Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

As a NASCAR Cup Series driver, Ross Chastain is not allowed to run Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series event at Watkins Glen International. That does not mean a Chastain will not be in the #45 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports: on Wednesday, Niece announced his younger brother Chad Chastain will make his NASCAR début in the truck.

The younger Chastain, born seven years after his Cup-driving brother, mainly competes in short tracks in his native Florida and the southeastern United States in series such as the Florida Pro Truck Series and World Series of Asphalt. In 2015, he won the FASCAR Pro Truck and Pro Late Model track championships at DeSoto Speedway, followed by the Pro Late Model title at 4-17 Southern Speedway a year later.

“I was excited to get the call to come race with Niece Motorsports in this great ‘Protect Your Melon’ Chevrolet,” Chastain stated. “I’m thankful to everyone at Niece Motorsports for their hard work and our great partners with Buckle up New York and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. This will definitely be a new challenge, but I’m so excited for the opportunity and will do my best to make the most of it.”

Ross was initially supposed to race at WGI, but was barred from doing so as NASCAR rules prohibit Cup drivers from running the final race of the Truck regular season and the following playoffs. The development prompted him to share a meme of Bart from The Simpsons writing “I will pay closer attention to the NASCAR rules.” on the chalkboard. The news comes a day after he was announced as joining Trackhouse Racing Team for the 2022 Cup season.

“I guess a Chastain will get to buckle up and drive a Silverado this weekend,” quipped Ross in a social media video.

After a well deserved month-long break, the NTT IndyCar Series returns with a brand new race on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. Alex Palou still leads the championship by a thirty-nine point margin over Patricio O’Ward, with Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon not far behind in third place. IndyCar’s most recent winner Josef Newgarden enters his home race in fourth place in the championship, while Marcus Ericsson rounds out the top five in what has been his breakout season.

This new 3.49 km, 11 turn circuit has been highly anticipated since its’ announcement last year, packed with unique features like the straightaways across the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge. It is the first new street circuit since the Grand Prix of Houston in 2013.

This weekend will also mark the returns to the grid of Santino Ferrucci for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, reigning Indianapolis 500 Champion Helio Castroneves for Meyer Shank Racing, and NASCAR Cup Series regular Cody Ware for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing.

A new circuit will create a level playing field for the entire grid, and with only six races remaining in the championship, every point is crucial. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix of Nashville.

WHAT SHOULD I LOOK OUT FOR THIS WEEKEND?

In short, everything! This will be a completely new challenge for even the most experienced drivers on the grid, and with how competitive the field is, a surprise finish might be in store.

The upcoming Stadium Super Trucks weekend at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville will feature another new face. In a press release from last Friday, Crosley Brands announced Jacob Abel as one of six drivers who will drive a Crosley-sponsored truck. However, SST clarified in a Facebook comment that he is not a fourteenth entry and will presumably split a ride with Ricky Howerton, also a series newcomer.

Abel is in his first full-time season in Indy Pro 2000 after spending the last two years in limited competition. Driving for family-run Abel Motorsports, he sits seventh in points after seven races with two third-place finishes at Road America and Mid-Ohio; he also works as a driving instructor at the latter. Although the Music City Grand Prix will feature SST in support of the NTT IndyCar Series, Indy Pro 2000—the second-highest step in the Road to Indy—will not join them.

Other series that Abel has raced in include the Formula Regional Americas Championship (where he won at Mid-Ohio in June), the F3 Americas Championship (won two races in 2019), the F4 United States Championship, and USF2000. The 20-year-old Kentucky native also competes in sports cars, racing in the GT World Challenge America for Racers Edge Motorsports and scoring a podium at Virginia International Raceway. He became a Honda Performance Development junior driver in 2021.

“Kentucky native and Butler University Sophomore, Abel, will be making his foray into the action-packed world of Stadium SUPER Trucks in the upcoming round at the inaugural Music City Grand Prix in Nashville Tennessee,” read the Crosley statement. “Abel, who started his racing journey in 2015 with go karting quickly progressed up the racing ladder into the Road to Indy competing in two Cooper Tires USF2000 series events, and the F4 United States Championship Powered by Honda before jumping full time into the second rung of the Road to Indy ladder the Indy Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires Series.”

