Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

A.J. Allmendinger might have won his second straight NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship at Bristol Motor Speedway, but Noah Gragson got to puke for the third race in a row (which isn’t a good thing, even if it came in response to a good thing).

Much like how Ty Majeski won the Truck Series race the previous day, Gragson did not lead any laps until the final restart with twenty laps remaining set up by a caution involving his team-mate and a slower car (in Gragson’s case, JR Motorsports ally Justin Allgaier made contact with J.J. Yeley which shot the latter into the wall). Gragson would hold off Brandon Jones to win his third straight race; he is the first driver to achieve the feat since Austin Cindric swept the Kentucky doubleheader and won Texas in 2020, but the first to do so in three separate weeks and locations since Christopher Bell at Kentucky, Loudon, and Iowa in 2018.

“That last caution came out, and I knew if I could ring the top, it was going to be hard for them to get there,” commented Gragson. “I appreciate Brandon Jones racing us clean. He gave us the bumper with two (laps) to go, and I was hanging on, scrubbing the fence.”

Prior to the caution, Allgaier dominated the affair by winning Stage #2 and leading 148 laps. However, while he avoided damage in the Yeley incident, he was caught speeding on pit road which dealt the death blow to his chances.

Gragson did not have a totally clean journey to Victory Lane either. On lap 150, a battle for the lead led to Gragson clipping Stage #1 winner Ty Gibbs which sent him into Sheldon Creed, who needed to win to qualify for the playoffs and whom Gragson defeated at Darlington two weeks prior.

Ty Majeski‘s NASCAR career might not have been the rocket start that some expected when he was a prospect, but when he finally found his mojo (and an actual full-time ride), it placed him on the cusp of winning a Camping World Truck Series championship.

Majeski’s ThorSport Racing team-mate Christian Eckes spun Chris Hacker with fifty laps remaining, setting the stage for him taking the lead on the ensuing restart. Despite pressure from Zane Smith, he kept him at bay to take the win.

“We came guns blazing for this race and brought our best truck,” said Majeski. “Joe (Shear, crew chief) was aggressive on pit strategy, got us out front and we were able to get it done. This is so cool, and my crew has been so up and down. There’s been a lot of people who have helped get me to this point. I know my late model guys are watching back at the shop and they’re a big part of me getting here. My parents, my fiancé, this is just damn cool.

“We came with this plan and obviously it’s a tall task to win at any of these races. I’ve been in that position a lot as a late model guy, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the position to win a lot of races and I’ve been in that position a lot. Just another late-race restart on a half-mile.”

Fellow Toyota driver Chandler Smith had dominated the race by winning the first two stages, but fell back in the last segment and finished ninth. Nevertheless, he remains the points leader and remains in position to reach the Championship Round provided disaster does not strike in the next two races at Talladega and Homestead.

Four-time FIA World Rallycross Championship winner Johan Kristoffersson is now a four-time race winner in the new RX1e class, having taken victory in the fourth round of the championship in Montalegre in Portugal. The Swedish driver is still yet to be defeated in this new all-electric class, having won every single event this year. KMS teammate Ole Christian Veiby made it a one-two finish for the team, with 2019 champion Timmy Hansen rounding off the podium.

The final featured all three KMS Volkswagen Polo RX1e cars and the Hansen brothers in their Peugeot 208 RX1e machines. Kevin got the best start, attempting to go around the outside into turn one and colliding with Veiby, causing a half spin for the Peugeot and opening the door for Kristoffersson to take the lead. Ultimately, and not for the first time this season, the final turned into a KMS technical masterclass. Timmy Hansen elected to Joker first, coming out just behind the third KMS driver Gustav Bergström, who managed to defend against the 2019 world champion until Hansen pulled off a textbook rallycross move up the inside at turn seven, gently nudging his way past and then immediately slamming the door shut again. That little hold up, however, was exactly enough to ensure that Kristoffersson and Veiby could emerge from their Joker laps in first and second.

