NASCAR news

[RogerDuke]

On 8/4/2022 at 1:30 PM, HossC said:

I was taken to speedway a few times when I was young, but that was probably 40 years ago now. Since then, I've never really been interested in two-wheeled motorsport, but add another two wheels and I'll most likely watch it!

But in Hazzard County, if it has wheels, people have a tendency to want to race it!

All right, back to four wheels. Sorry for the interruption. 

[HossC]

6 hours ago, RogerDuke said:

But in Hazzard County, if it has wheels, people have a tendency to want to race it!

All right, back to four wheels. Sorry for the interruption. 

I've got no problem hearing about two-wheel action. Maybe you'll convert me as I get older!

[HossC]

I haven't been following Formula-E much, but the final two rounds of this year's season took place in South Korea, so they happened to be shown live while I was making breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. It must have been a while since I last watched as they now complete a 45 minute race without the need to swap cars midway through.

Congratulations to former F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne whose second place finish in the last race was enough to clinch this year's title. It was also a win for the Mercedes team who are leaving the sport to concentrate on Formula 1.

I still don't think I've been converted from gasoline-based cars. The lack of noise and pollution means that Formula E can race in city center locations which probably wouldn't be available to conventional cars, but I prefer more open tracks which aren't like racing down a corridor of barriers. They also have 'gimmicks' like Fanboost and Attack Mode which probably appeal to the gamers, but don't really do anything for me. Formula 1 has been using hybrid engines since 2014, and the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) has introduced them this year. I think NASCAR are doing some hybrid demos next year.

[Skipper Duke]

4 minutes ago, HossC said:

I haven't been following Formula-E much, but the final two rounds of this year's season took place in South Korea, so they happened to be shown live while I was making breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. It must have been a while since I last watched as they now complete a 45 minute race without the need to swap cars midway through.

Congratulations to former F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne whose second place finish in the last race was enough to clinch this year's title. It was also a win for the Mercedes team who are leaving the sport to concentrate on Formula 1.

I still don't think I've been converted from gasoline-based cars. The lack of noise and pollution means that Formula E can race in city center locations which probably wouldn't be available to conventional cars, but I prefer more open tracks which aren't like racing down a corridor of barriers. They also have 'gimmicks' like Fanboost and Attack Mode which probably appeal to the gamers, but don't really do anything for me. Formula 1 has been using hybrid engines since 2014, and the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) has introduced them this year. I think NASCAR are doing some hybrid demos next year.

I have a video game on the Game Boy Advance called British Car Touring Championship.

[HossC]

10 minutes ago, Skipper Duke said:

I have a video game on the Game Boy Advance called British Car Touring Championship.

It appears to have been based on the 1997/98 championship when the PC and Playstation games were released. They featured commentary by former racing driver and former Top Gear presenter Tiff Needell. The Game Boy Color version came out in 2000 with simplified graphics and gameplay. It looks like all versions got good reviews at the time.

 

[Skipper Duke]

6 minutes ago, HossC said:

It appears to have been based on the 1997/98 championship when the PC and Playstation games were released. They featured commentary by former racing driver and former Top Gear presenter Tiff Needell. The Game Boy Color version came out in 2000 with simplified graphics and gameplay. It looks like all versions got good reviews at the time.

 

I'm outta reactions so... Here's the ❤

[HossC]

F1 was back this weekend after its summer break. The old-school Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium is one of my favorites, but I was out for most of yesterday, so I missed the first couple of laps.

Championship rivals Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc both qualified in the top four (1st and 4th respectively), but started in 14th and 15th places due to engine penalties, so their team mates Carlos Sainz Jnr and Sergio Perez were on the front row for the race. Lewis Hamilton made a reasonable start from fourth, but clashed with Fernando Alonso on the first lap and had to retire. Lewis later took the blame for the incident. Max made quick work of making his way to the front, helped partly by a safety car. Near the end, Ferrari called Charles into the pits for new tires to try to get the fastest lap. Their plan failed for two reasons: he was passed by Fernando Alonso, spoiling his lap before retaking the place, and he picked up a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane losing the place again in the final result. Max went on to take an easy victory from the lowest start position his Red Bull team has ever achieved. With Red Bull's Sergio Perez finishing second, he now moves up to second in the championship behind Max's increasing lead.

