This week’s Motion Motorsport Report from Dave Mathers opens with the action last Friday night at Delaware Speedway. He also touches on NASCAR’s weekend at Kansas, F1 in Italy and more.
DELAWARE SPEEDWAY. Well, Friday night was interesting to say the least. The Bone Stock race was worth the price of admission all by itself!!
With Jeremiah Rabideau holding a very narrow lead in the points over Jo Lawrence, of Team Lawrence – Delaware’s answer to Team Hendricks – who brought out a bunch of cars to help Jo win the championship. And it sort of worked.
Brother Kris appeared to come down a bit on Rabideau coming out of Turn 4. Rabideau returned the favour coming out of 2, by again, sort of pushing Kris up into the wall. No harm, no foul and both cars continued.
Nope, dueling black flags for both of them… and a trip to the back. Hmm.
Jo Lawrence won the race over Phil Givens and Matt Langford while Rabideau came back through the pack to finish 7th while Kris finished 12th.
Jo Lawrence now has a 3-point lead on Rabideau heading to Friday’s championship race. Givens is third 49 points back. Should make for an interesting race, to say the least!!
In the Super Stocks, Pete Vanderwyst made quick work of the field thanks in part, he states, to his new motor. He beat Rick Verberne who was beating on his bumper in the closing laps, and Jay Doerr in third. Pete leads Jay by 10 points and Carson Nagy by 29 heading to Friday’s championship race.
Ray Morneau (main image at top) wasted little time getting to the lead in the Late Models and watched in his mirror as Kyle Steckly and Connor Pritiko traded paint behind him. They finished in that order.
Morneau has a healthy 23-point lead on Pritiko and 30 on Steckly as they head to Friday night’s championship race.
Their next race is Friday with Championship Late Models, Championship Super Stocks, V/8 Stocks and Bone Stocks.
APC SERIES: Their next race is at Delaware, Friday and Saturday, September 26 & 27, part of the APC/Pinty’s BIG weekend.
ONTARIO SPORTSMAN SERIES: The OSS was in action at Flamboro Speedway on Saturday evening and their Championship Night.
With three cars tightly bunched in the standings, the Waterloo Garage Doors Twin 40s promised to be action packed.
The first 40 lapper saw Todd Sheppard and Connor James leading the field to the green. After a side by side battle, the #2 of Sheppard began to pace the field with James in hot pursuit. Slightly past halfway, Sheppard and James tangled with a lapped car that saw both drivers doing some fancy driving to keep their cars under control. After the dust settled, Sheppard continued to lead with James dropping back in the pack. From there, Sheppard went uncontested in a caution free race to claim the checkers.
Following Race 1, Kevin Trevellin squeaked ahead in the standings, followed by Michael Hryniuk Jr. and Chad McGlynn.
Race 2 started with Connor James on the pole and Todd Sheppard outside. Sheppard quickly assumed the lead with James right on his bumper. Just shy of the halfway point, James snuck by into first and set off on a torrid pace. He passed under the checkered flag in first place, with Trevellin right on his bumper.
Trevellin’s runner-up result secured his first racing championship in 30 years of trying. Congrats to Kevin on a very well deserved crown! (Mark Hall / OSS).
NASCAR PINTY’S SERIES: Their next race, the season’s finale, is Sunday, September 25 at Delaware Speedway, part of the big APC/Pinty’s weekend.
FLAMBORO SPEEDWAY: Their next big race is Frostoberfest, Oct 1 & 2.
ONTARIO DRAGS: I will be adding big events only for the three local drag strips as they run regular bracket races each and every weekend.
GRAND BEND DRAGWAY: Their next big race is Fallfast this weekend.
ST. THOMAS DRAGWAY: Their next big race is the Ontario Gassers September 24 & 25.
TORONTO MOTORSPORT PARK: Their next big race is the Race Cayuga Sportsman Series this weekend.
NASCAR CUP SERIES: It didn’t take long for the Cup cars to go three wide at Kansas Speedway, like on the very first lap!! Tyler Reddick (Chev) started from the pole with Joey Logano (Ford) 2nd and Alex Bowman (Chev) 3rd.
After overnight rain the track was definitely green. The first yellow came out on lap 26 for a scheduled competition caution to check the tires. On lap 34 Kevin Harvick hit the wall hard and was out finishing last. On lap 66 Tyler Reddick hit the wall due to a flat tire. That would be a trend.
Ty Gibbs, now driving the #23 car, got tapped by Corey LaJoie on lap 90 and hit the wall. On lap 110 Ricky Stenhouse got a flat tire and hit the wall. On the ensuing restart Harrison Burton, Corey LaJoie and Aric Almirola tangled with Arik being the only one to continue.
The last caution was on lap 118 when Kyle Busch hit the wall hard. The race went green for the rest of the way. Christopher Bell won Stage 1 and Bowman won Stage 2.
Driving the same car number that carried teammate Kurt Busch to victory in the May race at Kansas Speedway, Bubba Wallace claimed a dramatic win at the same track during the the second event in the first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Wallace regained the lead on Lap 225 after the final cycle of green-flag pit stops at the 1.5-mile track and stayed out front for the final 43 circuits as his car owner, Denny Hamlin, chased him to no avail.
Bell now leads the playoff points by 10 over William Byron and by 11 atop Denny Hamlin.
