait for great results with him on the track in 2022.”

The 2022 Extreme E World Championship calendar will feature new locations and returning places. Revealed on Wednesday, it will span five rounds like the recently completed inaugural season.

Neom, Saudi Arabia will host the season kickoff on 19/20 February. Saudi Arabia was also the series’ début round this past April with the Desert X-Prix, though it was held at Al-‘Ula (won by eventual champion Rosberg X Racing). The Middle Eastern country has seen an influx in motorsport in recent times, having hosted the Dakar Rally since 2020 and Formula One at Jeddah in early December. Neom is a planned city with plans of completing early construction work by 2025.

7/8 May will see the return of Sardinia, Italy, which welcomed Extreme E through the Island X-Prix in October. The race was not on the original 2021 schedule as it replaced rounds in Brazil and Argentina that were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. RXR won the inaugural Island X-Prix.

After a two-month break, the championship resumes at either Scotland or Senegal. The series visited the latter in May as part of the Ocean X-Prix, also claimed by the Rosberg team, in Lac Rose. The tentative slot was not immediately filled by either country as the FIA continues to iron out final details. Scotland was initially considered as a backup site for the aborted South American races.

Although Argentinian and Brazilian dates were called off in 2021, Extreme E will finally head to South America with an X-Prix in Antofagasta, Chile, on 10/11 September. The series will stay in the continent for the season finale, which is at Punta del Este in Uruguay on 26/27 November. The city is no stranger to electric motorsport as Formula E raced there in its first two seasons and in 2018.

Latin America will be well represented for the 2022 Race of Champions on 5/6 February. On Wednesday, ROC announced Hélio Castroneves and Benito Guerra Jr. will drive for Team Latin America in the Nations Cup. While the former makes his fourth start in the event, the latter is the defending Champion of Champions.

Castroneves will arrive in Pite Havsbad, Sweden, as the defending Indianapolis 500 winner; he is one of four drivers to win the prestigious event four times. The longtime NTT IndyCar Series driver and IMSA champion made his ROC début at Miami in 2017 for a Latin American outfit alongside Argentine amateur track day pilot Gabriel Glusman, a team that was formed via the ROC Factor fan vote. The duo lost to Team Colombia, which incidentally featured a pair of IndyCar veterans in Juan Pablo Montoya (also a former 500 victor) and Gabby Chaves. In the individual tournament, Castroneves advanced out of his group before being swept by fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa in the first round of the knockout stage.

The 2018 race in Riyadh saw Castroneves team up with Montoya, once again as Team Latin America. The two reached the final where they lost to Germany’s Timo Bernhard and René Rast. Montoya and Castroneves also shared a group in the individual tourney, with the former winning while the latter failed to qualify.

A return to ROC at Mexico City in 2019 came with an all-Brazil lineup of Castroneves and Formula E’s Lucas di Grassi. They won their Nations Cup group qualifying but fell to Germany’s current Formula One faces Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher in the semi-final. On his own, Castroneves lost to Loïc Duval of France.

Castroneves will not be the only IndyCar driver in the 2022 ROC grid as Jimmie Johnson, who is set to run the full series schedule, will also take part. Johnson won the Nations Cup in 2002.

Eighteen months after being involved in a freak handcycle accident, Alex Zanardi has departed the hospital and returned home to continue his recovery. His wife Daniela confirmed the news on Monday.

“The recovery continues to be a long process,” said Daniela. “The rehabilitation programme led by doctors, physiotherapists, neuropsychologists and speech therapists has enabled steady progress. Of course, setbacks are there and can still occur. Sometimes you also have to make two steps back in order to make one step forward. But Alex proves again and again that he is a real fighter.

“An important step was that Alex was able to leave hospital a few weeks ago and is back at home with us now. We had to wait very long for this and are very happy that it was possible now, even if there are still temporary stays in special clinics planned for the future to carry out special rehabilitation measures on site.”

Zanardi was a two-time CART champion who later became a Paralympic handcyclist after losing his legs in a wreck during the CART race at Lausitzring in 2001. Despite his injuries, he continued auto racing in touring cars like DTM and sports cars such as IMSA.

