In this week’s Motion Motorsport Report, Dave Mathers updates readers on a busy weekend of racing on the international scene, with action in Monaco, Indy and Charlotte, as well as on Canadian soil.
I was never a Ricky Stenhouse fan, but after last week at North Wilkesboro I have become one. He was fined $75,000 for hitting Kyle Busch and his father and two crew members were given suspensions. My question is, ‘Why was Busch not black flagged for his blatant hit on Stenhouse?’ There’s a rumour circulating that there’s a GoFundMe account being set up to pay his fine.
Two young hot shoes who have raced at Delaware Speedway had a great time at Owosso Speedway, in Michigan, on the weekend. Third-generation driver Chase Pinnsoneault whose father and grandfather both raced in the former CASCAR series as well as in the ASA won the Big O Classic race ahead of second-generation driver Kyle Steckly of Milverton. Scott’s father, Scott, has multiple championships under his belt. The race was part of the JEGS / CRA All Stars Tour. Oh Canada!!
As well, Steckly had an interesting time at the ASA All-Star Race at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway last week. In spite of a good qualifying spot, he ran into troubles when his transmission locked in third gear and he ended up in 20th, one spot ahead of Chase Elliott. Nova Scotia oval racing star Cole Butcher won the race. Oh, Canada again!
Christian Horner, the Red Bull honcho, echoed at Monaco what I have been saying all along. Michael Andretti should buy an existing team rather than pay the huge bucks required to become the eleventh team. Maybe the Red Bull B-team or Haas? After all Gene Haas and Tony Stewart are shutting down their NASCAR team, so maybe Gene’s ready to park his F1 team, as well.
While watching the Monaco F1 race, I remembered walking that track several times with my wife Linda. The cameras don’t really show just how narrow that circuit really is. And it’s hard to believe the cars can go as fast as they do. The greatest part is the tunnel under what is referred to locally as the ‘American Casino.’
Formula One had a ‘unique’ problem at Monaco, one that I haven’t seen before. The banners on the guardrails were getting rubbed off by the cars touching them and causing problems. One of the cars, the McLaren of Lando Norris, reportedly, had four meters of banner stuck underneath it during qualifying, slowing the car by three seconds during Q1.
I guess that is what happens when, to quote the late great Dick Trickle, you put ‘jet fighters in a gymnasium’!! Apparently Race Control had been notified about the problem after Free Practice One on Friday and promised repairs. Didn’t happen as the big problems occurred in qualifying on Saturday. I hate to think what would have happened to a race team that promised changes but didn’t make them!
NASCAR Cup Series: In qualifying for the Coca-Cola (World) 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Ty Gibbs (Toyota) grabbed his first pole ahead of William Byron (Chev) and Christopher Bell. Kyle Larson, attempting the double, qualified 10th but Hendrick had Justin Allgaier on standby in case Kyle didn’t get back from Indy where he elected to stay through the rain delay. 40 cars qualified for the race.
Unlike both Formula One and IndyCar the Cup drivers made it through the first lap without incident. LOL On lap 88 B.J. McLeod had a solo spin off Turn 4 but kept going for the first caution. Byron won Stage 1.
On lap 158 the caution came out for Ryan Blaney, who got stuck on pit road. On lap 171 Noah Gragson got punted by Ricky Stenhouse for another yellow. On lap 197 Harrison Burton spun on Corner 1 exit. Christopher Bell won Stage 2. On lap 229 Corey LaJoie spun and almost hit the wall in 1. Lap 246 a yellow came out for rain and lightning followed by a red flag. Larson arrived just as the red flag came out and he was ready to hop in his seat.
However, in a move that defies logic and with no respect for the fans, the drivers, the crew members, the staff and the media… NASCAR finally called the race after a more than two-hour rain delay. Why? I was watching the Live Radar just like Race Control, all the teams, the media and many of the fans and it was very obvious that the rain was not going to let up long enough to complete the 400 laps. After a day of wall to wall racing, Monaco, Indy and Charlotte, fans were tired.
However, after saying all that, the flag came down on Bell followed by Brad Keselowski and William Byron. Toyota, Ford, Chev!! In the points, Denny Hamlin now has the lead by five points over Martin Truex and by six on Larson who fell to third (he didn’t even show up on the NASCAR Live Standings points – had to get that from Jayski).
Their next race is Madison, Sunday at 3.30 on TSN 5.
NASCAR Xfinity Series: In qualifying for the Xfinity race Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway Ty Gibbs (Toyota) won the pole over another Cup interloper Kyle Busch (Chev) and Chandler Smith (Toyota).
Things went fairly smoothly until lap 30 when A.J. Allmendinger got together with Riley Herbst turning Herbst down into the inside wall. Herbst was done for the day. Those two had been battling for a bunch of laps. Justin Allgaier won Stage 1.