When asked how it felt to have won every race this year, Kristoffersson showed typical humility. “When you say it like that, it feels very very nice” he smiled, adding “I was just trying to drive safe without getting a puncture…after the Joker lap on the last lap I spent more time in the mirror to see who was p2 than I did actually [going] forward” with a wry smile.

That the two KMS cars were even in the final is a remarkable achievement in itself. In his first race of the day, Veiby ended his race crossing the line before his car shunted hard into the wall, breaking his rear suspension and ruling him out of heat two entirely. In his progression round race, Kristoffersson drifted his car ever so slightly too wide in turn 7, digging his left rear tyre into the deeper gravel, ripping it from its rim, forcing an unscheduled retirement. Fortunately, he had done enough by winning both heats to see him through to the semi-final. Veiby benefited from the small grid size and the incredible speed of the KMS mechanics, who managed to get the car repaired and on the grid for his semi-final as well.

The Lusorecursos World RX of Portugal provided action from the start. The track layout has been revised to ensure even more exciting racing than the fan- and driver-favourite already did. A longer start / finish straight leads to the first corner (the old Joker lap), and a new Joker section utilising Montalgre’s famous gravel section and super high curves, making the drivers really fling their cars into the turns. The Hansens were excited about the prospect of the new track, saying they expected new speed records for the sport, and indeed that they would be competitive. Heat 1 race 1, in fact, saw a Hansen World RX Team one-two, with Timmy taking top spot, and brother Kevin slotting his car just into second position ahead of the third KMS driver, the very impressive Bergström, as both cars danced through the twists and turns of Montalegre.

Former Formula 1 and Formula E driver Jérôme D’Ambrosio, has announced his departure from the newly named Monaco Sports Group (MSG), ahead of Season Nine and the start of the Gen3 era.

Following the conclusion of Season Eight, MSG took full control of ROKIT Venturi Racing, who D’Ambrosio was Team Principal for last year. He joined Venturi as Deputy Team Principal in 2020, before taking the step up at the start of last season. The former Mahindra Racing driver took over from Susie Wolff, who also left the team following the conclusion of the recent season.

Whilst Wolff and star driver Lucas Di Grassi were expected to leave Venturi before it was taken over by Maserati, D’Ambrosio’s “amicable” departure has left some surprise.

He led the Monegasque team to second in the Constructors’ Championship last season, which was the team’s most successful to date. MSG truly appear to be attempting a complete clean slate before Gen3 gets underway, with very little of the team’s Venturi roots remaining.

D’Ambrosio wished the team the “very best” going forward, whilst he pursues “new opportunities”.

Alex Albon has been released from hospital and returned back home, after he suffered a respiratory failure as a result of complications with his surgery on Saturday following on from his appendicitis diagnosis.

Following his successful laparoscopic surgery on Saturday, the twenty-six year-old suffered post-operative anaesthetic complications that led to respiratory failure. Albon missed the Italian Grand Prix with Nyck de Vries taking his place, securing a ninth place finish, equalling the team’s best finish of the season.

A Williams Racing Statement on Monday read:

“Following surgery, Alex suffered with unexpected post-operative anaesthetic complications which led to respiratory failure, a known but uncommon complication. He was re-intubated and transferred to intensive care for support. 
 
“He made excellent progress overnight and was able to be removed from mechanical ventilation yesterday morning. He has now been transferred to a general ward and is expected to return home tomorrow. There were no other complications. 

There have been further updates today that have said the Thai driver has been released from the hospital back to his home in Monaco, after he spent a further two days in hospital after he was released from intensive care.

Team Principal of the Haas F1 Team Guenther Steiner was left furious with the race official’s decision-making at the Italian Grand Prix as the team boss stated that Kevin Magnussen’s opening lap penalty wasn’t appropriate given the situation.

After Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher qualified towards the back of the grid, both Haas drivers were left with the mammoth task of attempting to take home a positive result from the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

Magnussen’s task was made all that more impossible as contact from behind by Valtteri Bottas into turn one caused substantial damage to his VF-22’s diffuser. After feeling the contact from behind Magnussen opted to cut the corner at turn one to avoid any potential further damage; the race stewards would go onto award Magnussen a five-second time penalty for his corner cutting exploits leaving Steiner furious.

