Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Ty Dillon will have another shot at the NASCAR Cup Series. On Sunday, GMS Racing announced Dillon as the driver of the #94 Chevrolet for the full 2022 Cup slate. 2022 will mark the début Cup season for GMS, a longtime competitor in the Camping World Truck Series. ECR Engines, owned by Dillon’s grandfather Richard Childress, will provide engines for the team.

Dillon raced full-time in the Cup Series from 2017 to 2020 for Germain Racing, scoring six top tens, two top fives, a best finish of third in the 2020 fall Talladega race, and a highest points placement of twenty-fourth in 2017 and 2019. Upon Germain’s shutdown at the end of the 2020 season, Dillon landed in the Xfinity Series on a part-time basis with Joe Gibbs Racing, Our Motorsports, and Jordan Anderson Racing; in eleven starts, he has three top tens and a fifth-place finish at Atlanta.

His 2021 also included joining Gaunt Brothers Racing for a limited Cup campaign. After failing to qualify for the Daytona 500, he ran four short track and road course events with a best finish of nineteenth at the Daytona Road Course. Dillon was also technically the first driver to pilot a Cup car for the new 23XI Racing when he ran the exhibition Busch Clash on the Daytona RC as regular driver Bubba Wallace was ineligible.

“It’s such an honour to be able to drive for GMS Racing as they take the step into the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time, and that they have chosen me as their driver for the future,” said Dillon. “It’s been a challenging year off from racing full-time but I’m so excited to return. I don’t think that there is going to be another driver that is more hungry than I am next year to get back out there and prove what I am capable of in the Cup Series. I am excited for our future and am ready to get to work.”

GMS and Dillon have worked together in the past. In 2015, Dillon drove the #33 truck for GMS on a three-race schedule, winning the pole in the season opener at Daytona and never finishing lower than eleventh.

Valtteri Bottas clinched a dominant win at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix to score his first win of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Max Verstappen finished in second position and crucially took over the lead of the drivers’ championship from Lewis Hamilton by six points. Sergio Pérez joined his Red Bull Racing team-mate on the podium.

Charles Leclerc finished in fourth position ahead of Hamilton. A late call to pit Hamilton for a new set of intermediate tyres dropped him from third to fifth position.

The race at the Intercity Istanbul Park circuit in Turkey took place under overcast conditions on a damp track with air temperatures at 16 degree C and track temperatures at 14 degree C.

The drivers started on the intermediate tyres and stayed on them for the full race distance as rain fell intermittently. Sebastian Vettel was the only driver who fitted on the medium compound tyres but had to pit quickly as the track was too damp.

When he begins his NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie season in 2022, Sheldon Creed will be sporting a red-and-white livery. Richard Childress Racing announced Saturday that Creed will drive the #2 Chevrolet Camaro with sponsorship from Whelen Engineering.

Creed, currently in the hunt for his second straight Camping World Truck Series championship, signed with RCR in mid-September for the full 2022 Xfinity season. He made three starts in the series in 2017 and 2019, all of which ended with some type of misfortune as he never finished higher than thirty-fourth.

An automotive lighting system manufacturer, Whelen is most notable for its sponsorship of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour since 2005. The company is also the title sponsor for the Whelen Euro Series, and the NWES was technically the last time that Whelen sponsored an Xfinity car: in 2013, the series appeared on former NWES champion Anthony Gandon‘s vehicle for two rounds. Coincidentally, Gandon and Creed both raced against each other in the Stadium Super Trucks at the 2015 season finale in Las Vegas.

“Whelen Engineering takes pride in our long-standing involvement in motorsports,” stated Whelen motorsports general manager Peter Tiezzi III. “We know that our relationship with an iconic team in Richard Childress Racing and a young, talented racer in Sheldon Creed illustrates our commitment to auto racing, while simultaneously increasing the public’s awareness of our presence and capabilities.”

In the late 1990s and much of the 2000s, Whelen sponsored Marsh Racing‘s Xfinity cars piloted by the likes of Ted Christopher, Steve Park, and Dave Blaney. Blaney also carried the Whelen sponsorship to the Cup Series in 2004 with Bill Davis. In 2016, Whelen appeared RCR Cup driver Ryan Newman‘s #31 for two races. RCR member Austin Dillon‘s #3 will also have Whelen branding for Sunday’s Cup race on the Charlotte Roval.

