Tuesday, 18 February 2025
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Amber Balcaen was the fastest of 70 drivers that participated in this week’s two-day ARCA pre-race practice at Daytona International Speedway. Balcaen turned her fast lap, 49.102 seconds/183.292 miles per hour, in a tight draft with her Nitro Motorsports teammate Thad Moffitt and fellow Toyota drivers out of the Venturini Motorsports stable.

The 62nd Annual Daytona ARCA 200 is scheduled for Saturday, February 15, at noon. The race will be televised live on FOX and will be carried live nationwide on select affiliates of the MRN Radio Network. Live timing and scoring data from all on-track activity, including practice on Thursday, February 13, and General Tire Pole Qualifying on Friday, February 14, is available at ARCARacing.com.

In other highlights from the two-day test:

— Eighteen-year-old Chase Pinsonnault made a strong debut in the ARCA Menards Series, timing in second fastest at 49.226 seconds/182.830 miles per hour. Pinsonnault, a third-generation racer, has driven in the ASA STARS National Tour for NASCAR Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar; he will make his first career ARCA Menards Series start in the Daytona ARCA 200.

— Balcaen, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Pinsonnault, from Windsor, Ontario, gave Canadian drivers a sweep of the top two positions for the first time in the history of the pre-season practice runs at Daytona International Speedway.

Posted On Monday, 13 January 2025 22:34 Written by
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On Sunday, we just watched the best short track race ever with the Next Gen car (with the possible exception of the chaotic spring Bristol race). Goodyear’s new, softer tire compound did the job it was supposed to do, which is good news looking ahead to the 2025 short track races.

But we’re not talking about the race. And we’re not talking about the brilliant drive that Ryan Blaney put together to race to the win late and claim a spot in the Final Four at Phoenix by claiming the checkered flag at the beloved paper-clip track.

Instead, we’re talking about shenanigans. Shenanigans of the sort that make the sport look downright foolish. The only thing worse than team orders is manufacturers' orders, and that’s what reared its ugly head in the extreme on Sunday.

Posted On Monday, 04 November 2024 20:39 Written by
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If Burger King is all about “have it your way”, NASCAR has traditionally been the polar opposite in its approach. 

For the past 75 years, NASCAR’s leadership has resided with the France family (First Big Bill France, followed by Bill France Jr., Brian France and now Jim France). Since it launched, NASCAR has operated its stock car racing operation essentially as it wished.

Sure, drivers and teams and fans can complain about some decisions, but at the end of the day, NASCAR makes the rules, and there isn’t much anyone could do about it.

I mention this all as background for the earthquake news that broke on Wednesday morning that two NASCAR teams — 23XI Racing (co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin) and Front Row Motorsports — have filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and Jim France.

Signs of trouble began about four weeks back, when it was announced that all Cup teams other than 23XI and Front Row had signed a new charter agreement that would govern the team owners from 2025 through 2031. Many in the sport wondered what the two teams were thinking. What leverage did they have now that all the other teams had signed on to the new deal?

We got our answer Wednesday with this bombshell lawsuit, which puts NASCAR in very unfamiliar territory and opens them up to outside scrutiny. Especially of note is that the two teams’ legal representation is the formidable Jeffrey Kessler, who has had past success battling the NCAA regarding athlete compensation.

Posted On Thursday, 03 October 2024 01:38 Written by
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For the third year in a row, Chevrolet has won the manufacturer’s title in the Indycar Series.

It’s the ninth time Chevrolet has captured the honor wince returning to the series in 2012.

“This is a proud moment for everyone at Chevrolet. The effort by GM Motorsports competition engineering and Propulsion engineers, along with our partners at Ilmor, to deliver power and reliability in the Chevy 2.2 liter V6 INDYCAR engine has been outstanding,” said Mark Reuss, GM President.

“This Championship is truly a combined effort and could not have been accomplished without the teamwork, preparation, and execution of the five Chevrolet teams: Team Penske, Arrow McLaren, Ed Carpenter Racing, AJ Foyt Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing. Congratulations to our teams and drivers, and thank you to INDYCAR for providing an incredibly competitive series.”

In the 13 seasons of the Chevrolet 2.2-liter V6 twin turbocharged INDYCAR engine, Team Chevy drivers have amassed 122 wins of the 215 races to date – an impressive 56.7%. Six of those wins have been in the Indianapolis 500.

Chevy teams contributing toward the title include: Team Penske (drivers Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin); Ed Carpenter Racing (drivers Rinus VeeKay, Christian Rasmussen and Ed Carpenter); Arrow McLaren (drivers Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, Callum Illot, Theo Pourchaire and Nolan Siegel); AJ Foyt Racing (drivers Santino Ferrucci and Sting Ray Robb); and Juncos Hollinger Racing (drivers Romain Grosjean, Agustin Canapino, and Conor Daly).

In addition to the nine Manufacturer Championships, Chevrolet has won seven driver championships with Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012), Power (2014 and 2022), Scott Dixon (2015), Simon Pagenaud (2016) and Newgarden (2017 and 2019).

The Chevrolet 2.2-liter V6 engine powered drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 with Tony Kanaan (2013), Juan Pablo Montoya (2015) Will Power (2018), Simon Pagenaud (2019) and Josef Newgarden (2023 and 2024).

Previously, Chevrolet competed in Indy-style racing as a manufacturer of V8 engines from 1986-93 and 2002-05, powering 111 wins, one manufacturer championship in 2002, seven Indianapolis 500 wins and six driver championships.

Posted On Saturday, 14 September 2024 20:02 Written by
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While Stewart-Haas Racing as we know it will end after 2024, team owner Gene Haas will continue on a leaner scale in the sport.

Haas will keep one NASCAR Cup Series legacy charter from Stewart-Haas and operate a two-car NASCAR Xfinity Series team. The new enterprise will be known as Haas Factory Team.

“My commitment to motorsports hasn’t changed, just the scope of my involvement,” Haas said. “Operating a four-car Cup Series team has become too arduous but, at the same time, I still need a platform to promote Haas Automation and grow HaasTooling.com.

 “Maintaining my presence in Cup allows Haas Automation to compete at NASCAR’s highest level, which is important to our customers and distributors. The Xfinity Series program provides a full weekend experience for our guests, and it delivers added depth and scale to our overall operation.”

Joe Custer will be the president of Haas Factory Team and it will operate out of the existing Stewart-Haas facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Drivers and team partners will be announced in the lead up to the 2025 NASCAR season.

Posted On Thursday, 20 June 2024 16:26 Written by
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