“The thing about this race is basically we got done by the officials. Kevin had an incident at the start where he got shoved off and his diffuser was damaged. He got a penalty because he couldn’t stay on the racing line but with the rear wheels up it’s difficult to stay on the racing line – I don’t think the penalty is appropriate.“

Damage to his diffuser would prevent Magnussen from making any progress and despite undertaking his second stint on the soft compound of tyre, Magnussen would come home last of all the runners who finished the race in sixteenth-place.

At 15 years old, Katie Hettinger is already making a name for herself. On September 15, Hettinger announced that she has teamed up with Young’s Motorsports to make her ARCA Menards Series West debut at The Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring on October 14. Along with that, she will also run the West Series finale at Phoenix Raceway in November.

“Anytime I get in a race car, my goal is to win, but ARCA is a step up with strong teams and talented drivers, so the more realistic expectation is to finish Las Vegas among the top-five and, ideally, the top-three. Phoenix is a bigger track, the biggest one I’ll have ever been on, so that will be a little more challenging. A top-10 at Phoenix would be great,” said Hettinger during a press release.

Recently, she became the winningest female driver at Hickory Motor Speedway, racking up five wins.

Throughout most of her career, she has primarily competed in over a hundred late model races. “Every time I get into a new car, I just drive it like I normally would. I don’t struggle with switching classes or cars or anything like that,” said Hettinger.

Hettinger was just four weeks old when she attended her first race. Her grandfather, Jim Hettinger, was a very successful midget racer, earning two championships in 1984 and 1990. Because of his success, he was inducted into the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame. Her father, Chris Hettinger, was also a midget racer, earning several wins, making Katie a third-generation driver.

Due to a hand injury, Yasir Seaidan will not race for the rest of 2022 and his 2023 Dakar Rally pospects are looking grim. He posted on social media that he recently underwent surgery to address the matter, which will force him to wear a cast for a month before beginning physical rehabilitation. With Dakar only three months away, he fears the timetable for recovery will not be optimal for him to take part.

“Yesterday, I had an operation on the palm of my right hand due to an injury that caused a torn ligament and inflammation and moved the tendon out of its place, and I will be in a plaster cast for a month and then physical therapy for two months, God willing,” wrote Seaidan. “Unfortunately, I will not participate in the upcoming races and the possibility of my participation in the Dakar Rally became weak.”

Seaidan races in the FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and finished third overall at the Qatar International Baja in March. In 2021, he placed runner-up for the Cross-Country Bajas World Cup to fellow Saudi racer Yazeed Al-Rajhi with a pair of wins in the Sharqiyah Baja and Jordan Baja.

He first competed at Dakar in 2014 in an SSV, but retired after five stages. A return two years later saw great improvement as he placed third in the T2 category.

Since the Rally moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020, he has attempted every edition in the Cars class. He finished ninth in the 2020 race with X-raid Team followed by thirty-ninth with SRT Racing Team, then rejoined X-raid for 2022. Despite finishing fourth in Stage #4, the following leg ended when his Mini rolled over.

Upon his appointment as FIA President in 2021, among Mohammed Ben Sulayem‘s goals were to restructure the organisation such as adding a new position for Chief Executive Officer. This was realised on Thursday with the addition of Natalie Robyn, an American who most recently served as the CEO of Volvo Car Switzerland.

“The appointment of Natalie Robyn as our first ever CEO is a transformative moment for our Federation,” said Sulayem. “Her extensive experience and leadership will be crucial to improving our finances, governance and operations. She has a proven track record of delivering diversification and growth, as well as developing executive leadership capabilities which will be an extremely valuable asset to the FIA and our members and I welcome her to the team.”

After working for Bank of America and Delphi, Robyn entered the automotive industry with DaimlerChrysler in 2005 as an international management associate. She remained with the company (which eventually became Daimler AG, now Mercedes-Benz Group) through 2012, with her last role being as a senior manager of sales operation in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

She relocated to Switzerland to become the regional director of sales for Nissan in 2012. Three years later, she was named the International Vice President of Volvo’s EMEA department.