Other Crosley drivers at Nashville include company CEO Bo LeMastus, Howerton, Ricky Johnson, Arie Luyendyk Jr., and Jeff Ward. Crosley will also serve as the SST title sponsor for the weekend, which will include promotions in the area. Thirteen trucks, the most since 2018 at Long Beach, make up the grid.

Will Rodgers has a busy August ahead of him in the NASCAR road racing world. On Saturday, he will make his Camping World Truck Series début at Watkins Glen International in the #41 Chevrolet Silverado for Cram Racing Enterprises, followed by driving a newly opened #24 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing in the following week’s Xfinity Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The latter will mark SHR’s first two-car effort.

Rodgers is one of the top road course drivers in NASCAR’s regional divisions, winning all but one race on such tracks in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East in 2017 and 2018 (the lone non-victory was a runner-up finish at WGI in 2018, where he won the previous year) while his only ARCA West triumph came on a road course at Sonoma in 2017. Road racing success has also come in sports cars as he finished on the podium in all but one of his eight Pirelli World Challenge starts in 2016, including five wins.

In June, Rodgers ran the Xfinity race at Nashville in SHR’s #26, finishing fourteenth in his first series start since 2019. He participated in four races that year, including two road courses, with a best finish of twelfth at one of them in Mid-Ohio. Kris Wright will drive the #26 at WGI and Indianapolis as SHR’s road ringer.

CRE’s #41 has primarily been driven by owner Dawson Cram, though Cody Erickson and Todd Peck have also made starts in 2021. Cram holds the truck’s best finish of the year as he placed seventeen on the Daytona Road Course in February, and it is currently thirty-third in owner points.

Ross Chastain will commit to Chip Gansssi Racing‘s NASCAR Cup Series programme’s transition into Trackhouse Racing Team‘s second car. On Tuesday, Trackhouse announced Chastain will join the organisation in the #1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 beginning in 2022.

Trackhouse purchased CGR’s assets, including its two charters, in June. While one charter goes into the pre-existing #99 driven by Daniel Suárez, speculation surrounded who would take over the other Trackhouse car with particular emphasis being on Chastain and CGR team-mate Kurt Busch. Busch, who is the #1’s current driver and locked himself into the playoffs with a win at Atlanta in July, has been rumoured to be moving to a new second car at 23XI Racing.

“This is another dream come true for me,” said Chastain. “Trackhouse is one of the most interesting organisations in the garage. The enthusiasm they bring off the track and the program they are building on the track is exciting. Working with Daniel and Justin (Marks, co-owner), however I can, is my number one priority. I know that I can help build our Chevrolets to be as strong as possible.”

Chastain is currently in his first full-time season as a Cup driver in CGR’s #42. After twenty-two races, he is eighteenth in points with two top fives, six top tens, and a best finish of second at Nashville. Incidentally, Trackhouse is headquartered in the Nashville area.

Trackhouse is a new team for 2021. Suárez sits twenty-second in the standings with three top tens and a top five at Bristol Dirt.

Mattia Binotto, the Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, says Charles Leclerc adopted the correct approach to turn one of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, only for the Monegasque racer to be hit from behind by Lance Stroll.

Scuderia Ferrari took their third podium finish of the season at the Hungaroring thanks to a third-place finish for Carlos Sainz Jr., but it could have been an even better day for the Maranello-based squad had Leclerc managed to get through turn one. 

He was on course to be at worst third, but maybe even second, ahead of eventual race winner Esteban Ocon, only for Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team’s Stroll to heavily damage his SF71 at turn one.

“We were in with the chance of a great result given that the rain before the start created an opportunity to fight for a top place finish,” said Binotto.  

“However, even though Charles adopted the right cautious approach to the initial moments after the start in the wet and had managed to move further up the order, he was hit from behind by a driver who had tackled the corner in a less than prudent manner, to say the least.

Carlos Sainz Jr. felt it was a crazy Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, which saw him fighting for a podium finish despite starting down in fifteenth place on the grid.

