Author: Mike Haag

SONOMA, Calif.  – Simon Pagenaud wasn’t about to let up, even with a generous lead in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship heading into the last race of 2016, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. The Team Penske driver continued his qualifying mastery and will start from pole position in Sunday’s season finale, winning the Verizon P1 Award today at Sonoma Raceway. Pagenaud’s lap of 1 minute, 16.2565 seconds (112.594 mph) in the Firestone Fast Six – the third and final round of knockout qualifying – earned the Frenchman his seventh pole of the season and extended his points lead to…

CONCORD, N.C. – Doug Kalitta secured the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Saturday at the ninth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals, the first race of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, at zMAX Dragway just outside of Charlotte, N.C. Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also secured No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the 19th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Kalitta piloted his Mac Tools dragster to a 3.721-second pass at 325.77 mph on Friday night that held up through…

CONCORD, N.C. – Tommy Johnson Jr. sprinted to the qualifying lead in Funny Car on Friday at the NHRA Carolina Nationals, the first race of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also provisional leaders in their respective categories at the 19th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Johnson Jr. pushed his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to a track elapsed time record of 3.876 seconds at 323.43 mph. Johnson,…

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – In a race punctuated by a record 10 cautions, Kyle Busch streaked away from Chase hopeful Cameron Hayley in overtime and won Friday night’s American Ethanol e15 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway. With Busch’s victory over runner-up Daniel Hemric, who passed Hayley after the final restart on Lap 150, Hemric and Timothy Peters locked up the final two of eight spots in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase, which starts Sept. 24 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With a truck dialed in on Thursday…

SONOMA, Calif.  – Team Penske is guaranteed to have the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series champion driver. The powerhouse operation celebrating its 50th anniversary in racing is also looking to close the season in dominating fashion at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Penske drivers Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud set the pace in the opening day of practice for Sunday’s 85-lap race on the Sonoma Raceway 2.385-mile permanent road course. Castroneves posted today’s quickest lap in the last of two practice sessions, at 1 minute, 16.6678 seconds (111.990 mph) in the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. It…

Race weekend: Friday Sept. 16 – Sunday, Sept. 18 Track: Sonoma Raceway, a 2.385-mile permanent road course in Sonoma, Calif. Entry list: GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma (pdf) Race distance: 85 laps / 202.7 miles Push-to-pass parameters: 10 activations for 15 seconds each Firestone tire allotment: Seven sets primary and three sets alternate for use through the weekend Twitter : @RaceSonoma, @IndyCar, #IndyCar, #GoProGP Event website: http://RaceSonoma.com/ INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com 2015 race winner: Scott Dixon 2015 Verizon P1 Award winner: Will Power, 1 minute, 16.2597 seconds, 112.589 mph One-lap qualifying record: Will Power, 1:16.2597, 112.589 mph, Aug. 29, 2015 (set…

FORT WORTH – Johnny Herrera went wire to wire to capture the American Sprint Car Series Red River Region Sprint Car championship race Saturday during the U.S. National Dirt Track Championship at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Herrera, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, started on the pole and led all 25 laps en route to his fifth series victory of the season and first career win at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. A late caution with five laps remaining erased Herrera’s comfortable lead, but he had a strong restart to quickly regain the advantage and win by 1.306 seconds…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – With one ferociously fast pit stop, Kyle Busch erased a lackluster qualifying effort and cruised to victory in Friday night’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. A master at getting on and off pit road in minimal time, Busch entered the pits in fourth place under the first caution of the race after a tap from J.J. Yeley sent Justin Marks spinning into the frontstretch grass on Lap 48. Busch was first off pit road—decisively—and at that point it was game over, thanks for playing, and Busch was…

FORT WORTH – Two-time defending champion E.P. Rayzor Elementary School will be among the 10 schools that will compete in Texas Motor Speedway’s Speeding To Read educational program for the 2016-17 school year. Beginning today, more than 5,000 kindergarten through fifth-grade students will take part in the nine-month reading competition that encompasses seven Dallas/Fort Worth school districts, including the two largest having multiple schools involved. Dallas, the area’s largest independent school district, will be represented by Nathan Adams Elementary and Tom C. Gooch Elementary while Fort Worth, the second-largest ISD, will have Carroll Peak Elementary and Lewisville, the sixth largest, will have…

FORT WORTH – While bobblehead giveaways of star athletes may be commonplace at other professional sports facilities, the promotion is a rarity at motorsports venues. So it is fitting that in honor of three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart’s final season, Texas Motor Speedway will distribute a limited-edition bobblehead of the racing star to the first 30,000 fans attending the AAA Texas 500 on Sunday, Nov. 6. The bobblehead, presented by State Waterheaters and created by Colleyville’s TAT Company, features Stewart’s likeness with his trademark facial scruff and familiar Mobil 1 firesuit as he hoists a checkered flag…