Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Max Verstappen is hoping the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix is a much better one for both himself and for Red Bull Racing than it was in 2020 as he looks to take back the lead in the Drivers’ Championship this weekend.

The Dutchman qualified on the front row alongside surprise polesitter Lance Stroll, but a couple of mistakes in difficult conditions saw him finish sixth, more than forty-four seconds behind race winner Lewis Hamilton.

The Intercity Istanbul Park track was very low grip in 2020, which made it extremely difficult for all the drivers, but Verstappen is expecting there to be more grip this weekend.

“Last year’s Turkish GP was of course not the best weekend for us as a Team, but I think it will be quite different circumstances this year, hopefully the tarmac will be a bit more grippy,” said Verstappen.

“I think it will be quite a new weekend in general for everyone, there will be a lot to learn so I’m looking forward to seeing how competitive we are there.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series team Big Machine Racing will be back for a second season in 2022, and with more firepower than this year. On Thursday, the team announced it has agreed to an “enhanced partnership” with technical ally Richard Childress Racing, while Jade Buford will return to the #48 Chevrolet Camaro.

Founded by Big Machine Records owner and sports car racer Scott Borchetta, Big Machine Racing débuted with Danny Bohn finishing nineteenth in the 2021 season opener at Daytona. Buford took over the car for the rest of the season (he was supposed to run the full schedule but was not approved for Daytona). After twenty-seven starts in the #48, he sits twenty-third in points with a top ten at Michigan where he finished ninth.

Buford, also a sports car veteran, made the jump to NASCAR in 2020 as a road course ringer. That year, he recorded his first career top ten at the Charlotte Roval, where the Xfinity Series is racing this weekend, when he placed eighth for SS-Green Light Racing.

“I’m over-the-top excited for the future of Big Machine Racing,” Buford stated. “An alliance with an organization like RCR will give us a huge advantage in improving our racing programme and add another level of consistency that will help us achieve better results across the entire season. 

“With support and access to RCR’s resources, we will have a much better playbook going into every race. Thank you to our team owner, Scott Borchetta, for making this opportunity possible. This will be a huge step forward in making Big Machine Racing a weekly frontrunner in the Xfinity Series.”

After great results at Oulton Park and then Knockhill, getting into the top 10, the next rounds were more difficult at Thruxton and Silverstone National. Circuits with fewer corners and braking zones I still need to adapt my technique. I returned to Thruxton which was also the first round of the championship.

I had done a couple of test days at Thruxton before the start of the championship and therefore before I was more experienced in the car. Therefore returning to Thruxton at this stage of the season, I had not done any testing since I had developed more speed in the car, to push the car more around sixth gear corners.

Thruxton is a great circuit and very fast, with only 2 braking zones for the Ginetta Junior spec car and corners in sixth gear taking you to over 180kph leading up to the chicane. It’s really exhilarating! However, with limited horsepower, any small amount of tyre scrub will lose you a few kph which you won’t get back as most of the lap is already on full throttle and, that scrub of even just 1 or 2 kph is also enough for the person behind, who is already getting a slipstream from you, to mount an attack.

After doing so well hustling the car around Knockhill, I really needed time to perfect the finesse needed to help the 100bhp keep the maximum speed up around Thruxton as any speed scrubbed off has a compound effect around the whole lap. I qualified twenty-first for race 1 and twenty-second for race 2. Race 1 I made up some places and lost some places to finish in my starting position of twenty-first. In race 2 I made up 4 places to cross the line eighteenth.

However, I had lined up just outside of my grid box and so a 10 second penalty added to my finishing time dropped me down to twenty-first place. Starting race 3 therefore from twenty-first, I was knocked into a spin in the opening lap crowding which dropped me to back of the grid and almost a full lap down. There was also a safety car. I restarted the car and managed to catch up the back of the pack just as the safety car was coming in and also after picking up my gear display pod which had been dislodged by the force of the collision and was rolling around at my feet. I managed to salvage some points by making it back up to seventeenth with some battles that I really enjoyed. I learnt a lot and I know where I can improve for a return to Thruxton next season.

Toto Wolff says there has been a ‘brilliant buzz’ amongst the staff at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team following their victory in the Russian Grand Prix two weeks ago.

Late race rain spiced up the Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom, with long-time race leader Lando Norris losing his maiden victory by staying out too long on the slick tyres.  His drama enabled Lewis Hamilton to secure his one hundredth victory ahead of title rival Max Verstappen, while the weather also enabled Valtteri Bottas to jump from outside the top ten all the way to fifth.