On lap 74 Parker Kligerman had a solo spin off four and slid down into the inside wall. Then he ‘stalled’ on pit in which looked VERY suspicious. Allgaier also won Stage 2. However, he was penalized during his pit stop and sent to the back of the field.
On lap 109 Kyle Sieg spun in corner two for another caution. On lap 170 with 30 to go Ryan Ellis had a ‘moment’ and crashed hard for a caution. One lap after the restart Ty Gibbs punted Allgaier into the wall on the front stretch. It looked like Justin was done for the day. Tough after winning both stages.
Gibbs had to pit with a flat right front tire. On the restart (do you see a pattern here?) Austin Hill and Cole Custer got together and collected Chandler Smith in the process.
Finally, after over two and half hours the checker flew and Chase Elliott (started 30th!!) won ahead of Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith, all in Chevs.
In the points Hill leads by 4 over Chandler Smith and Cole Custer – Chev, Toyota, Ford – parity!! Uh, about that announce team? LOL.
Their next race is Portland, Saturday at 4.30 on TSN 5.
NASCAR Craftsman Trucks: Tanner Gray won the pole for the Friday night race at Charlotte Motor Speedway ahead of Corey Heim (both in Toyotas) and Ty Majeski (Ford). Canadian Stewart Friesen (Toyota) started 12th.
Stage 1 ran clean the whole way with Corey Heim nabbing the stage win. Heim also won the caution-free Stage 2. On lap 68 the first race caution came out for a five-truck accident. On lap 81 Matt Crafton lost a wheel and hit the wall. On lap 120 Chase Purdy hit the wall and lost a wheel. At the flag it was Nick Sanchez over Heim and Friesen!!
After the race Corey Heim was DQ’d for having three lug nuts missing in post-race tech inspection. This moved Friesen up to 2nd and Grant Enfinger to 3rd.
In the revised points after the penalty Christian Eckes leads Heim by 30 and Sanchez by 50.
Their next race is Madison, Saturday at 1.30 P.M. on Fox Sports Racing.
Formula One: Qualifying was interesting, to say the least, at Monaco. Max Verstappen’s dominating qualifying streak came to an end as he only managed 6th. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) got the pole ahead of Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari). Canadian Lance Stroll qualified 14th two spots ahead of his teammate Fernando Alonso. Sergio Perez did not help his driving future at Red Bull by qualifying 18th and not getting out of Q1.
Oops, the two Haas cars of Nico Hulkenberg (qualified 12th) and Kevin Magnussen (qualified 15th) were penalized in post-qualifying tech inspection and started 19th and 20th. Apparently, the team had added new components to the rear wing and the new parts made the allowable gap too much. My question is how was that not picked up in pre-qualifying inspection? Hmm.
Wow, carnage almost immediately on the very first lap. Sainz made contact with Piastri and his left front tire went flat and he pulled off track. Cars following got involved including Hulkenberg and Magnussen who got crowded into the wall by Perez. His Red Bull was totally destroyed in the ensuing contact. Red flag.
I have never seen so much debris on a track, all of it that tire shredding carbon fiber. A long cleanup ensued. I have never seen so many track workers in one place like there. It was heart breaking to see that multimillion dollar Red Bull being lifted up on the hook. Only 16 cars took the restart. And, of course, the ‘volunteer’ stewards were going apoplectic reviewing all the incidents!!
Things actually ran smoothly for the rest of the ‘follow the leader’ race. At the flag you could just cut and paste the starting order at least for the top 10. It was Leclerc, Piastri and Sainz. I’m not clear on how Sainz got his spot back after getting the flat tire on the first lap.
In the Driver’s Championship Verstappen still leads by 31 on Leclerc and Norris by 56.
In the Constructors’ Championship Red Bull leads Ferrari by only 24 and McLaren by 92.
Their next race is Canada, Sunday, June 9
IndyCar: Biblical rains delayed the start of the Indianapolis 500 by nearly five hours Sunday. Roger Penske’s team, racing on Roger Penske’s race track, running in Roger Penske’s series totally dominated qualifying by putting all three cars on the front row – Scott McLaughlin, Will Power and Josef Newgarden. Pretty good for a team with all the top brass in the penalty box!!
Amongst the top teams Chip Ganassi had five cars with Alex Palou the best qualifier at 14th. Andretti Global had four entries with Kyle Kirkwood 11th. Arrow McLaren had four entries with Alexander Rossi 4th and NASCAR points leader Kyle Larson 5th. Didn’t he use to drive for Ganassi? Rahal Letterman Lanigan had four entries with Takumo Sato 18th.
Wow, as the late Rodney Dangerfield used to say ‘what a crowd, what a crowd’!!
As can be expected on a rained upon track with little or no rubber they wrecked on lap 1. Tom Blomqvist hit the rumble strips and spun up into Marcus Ericcson and then they collected Pietro Fittipaldi. On the restart Larson appeared to have problems and dropped back about ten spots. There were some engine failures early in the race.