He was to take part in the Italian GT Championship in November 2020 when he was hit by a truck while competing in the Obiettivo Tricolore handbike race on 19 June. The accident occurred when Zanardi lots control of his bike on a downhill slope, causing him to enter the opposite lane and resulting in serious head injuries. Zanardi was placed in a coma for intensive treatment, with multiple facial surgeries taking place.

Fresh off an ARCA Menards Series runner-up finish, Corey Heim will elevate his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule for 2022. On Tuesday, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced Heim will run fifteen races in 2022 in the #51 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro beginning with the season opener at Daytona.

Heim was a championship contender during the 2021 ARCA season as he recorded top-ten finishes in all twenty races with six wins, but lost the title to fellow Toyota driver Ty Gibbs by thirty-seven points. In thirty-six career ARCA starts since 2019, he has seven victories and thirty-five top tens. Along with the ARCA trail, he ran three Truck races for KBM, finishing twenty-third at Darlington, thirteenth at Watkins Glen, and eleventh at Martinsville. The Martinsville start saw him finish second in Stage #2 and run in that position before being spun late.

He is no stranger to success at Daytona as he won the ARCA race there in 2021. His 2022 Truck slate will also include the final eight races, meaning he will run the regular season finale at Pocono and all seven playoff races. The other six races were not immediately revealed.

“Coming up through the Toyota Racing Development programme not only have I looked up to Kyle as a driver but I’ve also watched him build KBM into an organisation that provides up-and-coming drivers with all the tools that they need to win races and compete for championships,” said Heim. “I’m super grateful for the opportunity to compete for an owner’s championship alongside him in the #51 Tundra TRD Pro in 2022.”

While John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith are the team’s full-timers, the #51 serves as KBM’s multi-driver truck. Team owner Kyle Busch is expected to continue part-time competition in the truck. 

After bouncing between various aerodynamic packages during the Gen-6 car’s final years, the Next Gen car will have concrete numbers for much of its début season in 2022: 670 horsepower and four inches. NASCAR announced Tuesday that the seventh-generation Cup Series car will maintain those numbers throughout the 2022 season at all tracks except for Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway; the packages for the two tracks and Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is undergoing a reconfiguration that will turn it into a mixture of an intermediate course and superspeedway, will be also announced at a later time.

The Next Gen car has been tested on various occasions since 2019, with the most recent being a multi-team session at Charlotte Motor Speedway last week. These tests saw NASCAR experiment with different packages such as higher and lower downforce and increased or reduced horsepower. The final setup with its centred four-inch read spoiler, which produces less downforce than its larger counterparts like the six-inch spoiler, was well-received among fans and drivers; Brad Keselowski compared its driveability to that of the fourth-generation Cup cars from 2005, an era that many consider the peak of NASCAR’s popularity.

With this in mind, it comes with little surprise that Tuesday’s announcement was widely welcomed, especially as the on-track product has garnered criticism during the Gen-6’s final seasons. NASCAR frequently tinkered with the package in recent years, which included flipping between 750- and 550-hp setups, the latter of which was greatly condemned by many as NASCAR sacrificing authentic racing for more competition. While lower horsepower seems antithetical to motorsport’s ethos, the sanctioning body has asserted that it allows the cars to race closer to each other and would increase interest in outside manufacturers due to lower costs.

“It’s been a two-year process,” commented NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell. “So certainly, it came down to Friday, but that was really through all the work, the thousands of hours of on-track testing and the collaboration with the industry and continued tests to really narrow down what could be the final rules package for the Next Gen car. Friday, we were able to solidify that. We met with the industry, a number of drivers post-test on Friday with the packages we had narrowed down and really hit on what we all thought would be a great Next Gen car in terms of going out under one rules package with 670 horsepower and then a low-downforce 4-inch spoiler, which we we believe we can implement across all of our tracks outside of superspeedways.

“[The] bottom line of all this, and you’ll hear this from the drivers, is that this package with the Next Gen car puts it back in the drivers’ hands and we’re excited about what that will do in 2022.”

Young Scottish talent, Dexter Patterson will join Laser Tools Racing for the 2022 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season after impressing in a recent test in the championship winning Infiniti Q50.

This comes before the news was released of Ash Sutton leaving Laser Tools Racing to head to NAPA Racing meaning Aiden Moffat will anchor their efforts in 2022 alongside his compatriot who had a successful karting career before racing in F4 and F3 claiming a maiden podium in only his third race in the latter. But a recent run at Snetterton saw Laser Tools Racing take the decision to run the 18 year old for the 2022 season.