Wolff, the Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport and the Team Principal of the Mercedes Formula 1 project, says the final moments in Russia proved again that anything can happen in Formula 1, and it is important to stay alert and capitalise on the opportunities presented to them.

“There’s been a brilliant buzz in the team over the last week or so,” said Wolff.  “Being back on the top step of the podium was an incredible feeling for all of us, and particularly after such a dramatic race weekend.

“It was obviously made even more special by being Lewis’ 100th race win in Formula One. In the moment, milestones like this are exceptional, but I think it will take time for us to all realise just how remarkable this period of time is, and how privileged we all are to be part of this journey with him.

Michael Annett is calling it a career. On Wednesday, Annett announced he will retire from full-time competition after the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, his fourteenth in NASCAR’s national series.

Annett began competing in the national series in 2008 with starts in Xfinity and the Camping World Truck Series. Supported by family sponsorship from what is now Pilot Flying J, his first full season came in the Xfinity Series in 2009, where he was a regular until 2014 when he moved up to the Cup Series. After three relatively unsuccessful seasons in lesser equipment, he returned to the Xfinity level with JR Motorsports in 2017. Two years later, he won his first and to date only national series race in the 2019 season opener at Daytona.

However, Annett has also struggled with health problems throughout his career. In 2013, he missed eight races after breaking his sternum in a crash in the first round. This season has seen him miss time due to a broken femur that he eventually re-injured, and he has not run a race since Richmond in early September.

In 316 career Xfinity starts, he has one win, nineteen top fives, ninety-three top tens, and a pole. His best points finish was fifth in 2012 with Richard Petty Motorsports. He also has eight career Truck starts to his name with a runner-up finish at Kentucky in 2008, while his best run in 106 Cup tries is thirteenth in the 2015 Daytona 500.

“I’m just so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had,” stated Annett. “Being able to drive race cars for a living is honestly a dream come true for me. It’s been a privilege to work with some great teams and alongside some of the most talented folks in the garage. None of this would have been possible without the support of my partners, and I am happy to call them life-long friends. It’s those relationships and friendships that are the most rewarding.”

For Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Rick Ware Racing has enlisted the services of IMSA veteran Joey Hand. Hand, who has never raced in NASCAR, will drive the #52 Ford Mustang.

A staple of American sports car racing for two decades, Hand competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after being a regular in its predecessors Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series; he won the latter’s GT class championship in 2011. He was a longtime member of Chip Ganassi Racing and became a Ford Performance factory driver in 2015, during which he scored his first of six WTSCC wins before finishing fourth in the Prototype standings. Two years later, now in the GT division with CGR, Hand won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona GTLM class.

From 2016 to 2019, Hand contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans with CGR and Ford; he previously made his début in the endurance race in 2011 for BMW. The combination, joined by Sébastien Bourdais and Dirk Müller, enjoyed great success in their first year when they scored the GTE Pro class win. The victory also came fifty years after Ford famously won the 1966 edition for the make’s maiden Le Mans triumph.

“We value everything that Joey contributed to our GT programme and have tried to keep him involved in our motorsports programme ever since as a coach for our NASCAR drivers and as a product ambassador for the Ford GT,” Ford Performance global director of motorsports Mark Rushbrook stated. “We view Joey as being one of the best road racers in the world and appreciate NASCAR working with us to get him approved for competition this weekend.  We’re confident he’s going to do a great job. He has great respect for the sport and the competitors in NASCAR.”

Hand’s racing experience also has the open-wheel ladder, which included winning the 1999 title in what is now the Indy Pro 2000 Championship, and DTM from 2012 to 2014. The former allowed him to connect with Mike Shank, who along with Heinricher Racing gave him a ride for the 2020 IMSA finale in the 12 Hours of Sebring, a race that he won in 2011 and 2012.

After the bitter disappointment of not winning the crazy Russian Grand Prix, Mclaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris is ready to go again at the Intercity Istanbul Park for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix.

After dominating the entire race, the majority of Formula 1 fans around the world felt heartbroken for Norris, after the British driver made the wrong tyre call in the closing stages during the sudden downpour to lose not only the win but a guaranteed podium. Understandably Norris was visibly emotional after the race but is now feeling much better, having spent time in the simulator going over what went wrong in Sochi.

This could prove to be crucial for Norris with the weather looking uncertain again this weekend, yet another wet grand prix could be upon us. Norris is ready to get back on track and is excited to be heading back to Turkey.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to the track after a disappointing end to the last grand prix. Since then I’ve been spending a lot of time in the simulator, learning from the experience in Russia, and I’m ready to go again. 

