Author: Mike Haag

Sports car star Taylor tests Pagenaud’s Indy car: As Indy car test sessions go, it was considered a thank you from a manufacturer. Judging from Ricky Taylor’s smile after climbing out of Simon Pagenaud’s car, he was quite welcome. Taylor spent today testing the Team Penske No. 1 Chevrolet – the same car Pagenaud will drive in two weeks when the Verizon IndyCar Series season opens at St. Petersburg, Florida – around the Homestead-Miami Speedway road course in Homestead, Florida. The test was considered a courtesy by Chevrolet and General Motors to Taylor for his seven wins in four years in…

CHANDLER, Ariz. – Tim Wilkerson believed his team showed its true potential early last year, racing to wins in Phoenix and Charlotte, and even grabbing a share of the Funny Car points lead at the quarter-mark of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. The rest of the season wasn’t quite as smooth, as Wilkerson finished ninth in points, but the Funny Car veteran is determined to extend last year’s hot start into a full season in 2017. To do that, he’ll need another impressive performance in his 10,000-horsepower Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang at this…

CHANDLER, Ariz. – Steve Torrence saw the benefit of a quick start a year ago when a season opening victory in Pomona catapulted the Top Fuel driver to the best season in his NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series career. Pomona didn’t go his way to open the 2017 campaign, which means doing well and grabbing early-season momentum will be critical for Torrence at this weekend’s NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. It was a key aspect to Torrence finishing third in points a year ago in his 10,000-horsepower Capco Contractors/Torrence Racing dragster, and he knows it…

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Joey Logano emerged from a wild last lap Sunday to win the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway in the first NASCAR competition of the year on the famed 2.5-mile tri-oval. Logano, the 2015 DAYTONA 500 champion, inherited the lead in Turn 2 of Lap 75 when last year’s DAYTONA 500 champion Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski crashed while Hamlin was leading. Keselowski made a move to the inside and Hamlin blocked – unsuccessfully. Logano swept wide around the trouble and brought the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford home to the victory in the…

FORT WORTH, Texas – More than 1,800 tailgaters and 275 RVs already have confirmed their attendance for what will arguably be the nation’s largest Daytona 500 Watching Party on the world’s largest TV for NASCAR’s season-opening weekend. Texas Motor Speedway will open its infield Feb. 25-26 for its annual Daytona 500 Watching Party that will provide race fans a free opportunity to camp or tailgate inside the 1.5-mile speedway and watch the racing action from Daytona Beach, Fla., on the 12-story tall, high-definition TV known as “Big Hoss” located on the backstretch. The two-day event, which is open to the public,…

FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway announced Thursday the stage lengths for the six NASCAR national series races that will be held at the world-renowned motorsports facility this season. The enhanced competition format that will be implemented this season in all three NASCAR national series – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series – will divide every race into three stages with each carrying championship implications. The new race format is expected to increase the sense of urgency, emphasize aggressive racing and strategy, and add drama with playoff points incentivizing drivers throughout. The first two stages…

Ed Carpenter Racing hits road course at Sonoma: Ed Carpenter Racing tested Tuesday on a road course for the first time in 2017, as teammates JR Hildebrand and Spencer Pigot completed a one-day session at Sonoma Raceway, home to the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma that will conclude the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season in September. It marked Pigot’s first time in an Indy car this year. The 23-year-old Floridian is driving ECR’s No. 20 Chevrolet at road- and street-course events this season, with team owner Ed Carpenter in the car for the six oval races. Hildebrand is driving the entire…

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Fresh off a final-round appearance at one famed race track, Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car driver Courtney Force will lead the field at yet another. Force, who raced to a runner-up finish at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona last weekend, will serve as the Honorary Pace Car Driver for the Advance Auto Parts Clash on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. The Advance Auto Parts Clash is NASCAR’s annual non-points special event and features the top drivers from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. “I’m so thrilled…

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Mario Andretti, who along with A.J. Foyt, Jamie McMurray and most recently Jeff Gordon, are the only drivers to win both the DAYTONA 500 and the Rolex 24 At Daytona, will serve as a Honorary Race Official for the 59th annual DAYTONA 500 on Sunday, Feb. 26 (FOX, FOX Deportes, MRN Radio and SiriusXM Radio), the opening race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Andretti and Daytona International Speedway will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of his epic 1967 DAYTONA 500 triumph throughout Speedweeks 2017. As part of his Honorary Race Official duties…

CHANDLER, Ariz. – After winning the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season opener in Pomona, Calif. Leah Pritchett, the rising Top Fuel star, knows she will feel right at home at the second stop on the tour, the NHRA Arizona Nationals, which takes place Feb. 24-26 at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. Pritchett’s first career Top Fuel win came there a year ago, which means she’ll head to a race as the defending champion for the first time in her career. The good vibes at the facility continued at pre-season testing earlier this month, when Pritchett made the…