Team-work made the dream-work for Scuderia Ferrari during qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr worked together to get the Monegasque driver into final qualifying, the team’s reward is a third place start for Leclerc! Sainz to start from last due to engine penalty.

Leclerc has looked seriously impressive all weekend and qualifying was no different. The Monegasque driver did struggle slightly however in the opening two qualifying sessions, with the track surface being damp in places. Sainz who knew he would start last no matter where he qualified came to the rescue, giving Leclerc slipstream in Qualifying Two to boost Leclerc into the final session.

Leclerc then did it all by himself in Qualifying Three to put himself in third place for Sunday’s race at the Intercity Istanbul Park Circuit, right behind pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas. Leclerc is very happy with his starting position which he inherits due to Lewis Hamilton’s grid penalty, and believes he has good potential for the race.

“I am happy with my qualifying. P4 is a good result for the team, finishing just behind the championship leaders who, at the moment, are still tough for us to beat. We definitely maximised our car’s potential today. Q1 and Q2 were tricky for me, as I opted for a lower downforce set-up this weekend which is the right choice for the race and hopefully should pay off tomorrow.

“But in today’s wet conditions, I slid around quite a bit and had to fight for it. It was great to see Carlos being there and giving me the slipstream on the final straight in Q2. It was good teamwork and helped us make it to Q3. I am happy with my final lap in the last session and look forward to the race. If the conditions are dry, I am confident that we have good potential.”

Max Verstappen will start the Turkish Grand Prix from second place, after championship rival Lewis Hamilton gets demoted from pole to eleventh with an engine penalty. Red Bull Racing team-mate Sergio Pérez lines up sixth at the Intercity Istanbul Park Circuit.

Verstappen did well in qualifying to recover from what has been a tricky weekend for the Dutchman. Qualifying didn’t get off to the greatest start either with Verstappen spinning during Qualifying One, with the track being slippery due to morning rain.

Nevertheless Verstappen regained his composure and had a strong remainder of qualifying, with the reward for his hard work being a front row start for Sunday, where he will be looking to regain the championship lead. Verstappen may even be hoping for rain, after being quick during the wet Free Practice Three.

“I am of course happy with third and starting on the front row tomorrow. We improved a little bit from yesterday and the balance is a bit better but overall this weekend has been a bit more difficult.

“I hope for a clean getaway tomorrow but starting on the inside will be tricky, as there is very low grip in both dry and wet conditions compared to the outside, so we are expecting to lose out there slightly. We also need to consider the gap behind us, it’s much tighter than usual. We’ll aim to make the best of it and try everything we can tomorrow to keep the Mercedes behind but it’s not going to be easy, they’ve had great pace all weekend.”

Paul Aron took his first Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine victory in Saturday’s opening race at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, but fifth place was enough to give Grégoire Saucy the 2021 Drivers’ title.

Aron took pole position on Saturday morning from Prema Powerteam team-mate Dino Beganovic, but it was G4 Racing’s Michael Belov who led lap one, with the Russian finding a way around the Estonian. 

The safety car was called upon on that opening lap as Beganovic was involved in a three-car crash at turn one that also eliminated MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto as well as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Mari Boya.

Belov did not hold the lead long after the restart, with Aron sweeping around the outside at turn one, and despite another safety car for a crash involving DR Formula’s Emidio Pesce and KIC Motorsport’s Nico Göhler, Mercedes-Benz protégé Aron held on for his first win of 2021.

Behind Aron and Belov came Prema’s David Vidales, with the Spaniard capitalising on the chaos ahead of him on lap one to gain four positions, while William Alatalo of Arden Motorsport claimed fourth after a final lap pass on ART Grand Prix’s Saucy.

Lewis Hamilton would be lining up from pole position for tomorrow’s Turkish Grand Prix, after being the fastest driver in qualifying at the Intercity Istanbul Park Circuit, his penalty however for a new ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) means he lines up eleventh. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas inherited pole position.

It was a perfect qualifying for Hamilton and the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, who knew that with the British driver’s penalty, eleventh place would be the best starting position possible. The seven-time world champion has looked strong all weekend and qualifying was no different, in what were difficult conditions following a light shower during Qualifying One.

Had it not been for the penalty it would’ve been Hamilton’s first ever time on pole in Turkey, the venue where he claimed his seventh crown last season. Overtaking appears to be difficult around the circuit meaning that coming through the field from eleventh will be no easy task for Hamilton, who is going to give it everything.