“The Turkish circuit is a real driver’s track and I’m glad we’re heading back there again after an exciting race last year. The fans out there are really passionate too, so it’ll be great to see them all again. As always, we’ll be working hard to keep up the fight in both Championships. We know how important every race between now and the end of the season is, so we’ll be pushing hard to score as many points as possible.” 

After a week off, the FIA Formula One World Championship returns this weekend with the Turkish Grand Prix at the Intercity Istanbul Park, where one of the most dramatic races of 2020 unfolded with rain playing a massive factor, something which looks a real possibility this weekend.

Formula 1 should be in Singapore this weekend, however with the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic the Singapore Grand Prix was replaced with a trip to Turkey. Pirelli have brought softer tyres to the circuit this weekend than they did last year. In 2020 the tyre manufacturer brought the hardest range of tyres whereas for this weekend they have gone one softer, bringing the C2, C3 and C4 tyres for the grand prix.

This is the second year in a row that Formula 1 will have raced in Turkey after a nine-year absence coming beforehand, therefore Pirelli and the teams have much better knowledge of the circuit going into the weekend. It is because of the knowledge gained last year as to the reason why Pirelli have brought softer tyres, after last seasons trip saw the circuit have low grip and average levels of abrasion, meaning for a very slippery surface.

Despite it’s slipperiness the surface which was re-asphalted just before last year’s race showed rapid evolution, it has also been jet-washed before this weekend meaning the drivers should have much more grip from the get-go, especially with the softer compounds at use.

Just like last season rain is forecast for periods over the weekend, which could impact any evolution of the circuit. This season’s race also comes a month earlier than last year, so the air and track temperature should benefit the teams and drivers more than the bitter cold they were welcomed with last season.

Mick Schumacher goes into this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix at the Intercity Istanbul Park, on the back of his first retirement of the season last time out in Russia.

Astonishingly the German’s retirement at the Russian Grand Prix was in fact his first of the season, an incredible feat considering he is of course a rookie. Schumacher and the Uralkali Haas F1 Team don’t have time to dwell on the disappointment of their consecutive finishes run coming to an end, as neither Schumacher or Nikita Mazepin have ever raced at the Istanbul circuit.

So with this weekend being Schumacher’s first race at the circuit it will be a brand new experience for the rookie, who is unsure of how competitive the team will be.

“We have to prepare well with the team, obviously the team has raced there last year so we’ll get experience from them and analyze the data from last year, I can analyse videos to see and therefore prepare myself for the race weekend.

“We are not there yet so we don’t know what our competitiveness is going to be but definitely we’ll make sure we do our best and hopefully that will be enough to be close to the field and maybe fight them.”

The NASCAR Cup Series‘ YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway saw drivers race against not only each other, but against Mother Nature. Originally scheduled for Sunday, the race was pushed to Monday before being marred by further interference from the rain. When the weather returned yet again, it cut the race short after 117 laps. Bubba Wallace was the leader at the time of the delay and was declared the winner for his maiden Cup victory.

A Joe Gibbs Racing front row of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch led the field to green, while Quin Houff and Joey Gase were ordered to the rear for failing pre-race inspection twice and James Davison did so for a driver change from David Starr (though all three were already starting at the back). Attempts to start the race on Sunday failed as rain resulted in just a handful of pace laps before being pushed to Monday.

Stage #1

Upon finally getting underway a day later, the lead traded hands multiple times as expected from a superspeedway: by the lap 25 competition caution, there were nine lead changes between eight drivers with Cole Custer as the last. Kevin Harvick led the field to the restart on lap 30. Hamlin, Kurt Busch, and Brad Keselowski also led laps.
Chris Buescher took the lead on lap 54 shortly before Justin Allgaier was spun in the middle lane of a pack and slammed into Kyle Larson on the outside. The ensuing caution ended the opening stage with Buescher leading Joey Logano, Keselowski, Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, and Busch. Buescher, Reddick, Chastain, and Busch were non-playoff drivers.

Stage #2

Larson’s woes continued into Stage #2 when his right-front tyre went down and sent him into the turn two wall, though his team was able to keep the car within minimum speed and avoid retirement. Cody Ware elected to stay out during the resulting yellow flag and thus became the new leader when rain returned and forced another red flag. Ware, a self-professed fan of anime and goth girls, certainly enjoyed his first lap led since Darlington in May as he quipped the experience was “mega poggers, very poggers.”

