Author: Mike Haag

LONG POND, Pa.  – It’s a whole new race for the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. By winning today’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway, Team Penske’s Will Power claimed his fourth victory of the season and closed within 20 points of the top of the standings. Power held off Verizon P1 Award pole winner Mikhail Aleshin by 1.1459 seconds on the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle” oval to also collect the 29th win of his Indy car career. It tied him with a pair of Team Penske greats for 11th on the all-time victory list – Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves.…

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – For most of the final 200 laps of Sunday’s rain-interrupted Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick was where he needed to be – out front and in control of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Behind Harvick, who took the checkered flag 1.933 seconds ahead of runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the race was often out of control, as the essence of traditional Bristol made an emphatic appearance at the .533-mile concrete short track. Harvick’s victory was his second at Thunder Valley, his second of the…

BRAINERD, Minn. – Brittany Force raced to victory in Top Fuel Sunday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. Del Worsham (Funny Car), Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also victorious in their respective categories at the 17th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. This is the penultimate event of the regular season. Force powered her Monster Energy dragster to a 4.169-second pass at 180.21 mph to outrun reigning world champion Antron Brown’s 6.566 at 103.47 in his Matco Tools dragster. Brown rattled and lost…

BRAINERD, Minn. – Two-time Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan rocketed to the No. 1 qualifier Saturday with a world record performance at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the 17th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. This is the penultimate event of the regular season. Hagan blistered the track in his Mopar Express Lane / Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T with a 3.822-second pass at…

LONG POND, Pa. – Mikhail Aleshin made Indy car history, becoming the first Russian driver to win a pole position in Verizon P1 Award qualifying for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. The Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver averaged 220.445 mph over two laps in the No. 7 SMP Racing Honda to collect his first pole in his 31st career Verizon IndyCar Series start. Aleshin will lead the field to the green flag for the 200-lap marathon on the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle” oval in what will be the 13th race to be completed on the 16-race schedule (3 p.m. ET…

BRAINERD, Minn. – Reigning world champion Del Worsham powered to the top qualifying spot in Funny Car Friday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the 17th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Worsham posted an elapsed time track record 3.856-second pass at 326.71 mph in his DHL Toyota Camry to take the lead through the first two sessions. If he stays No. 1 through the remaining…

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – A remarkable chain of circumstances gave Austin Dillon the chance to win Friday night’s Food City 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Dillon took full advantage, completing two harrowing overtime laps to edge surprise runner-up Justin Allgaier in a race that went eight laps beyond the scheduled distance at the ultra-fast .533-mile concrete short track. Dillon didn’t take the top spot until Lap 305 of 308, when Brad Keselowski’s No. 22 Ford ran out of fuel while leading under the eighth and final caution of the evening. Driving…

Race weekend: Saturday, Aug. 20 – Sunday, Aug. 21 Track: Pocono Raceway, a 2.5-mile triangular oval in Long Pond, Pa. Race distance: 200 laps / 500 miles Entry List: ABC Supply 500 (pdf) Firestone tire allotment: Fourteen sets for use through the weekend Twitter: @PoconoRaceway @IndyCar, #ABCSupply500, #IndyCar Event website: http://www.poconoraceway.com/ INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com 2015 race winner: Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 DHL Honda) 2015 Verizon P1 Award winner: Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Shell V-Power Team Penske Chevrolet), 1 minute, 21.6217 seconds, 220.530 mph One-lap qualifying record: Juan Pablo Montoya, 40.1929 seconds, 223.920 mph, July 5, 2014 Two-lap qualifying record: Juan…

By Chris Knight, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ben Kennedy stole the lead from William Byron with 20 laps to go in Wednesday night’s UNOH 200 and later withstood an intense six-lap shootout with Brett Moffitt to the finish line to earn his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. With his triumph in his 63rd career series start, Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr., became the first France family member to win a NASCAR national series race. “I can’t put it into words,” said Kennedy, the son of International…

BRAINERD, Minn. – Erica Enders was cruising to s second straight NHRA championship the last time she passed through Brainerd International Raceway, winning her fifth of nine races in her dominating 2015 campaign at the annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. This weekend, as she returns to Central Minnesota, things have changed quite a bit. The most successful woman in class history, Enders finds herself winless in 2016 and clinging to the 10th and final playoff berth with two races left in the regular season. “Last year we were fighting for the No. 1 spot in the playoffs; now, we’re just hoping to make the…