Belgium used to be seen as Max's home race due to its proximity to the Netherlands, but since last year, the Dutch Grand Prix has been back on the calendar, and that's where we're off to next week. You can see the highlights of the Belgian Grand Prix here.

 

[RogerDuke]

Big weekend coming up in motocross. It's the last race and only one point separates the 2 leaders....talk about close....Eli Tomac (Yamaha) leads Honda's Chase Sexton 496-495.

[HossC]

It looks like I forgot to post a review of last week's Dutch Grand Prix - you can see the highlights here.

This weekend was Ferrari's home race at Monza, Italy. Sadly, it was another race weekend spoiled by regulations and procedures. Nearly half the field had grid penalties for using excessive engine parts, but it took around four hours after qualifying before they decided the starting grid for yesterday's race.

Home favorite Charles LeClerc started on pole, but championship leader Max Verstappen made it up from seventh to third by the end of the second lap. While Mercedes driver George Russell fought for a top-three place, his team mate Lewis Hamilton had to make his way slowly forward from 19th.  

The end of the race was the big letdown. Daniel Ricciardo had to pull his McLaren over with a few laps remaining. The stewards were slow to call a safety car and then only some of the back markers unlapped themselves, so the race finished behind the safety car with the two championship contenders at the front on the soft (fastest) tires. Even though Max Verstappen won his fifth race in a row, his team boss Christian Horner admitted that fans had been deprived of a last lap battle. Unlike NASCAR, F1 cars start with a set amount of fuel, so green–white–checker finishes might not be an option, but something needs to be done.

Dutch driver Nyck de Vries won driver of the day. He drove a test session for Aston Martin in Friday's free practice 1 (FP1), and then got called up to drive for Williams when Alex Albon was diagnosed with appendicitis on Saturday morning (Alex is doing fine now after he suffered "post-operative anesthetic complications"). I think the commentators said that he's the first person to drive for two different teams in the same race weekend since the late-70s. He qualified in a respectable 13th place, but started in 8th after the grid penalties were applied to others. Nyck finished 9th to score two points on his F1 debut.

Although the race was in Italy, many teams are British-based and several had tributes to the Queen on their cars. There was also a minute's silence before the race.

You can see Monza highlights here.

The next race isn't until the Singapore GP on September 30th, where Max Verstappen could theoretically win the championship with six races still to go.

[Spike]

The Nascar Silly Season really took a swing for the fences... Kyle Busch left Joe Gibbs Racing for Richard Childress Racing and will drive the #8 Chevy Camaro for 2023 and it sounds like he signed a long term contract https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2022/09/13/kyle-busch-to-join-richard-childress-racing-in-2023/

Tyler Reddick is either going to drive a 3rd RCR car or if Kurt Busch retires, 2311 racing could buyout his RCR contract or since Kyle Busch is leaving JGR they could buy out his contract and have him drive the #18 for a year. 

[HossC]

It's still another week until the next F1 race, but the video below popped up in my recommendations yesterday. As a bit of background, Guy Martin is a truck mechanic and motorcycle racer from the north of England. Over the last decade, he's made a series of documentaries and travelogues. Several have been about setting unusual speed records such as World's Fastest Tractor, while others have included restoring a WWII Spitfire and building a replica WWI tank.

This is the first of three F1 specials from his 'Speed with Guy Martin' series. It pits Guy on his Tyco BMW racing bike against former F1 driver David Coulthard in a championship-winning Red Bull RB8 F1 car in a series of challenges. Both vehicles are capable of 200mph.
 