The red flag lasted eighteen minutes and twenty seconds before being lifted. Ware pitted and Justin Haley became the new leader for the restart. Christopher Bell and JGR team-mate Hamlin would take over the inside line while Bowman led the outside as the race crossed the halfway point.

John Wes Townley, a former NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series driver, was killed in a shooting in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday. The Athens Banner-Herald reported the news the next day. He was 31.

According to Athens-Clarke County Police Department spokesperson Lt. Shaun Barnett, police responded to a home shooting in the Five Points neighbourhood on Saturday night. Townley and a 30-year-old woman were shot, with the former dying from his injuries at hospital while the latter suffered “serious” wounds. A 32-year-old man who has ties to Townley is suspected to be the perpetrator, and police has since been in contact and he was not immediately charged. Barnett also added the case may have stemmed from a domestic violence dispute. The investigation is ongoing as of this article’s publishing.

Townley is the son of Tony Townley, the founder of the Zaxby’s chicken fast-food franchise chain; Zaxby’s frequently sponsored the younger Townley, and his race cars were painted a bright yellow that certainly caught one’s eye on track. He began racing in NASCAR’s national series in 2008 with starts in both the Truck and now-Xfinity Series before running much of the 2009 Xfinity schedule with RAB Racing. Throughout his early career, he developed a reputation for aggressive driving and his involvement in wrecks, resulting in the dubious moniker of “John Wrecks Weekly”. Such matters were amplified in 2012 when he wrecked in practice for his Cup Series début at Pocono, which was ultimately aborted.

Despite his struggles, he eventually found his footing in the Truck Series and began competing on a full-time basis with RAB in 2012. In 2014, the Townley family formed Athenian Motorsports and his Truck campaign the following year produced great results as he scored a career-high nine top tens, three top fives, and his maiden NASCAR victory at Las Vegas. Incidentally, the win came six years prior to Sunday’s news.

He retired from racing after the 2016 season to attend college. In 110 career Truck starts, he notched twenty-four top tens, five top fives, two poles, the Vegas win, and a best points finish of eighth in 2015. He also scored two wins in what is now the ARCA Menards Series at Daytona in 2013 and 2016.

John Wes Townley: 31 December 1989 – 2 October 2021

The NASCAR Cup Series‘ YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway has been postponed to Monday. Sunday’s events only included pre-race ceremonies and a handful of laps behind the pace car before rain forced the delay.

The Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series held their races on Saturday without any weather concerns, though the former—who raced after the latter—had its event shortened due to darkness as Talladega does not have lights. Mother Nature was not as friendly for the Cup Series as rain fell on the track throughout Sunday morning.

Although NASCAR attempted to get pre-race festivities and some laps in, they could only turn two pace laps before calling it a day. The race will now start on Monday at 1 PM Eastern (6 PM/1800 BST). However, many have raised concerns about the weather later in the week as rain is expected to continue falling until Thursday, including the threat of thunderstorms.

While NASCAR has raced as late as Wednesday in the past (most infamously with the 2020 fall Texas race that was planned for Sunday before ending on Wednesday), the sanctioning body cannot push a race too far without potentially interfering with the next date. Next Sunday’s race is at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, where many teams are already headquartered which could provide some breathing room, though NASCAR would obviously prefer to avoid such a contingency plan.

Unlike the slew of delays in 2020, this is only the fourth postponement in the Cup Series in 2021. After the season-opening Daytona 500, other instances came at Bristol Dirt in March and Martinsville in April. Curiously, every postponed race this season have come at either a superspeedway or a short track (though Bristol could be classified as a dirt track in this case).

Austin Hill will be in a new ride for 2022. Shortly before Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, FOX Sports reported Hill will not return to Hattori Racing Enterprises next season as he hopes to move up to the Xfinity Series. A ride in said series and a new driver in HRE’s #16 Toyota Tundra were not immediately disclosed.

Hill is currently in his third full season with HRE, and the duo have proven to be one of the best in the Truck Series. Since joining the team, he has won eight races, including two in 2021 (the inaugural NASCAR race at Knoxville and the first Truck race at Watkins Glen in two decades), with a best points finish of fifth in 2019. He was eliminated from the 2021 playoffs after a crash in the final race of the opening round, but he had otherwise been running in the top three in points for much of the year.