“It’s so good to be back in Turkey, last year was an unbelievable visit here for myself and the Team! Coming back, the track is completely different – the grip level we’ve got now is absolutely awesome. The session today was really tricky because there were still some damp patches and getting temperature into the tyres for the first lap wasn’t easy. But it was a really, really great job by the Team, they got us out at the right time and put in a great performance.

“Tomorrow is going to be difficult, but I’ll give it everything! Overtaking isn’t the easiest at the moment and we’re all on the same tyre so I imagine tomorrow is going to be difficult to move up. We’ve got the long straight down the back so we’ll see what we can do. Hopefully we can give the fans here a good race!”

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series star Loris Hezemans will dip his feet into the top flight of American stock car racing in 2022. On Saturday, he was announced as the driver of the #27 Ford Mustang owned by his father Toine Hezemans and Dutch entrepreneur Ernst Berg on a part-time 2022 NASCAR Cup Series slate. The operation, known as Team Hezeberg, will operate with support from Camping World Truck Series team Reaume Brothers Racing.

Driving for Hendriks Motorsport (not to be confused with premier Cup team Hendrick Motorsports), Hezemans won the Euro Series championship in 2019. He currently leads the point standings with four victories including a EuroNASCAR PRO class sweep of the season opener in Valencia.

The Dutchman’s first taste of American national series racing came in the Xfinity Series in 2019 when he finished twenty-second at Road America for B.J. McLeod Motorsports. Two years later, he signed with MBM Motorsports, who was fielding a car in alliance with Reaume, for Phoenix. He ran another oval at Pocono for DGM Racing before failing to qualify at the Indianapolis Road Course with RBR. Hezemans is back with MBM for Saturday’s event on the Charlotte Roval; the start means he will not run the concurrent Euro Series round at Zolder.

Hezemans is believed to be the first Dutch driver to compete in the Cup Series. Unsurprisingly considering the Euro Series’ circuit composition, his 2022 Cup schedule will be road course-heavy as he runs all six such races: Circuit of the Americas, Sonoma Raceway, Road America, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, and Charlotte. There is also the possibility of entering the short tracks of Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Richmond Raceway; while the Euro Series exclusively runs road courses nowadays, the occasional ovals in the past have been short tracks such as the half-mile Raceway Venray, where Hezemans won in 2019. He hopes to compete full-time in the Cup Series in 2023.

Fellow Euro Series driver Jacques Villeneuve, who was a former Cup and Xfinity road course ringer, will test the team’s Next Gen car at the Roval on Tuesday.

Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix in the sixteenth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. But Hamilton will take a 10-place grid penalty in the race for a new power unit component. Valtteri Bottas who finished in second position inherits pole position on Sunday.

Max Verstappen was in third position with a big gap of 0.328 seconds to Hamilton. Charles Leclerc finished in fourth position and will be promoted to third because of Hamilton’s penalty.

The qualifying session at the Intercity Istanbul Park circuit in Turkey took place under overcast conditions with air temperatures at 18 degree C and track temperatures at 23 degree C.

Q1: Daniel Ricciardo Eliminated

After a wet final practice session, there was a threat of rain when the session started and rain fell briefly. But the drivers managed to get through the session on the slick tyres.

The drivers struggled to keep the car on the track in the early part of the session. As the track started drying, the times tumbled at the end of the session.

Pierre Gasly was the surprise pacesetter in the final practice session at Intercity Istanbul Park on Saturday morning as rain struck the home of the Turkish Grand Prix.

Initially the track was saturated, and it was a few minutes into the session before anyone ventured onto the track on the full wet tyres.  However, with the rain easing and then stopping, intermediate tyres were the way to go until the end.

A number of drivers found conditions difficult, particularly at turn nine where the track seemed to be holding water more than any other turn, but it was turn two that saw Williams Racing’s George Russell spin into the gravel trap after touching the wetter part of the track on the outside of the turn and aquaplaning.

Russell, who will join the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team in 2022, was unable to escape the gravel trap, and officials had no option but to throw the red flags and stop the session after twenty-two minutes had elapsed.

On resumption, the Red Bull Racing duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez took turns at the top of the timesheets, although the former was one of those to have a spin at turn nine, the Dutchman completing a neat three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spin before returning to the track.