Their next race, Bristol, is Saturday at 7.30 P.M. on TSN 5.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: Mother Nature was the big winner Saturday at Kansas Speedway as the race was called for rain at the conclusion of Stage 2.
Brandon Jones had nabbed the pole ahead of Ty Gibbs, both in Toyotas and Sheldon Creed (Chev). Similar to the Truck race Friday night the race was relatively tame with only 4 cautions, two for stage ends, one for Jeremy Clements spinning at pit in on lap 71 and then the last one for rain on lap 83.
After a five-lap yellow session the green came back out and then the race was red flagged on lap 93 and that was determined to be the full race. Ty Gibbs won Stage 1 while Noah Gragson won Stage 2 and the race. Justin Allgaier and Ty Gibbs did some banging and bumping coming to the Stage 2 checker after Justin went up the track and into Ty who quickly returned the favour. They finished 2, 3.
AJ Allmendinger has a 38-point lead over Gibbs and 55 atop Allgaier as they head to the final regular season points race at Bristol Friday. The Round of Twelve starts at Texas, Saturday September 24.
Their next race, Bristol, is Friday at 7.30 P.M.
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS: The Trucks took to the bad fast 1 ½ mile Kansas Speedway just west of Kansas City, Kansas Friday night. John Hunter Nemechek grabbed the pole ahead of Ty Majeski and Corey Heim all in Toyotas. Majeski got the lead on lap 8.
The race was very clean and there were only five cautions two of which were for stage ends. With three laps to go in Stage 2 Bayley Currey spun but kept going. Nevertheless they ‘put it out’! Huh? Get the Pinty’s crew down there!!!!
On lap 64 Kaden Honeycutt got spun by Dean Thompson. On lap 74 the car of Brett Moffitt caught fire after blowing the motor bringing out the final yellow.
Stage 1 and 2 were won by Nemechek who also won the race. Carson Hocevar finished second with Ryan Preece third.
Nemechek leads the playoff points by 9 over Zane Smith and by 21 over Chandler Smith.
Their next race, Bristol, is Thursday night at 9 P.M. on Fox Sports Racing.
FORMULA ONE: The telecast keep teasing us with the shots of the old HIGH banked oval at Monza!! If only there was some way to incorporate some of that oval into the main course!! Liberty if you want to sell more tickets and get more TV viewers give THAT a shot and watch the NASCAR crowd tune in!!
Having said that, the qualifying showed Charles Leclerc on pole with the crowd favoured Ferrari. After that the starting lineup was a mess as at least four cars had ‘grid penalties’ including 2nd place qualifier Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez.
Nyck DeVries was called in at the last moment to replace Alex Albon in the Williams after Albon experienced appendicitis. Nicholas Latifi qualified 16th and Lance Stroll 18th although both would get moved up due to the grid penalties.
The start was exciting as new second place starter George Russell, up from his 6th qualified spot, gave Leclerc all he could handle going into the first corner.
When Leclerc pulled free, the Tifosi ‘went wild’!! Max made quick work of his ‘grid penalty’ and by lap 7 he was up to second getting around Russell. Red Bull was nervous because Perez in the other team car was experiencing problems apparently with his brakes and dropped to the back of the pack.
Meanwhile, Sainz in the other Ferrari put on a spirited drive from his 18th spot and was 6th by lap 10. Max got the lead by lap 12 as Leclerc pitted for tires.
Aston Martin had a bad day with first Sebastian Vettel then Lance Stroll dropping out. Stroll had been the only car to finish running at the end of every race this year. Tough record to lose.
The wheels continue to fall off the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo as he stopped on track on lap 47 bringing out the full course yellow and slowing the race for six laps. In fact, the green never came back out and the checker was waved with the yellow.
Max won the race over Leclerc and Russell. Max leads the points by 116 over Leclerc and by 125 on Perez. Red Bull leads, nay, COMMANDS, the Manufacturer’s Championship by 139 over Ferrari and 174 over Mercedes.
Their next race is Singapore on Sunday October 2.
NHRA: Their next race is Maple Grove this weekend on Fox and Fox Sports Racing at 4:30.
INDYCAR: Will Power grabbed the pole for the season finale at Laguna Seca’s WeatherTech Raceway, an absolutely gorgeous facility that Linda and I drove around 32 years ago. The pucker factor heading down into the corkscrew is MASSIVE!! Callum Ilott started 2nd with Scott McLaughlin 3rd.
It didn’t take long for business to pick up as they went three-wide going into the first corner but luckily (or skilfully?) they all got through unscathed. The race was one of the cleanest I have seen in years with only one caution, that for Ilott stopped on track. At the checker it was Alex Palou followed by Josef Newgarden and Power.
Power wins the 2022 championship followed by Newgarden and Scott Dixon.
IMSA: Their next race is Petit LeMans, Road Atlanta, Saturday, October 1.
MY ‘VIEW’: Reports indicate that Kyle Busch has signed with Richard Childress Racing for next year. Does he replace Tyler Reddick? He should replace Austin Dillon but blood is thicker than oil!! Or will there be a third team? Further details will be forthcoming, I’m sure.
There was a ‘Speedy’ Jack Monaghan Memorial Event: Racing for a Cure on Sunday at the Moose Lodge in Windsor. At a guess, I would say there were over 500 in attendance as well as over 100 who bought tickets but just donated the money and didn’t attend. What a tribute to a good guy who was loved by all!!
Until next week!!
- Dave Mathers
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