On lap 28 another ‘qvist’ Linus Lundqvist had a bit of a tank slapper and slid up track slightly hitting the wall and spinning to the bottom of the track on the front stretch. On lap 56 the third Honda motor blew for a third ‘qvist’ this time Feliz Rosenqvist.
I’m thinking to myself ‘how many NASCAR fans are focused on Larson?’ On lap Colton Herta spun on corner entry and hit the outside wall. Another Honda engine failure? There were a couple of ‘incidents’ on pit road during the caution. On lap 108 we saw a ‘Danny Sullivan’ move when Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact with another car and slid down onto the grass, did a 360 and re-entered the track safely.
It was very frustrating while using IndyCar’s Live Timing as it kept showing C. Daly 29th, 27th times 6 at the top of the chart. Not sure whether the weather may have contributed to that. On lap 114 Marco Andretti ‘got behind on his steering’ on corner exit, saved it, lost it, saved it then spun and backed lightly into the wall.
On lap 147 Will Power spun and wadded his car up pretty badly on the wall. It’s always fun to see the ‘Conga Line’ coming down the front straightaway at Indy. On the last lap, O’Ward got around Newgarden, then the pass was reversed. At the flag it was Newgarden over O’Ward and Dixon. Great race and great finish. Larson finished 18th.
Their next race is Detroit, Sunday.
IMSA: Their next race is Detroit, Saturday at 3 on REV TV.
ASA STARS NATIONAL TOUR: Nova Scotia racer Cole Butcher won the Tar Heel 250 on Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway following a long evening of racing. After a lengthy rain delay, Butcher was strong over the final 50 laps, taking the lead and powering away during the final restart en route to the checkered flag.
MARITIME PRO STOCK TOUR: The East Coast International Pro Stock Tour kicked-off the 2024 season, on Saturday night, with a divided crowd as Jarrett Butcher (Porter’s Lake, NS) crossed the line first to take home the first victory of the season.
While it looked like Ashton Tucker (Littleton, NB) was going to take the win, Butcher managed to overtake him for the final two laps and Tucker had to settle of second. While they were battling, Cory Hall (Jollicure, NB) sat in wait for either to make a mistake, but settled for third ahead of Ryan Messer (Harvey, NB) and Devin Snell (Baxter’s Corner, NB).
24 Hours of LeMans: This legendary race takes place June 15 & 16.
CASC-OR: Ontario’s regional road racing tour visits Shannonville Motorsports Park this weekend for the SMP Cup. Hosted by the St. Lawrence Automobile Club, the season’s second regional racing event will feature: Pirelli Tire Super Touring (GT 1 & 2), Pirelli Tire Grand Touring (GT 3, 4 & 5), Toyo Formula 1600, Formula Libre / F4, the new Miata Canada Cup and Rolling Start HPDE.
VARAC Vintage Grand Prix: This takes place June 13-16 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
NHRA: Their next race is New England, Sunday at 7 P.M. on Fox Sports Racing.
IROC: Their first race is July 20 at Lime Rock Park.
NASCAR Canada Series: Canada’s national stock car tour takes to the track for its second race of the season – and its first oval race of 2024 – this Sunday at Quebec’s Autodrome Chaudière.
United Racing Series – APC Late Model Series: Their next race is at Flamboro, Saturday, June 8th.
Ontario Sportsman Series their next race is at Full Throttle, Saturday.
Delaware Speedway: Friday night’s show ran fast as there were only two classes, the Late Models and the Super Stocks plus King of the Hill at the end.
Cody Wilds won Heat 1 of the Super Stocks but did not make it through ‘tunnel of gloom’ so the win went to Justin Collison followed by Ethan Orr and Lonny Thompson. Heat 2 went to Lane Zardo followed by Hudson Nagy and Carson Nagy. The feature was won by Carson Nagy over Collison, Zardo, Andrew Ferreira and Thompson.
In the Late Models Heat 1 was won by Jake Hooker over Marshall Schrenk and Patrick Freel. Heat 2 saw Matt Robblee win over Ray Morneau and Gary Adriaensen. In the main Hooker leading was pushed high by Schrenk on the final corner and Morneau came below them bringing Robblee with him. Hooker was third.
Their next race is Friday with the Super Stocks, Bone Stocks and V/8 Stocks.
Ohsweken Speedway: Their next race is the Six Nations Bingo & AECON -Six Nations Friday.
Flamboro Speedway: Their next race night includes the Bill Zardo, Sr. Memorial Saturday.
Southern Ontario Motor Speedway (Buxton) their next race is this Saturday.
Full Throttle Motor Speedway: Their next race is the Can-Am Midgets and the Ontario Sportsman Series Saturday.
Grand Bend Speedway: Their first race is Saturday.
Grand Bend Motorplex: Their next race is this weekend.
St. Thomas Dragway: Their next race is this weekend.
Toronto Motorsports Park: Their next race is this weekend.
Shannonville Drags: Their next is June 9.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
