In this week’s Motion Motorsport Report for InsideTrackNews.com, Dave Mathers wraps up the busy, long weekend of racing at home and around the world…
After crashing once too often, American F1 racer Logan Sargeant has been put on the trailer for the rest of the season. The Williams team has selected F2 driver Franco Colapinto to finish the season. Williams sits dead last in the Constructors’ Championship with only 4 points.
Max Verstappen’s father Jos has become a true ‘soccer mom’ with all has chirping and complaining. He told Red Bull to look in the mirror after last Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. If anybody should look in the mirror it is him.
There was speculation during the final laps at Daytona that Kyle Busch might dump Harrison Burton. Sanity prevailed as Kyle didn’t want to duplicate the fiasco created by his RCR teammate Austin Dillon. Smart.
The rumour mill has it that Montreal dropped the ball on getting a NASCAR Cup race. Instead, the race is going to Mexico for a race next June. Could this news be part of the reason for the management team change in Montreal? Hmm. And the Xfinity Series will be going to Mexico, as well.
If memory serves, the last time the Xfinity series raced in Mexico they had to have armed guards accompany them all the way. Both series will be racing at Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, which features an oval and a road course.
Apparently, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is concerned that the Formula One ‘race stewards’ are being ‘abused’ … and he wants it to stop.
The very best way to make it stop is to completely get rid of the entire flawed ‘race steward’ program. That program has been subject to criticism for far too many years.
Running the top racing series in the world – and controlling it with club racing methods – just does not work. Hire full-time, COMPETENT racing staff and make the problems go away. It’s WAY past time for that to happen.
We have all heard the warnings about racing – starter, don’t drop the flag – driver, don’t spin out on the pace laps – driver, don’t hit the pace car, etc.
Well at Monza one of those warnings (sort of) occurred!! During the normal pre-race practice of the safety vehicles for the Italian Grand Prix, veteran pace car driver Bernd Maylander stuffed the bad-*ss Aston Martin into the fence!! Aston Martin is ‘investigating’ the incident!! I’m sure Bernd will get a LOT of ribbing in the garage.
Sounds like regular Xfinity driver Parker Retzlaff has upset the brass at Chevrolet. In only his second Cup race, he pushed Ford driver Harrison Burton at Daytona to the lead and the win over Chev driver Kyle Busch. His position is that he was going for the win. I agree with him.
NASCAR has done the right thing by moving its awards banquets to Charlotte. They will take place Thursday, November 21 for the Regional and International champions and Friday, November 22 for the National champions.
The Charlotte Convention Center will be the location for both days. This will save the teams a lot of money as the majority of the attendees will be able to stay in their own homes.
We visited and walked the Formula One track at Monza about thirty-five years ago. The unused 2.65-mile oval part of the F1 circuit has banking that is much steeper than even ‘Dega or Daytona. Maybe NASCAR Europe could run a race on it?
Richard Childress is still upset that both of his appeals of the Austin Dillon penalties from the Richmond race were dismissed. His comment that, “the rulings have changed NASCAR forever” is wrong, just plain wrong. A driver simply cannot be rewarded for ‘bad behaviour.’
My frustrations with TSN+ continued with Sunday’s NASCAR Canada Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. They took my money but, once again, I could not get the race. And trying to get in is an exercise in frustration and futility going around and around in circles. It should be much easier to buy this service from them. “An error has occurred during playback. Please try again later. (999/1002).” Wow. The second year in a row for the exact same race with the exact same problem.
Senior Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was complaining after Monza about the front wings on the McLarens and the Mercedes and he felt they should be ‘analyzed.’
It would appear that the Red Bull former advantage has been eliminated and he’s looking for a reason for the collapse. George Russell damaged his wing early on yet he was able to keep pace with the others.
Earl Ross Bus Tour: Looking for an incredible NASCAR outing that celebrates an amazing achievement by a Canadian racing legend? The Earl Ross Bus Tour leaves Ailsa Craig, Ontario on the morning of Oct. 30 and returns on Nov. 5.