“I loved the Infiniti,” said Patterson. “It is certainly different to the single-seaters that I’m used to! It was a bit slippery in the morning session, but as the track dried off in the afternoon we went onto slicks and I was very happy with my lap times. 

“The brakes take a bit of getting used to though — in the single-seater I can see when the tyres are about to lock up and I can brake much later. So, I’m really looking forward to the extended test sessions pre-season and of course, getting used to the new hybrid car. What an opportunity!” 

Bob Moffat, Team Principal of Laser Tools Racing, commented: “I’m very excited by this. We’ve always been very appreciative of the support and encouragement that Aiden has received from Laser Tools over quite a number of years now. Now we can continue with Laser’s ethos of spotting young talent and then developing that talent on the racetrack. Dexter is a great fit for us, it’s exactly why Laser Tools got into the BTCC. With our ongoing collaboration with Tony Gilham and Team HARD, we are really looking forward to the 2022 season now.” 

Sam Osborne and Ollie Jackson will stay at Motorbase Performance for the 2022 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season for a second consecutive campaign with the well established duo set to join Ash Sutton and Dan Cammish who will run as NAPA Racing UK.

Osborne continued to gain momentum in his fourth season in the BTCC achieving a best race result of seventh place in 2020 with a brace of top 12 finishes as he got to grips with the Ford Focus ST.

While Jackson will anchor the squad going into his 11th season of BTCC action. It will be his fourth with Motorbase and second alongside Osborne as he looks to replicate his best season of 2020 where he finished 12th with a maiden victory.

Sam Osborne, Motorbase Performance Driver said:  “I’m really looking forward to my second year in the Ford Focus ST with Motorbase Performance, and also teaming-up with Ollie [Jackson] for another season, it’s going to be fantastic having the continuity with everyone at the team. I feel I learnt so much last season, I really developed as a driver, and I’m ready now to make the next step and take things onto a new level. I really can’t wait for the season to start, these are exciting times at Motorbase!”

Ollie Jackson, Motorbase Performance Driver said: “I’m really pleased to be returning for my fourth consecutive BTCC season with Motorbase, especially in a year that is going to bring us some fresh challenges to dig our teeth into and a new dynamic to the racing. The team is fully focused on the hybrid installation at the moment and until we get back to racing I’m doing my best to support them on behalf of Mountune with my experience in Hybrid and Electric Vehicle development. I have every confidence that we’ll absolutely make the most of the system and it will be one of the best installations in the paddock. I’m putting a lot of effort in over the winter and the goal is to start putting some fresh silverware in my trophy cabinet as soon as possible and get back to winning ways!”

Three-time reigning BTCC champion Ash Sutton has switched to head up a new formidable partnership with previously announced Dan Cammish at the new Motorbase Performance ran NAPA Racing UK.

Sutton known for his all action style won in 2017, 2020 and 2021 and has become one of the greatest Touring Car drivers of the modern era and will switch to front wheel drive in 2022 in the Ford Focus ST after an imperious run in the Infiniti Q50 as he leaves Laser Tools Racing for pastures new.

He will become the first BTCC driver since Andy Rouse in the mid 1980’s if he can claim three back-to-back with the legendary driver claiming his last crown at the wheel of a ford back in 1985.

Pete Osborne, Motorbase Performance Team Owner and Team Principal said: “Wow…isn’t this just the icing on the cake! Ash is the kind of driver who is on everyone’s radar. This will be a different challenge for him compared with recent years, swapping from RWD to FWD, it was quite a decision for him to make but I’m really glad he did! So, to have secured his signature to Motorbase alongside Dan, Ollie and Sam is a really big deal. Joining NAPA Racing at such an exciting time probably helped clinch the deal.

“I really couldn’t ask for a better driver line-up. I think we’ve got a few people’s attention, this is an indication of our intent to challenge for the BTCC title in 2022 and beyond. Let’s face it, we’re not aiming for anything but success with these guys in the driving seat. The team is as strong behind the scenes as it is at the forefront and it’s simply buzzing in the workshop. There’s a lot of hard work still to do, and we’re not underestimating that, but I’m pretty sure the right ingredients are in the pot!”