Car FYI

Photo Credit: Richard H Shute/Auto Imagery Inc. untitled At the NHRA Midwest Nationals, three of the top four classes of NHRA drag racing competed at World Wide Technology Raceway as the latest round in the series championship Countdown. Pro Stock Motorcycles received a planned break after an emotionally difficult outing at zMax Dragway in Charlotte leaving Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock cars of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series to entertain the crowd in St. Louis, Missouri. The Top Fuel class eliminations resulted in an interesting semi-finals with Leah Pruett matched against Mike Salinas and Steve Torrence racing against John Hart. Taking the top spot in qualifying, Salinas and his Scrappers Racing car was triumphant against Pruett while Torrence’s CAPCO Racing machine earned his latest berth into a 2021 finals defeating Hart. In the finals Steve Torrence leaped off the line with an awful 0.142-second reaction time but proved victorious in the late sta...

Photo Credit: Logan Riely/Getty Images untitled NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Larson Prevails in Heated Late Race Battle at Bristol The conclusion of the opening three-race round on the road to deciding the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship has playoff contenders as well as the rest of a 38-car field converging on the concrete 0.533 short oval of Bristol Motor Speedway for a 500-lap Saturday night affair. Ahead of the green flag for the Bristol’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, only 3 of the eligible 16 drivers had their places in the 12-spot second round of the 2021 Cup Series playoffs secured. Having already gained entry into the second round of the playoffs, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson won the opening two stages of the short track race. Drivers such as Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney would mathematically clinch their spots into the next round as the final stage of the Bristol race commenced for a 240-lap dash to the checkered flag. Hamlin’s quest for a second ...

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: Jared East/Getty Images untitled NASCAR Cup Series: Hamlin Holds Off Charging Larson for Win at The Lady in Black A gruelling 500-mile race on one of the most historic tracks on the NASCAR circuit, the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway had the extra provenance of being the first race of the 2021 Cup Series playoffs. The 1.366-mile oval played havoc with the championship ambitions for most of the 16 drivers vying this year’s season-ending crown. The track known as the Lady in Black claimed Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Michael McDowell in accidents over the 367-lap race. Though Hamlin was able to keep Kyle Larson behind him through the final 36-lap run as the last lap approached, the driver of the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet aggressively entered turn 3 to make one last charge on the #11 Offerpad Toyota field by Joe Gibbs Racing. Rubbing the rear of Hamlin’s car hard through turn 4, Larson’s late effort was ...

Photo Credit: Richard H Shute/Auto Imagery Inc./Stellantis While there was plenty of action at this weekend’s NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals among several classes at Brainard International Raceway, the major drag racing sanctioning body’s elite categories were represented only by Top Fuel and Funny Car. The Top Fuel contest was decided by what would be fantastically close final round elimination between Steve Torrence and Clay Millican that lasted less than four seconds. Millican secured his second consecutive final round appearance by beating Brittany Force in what was a rematch and reversal of last weekend’s match at Heartland Motorsports Park . Torrance entered Brainard as the point leader in the Top Fuel class but had missed the finals in the previous two events. The two determined competitors launched their dragster’s away from the Christmas tree at almost identical reaction times and maintained a tight side-by-side battle until the finish line where...

Photo Credit: Richard H Shute/Auto Imagery Inc./Stellantis untitled It could be said it was a forceful Sunday at the Heartland Motorsports Park drag strip located in Topeka, Kansas. The Menards NHRA National Presented by PetArmor for the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series featured two members of the three prominent categories participating in the weekend with victory in the finals. In Funny Car, 72-year-old drag racing great John Force captured his 154 th career final round victory as his Peak Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS beat J.R. Todd’s DHL Toyota machine. Despite Todd’s superior 0.058 reaction time, Force assembled a stronger run with a 4.015-second ET compared to a 4.453 ET. At the top of the NHRA Funny Car points standings, Force briefly celebrated his win before turning his attention back to track as his daughter lined up in Top Fuel in a final round match with Clay Millican. The fastest in qualifying, Brittany Force defeated Steve Torrance in the...

Photo Credit: Stellantis untitled NASCAR Pinty’s Series: Frontline Workers 125 A hard-hit 2021 for Canadian motorsport fans, the Canadian Grand Prix, Honda Indy Toronto as well as the IMSA race and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park have been cancelled to better facilitate the country’s battle against COVID-19. NASCAR’s only national series in Canada, the Pinty’s Series postponed the start of their stock car racing season from its initial May 23 rd opener. The end result is a crowded stock car racing schedule where 11 races will take place in a 9-week span starting with a twin-race at 0.333-mile Sunset Speedway in Innisfil, Ontario. On August 1 st , the thrilling roar of V-8 engines brought motorsport life to the short oval and to the country as the NASCAR Pinty’s Series ran the Frontline Workers 125. Though the start of the race was pushed later due to rain, the show went on at Sunset Speedway. Peter ...

Photo Credit: Gruppe C Photography/Mercedes-Benz AG untitled   NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series: NHRA Sonoma Nationals The first of two race weekends in the state of California, the elite categories of the NHRA arrived at Sonoma Raceway. The NHRA Sonoma Nationals Top Fuel category was decided through a very quick, narrow duel between Leah Pruett and Steve Torrance. After a nearly equal fight down the drag strip, Torrance’s 3.757 ET and 327.98-mile per hour top speed beat Pruett’s 3.768 and 323.04-mile per hour effort. Through first round of eliminations in the Funny Car category, the Tim Wilkerson versus Jim Campbell match literally had an explosive outcome. Wilkerson’s Ford Mustang pulled ahead of Campbell but suffered a spectacular engine failure crossing the finish line. Despite the flaming explosion from under the Mustang’s body, Wilkerson was able to make his second round appearance but was eliminated by Alexis Dejoria. In th...

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: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Johnson Equals The Intimidator’s Career Win Tally With Thrilling Atlanta Victory The second race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was a drastically different affair compared to the Daytona 500 opener won by Denny Hamlin . Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 was the season’s first use of new low-downforce aerodynamic rules on the stock cars. Differences in car handling and the aged surface of the oval track contributed to a very active race with plenty of competitive passing. Despite vehicles being less stable than in previously years, the 39-car field was slowed by only three cautions with the first coming out on lap 211. Ceasing on an advantage through short-pitting in a late stint to vault over the race-dominating vehicle of Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr, the #48 Lowes Chevrolet piloted by Jimmie Johnson held an advantage of more than five seconds before a lap-324 caution resulting from a spinning #31 ...

For 16-time Funny Car category champion John Force, the conclusion of the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series' season concluded two long running relationships. First came the end of a 29-year run with motor oil Castrol as a team and vehicle sponsor. The 2014 season was also the final year of John Force Racing's relationship with the Ford Motor Company. Since 1997, the funny car team sailed down the quarter-mile distances with Ford Mustang funny car bodies. Affecting not only John Force's famous funny car entry, the loss of Ford and Castrol for 2015 has resulted in a complete reshaping of the John Force Racing team's four machines. While Peak Antifreeze and Lucas Oil was announced late last year as signing on to fill the void left by Castrol, the supporting vehicle manufacturer was kept quiet until last week.    After speculation mentioning Toyota and Dodge, Chevro...