In between, the tour visits Charlotte Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, zMax Dragway and dirt track, the 23XI team’s garage (owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin), an Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway and on Sunday, Nov. 3, the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
This fall marks the 50th anniversary of Canadian Earl Ross winning the fall Cup Series race at Martinsville and this trip will honour and celebrate that historic victory.
For trip information and to reserve your place, click here.
NASCAR Cup Series: Bubba Wallace (Toyota) won the pole for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night over Carson Hocevar (Chev) and Chase Briscoe (Ford). 37 cars.
Well, THAT didn’t take long!! On lap 3 Martin Truex got sideways loose on corner entry and collected Ryan Blaney for a caution. Both cars were done for the day. Other than the Truex/Blaney incident Stage 1 went green with Kyle Larson getting the win.
A little drama on the pit stops as Tyler Reddick was feeling ill and his team handed him some pills that he dropped. They asked him if he was going to get sick in the car and he said ‘yes.’ He then scrubbed the wall just after the green flag but kept going.
On lap 129 Todd Gilliland scraped the wall in both 1 and 2, getting Darlington stripes from the wrong spot. That stripe is earned on Corner 2 exit which was formerly Corner 4 before the revamping several years ago. Larson also won Stage 2.
On lap 314 Carson Hocevar had a solo spin coming out of 4 for a yellow. On lap 323 Todd Gilliland squeezed Chris Buescher up to the wall but spun himself for a yellow. On lap 336 Hocevar hit the wall again and really hurt his car.
Lap 344 it was the BIG ONE! Josh Berry tried to go three-wide in the middle and collected Ty Gibbs, Wallace, William Byron, Noah Gragson, Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez.
Oh baby, what a finish. Kyle Busch was chasing Briscoe and Briscoe hit the wall on the last lap but kept going. At the flag it was Briscoe, Busch, Christopher Bell, Larson and Ross Chastain. A good win for Stewart/Haas after a long drought.
In the final regular season points Reddick (Barfy?? lol) leads Larson by 1 and Chase Elliott by 29. With the reset for the playoffs Larson (running only 25 of the 26 races!!) leads Bell by 8 and Reddick by 12.
Their next race is Atlanta, Sunday at 3 P.M. on TSN 5.
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Christopher Bell won the pole for the race at Darlington Saturday over Sheldon Creed (both in Toyotas) and Sam Mayer (Chev). 38 cars with one DNQ.
The first caution came out on lap 5 when Parker Retzlaff stopped dead in the middle of pit road. On lap 12 Joey Logano’s motor let go and he retired. Two laps later another Ford, Riley Herbst, spanked the wall fairly hard after a flat tire. A lap later Anthony Alfredo hit the wall as he, too, had a flat tire. Hmm?
The yellow came out on lap 30 for debris on the track in 3. On lap 40 Sam Mayer spun from the lead but there was no caution flag. Reportedly another flat tire. At the end of Stage 1 Shane Van Gisbergen tapped Brandon Jones who had appeared to have lifted thus causing him to spin. Bell won the stage.
On the restart Kyle Weatherman got up and into the wall with a flat right-front tire. Creed won Stage 2. On lap 11 Corey Heim pitted with a flat right front tire. I’m guessing the tires didn’t like the extreme heat. Time to switch next year to a night race to keep the tires cooler?
On lap 144 Cole Custer, running 4th, slid up into the wall and A.J. Allmendinger ran into him. A lap later ‘Dinger’ hit the wall hard with a flat right front tire for a yellow. At the flag it was pole sitter Bell over Custer and Creed.
In the points Justin Allgaier leads Custer by 28 and Chandler Smith by 82.
Their next race is Atlanta, Saturday at 3 P.M. on TSN 2.
NASCAR Craftsman Trucks: Their next race is Bristol, Sunday, September 19 at 8 P.M. on Fox Sports Racing.