In January 2017, she was elevated to CEO of Volvo’s Swiss branch.

Heading into the final weekend of the FIA Formula 3 season, Oliver Bearman was fourth in the drivers’ standings, and despite picking up zero points in Zandvoort, the young Brit remained confident that the title was still in reach.

The weekend began fairly positively for the PREMA man, securing sixth place in qualifying, leaving him with every opportunity to fight his way to the front of the grid and overturn the deficit to Victor Martins in the lead of the championship.

Saturday’s sprint race once again reaped a significant reward for Bearman, as he made his way up to fifth after three laps, having started from seventh.

Bearman eventually made it up to fourth after safety car mayhem occurred during the race, and with two laps remaining he pulled off a stunning move to overtake Franco Colapinto and Jonny Edgar to claim second place and add another podium to his collection.

“I was getting ready to attack for the lead, but because of a hard-to-hear radio message, I didn’t realise that it was the final lap and I was taking the chequered flag just as I was thinking of attacking,” explained Bearman.

In the wake of Russia invading Ukraine, the FIA stipulated Russian and Belarusian drivers and teams could not compete under their respective countries’ flags and required them to sign a formal commitment condemning the war and affirming solidarity with Ukraine.

While some agreed to the terms like Formula One test driver Robert Shwartzman and Formula 3 competitor Alexander Smolyar, who respectively switched to Israeli and neutral FIA licences, others elected to pull out of their championships entirely (ironically including Smolyar’s team SMP Racing).

With the 2023 Dakar Rally looming and the war’s conclusion nowhere in sight, Russian and Belarusian teams have offered varying comments on whether they can get in. Vladimir Chagin, head of top Truck team KAMAZ-master, was recently in discussions with race organisers about permitting them to take part, though such is complicated by their parent company KAMAZ providing vehicles for the Russian military. Sergey Vyazovich of Belarusian Truck outfit MAZ-SPORTauto commented Wednesday there is a “99.9% chance” his team would not be able to enter due to ongoing sanctions on MAZ that preceded the invasion; said sanctions prevented the team from travelling to the 2022 Rally.

Meanwhile, Konstantin Zhiltsov secured his spot on the Dakar grid by acquiring an Israeli licence. His team-mate and driver Denis Krotov also intends to follow suit, though he has not specified his second licensor. Krotov and Zhiltsov finished twenty-eighth in the 2022 Cars category for X-raid Team, which marked the former’s fourth career Dakar, before winning the Silk Way Rally T1 class in July.

Taking part in Dakar since 2006, Zhiltsov scored a Cars podium in the 2013 edition with Leonid Novitskiy. While he mainly works with fellow Russian drivers, he attempted the 2020 race with FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas points leader Yazeed Al-Rajhi of Saudi Arabia.

The 2023 NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck Series schedules will mostly be the same, but the few changes mark radically different turns for the sanctioning body set to enter its seventy-fifth year.

“As we prepare to celebrate our 75th anniversary season, we are committed to delivering a schedule that acknowledges the deep history and tradition of our sport while establishing a bold future that brings the best racing in the world to new markets and new fans,” said NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Strategy Ben Kennedy. “The 2023 schedules are a product of continued collaboration across our industry and partners. We are incredibly proud of what our sport will have to offer fans next season, and excited to celebrate this milestone season with the most diverse compilation of tracks in motorsports.”

The season begins with Kennedy’s brainchild, a return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the exhibition Busch Light Clash after a successful inaugural run in 2021. The rest of the Cup schedule is mostly alike to the previous year, save for two massive changes as the All-Star Race on 21 May will take place at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway while the series visits a street circuit in Chicago on 2 July.

North Wilkesboro last hosted a Cup race in 1996 and had fallen into disrepair over the next two decades before restoration projects began earlier this year. The Truck Series will support the All-Star Race with its own event there, and previously ran a pair of races at the track in 1995 and 1996. The North Carolina speedway, whose location also places it in close proximity to sister track Charlotte Motor Speedway ahead of the following week’s Coca-Cola 600, takes over the exhibition from the much maligned Texas Motor Speedway, who will only host one Cup race for the first time since 2004.

