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Category: Auto Racing

  • F1: Mercedes: New contract for Lewis Hamilton ‘days’ away

    F1: Mercedes: New contract for Lewis Hamilton ‘days’ away


    After months of discussions with Formula One star driver Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes expects to sign him to a contract extension in matter of “days, not weeks,” its team boss said.

    Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team CEO Toto Wolff told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” program on Monday that a new deal will happen soon with six months remaining on the current contract.

    “We are still talking, we get this question basically every race weekend,” Wolff said. “We’ve got such a good relationship we dread the moment we have to talk about money.

    “It is going to happen soon.”

    Wolff said he would like to get an agreement before the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.

    “I think we’re talking more days than weeks but if I commit to a date now then everyone is going to ask me over the weekend what happened to the days,” Wolff said about the time frame for a potential deal.

    Hamilton, 38, is a seven-time F1 champion from Great Britain who joined Mercedes in 2013, as did Wolff.

    Hamilton has said recently that he hopes an announcement will be made in the coming weeks while also dealing with rumors that the rival Ferrari racing team was putting together a $48 million contract offer. Ferrari team’s principal Frederic Vasseur also denied the report as “rubbish” in May.

    –Field Level Media

  • NAS: Martin Truex Jr. takes checkered flag at Sonoma for fourth time

    NAS: Martin Truex Jr. takes checkered flag at Sonoma for fourth time


    What a difference a year has made for Martin Truex Jr. at Sonoma.

    Truex passed Chase Elliott shortly after a late restart and won for the fourth time in Northern California’s wine country, grabbing the checkers in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday in Sonoma, Calif.

    After Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin brought out a caution with 19 laps remaining at Sonoma Raceway, Truex restarted his No. 19 Toyota inside the top four with 15 laps to go.

    Truex maneuvered past leader Elliott, on older tires, and snaked his way around the 12-turn road course to find victory for the third time in the past five races there after finishing 26th a year ago.

    “Hats off to my team,” said Truex, who led a race-high 51 laps. “To be so bad here last year and to come back and do that with the same car basically is really unbelievable.

    “This is why we do it. This is why we go through years we had like last year. You just keep fighting and never give up on it. You always believe in each other. We haven’t changed anything on our team other than parts and pieces. It’s through a lot of hard work by a lot of people.”

    His four wins trail only Jeff Gordon’s five for the most all-time at Sonoma.

    It was the Mayetta, N.J., native’s 33rd Cup triumph and fourth win in 17 starts at Sonoma.

    The win was Truex’s second of 2023 and first since his victory at Dover Motor Speedway on May 1.

    “I tried really hard there at the end to keep Martin honest,” runner-up Kyle Busch said. “I’d beat him a little on a lap then I’d mess up. Then he’d beat me by a little more on the next lap.”

    Joey Logano and Chris Buescher finished third and fourth, respectively.

    Following a one-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600, Elliott came in fifth.

    In his final race in his home state of California, Kevin Harvick brought his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford home in 11th.

    Harvick’s start — his 806th in the series — moved him ahead of Gordon and into ninth place among all-time drivers.

    After securing his first-ever pole position at the 2.385-mile track, Hamlin took off in his No. 11 Toyota and won the first stage’s bonus points at Lap 25 by 2.987 seconds over Truex.

    Hamlin paced all 25 laps in the caution-free segment, which stayed green and didn’t bunch the field under a rule used by NASCAR at its road courses.

    However, Truex made a pass on Lap 34 and left his stablemate, only to lose the point when most of the field pitted with five laps left in Stage 2 during the 110-lap race’s first caution.

    Under green, Busch went on to win the stage — his second segment win this season and first at Sonoma — with Logano behind him at the halfway point.

    –Field Level Media

  • XFT: Opportunistic Aric Almirola grabs Xfinity win at Sonoma Raceway

    XFT: Opportunistic Aric Almirola grabs Xfinity win at Sonoma Raceway


    SONOMA, Calif. – Aric Almirola knew Sonoma Raceway is a track that wouldn’t make him look like a “wanker.”