Formula One: At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Italy Max Verstappen set fast time in FP1, Lewis Hamilton was quickest in both FP2 and FP3 while Lando Norris nabbed the pole over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri with George Russell 3rd in his Mercedes. Canadian Lance Stroll qualified 17th. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli had a major off in FP1 hitting the barriers really hard. He is being touted as Hamilton’s replacement next year. In FP2 Kevin Magnussen had a similar wreck in his Haas although not quite as severe.
On the initial start Russell got shoved off track and took the runoff lane coming back on track two spots back but with a damaged front wing. It didn’t take long for Max Verstappen to start whining on his radio about not getting enough room from a competitor.
Surprisingly the race ran smooth and clean with no caution flags. At the flag the Tifosi went completely wild as Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, using only one stop, took the win over the two McLarens of Piasti and Norris. Stroll finished 19th.
In the Drivers’ Championship Verstappen saw his lead reduced to only 62 on Norris and 86 on Leclerc.
In the Constructors’ Championship Red Bull saw their lead shrink to only 8 points over McLaren and by 39 on Ferrari.
Their next race is Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday at 8.55 A.M. on TSN 3.
World Endurance Championship – in qualifying for the Six Hour Lone Star Le Mans (COTA) the AF Corse Ferraris grabbed the first two spots with Cadillac Racing third. 18 Hypercars and 18 GT3 cars. At the end of the 6 hours the two Ferraris finished 1st and 3rd while the Gazoo Racing Toyota finished 2nd. In the GT3 class it was the Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin over the Manthey Purerxcing Porsche and the Manthey Ema Porsche. I found it interesting that their Live Timing feature continued running at least three hours past the six hour time of the race and still showed ‘yellow’.
Their next race is September 15 at Fuji, Japan.
IndyCar: Scott McLaughlin won the pole for first of two races at the Milwaukee Mile on Saturday. He was followed by David Malukas and Alexander Rossi after second place qualifier Josef Newgarden was penalized a 9 grid spot penalty. 27 cars. At the halfway mark of the 250-lap event Pato O’Ward was leading followed by McLaughlin and Colton Herta. At the flag it was Pato O’Ward over Will Power and Conor Daly.
For Sunday’s race Newgarden won the pole over McLaughlin and Marcus Armstrong.
Things got interesting right at the start as Alex Palou’s car (the points leader) stalled on pit road and the safety crew couldn’t get it restarted. They rolled it back to his pit spot and they eventually got it started but he lost a bunch of laps. They ran the first five laps under yellow and then the green came out but did it really? It didn’t come out and not surprisingly they wrecked!!!! Pole sitter Newgarden left on the hook. When will IndyCar get it’s initial starting problems fixed? And what were the spotters doing? Sad. The restart was, wisely, single file!! Turns out the problem with the Palou car was a 12 volt battery. Call AAA!!
On lap 63 David Malukas slowed on track bringing out a yellow. On lap 117 the yellow came back out again when Sting Ray Robb had a tank slapper but stayed off both walls. On lap 132 Will Power spun without hitting either wall for another caution. That hurt as he was in the points lead before the spin. With the spin Palou regained the points lead by 29. On lap 228 Robb stopped on track for a caution.
What a great final bunch of laps. Lots of passing and lots of action. At the flag it was McLaughlin over Scott Dixon and Herta.
In the points Palou still leads Power by 33 while McLaughlin is 50 back.
Their next race is the finale at Nashville Super Speedway, Sunday, September 15.
IMSA their next race is Indy, Sunday, September 22.
NHRA: Indianapolis hosted the US Nationals this past week, wrapping up with the finals on the holiday Monday.
Top Fuel – Justin Ashley won the #2Fast2 Tasty Challenge with a 4.085 at 260.01 over Ida Zetterstrom. BOTH cars smoked the tires. In qualifying Brittany Force was number 1 with a 3.693 at 334.32. Quebec ace Dan Mercier qualified 10th. 20 cars.
