Car FYI

Photo Credit: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. untitled A companion to the NTT IndyCar Series finale weekend on the streets of Long Beach, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship staged a 26-car race on Saturday consisting of DPi, GTLM and GTD class machines. With the conclusion of the 1-hour, 40-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach sports car event, the overall winner was the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac shared by the driving duo of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani. The victory was a decisive weekend for the Whelen Engineering Racing team that had scored the pole position and went on to take the checkered flag with a 10.95-second gap over the #01 Cadillac fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing with Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande. Corvette Racing enjoyed a dominant outing in the GTLM category. Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner in the #4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R beat the #3 car shared by Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor. Only three GTLM class vehicles ran at Long Be...

Photo Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar untitled NASCAR Cup Series: A Truly Successful Night for Truex in Richmond   The second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs has gone on show resurgence from the Toyota-backed Joe Gibbs Racing team. After Denny Hamlin took victory at last Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway , Martin Truex Jr. secured his place in the round championship round by winning at the 0.75-mile Richmond Raceway. The #19 Bass Pro Shops Red White Blue Toyota Camry of Truex started the Federated Auto Parts 400 in third but shot to the lead on the first lap. However, Truex’s start was ruled to have been premature by NASCAR resulting in the top spot to be surrendered to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. Hamlin had a dominant run at the Richmond short track leading 197 of the race’s 400 laps and winning the opening two stages of the event. Carving his way back to the front after the opening start of the race,...

Photo Credit: Cadillac untitled   Two days after the completion of the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans where the World Endurance Championship (WEC) sports car series’ Hypercar class made its first run at the Circuit de la Sarthe , a major player provided confirmation for their intentions to produce a challenger for the North American equivalent of the competitive racing class. Competing as a manufacturer in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Weathertech SportsCar Championship since 2017, Cadillac is looking forward into 2023 with a new car for an eagerly awaited LMDh category. Providing only a single image of their successor to their DPi-V.R race car, Cadillac has pledged to work with race car chassis developer Dallara as well as IMSA competitors Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing in having a new vehicle ready to take the grid for the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Cadillac LMDh-V.R. prototype features an aggressive body shape that contai...

Photo Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar untitled NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Larson Fends Off Elliott For Watkins Glen Win                        The premier event of NASCAR’s triple-header at the Watkins Glen International road course in the state of New York featured the NASCAR Cup Series competing for 90 laps on the 2.45-mile track. Sunday’s running of the Go Bowling at The Glen started with Penske Racing teammate at the front with Brad Keselowski on pole position alongside Joey Logano. Keselowski led the opening nine laps but lost the lead in dramatic fashion when his #2 Wabash National Ford Mustang spun entering turn 10 on the 10 th lap. Apparent brake issues complicated Brad Keselowski’s race and a similar loss of control occurred entering turn 1 on lap 56 with his car colliding with Logano’s #22 car. After Joey Logano took the first stage and M...

Photo Credit: Aston Martin The Americas NASCAR Cup Series: Darkened New Hampshire Track Source Of Light For Almirola Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 was intended to be a relatively quick summer event on the 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway but a rain shower pushed the duration between the green flag and the checkered flag to almost five hours. Due to daylight being lost on a track with no lighting system, only 293 laps would run (eight laps fewer than the advertised distance). Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. led the field to green but would also become the victims when rain began to soak the race track. Entering turn one on lap seven, Busch’s #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry slid and backed into the retaining wall ending the race for the two-time 2021 season race winner. Truex’s #19 Resers car sustained less damage and would complete the event in 12 th place. Denny Hamlin’s #11 ...

Photo Credit: Logan Riely/Getty Images   NASCAR Cup Series: Road Warrior Chase Adds Road America as Conquered While his father’s legacy in the Cup series was defined by performances on superspeedway including logging the fastest-ever NASCAR qualifying time at Talladega, Chase Elliott’s career is currently being cemented by the rapid tallying of wins on road courses. This weekend, the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports’ #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 won the NASCAR Cup Series’ first modern era visit to the 4.048-mile (6.515-kilometer) Road America. Starting deep in the field in 34 th place, Chase Elliott made his victorious move for the lead on lap 46 of the 62-lap Jockey Made in America 250 presented by Kwik Trip on the road course. Prior to the #9 car’s presence at the front of the field, pole sitter William Byron, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick and Matt DiBenedetto spent multiple laps in the lead. Leading two laps early in the e...

Photo Credit: Jack Webster The engine compartment for a traditional fuel-burning automobile is one of the most incredible storms regularly occurring on this planet. Intense heat of the combustion process combines with a stunning electrical storms and powerful mechanical forces to create the momentum we take for granted. Harnessing and managing this essential storm to generate optimum performance relies on the ability to engineer the best possible engine.  Among one of the aspects carefully considered towards the construction of a traditional internal combustion gasoline engine is material selection. Performance, durability and importantly cost factors into how to produce a powerplant. For a long time, cast iron was favoured for the construction of engine blocks for most production automobiles while other components utilized alloys such as stainless steel. Previously existing in high performance or more expensive vehicles, aluminum has gained wider acceptance in rece...

Photo Credit: Mazda North American Operations While some races of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule have yet to see a green flag, spectacular news items during July have pumped-up enthusiasm for the 2018 season. Before the month has ended, next season’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship promises two all-new, heavy-hitting DPi efforts guaranteeing to kick the level of sports car racing competition to new heights. Last week, rumours were confirmed when heavy motorsport player Team Penske broadcasted plans to rejoin sports car racing in association with Honda’s luxury brand Acura in time for next year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Team Penske’s more than five decades of operations is notably celebrated by 16 Indianapolis 500 wins but also possesses success through previous sports car ventures including a 1969 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As impressive as a single win in the ultimate French endurance classic can be, Reinhold Joest’s race team perfecte...

Photo Credit: General Motors This weekend kicks off the official start of the auto racing season in North America for 2017. The 12-turn, 3.56-mile road course within the Florida motorsport complex called Daytona International Speedway hosts a large field of teams and drivers competing for a once around the clock event. The debut race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona is a fresh opportunity to ring in a new year on a highest note. For 2017, big changes to the Prototype and GT Daytona class for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will create some new sights to behold for race fans. Thanks to a series of rules designed to make competition vehicles comply closer to the regulations of international racing sanctioning bodies such as the ACO and FIA, some new pieces of motoring technology are incorporated within the grid. Debuting in the top class for the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona, DPi (Daytona Prototype international) features race cars sh...