 

[RogerDuke]

There was actually a guy on a Ninja who was the first to hit 400 kph with a factory motorcycle. I think it was in Turkey. That is 258 mph or something like that. Maybe you can posh a link of that. I'll check your video out later. I see it's pretty long. 

Edited September 24, 2022 by RogerDuke

[HossC]

46 minutes ago, RogerDuke said:

There was actually a guy on a Ninja who was the first to hit 400 kph with a factory motorcycle. I think it was in Turkey. That is 258 mph or something like that. Maybe you can posh a link of that. I'll check your video out later. I see it's pretty long. 

Here you go, Roger. It was Kenan Sofuoglu on a Kawasaki Ninja H2R at the Osman Gazi Bridge in Turkey back in 2016. 400km/h is just shy of 250mph.

BTW. The original video I posted is long, but it'll whiz by (no pun intended).

 

[HossC]

I didn't think I'd be up in time to watch the Japanese Grand Prix this morning, but the race was red flagged due to rain after a couple of laps. There was then a long delay before they restarted and raced for about 40 minutes, which took them up to the end of the time limit window.

The race was won from pole by Max Verstappen, who drove a great race and pulled out a nearly 30-second lead in the limited running and terrible weather conditions. Max's team mate, Sergio Perez, made it a team 1-2 after second placed driver and title contender Charles Leclerc was given a 5-second penalty for gaining an advantage by leaving the track on the last bend. Behind them, Lewis Hamilton had a great battle with Esteban Ocon, but couldn't get past, and Ocon's team mate, Fernando Alonso, couldn't get past Sebastian Vettel even with fresher tires. Finishing in ninth, Williams driver Nicholas Latifi picked up his first points of the year - the last full-time driver to do so.

After the race there was some confusion over the points due to rules concerning races that don't go full distance. Apparently it makes a difference whether the race finishes on the track or under a red flag, so it wasn't until the top three drivers were in the cool-down room before the trophy presentations that they were able to announce that Max Verstappen had won his second World Championship with four races still to go. He's dominated this season by winning 12 of the 18 races so far.

There was some controversy just before the initial red flag because a recovery vehicle was on the track as at least one car passed it at speed. Eight years ago, French driver Jules Bianchi died after hitting a recovery vehicle at the same event in similar conditions.

If you've never seen F1 cars race in the rain, you can check out the highlights here. The next race is the US Grand Prix from Austin in two weeks' time.

A bit of driver news: Pierre Gasly is moving to Alpine next year to make an all-French line-up alongside Esteban Ocon. Former Formula 2 champion Nyck de Vries takes his place at Alpha Tauri after impressing while standing in for Alex Albon last month.

[HossC]

2021 IndyCar champion Alex Palou will drive a McLaren F1 car in first practice at this weekend's US Grand Prix. After a contract dispute, he's expected to drive for the McLaren IndyCar team in 2024.

[Spike]

If y'all didn't catch the last lap at Martinsville last week here's a replay of Ross Chastain's insane video game move to make the final four.

The Championship Phoenix race is on at 3pm est tomorrow on NBC. 

[HossC]

I haven't posted summaries of the last F1 races, partly because the Drivers' Championship has already been decided, and partly because the races have been in the Americas, so I've gone straight to bed when they finished due to the time difference. So here I make amends.

First, the US Grand Prix from Austin on October 23rd. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr took pole position, but Max Verstappen beat him away from the line, and then he got spun by George Russell at the first corner. This ultimately led to retirement for Sainz and a time penalty for Russell. Fernando Alonso got his car airborne after clipping Lance Stroll, but miraculously changed his front wing and battled back to finish seventh. Mercedes finally appeared to have a competitive car, but it wasn't quite a match for Verstappen's Red Bull. Up and down the field there were some good cat and mouse battles. In the end, Max Verstappen won to cement the Constructors' Championship for Red Bull. It was an emotional weekend for Red Bull as Dietrich Mateschitz, co-founder of the drinks company and driving force behind the F1 team, died the day before the race. Lewis Hamilton claimed second place and Charles Leclerc recovered to finish third.