In the final, crowd favourite Clay Millican took out Steve Torrence with a 3.792 at 327.82. 4 ‘upsets’ (lower qualified car wins) and 9 ‘smokers’ (one or both cars lost traction). Doug Kalitta (who did NOT qualify) leads the points by 84 over teammate Shawn Langdon and by 105 over Justin Ashley.
Funny Car – J.R. Todd won the #2Fast2 Tasty Challenge with a 3.953 at 325.22 Chad Green. In qualifying no surprise with Austin Prock topping the field with a 3.855 at 328.46. 18 cars. In the final it was Prock topping Ron Capps with a 3.885 at 327.98. 4 upsets and 8 smokers. In the points Bob Tasca by 218 and Matt Hagan by 230.
Pro Mod – once again the Pro Mods get treated like the drunken uncle at the family picnic. While the other Pro classes get FIVE qualifying sessions Pro Mod only gets THREE. AND they ran on Sunday NOT Monday. And it’s the Pro class with the most entries.
In qualifying, Canadian star Justin Bond of Mission, B.C. ran a 5.756 at 247.93 to top the 21 entries. Khalid al Balooshi was second with Lyle Barnett third. Jordan Lazic of Rutland, B.C. was 4th and Scott Wildgust of Sebringville, Ontario was 16th. Ken Quartuccio won the final over Mike Stavarino with a 5.766 at 247.34. In the points Kris Thorne leads Jose Gonzalez by 20 and Quartuccio by 25.
Pro Stock: Dallas Glenn won the #2Fast2 Tasty Challenge with a 6.621 at 206.83 over a red lighting Mason McGaha. Greg Anderson was #1 with a 6.575 at 207.88. 21 cars. In the final Aaron Stanfield beat Jeg Coughlin with a 6.561 at 209.36. 4 upsets. In the points Dallas Glenn leads Greg Anderson by 184 and Erica Enders by 206.
Pro Stock Bike – John Hall won the #2Fast2 Tasty Challenge with a 6.846 at 198.09 ahead of Matt Smith. No surprise here as Gaige Herrera was first with a 6.809 at 197.71. 16 bikes. In the final Herrera took out Angie Smith with a 6.763 at 198.70. 2 upsets. In the points Herrera leads Matt Smith by 226 and John Hall by 351.
Factory Stock – Jason Dietsch (Mustang) set quick time with a 7.842 at 174.71 ahead of David Janac (Mustang) and Mark Pawuk (Challenger). 18 cars. In the final Kevin Skinner won over a broken Raymond Nash with a slowing 10.309 at 81.58. 4 upsets. In the points Stephen Bell leads Janac by 56 and Pawuk by 97.
Factory X – Stephen Bell (Mustang) ran a 7.194 at 193.74 to top qualifying over Aaron Stanfield (Camaro) and Greg Stanfield (Camaro). New Brunswick racer Wendell Howes qualified 12th and went two rounds. 9 cars. Aaron Stanfield took out Lenny Lotig in the final with a 7.094 at 191.62. 3 upsets. In the points Aaron leads his father Greg by 35 and Lottig by 81.
Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge – #1 qualifier Steve Comella won over Bucky Hess with an 8.396 at 159.82. 23 entries.
Their next race is Maple Grove, September 15.
NASCAR Canada Series: In qualifying Saturday for Sunday’s Weather Tech 200 at Mosport (CTMP) Kevin Lacroix won the pole over Gary Klutt and Andrew Ranger. 28 cars. Darryl Timmers had a serious off and got up on top of the guard rails but he was okay. Car, not so much.
As mentioned earlier, I wasn’t able to watch the race on TSN+ and wasn’t able to access timing on Race Monitor (although every other race on the planet was working). And the NASCAR.ca Live Timing stalled showing red flag on lap 2 (Hathaway/Stacey wreck??). I will, however, list the finishers. VERY frustrating!!
At the flag it was Kevin Lacroix over Marc-Antoine Camirand, Kyle Steckly, Andrew Ranger and D.J. Kennington.
Their next race is at Delaware, Sunday. The event becomes part of a huge weekend of racing at Delaware, after this race was rained out a few weeks back.