    Far from it. Holding off the dominant car of Kyle Larson — until Larson made a critical mistake — and then outrunning road course ace AJ Allmendinger over the final laps, Almirola won Saturday’s DoorDash 250 at the 1.99-mile road course.

    The victory was Almirola’s fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first since 2017, when he won at Talladega for owner Fred Biagi.

    The win also was the first-ever for Georgia-based RSS Racing, which fields cars for brothers Ryan and Kyle Sieg. The Stewart-Haas Racing shop prepared the car for Almirola.

    Driving the No. 28 Ford, Almirola took the checkered flag 1.868 seconds ahead of runner-up Allmendinger, with Larson running third 3.329 seconds back. Almirola had taken the lead from the fifth position on a Lap 65 restart, an advantage he held the rest of the way.

    “Oh, man, this is so special,” said Almirola, who was making his second Xfinity start of the season after a 24th-place finish at Circuit of the Americas in April. “It’s hard to explain. I know it’s an Xfinity win — it’s not a Cup win, but after COTA (I said), ‘I don’t think I should run any more road course races in an Xfinity car.’

    “It makes me look like a wanker, and I lose self-confidence going into Sunday. But I knew that this racetrack, this is one I that can run good at. I’ve run good here my whole career. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I love racing here.”

    Larson swept the first two stages and held a lead of more than 13 seconds over Allmendinger when Jeffrey Earnhardt backed into the barrier in Turn 10 on Lap 60 and caused the race’s second caution.

    If the subsequent restart on Lap 65 was crucial to Almirola’s victory, Larson’s mistake on Lap 72 was even more so. On Lap 72 of 79, Larson drove hard into the Turn 11 hairpin within inches of Almirola’s back bumper and clipped one of the stacks of tires defining the corner.

    Larson’s Chevrolet shot to the left of the racing line, and by the time he had righted the car, Allmendinger had passed him for second.

    “I just got too greedy,” said Larson, who led a race-high 53 laps to Almirola’s 17. “I was kind of tucked up right behind him, clipped the tires, and it knocked the wheel out of my hands. After that the toe was off. I was really tight in the left and really loose in the right, so I couldn’t make runs at it. …

    “I’m really mad at myself right now, but I’m really proud of the car they (Hendrick Motorsports) brought. Congrats to Aric, too. He did a really good job out in front of me, hitting his marks. He could kind of get away from me in a couple of important areas and would make me have to work hard behind him. So hats off to him and that team.”

    Ty Gibbs ran fourth, as full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers claimed the top four finishing positions. Parker Kligerman led the Xfinity regulars in fifth, followed by Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer.

    NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – DoorDash 250
    Sonoma Raceway
    Sonoma, California
    Saturday, June 10, 2023

    1. (4) Aric Almirola(i), Ford, 79.
    2. (5) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 79.
    3. (1) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 79.
    4. (7) Ty Gibbs(i), Toyota, 79.
    5. (12) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 79.
    6. (26) Cole Custer, Ford, 79.
    7. (2) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 79.
    8. (13) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 79.
    9. (10) Sammy Smith #, Toyota, 79.
    10. (6) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 79.
    11. (3) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 79.
    12. (14) Brett Moffitt, Ford, 79.
    13. (8) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 79.
    14. (20) Chandler Smith #, Chevrolet, 79.
    15. (23) Riley Herbst, Ford, 79.
    16. (9) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 79.
    17. (24) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 79.
    18. (15) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 79.
    19. (25) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 79.
    20. (27) Kaz Grala, Toyota, 79.
    21. (28) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 79.
    22. (18) Kyle Weatherman, Ford, 79.
    23. (32) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 79.
    24. (33) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, 79.
    25. (11) Alex Labbe, Ford, 79.
    26. (30) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 79.
    27. (17) Daniel Suarez(i), Chevrolet, 79.
    28. (34) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 79.
    29. (31) Brad Perez, Toyota, 79.
    30. (36) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, 79.
    31. (38) Joe Graf Jr, Ford, 79.
    32. (29) Connor Mosack, Toyota, 78.
    33. (19) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 76.
    34. (21) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, Transmission, 71.
    35. (22) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Suspension, 60.
    36. (35) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, Accident, 59.
    37. (37) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Suspension, 44.
    38. (16) Parker Retzlaff #, Chevrolet, Transmission, 21.