Since 2019, he has also run a part-time Xfinity schedule with HRE in alliance with MBM Motorsports. In thirteen career starts, he has four top tens with a best finish of fifth at Kansas in 2020. His six-race slate for 2021 began with a ninth at Nashville in June, followed by twenty-fifth at Pocono and a retirement at the Indianapolis Road Course.

After exiting Saturday’s Talladega race due to a crash that resulted in a thirty-second-place finish, Hill further elaborated on his plans.

“We’re searching around, just trying to look around at other possibilities, other opportunities,” Hill told FOX. “Don’t know what the future holds yet, but it’s starting to look pretty good. That’s about all I could say. Excited for things to come.”

Saturday’s NASCAR action at Talladega Superspeedway proved to be a special day for hopeful race winners. Hours after Tate Fogleman secured his maiden Camping World Truck Series victory in wild fashion, Brandon Brown did the same in the Xfinity Series in a race that did not even go the full 300 miles.

The Sparks Energy 300 was shortened from its original 113-lap distance to 107 as darkness hit the track, which does not have lights, a consequence of start times and delays. By the end, Brown led a Brandon 1–2 finish ahead of Brandon Jones as the race ended under caution following a multi-driver wreck. Despite falling short of the playoffs, the win enables him to be the second straight playoff spoiler after Josh Berry did the same at Las Vegas last week.

Justin Allgaier started on the pole, but Austin Cindric had the early advantage and traded the lead with Berry throughout the opening laps. John Hunter Nemechek, who nearly won the Truck race earlier in the day, led until A.J. Allmendinger and Sam Mayer wrecked together on lap 26. The incident resulted in Stage #1 ending under caution and Nemechek scoring the stage win, though he did not receive points as he is a Truck regular. Jeb Burton, Riley Herbst, Cindric, Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider, Allgaier, Jones, Blaine Perkins, and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top ten.

The second stage ran entirely green. As expected out of a superspeedway, the lead was exchanged multiple times with unconventional names included like Joe Graf Jr., who led his first lap since the second race of 2020 and would score his maiden top ten by finishing tenth, and Herbst who dominated the segment. However, it was Perkins who scored his first career stage win ahead of Our Motorsports team-mate Brett Moffitt, Nemechek, Herbst, Allgaier, Jeb and Harrison Burton, Justin Haley, Cindric, and Noah Gragson.

Allgaier kicked off the final segment in the lead, which once again changed hands numerous times as drivers jockeyed for position in their respective lines. On lap 76, Bayley Currey—who had led a lap a few moments prior—stalled on the track for the second race-related caution of the day. A larger incident took place ten laps later when Moffitt was turned and sent down into Gragson, triggering a seven-car accident that also collected Jones, Nemechek, Snider, Caesar Bacarella, and Jeb Burton.

Delivering your post-race interview when you win your first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is a special feeling. Doing so from the infield medical centre is still special, but also very bizarre.

Tate Fogleman did not quite get to celebrate his maiden Truck Series win in Victory Lane in traditional fashion after being involved in a chaotic finish that saw him spin leader John Hunter Nemechek before beating Tyler Hill to the line. The top two alone make for an unusual duo as Fogleman had never scored a top ten on a paved track (his lone top ten was a ninth at the Knoxville dirt track in July) while Hill had zero top tens entering Saturday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250. But Talladega Superspeedway is infamous for its crazy wrecks and surprise winners, and Saturday was no different.

Ben Rhodes, winner of the other superspeedway race at Daytona in February, started on the pole while Fogleman and Hill were mid-pack. Rhodes dominated the opening stage ahead of Austin Hill, Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, Johnny Sauter, Nemechek, Drew Dollar, Sheldon Creed, Todd Gilliland, and Austin Wayne Self.

Bryan Dauzat brought out the first caution on lap 33, which also turned out to be the only yellow flag of Stage #2. Although Toyotas led much of the segment, Creed took the win. Sauter, Zane Smith, Crafton, Hill, Chandler Smith, Tanner Gray, Nemechek, Friesen, and Bret Holmes rounded out the top ten.

Ten laps into Stage #3 marked the largest wreck of the day when Hill was clipped on the backstretch and sent up into Zane Smith, triggering a massive crash that officially dragged in nineteen other drivers. Both Smiths, Dollar, Fogleman, Gilliland, Gray, Sauter, Self, Lawless Alan, Willie Allen, Tyler Ankrum, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Hailie Deegan, Clay Greenfield, Parker Kligerman, Derek Kraus, Dylan Lupton, Cory Roper, Jason White, and Kris Wright all suffered some form of damage in the carnage that resulted in a red flag for cleanup.