United Racing Series – APC Series: Their next race is at Delaware for The Great Canadian Weekend, Friday and Saturday. All four classes – Late Model, Super Stock, Mods and Hot Rods will be there.
Ontario Sportsman Series: In the 100 lap race at Sauble Speedway Saturday night, the win went to Connor James over Derek McCullough, Chad McGlynn, Kevin Gallant and Kevin Trevellin. Their next race is at Sunset, Friday, September 20.
Delaware Speedway: ‘Northern Lights’? We don’t need no stinkin’ Northern Lights. We’ve got our own light show!! Friday night everybody in the stands experienced an amazing light show of ‘sheet lightning’ or ‘heat lightning’ that went on for well over an hour.
However, with less than ten laps to go in the Late Model feature the sheet lighting changed to lightning bolts. A long-time rule in racing is if lightning strikes within a mile of the track, then everything must be stopped for the safety of everybody.
With three laps to go, starter Scott Mackie exited the starter’s stand with his flags packed away in their bag and walked to the pits. He instructed gate manager Chris Culos to turn out the track lights!! The fans had seen a great show.
Forty-six Bone Stocks were in the pits with Bryan Batty winning Heat 1, David Rockwood won Heat 2 and Adam Jeneroux won Heat 3 after original winner Jeffrey Showler was DQ’d for jumping the start. Daniel Mailloux won the B Main. First time winner Dakota Luoma topped the Main followed by Colin Willems, Matt Langford, Donavin Clark and Paul Fothergill. In the points Langford leads Jermiah Rabideau11 and Clark by 41.
The Super Stocks were scheduled to run two features, but Mother Nature won the second one. Ryan Dyson won Heat 1 while Darrell Lake won Heat 2. Carson Nagy got together with Ethan Orr coming out of corner 4 in the second heat and he ended on top of Orr’s car. Both cars continued. Dyson dominated the main over Lake, Brody Rickwood, David McCullough and Trevor Collver. 19 cars. Collver leads Nagy by 17 and Lane Zardo by 28.
In Late Model action, Gary Adriaensen won Heat 1, Scott Steckly, running Jonny Aarts’ number, won Heat 2 and the main over Josh Stade, Adriaensen, Ray Morneau and Matt Robblee.
Some APC cars came to practice for the Great Canadian Weekend including Jo Lawrence who ran around at the back of the pack but still ran the quickest time at 18.625. Morneau leads Adriaensen by 21 and Marshall Schrenk by 23.
Their next race is The Great Canadian Weekend, Friday and Saturday for the APC Series.
Ohsweken Speedway: Their next race is the Bradshaw’s & Epic Racewear night Friday.
Flamboro Speedway: Their next race is the 100 lap Enduro, Saturday.
Oswego Speedway: Tyler Thompson won the Bud International Classic over Dave Shullick, Jr., Otto Sitterly, Bobby Santos III and Michael Barnes. 30 cars.
Sunset Speedway: J.R. Fitzpatrick won the bad fast 50 lap Ontario Outlaw Super Late Model race Saturday night over Glenn Watson, Brad Pearsall, Brandon Passer and Ethan Cournyea.
Buxton Speedway: Their next race with OTS & NRVRS is Saturday.
Full Throttle Motor Speedway: Their next race is the Promoters Memorial Night Saturday.
Grand Bend Motorplex: Their next race is FallFast with the ONDR next weekend.
St. Thomas Dragway: Their next race is the Hot Rod Reunion, Saturday and Sunday.
Toronto Motorsports Park: They hosted their big Labour Day Weekend Spectacular on the weekend. Coming up this weekend is the Canada Heads Up series.
Can-Am Stock/Super Stock Series: Their next races are September 28 & 29 at Empire Dragway.
PMRA: Their next event is September 13 & 14 with Quick 32 Sportsman Series plus Pro Bike & Sled Series, Empire Dragway.
Shannonville Drags: Their next race is September 21 & 22.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