    Average Speed of Race Winner: 76.388 mph.
    Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 3 Mins, 29 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.868 Seconds.
    Caution Flags: 2 for 8 laps.
    Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers.
    Lap Leaders: K. Larson(i) 1-21;A. Allmendinger(i) 22;A. Hill 23-25;J. Nemechek 26;A. Hill 27;K. Larson(i) 28-46;A. Almirola(i) 47-48;K. Larson(i) 49-61;A. Allmendinger(i) 62;A. Labbe 63-64;A. Almirola(i) 65-79.
    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Larson(i) 3 times for 53 laps; Aric Almirola(i) 2 times for 17 laps; Austin Hill 2 times for 4 laps; AJ Allmendinger(i) 2 times for 2 laps; Alex Labbe 1 time for 2 laps; John Hunter Nemechek 1 time for 1 lap.
    Stage #1 Top Ten: 17,10,28,7,19,11,1,48,2,18
    Stage #2 Top Ten: 17,10,19,7,21,28,20,98,48,1

    –By NASCAR NewsWire, Special to Field Level Media

  • XFT: Denny Hamlin charges to pole position for NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma

    XFT: Denny Hamlin charges to pole position for NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma


    SONOMA, Calif. — Denny Hamlin made the most of a second lap in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying to edge Tyler Reddick for the pole position for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

    Running the fastest lap of the day, Hamlin toured the 1.99-mile road course in 77.719 seconds (92.178 mph) to earn his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his first at Sonoma and the 38th of his career.

    Reddick had covered the distance in 77.812 seconds (92.068 mph) before Hamlin knocked him off the provisional pole late in the session.

    Michael McDowell, who posted the fastest lap in Round 1, qualified third at 92.060 mph, followed by Christopher Bell (91.308 mph) and road course ace AJ Allmendinger (91.873 mph). Sunoco rookie Ty Gibbs was sixth fastest, and Chris Buescher, the 2022 Sonoma runner-up, was seventh.

    Interestingly, crew chief Chris Gabehart suggested to Hamlin that he settle for his first lap in the final round. At the time, Hamlin was second fastest.

    “Chris was trying to get me to unbuckle after our first lap in the final round,” Hamlin said. “He was like, ‘That’s a great day, that’s a good starting spot,’ and I just asked like ‘You don’t want me to try again — I feel like maybe I could do it.’

    “And so I’m glad that we did try again.”

    Seeking his first career Cup Series pole, McDowell was frustrated with his third-place result, which matched his finishing position in last year’s race.

    “I think we had the car to beat today, so that’s what stinks about qualifying third,” McDowell said. “I feel good about our race trim. The cars I outqualified there I felt like we were way better in race trim. The only one I felt that was better than us was maybe the 5 (Kyle Larson), so we’ve got a good car for (Sunday) and we’ll get after it.

    “It’s good to be disappointed with third. I haven’t had a career pole here in the Cup Series, so I was hoping today would be it. I gave it all I had and just a little bit too much and over-stepped it.”

    The surprise of the session was Larson, who failed to advance to the second round after topping the speed chart in final NASCAR Cup Series practice by .558 seconds over Martin Truex Jr., who claimed the eighth starting position for Sunday’s race, the 16th of the season.

    Larson had started from the pole for the last five Sonoma races, winning once, in 2021. Earlier in the day, he won the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

    Chase Elliott, returning from a one-race suspension for wrecking Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, made one attempt during Saturday’s final round but slid sideways in Turn 4 before regaining control.