Sainz crashed during Qualifying on Saturday afternoon during Q2, which left him towards the back of the field for the start.  However, the Scuderia Ferrari driver was able miss the chaos in turn one to come out in fourth place.

When the red flag flew, Sainz dropped behind both Nicholas Latifi and Yuki Tsunoda and was running fifth prior to the pit stops, but when the two ahead of him pitted, he was able to jump them both and run third. 

However, a charging Lewis Hamilton denied him a top three place on the road, although he would later move up to the final podium place when Sebastian Vettel was disqualified from second place.

“What a crazy race. After starting P15 we actually had a good chance of a podium,” said Sainz.  “Losing positions to Williams and AlphaTauri after the first pit stop due to the traffic in the pit lane cost us dearly. We were in the hunt for the win at that point, but instead we lost any real chance of fighting for it.

The NTT IndyCar Series‘ exponential growth continues, as Ricardo Juncos of Juncos Racing has partnered with Brad Hollinger to form Juncos Hollinger Racing, who will make their IndyCar Series debut at the Grand Prix of Portland and finish out the 2021 season before going full time in 2022, with a driver to soon be named.

“The opportunity to partner with someone who shares many of the same values, passion, determination and is forward-thinking like Brad Hollinger makes this an incredible moment in our team’s history,” Juncos said.

“Brad has a lot of experience at one of the highest levels in racing and brings resources that will create more opportunities and growth for all of our programs. I am looking forward to what our future holds at Juncos Hollinger Racing and taking our team to the next level.”

Hollinger spent time as a board member and the second-largest shareholder of the Williams Grand Prix Holdings Formula One Team. Searching for an opportunity in IndyCar, Hollinger and Juncos met at the 2017 Indianapolis 500, kindling a friendship that would lead to the formation of this new team.

“Since we first met, Ricardo’s relentless drive for success, knowledge of open-wheel racing and engineering expertise were quite apparent,” Hollinger said. 

Toto Wolff says Valtteri Bottas made a small mistake at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix, a mistake that would have huge consequences for both him and for others heading into turn one.

Bottas made a poor start at the Hungaroring on a wet track and was on the back foot heading into turn one.  Unfortunately, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver locked up his brakes and went into the back of McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris. 

Norris then went into the side of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, while with a broken front-left wheel, Bottas then hit the other Red Bull of Sergio Pérez.  Debris at the Hungaroring meant a red flag was required, but stewards deemed Bottas fully responsible for the incident and gave him a five-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix.

“A difficult start for Valtteri, he suffered wheelspin off the line and found himself sandwiched into the first corner and missed the braking point,” said Wolff, the Team Principal of Mercedes.  

“A small mistake with large consequences and damage to several cars, and I’m sorry to McLaren and Red Bull – to lose out in an accident like that at the start of the race is tough to take.”

Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team gave themselves a lot of work to do during Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, with the Briton ultimately finishing third on the road, which became second after Sebastian Vettel was disqualified.

Starting from pole position, Hamilton took the lead at the start while chaos ensued behind, and he led the field until the race was red flagged to clear the debris from the track.

However, on the restart, Hamilton was the only driver to start the race on the track and on the intermediate tyres as others pitted, and this left him at the back of the field when he pitted at the end of the lap for dry tyres.

Hamilton drove superbly to recover, but ultimately he had too much to do to deny Esteban Ocon and the Alpine F1 Team their maiden Formula 1 victories.

“First of all, I want to say a quick congratulations to the Alpine Team and to Esteban – he’s been a shining star for some time now so it’s been a long time coming and I’m really, really happy for him,” said Hamilton.

Lance Stroll will take a five-place grid penalty in the Belgian Grand Prix after finding himself involved in a first lap, first corner incident with Charles Leclerc at the Hungaroring on Sunday.

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team racer had made a decent start in the wet conditions but locked up his brakes heading into turn one.  Stroll attempted to cut the corner but slid deep and into the sidepod of Scuderia Ferrari’s Leclerc, who in turn turned around Daniel Ricciardo.