You can catch up on the race highlights here.

[HossC]

A week later, F1 moved to Mexico. Even at altitude, it proved to be another easy win for Max Verstappen. In taking victory, he also set the record for the most wins in a season with 14 (out of 20 at that time), although there are more races than there used to be. Mercedes kept up their newly re-found form with Lewis Hamilton finishing second again (albeit 15 seconds behind Verstappen) and George Russell in fourth. They were separated by Verstappen's team mate, Sergio Perez.

Highlights of the Mexican race are here.

[HossC]

That brings us to yesterday and the Brazilian Grand Prix from Interlagos. For many years, this was the last race of the season, but money has now taken that to the Middle East. It's also one of my favorite tracks, and didn't disappoint this year.

For the third time this year, the starting grid was determined by a sprint race. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen took a surprise pole for that, but could only finish eighth. It was the resurgent Mercedes team that took first and third, split only by Carlos Sainz Jr who had a 5-place grid penalty in the race for taking a new engine.

In the main race, Daniel Ricciardo clipped Kevin Magnussen on the first lap, and the resulting crash ended both of thir races and brought out the safety car. A couple of corners into the restart, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen came together, leading to front wing damage and a 5-second penalty for Verstappen. Red Bull managed to change his tires and front wing in 10.0 seconds. Hamilton fought back up the field to finish second, but yesterday belonged to George Russell who took his first F1 victory and fastest lap. Sergio Perez, under team orders, let Max Verstappen by near the end to try and take the cars in front. When that didn't happen, Verstappen then refused to let Perez back past leaving Perez tied with Charles Leclerc for second in the championship with only one race left.

With no Brazilian drivers in the field, the local crowd seem to have adopted the Mercedes team and particularly Lewis Hamilton as their favorites, so the one-two finish was very popular.

The race highlights are here.

Next week is the season finale from Abu Dhabi.

[Garrett Duke]

I don't  have any NASCAR news...y'all seem to have it covered. I was going to stop by with some, but have been having a hard time logging back in until now. I guess that's what I get for being gone for so long. If life wasn't so busy and I didn't have to work and everything else...I'd have time for Dukes and the computer. Just thought I'd send out a hello to everyone. I'm still here. Just busy. Especially now that I am going back to school and taking online college classes for work...and before then I didn't have a computer so that made coming on here difficult as well. 

So...howdy y'all. There is just 90 days, 5 hours, and 25 minutes until the Daytona 500. Not that I am counting or anything...GO CHASE ELLIOTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RogerDuke]

CHASE ELLIOTT!!!!!!!!!

[RogerDuke]

So good to have you back. Today is a great day! Plenty of things happen in the off-season and we know you will keep us informed. 

[Garrett Duke]

1 hour ago, RogerDuke said:

So good to have you back. Today is a great day! Plenty of things happen in the off-season and we know you will keep us informed. 

Thank you Roger. It's great to be back.  

[Hobie Hartkins]

I'm glad you're back! You'll surely be here in the spring for The Moonshine 400! ( It's the craziest road race in Hazzard! They only go 400  laps, not 500, because nobody can stay sober long enough to finish! ( What do you expect Hobie the town drunk + a race called the MOONSHINE 400? You know they're asking for it! LOL!  )  

[Garrett Duke]

19 hours ago, Hobie Hartkins said:

I'm glad you're back! You'll surely be here in the spring for The Moonshine 400! ( It's the craziest road race in Hazzard! They only go 400  laps, not 500, because nobody can stay sober long enough to finish! ( What do you expect Hobie the town drunk + a race called the MOONSHINE 400? You know they're asking for it! LOL!  )  

OOOooooo that should be an interesting and fun race to watch! Hopefully no one gets hurt!