Chicago will host the Cup and Xfinity Series in the first national series street races, giving the area a new event after losing Chicagoland Speedway. It will be one of eight Xfinity road course races including a new date at Sonoma Raceway to support the Cup Series, taking the slot filled by the Trucks.

The 2022 Race of Champions marked a stark shift from previous editions as it took place exclusively on ice and snow in Pite Havsbad, Sweden. The setup will return for the 2023 event on 28/29 January, retaining the traditional Nations Cup and individual Race of Champions knockout formats.

“I can’t think of a better place for my first race after I retire from Formula One than the Race of Champions,” said Sebastian Vettel, a seven-time Nations Cup winner. “This will be my eleventh appearance, and I keep coming back because it’s a special event, and so much fun. I don’t have much experience of racing on snow and ice so it made for a steep learning curve in Sweden earlier this year, and a very pleasant surprise to reach the individual final against Sébastien Loeb. I can’t wait to come back and give ROC-style ice racing another try and hopefully help Team Germany win another ROC Nations Cup title.”

While Vettel is more known for his circuit racing achievements, the snow/ice layout of ROC 2022 was a significant departure for him. Nevertheless, after finishing runner-up in the individual tournament, he expressed interest in trying off-road in the future which prompted Travis Pastrana, who was due to compete in the event before getting injured, to extend him a Nitro Rallycross invite.

While some such as Loeb and Johan Kristoffersson hail from off-roading backgrounds, many of the other drivers involved were more familiar with pavement versus snow and ice. This marked a stark change of pace for those like Vettel’s Team Germany partner Mick Schumacher, American IndyCar veteran Colton Herta, and Finland’s Mika Häkkinen.

True to the surface, Nitro Rallycross’ new FC1-X car was among the vehicles used at ROC 2022 alongside the FIA World Rallycross Championship’s RX2e and Polaris RZR, though the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport also appeared.

After claiming his second FIA Formula 3 victory of the 2022 season in the final round of the season in Monza, Franco Colapinto finished his F3 rookie season ninth in the overall standings.

The Argentinian picked up five podiums over the course of the season, which contributed greatly to his final total of seventy-six points.

Colapinto’s efforts made up eighty-four per cent of Van Amersfoort Racing’s points tally this season, as the Dutch outfit finished sixth in the teams’ championship in their first ever season.

Colapinto commented on his 2022 Formula 3 season and those who supported him throughout as he said:

“What a year it was! Entering our first season in FIA F3 with VAR I didn’t know what to expect. To finish it with two wins and 5 podiums is an absolute dream. I am thankful to everyone at Van Amersfoort Racing for their hard work and dedication. 

It seemed like a no-brainer decision to permanently keep Timo Scheider and Tamara Molinaro in the #42 XITE Energy Racing entry for the final two rounds of the 2022 Extreme E season in Antofagasta and Punta del Este, and that is exactly what the team did.

“I am thrilled to be racing the final two races of Extreme E Season #2 with XITE Energy Racing,” said Scheider. “I feel extremely passionate about this championship and cannot wait to get behind the wheel again in Chile.

“For Tamara and I to bag a podium in our first race together was amazing and I look forward to us and the team building on that momentum in South America.”

Molinaro and Scheider were previously Championship Drivers for Extreme E, meaning they served as advisors and reserves in the event of a regular driver being sidelined. The former would get her chance from the 2022 season’s start when she filled in for Klara Andersson at XITE for the Desert X Prix due to COVID-19, finishing sixth alongside team owner Oliver Bennett.

The duo were entrusted with the XITE #42 for the Island X Prix doubleheader in July as Andersson took over Molinaro’s slot as the female Championship Driver while Bennett was focusing on Nitro Rallycross. They immediately showed out by making the Final for the first race and finishing third before penalties promoted them to second and solidifying the team’s maiden podium. While the second round did not go as planned as they were classified last due to crash damage, their performance impressed enough to remain involved for the final two races.