Stroll’s left front suspension was damaged in the incident, and he was forced to pull over and retire from the race, much to the frustration of the Canadian and to the anger of the stewards who deemed him fully responsible for the crash and handed him the grid penalty for Spa-Francorchamps.

“It is really frustrating to have to retire so early in the race,” said Stroll.  “Once the incident at the front of the field happened, I took the line to the inside to try and avoid making contact, but I locked up under braking.

“As soon as that happened, I knew I would not make the corner because it was so slippery and tricky out there. I did all I could to avoid contact but, unfortunately, my race was over.

Sebastian Vettel’s joy of securing his second podium finish of the 2021 Formula 1 season was short-lived on Sunday, with the German finding himself disqualified from second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver followed Esteban Ocon home at the Hungaroring but stopped on track on the way back to the pit lane.  When the car was brought back to the paddock, the FIA were unable to extract the necessary one litre of fuel from the AMR21, and as a result were forced to disqualify the German from the results.

Aston Martin believed there was enough fuel in the car and were allowed an attempt to extract it from the car under supervision, but they were unable to get more than the 0.3 litres the FIA had achieved, and as such, Vettel was disqualified.

“The team was given several opportunities to attempt to remove the required amount of fuel from the tank, however it was only possible to pump 0.3 litres out,” said the FIA statement.

“During the hearing in presence of the FIA Technical Delegate and the FIA Technical Director, the team principal of Aston Martin stated that there must be 1,44 litres left in the tank, but they are not able to get it out. This figure is calculated using the FFM or injector model.

Marcin Budkowski, the Executive Director of the Alpine F1 Team, says Esteban Ocon’s victory in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix was an ‘incredible result’ for the whole team.

Ocon took the lead early on at the Hungaroring after pitting for dry weather tyres on the way to the grid for the restart, with the Frenchman profiting from race leader Lewis Hamilton’s failure to do so.  He then withstood race long pressure from Sebastian Vettel to take both his and Alpine’s first victory in Formula 1.

Team-mate Fernando Alonso also played his part, with the veteran Spaniard defending robustly from the recovering Hamilton to delay the reigning World Champion enough to allow Ocon enough breathing space to take the victory.

“What an incredible result, the first win for Esteban and for Alpine F1 Team,” said Budkowski. “Esteban was unbelievable today, huge congratulations to him for his first Grand Prix victory.

“It was a stressful race and it felt incredibly long. We put ourselves in a great position at the start, made the right calls during the race, the pit crew executed two perfect pit-stops and then it was about holding all the way to the end.

Esteban Ocon took a surprise but well-received maiden Formula 1 victory in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, with the Frenchman staying out of trouble at the start and taking advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s failure to pit on the restart to secure the win at the Hungaroring.

The Alpine F1 Team driver held off the race-long challenge of Sebastian Vettel to secure his first Grand Prix triumph, and his first race win anywhere since triumphing during his championship-winning GP3 Series season in 2015.

Ocon admits the feeling of becoming a race winner in Formula 1 has not yet sunk in, but he was delighted with the performance throughout the race, both from the pit wall and from himself as he attempted to keep ahead of Vettel/

“Formula 1 Grand Prix winner, it’s unbelievable and it definitely has not sunk in yet,” said Ocon.  “What a moment, allez les bleus!

“It was a crazy race from the very start to the end. There were a lot of decisions to make and the team executed that really well along with the crew who did a mega pit-stop, which was crucial to staying in front of Sebastian [Vettel].

The BRDC British Formula 3 Championship will be re-branded as the GB3 Championship from the next round at Snetterton 300, the series has announced.

The Championship re-branded from BRDC Formula 4 in 2016, but will undergo another identity change mid-season following regulation changes from the FIA.

“Changing to the new GB3 name is purely a consequence of the FIA’s decision to limit the use of the F3 title exclusively for the international FIA F3 series,” read a statement from the Championship.

“As a result… national governing bodies are not able to grant permits for national-level single-seater championships using the F3 brand.”

Series organiser MotorSport Vision (MSV) is said to be “very disappointed that it has been forced into the change, having done everything possible to preserve the historically-significant British F3 title, ensuring that drivers could continue to follow in the wheel tracks of the series’ biggest names, including Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen.”