By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – Justin Allgaier had the drive of his life. Brendan Gaughan was hanging on for dear life. But both drivers were winners at Chicagoland Speedway. Grabbing the lead with a bold move to the inside after a restart on Lap 186 of 200, Allgaier, an Illinois native, captured the big prize at his home track — a victory in Saturday’s TheHouse.com 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series regular-season finale. Gaughan rallied from an equalized tire that put him three laps down to finish 13th on the lead lap and nail down the final…
Author: Mike Haag
Mike Haag
Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 39 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 19 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.
Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series SONOMA, California – Championship leader Josef Newgarden led both practice sessions on the opening day of GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma activities as the Team Penske driver looks to close in on his first Verizon IndyCar Series title. Holding a slim three-point lead entering the 2017 season-finale weekend at Sonoma Raceway, Newgarden’s fast lap in the second 45-minute practice — 1 minute, 16.2485 seconds (112.605 mph) — was under the track record established last year by teammate Simon Pagenaud. Newgarden also paced the morning session with a lap of 1:16.3950 in the No. 2 hum by…
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – Johnny Sauter served notice that he’s ready to make a spirited defense of his 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Ben Rhodes was happy just to squeak into the final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoff berth — by the skin of his teeth. Sauter passed regular-season champion Christopher Bell for the lead on Lap 123 of 150 and drove away to win Friday night’s TheHouse.com 225 by 2.005 seconds over Chase Briscoe, who passed Bell for second on Lap 136. The race within a race between Rhodes and…
Courtesy of the NHRA CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Doug Kalitta powered to the Top Fuel provisional qualifying lead Friday evening at the 10th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Courtney Force (Funny Car), Tanner Gray (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the first of six playoff events during the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship. Kalitta, currently No. 4 in the standings, started out his Countdown to the Championship run with a 3.723-second pass at 329.50 mph in his Mac Tools dragster. He is…
Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Led by seven-time and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, the 16-driver field has been set for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs that begin with Sunday’s Tale of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. The drivers that qualified for the 10-week, post-season run for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship following Saturday night’s regular-season finale at Richmond are regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row; Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray of Chip Ganassi Racing; Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne and Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports; Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin andMatt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing; Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch of Stewart-Haas Racing; Austin Dillon and Ryan…
Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series SONOMA, California – Drivers chasing points leader Josef Newgarden took full advantage of today’s Verizon IndyCar Series open test at Sonoma Raceway to prepare for Sunday’s season finale, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Six hours of on-track action split into two sessions found reigning series champion Simon Pagenaud atop the time sheet at the end of the day. The driver of the No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet clocked the best lap late in the four-hour afternoon session, at 1 minute, 16.6511 seconds (112.014 mph) on the 12-turn, 2.385-mile permanent road course.…
Courtesy of the NHRA CONCORD, N.C. – Having achieved a lifelong dream in 2016 with his first NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world title, Jerry Savoie is feeling good entering the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, which starts at this weekend’s NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. It is the first of six NHRA playoff races, yet the reigning world champion feels no pressure to defend his crown on his White Alligator Racing Suzuki. The easy-going alligator farmer from Cut Off, La., is simply enjoying the challenging of competing against the elite in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Savoie’s desire…
Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – JAG Metals LLC, a locally based company in Weatherford, has reached an agreement for the title sponsorship of November’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway that will have an emphasis on helping those affected by Hurricane Harvey. The race, scheduled for the evening of Friday, Nov. 3, will raise awareness of those affected by the disaster by being branded the JAG Metals 350 Driving Hurricane Harvey Relief. The company, which specializes in quality metal buildings and roofing materials, will commence the new partnership with…
Courtesy of the NHRA CONCORD, N.C. – The regular season in 2017 has looked far different for Jason Line than his NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series championship season a year ago. But the Pro Stock standout can still replicate the start to the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, which would go a long way in helping Line contend for a second straight world title. Line is the defending winner of this weekend’s NHRA Carolina Nationals at state-of-the-art zMAX Dragway, the first of six playoff races, and a repeat win could jumpstart what has been a dramatically different regular…
Courtesy of the NHRA CONCORD, N.C. – Coming off the biggest win in his career, J.R. Todd hopes to put that momentum to good use. Starting from the eighth position in the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, the NHRA Funny Car standout knows he can’t waste any time, either. For Todd to have any thoughts of a first career world championship, he’ll need a good start at this weekend’s NHRA Carolina Nationals at state-of-the-art zMAX Dragway, the first of six playoff races to conclude the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. But coming off a win at…