    The bobble cost Elliott precious time and dropped him to 10th on the grid next to defending race winner Daniel Suarez, who qualified ninth.

    –By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.

  • NAS: NASCAR Sonoma Raceway notebook

    NAS: NASCAR Sonoma Raceway notebook


    SONOMA, Calif. — With his victory last Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway, Kyle Busch now has 63 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series, most among active drivers and ninth all-time.

    Busch needs 13 more victories to catch eighth-place Dale Earnhardt Sr. and 20 more to equal the totals of Jimmie Johnson and Cale Yarborough.

    As a driver keenly aware of statistics, Busch has thought about the prospect of advancing up NASCAR’s career win list.

    “Yeah, I mean I would have said during the 2015 to 2019 time frame, when I was winning five or six a season, that it was definitely attainable,” said Busch. “And then we kind of slowed down the last few years, and I would have probably told you I didn’t know if I’d get there.”

    Busch came to Sonoma early to induct his brother, Kurt Busch, into the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame on Thursday night.

    “And then this year, we’ve got three and I feel like there’s plenty more. So hopefully we can continue to showcase that at RCR (Richard Childress Racing) and with the No. 8 Chevy to go out there and win some more. I think anything is possible. I think it would be more fair to talk about it when I at least hit 70, which could probably happen by the end of next year–so hopefully it does.”

    –Martin Truex Jr. is enjoying a new resource in 2023

    Martin Truex Jr. has three NASCAR Cup Series victories to his credit at Sonoma Raceway, but the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota hasn’t been prominent in discussions of possible winners in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

    Admittedly, Truex struggled mightily at Sonoma in the 2022 debut year of the Next Gen car, starting 28th and finishing 26th. Truex was winless last year but his cars have shown much more consistent speed this season, as his triumph at Dover and six top-10 finishes in the last eight races indicate.

    When it comes to road courses, Truex has an additional resource this season. No driver has been as successful on road courses as Tyler Reddick, who won at Road America and the Indianapolis Grand Prix Course last year and at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in April.

    Reddick switched from Chevrolet to Toyota with his move to 23XI Racing this year, and that gives Truex another set of useful information to absorb.

    “Yeah, for sure it is,” Truex said. “Especially the simulator stuff and then looking at his data. Everybody was looking at his data at COTA. I guess the benefit for us is that we get to ask him questions and hear about it – ‘Why did you do this, and why did you do that?’

    “I think there is a lot of benefit to that these days. Definitely, the simulator time as well. We’ve only raced the one road course this year, so we still have a lot to go and a lot to do here, but for sure it was crazy impressive what he did at COTA.”

    –Review of Talladega crash brings safety enhancements to Next Gen car

    After a thorough review of a Talladega wreck involving Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece, NASCAR has mandated new safety measures for the Next Gen Cup Series car, effective for the July 9 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    The most significant changes involve the addition of a steel plate welded to the right-side door bars to help prevent intrusion by another vehicle. Also, a general “softening” of the front end of the car through modifications to the front bumper strut and front ballast.

    The changes are designed to help dissipate energy during a wreck and lessen the impact on the driver and, again, to decrease the likelihood that the nose will intrude into another car.

    During the Talladega race on April 23, Larson was running near the front of the field when he spun after inadvertent contact, slid across the apron onto the infield grass and shot back up the track across traffic, collecting Preece.

    The impact of the nose of Preece’s No. 41 Ford tore part of the body work from the right-side door of Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet and bent the door bars. Fortunately, both Larson and Preece were unhurt during the crash.

    Asked on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway what he thought of the safety enhancements, Larson replied: “Yeah, I mean not an engineer, so I don’t know. I can’t look at it and really give you an opinion on how well they did with the changes or whatnot.

    “But I am very happy that me being in that wreck at Talladega–and seeing how close it got to being really bad–seeing them go straight into action, compile data and make quick moves on improving the safety was something I was happy to see.”

    –By NASCAR NewsWire, Special to Field Level Media