Despite finishing inside the top ten in both Friday practice sessions, Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda’s Pierre Gasly felt there is more to come from both himself and his AT-02 this weekend at Intercity Istanbul Park.

The Frenchman, who has failed to score points in either of the past two Grand Prix, was eighth fastest in the morning session and ninth in the afternoon, and he was the busiest driver across the two sessions, completing sixty-two laps. He suffered a spin at turn six during the afternoon’s running but was able to keep the car out of the gravel trap.

But despite being inside the top ten in both sessions, Gasly was far from happy with the set-up of his car, and he hopes for a better balance and an improved pace when Saturday’s running gets underway.

“Today I haven’t felt that great in the car, but we’ve still come away with two strong positions which is positive, and I believe there is more we can give again tomorrow,” said Gasly.  

“I wasn’t too happy with the balance of the car, as I was experiencing a lot of understeer, so that’s something we’ve got to work on.

Fernando Alonso says it is good news that the grip levels at Intercity Istanbul Park are seemingly back to normal, and he was able to have confidence in attacking the track on Friday.

The Spaniard, who did not race in the Turkish Grand Prix in 2020 so missed out on the slippery conditions, was happy with the performance of his Alpine F1 Team car on Friday, with the two-time World Champion ending inside the top ten in both sessions.

Alonso was ninth fastest in the morning and seventh in the afternoon, with the forty-year-old revealing very little was changed on his A521 between the two sessions.

“Today was like discovering a new track for the very first time,” said Alonso.  “I think it was the same for everybody after the issues with track grip from last year. It seems the grip is back to normal, which is good news and it means we can have confidence in the car during a lap.

“We didn’t really change much on the car in both sessions, so we were mostly experimenting the tyres today.

Lando Norris admitted it was good to be back in the car during practice for the Turkish Grand Prix on Friday, and the Briton was pleased to be inside the top seven in both sessions.

Having lost out on his maiden Formula 1 victory in the Russian Grand Prix two weeks ago after being caught out by the weather having led for much of the afternoon, the McLaren F1 Team driver was delighted to be back driving on Friday. 

He posted the seventh fastest time in the morning session at Intercity Istanbul Park before improving to sixth in the afternoon, and Norris felt the running on Friday was just what he and the team needed, and he has confidence of a strong weekend for McLaren in Turkey.

“It felt good to be back in the car and to get things going again,” said Norris.  “It’s been a decent Friday, quite different conditions to what we had in Turkey last season. It feels like a different track altogether.

“I think we learned quite a bit today in preparation for tomorrow and the race. Friday was exactly what we needed, and we’ll try to do better again tomorrow.”

Max Verstappen says Red Bull Racing have a lot of work to do overnight if they are to be competitive this weekend at Intercity Istanbul Park, with the Dutchman ending his Friday only fifth fastest.

Despite knowing his title rival Lewis Hamilton has a ten-place grid penalty thanks to an engine change this weekend in Turkey, Verstappen knows it is important for he and Red Bull to focus only on what they are doing, and he feels improvements need to be made before Saturday’s running.

Verstappen is hoping the hard work the team continue to perform will pay off, and he is hoping for a day better than he experienced on Friday.

“It’s a super nice track especially with the improved conditions but it looks like we have a lot to go through this evening because today wasn’t the best of days,” said Verstappen.

“We tried a few different things going from FP1 to FP2 but we’re still looking around for improvements as we don’t have a lot of data on these cars for this track.

Charles Leclerc remains cautious about the potential of Scuderia Ferrari this weekend at Intercity Istanbul Park despite a strong-looking Friday for the Monegasque driver in Turkey.

Leclerc was an encouraging third fastest in the morning session behind only Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, while it was an even better afternoon session for the two-time Grand Prix winner as he was second quickest, behind only Hamilton.

On a track that is offering a lot more grip than it was back in 2020, Leclerc felt more at home and able to attack on Friday, but while he remains optimistic about his chances of a good weekend, he knows the important sessions and running are still to come on Saturday and Sunday.

“Compared to last year, the track has more grip,” said Leclerc. “The car felt really good today, and I really enjoyed driving as I could play with the rear of the car and rotate it like that. This seems to have worked out well for now, as we were quite competitive.

“Although things are looking positive so far, it’s only Friday. We need to keep our heads down and work on fine tuning the car to have a good qualifying.”