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RICHMOND, VA – RIS – Kyle Busch passed leader Brad Keselowski with 38 laps to go and held off a charging Kevin Harvick to win the Federated Auto Parts 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night.
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RICHMOND, VA – RIS – Kevin Harvick won the pole for tonight’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. Harvick’s best lap was 121.880 mph and good enough for the pole. Denny Hamlin with start second with Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan Blaney, and Daniel Suarez rounding out the top five. It was Harvick’s third pole lo the year.
AP Photo/Steve Helber
RICHMOND, VA – RIS – Christopher Bell stormed past Matt Tifft with 13 laps to go and won the NASCAR Xfinity race at Richmond Raceway on Friday night. It was the first race of the Xfinity Series playoffs. The race also saw the return of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in competition. In his only race of 2018, he finished 4th and led the most laps.
Earnhardt said afterward he will probably run another race next year, but doesn't want to do too much to take away from his burgeoning broadcasting career.
"I want to be in the booth for a long, long time," he said.
Johnny Benson, Jr. Joins Six Other NASCAR Champions In Race At VIR
Southlake, TX (September 18, 2018) – Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) announced today that Johnny Benson, Jr., who won championships in the Busch (now Xfinity) series and Camping World Trucks has entered the September 22 “American Racing Legends Charity Pro-Am Presented By RACER Magazine” at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). Six other drivers who will join him boast NASCAR Champion credentials, including Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Greg Biffle, Ron Hornaday, Mike Skinner and Todd Bodine. Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton and his son, Jeb, are also entered.
“This starting lineup will be packed with talent,” said SVRA CEO Tony Parella. “Our focus is NASCAR, but we have champions from an array of disciplines. What’s more, the level of accessibility fans will have to these racing heroes will be unprecedented with autograph sessions, a pit walk, and lots of time for pictures.”
SONOMA, CA- RIS - Hunter-Reay knew what he had to do to win the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma. Scott Dixon knew what was needed to wrap up a fifth Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Mission accomplished on both fronts.
Hunter-Reay led 80 of 85 laps at Sonoma Raceway in a commanding performance to win the 2018 season finale from the pole position. Dixon started second and finished there, which was more than enough to secure the season crown.
"Man, this is so awesome!" said Dixon, whose five championships leave him behind only another legend, A.J. Foyt with seven, in Indy car annals. "I can't believe that it's actually happened. I can't thank everybody enough for this, it's so cool!"
LAS VEGAS, NV – RIS – Brad Keselowski won his third Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race in a row in what turned out to be a wild South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Keselowski used the bottom lane to put a lot of distance between his No. 2 Ford and the rest of the field in a two-lap shootout for the win.
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SINGAPORE—R.I.S.—Following a fantastic performance in qualifying the night before, Lewis Hamilton followed Sunday evening with an encore, taking his fourth Grand Prix of Singapore with a nearly nine second victory over Max Verstappen. Sebastian Vettel finished in third.
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LAS VEGAS, NV – RIS – Ross Chastain won all the stages and took the checkered flag in Saturday’s DC Solar NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He led 180 of the 200 laps, but it just wasn’t that easy. Torrid racing was the issue of the day. The track developed three grooves, low. High, and middle, which made for an entertaining race.
Photo courtesy of formula1.com
SINGAPORE—R.I.S.—Becoming the 200th British Grand Prix driver to win pole position, Lewis Hamilton, followed his previous disappointing sessions, upped his game and set a blistering 1:36:015 fastest lap to win pole position Saturday night in preparation for Sunday evening’s Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay. Max Verstappen took second and Sebastian Vettel finished in third.
AP Photo/Isaac Brekken
LAS VEGAS, NV – RIS – Brent Enfinger was able to take the lead on the third overtime period and went on to win the NASCAR Camping World race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday night. Brent Moffitt had been the leader but ran out of fuel shortly after the restart. Enfinger advanced to the second round of the playoffs with his second career victory. The 2015 ARCA Racing Series champion also won in 2016 at Talladega Superspeedway, his home track in Alabama and the site of the next playoff race.
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LAS VEGAS, NV – RIS – Erik Jones shocked the industry by winning the pole for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He nipped Joey Logano in the final qualifying round in the first race of the Cup playoffs. Logano will start second.
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MILAN, Italy—R.I.S.--In one of the most unusual swaps in formula 1 history, Monegasque Charles LeClerc has been selected to partner four -time world champion Sebastian Vettel for Ferrari beginning next season. The 20-year-old not surprisingly, will replace Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn being the last world champion for the Scuderia.
Brad Keselowski celebrates his Brickyard victory
Photo Credit: RIS/IN Don Anderson
SPEEDWAY, IN - RIS - Brad Keselowski outraced Denny Hamlin from Turn 2 through Turns 3 and 4 for the final lead change of the 2018 Big Machine Vodka 400 at The Brickyard after a late race caution. This was Keselowski's second win in a row, solidifying his positioning for the playoffs which start next week and also secured car owner Roger Penske his first NASCAR win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Keselowski took advantage of multiple late race cautions and fresher tires to position himself for the pass for the race win. Hamlin said, "Those cautions killed us at the end, allowed those guys with fresher tires to get up there."
Nigel Kinrade/LAT
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – RIS – Justin Allgaier keeps winning. He won the weather-delayed Xfinity race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway today and strengthened his quest for a championship. Allgaier fended fending off a frenzy of challengers over the last 17 laps of the Lilly Diabetes 250.
SPEEDWAY, IN - RIS - Today's winner was the weather. NASCAR announced postponement of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard for tomorrow at 2pm. NASCAR used at least 14 Air Titan track dryers starting at 9 o'clock this morning to try to dry the track before the 1pm start time, however Mother Nature had other plans. The overcast skies dumped a steady drizzle of rain this afternoon.
Will it rain or will we race?
Photo Credit AP Photo/A.J. Mast
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - RIS - The start time for Sunday’s regular-season finale in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was moved up one hour, and the start of the Xfinity race was moved to Monday because of inclement weather in the forecast.
DARLINGTON, SC - RIS - Brad Keselowski guided his Rusty Wallace throwback scheme Ford into victory lane after only leading 24 laps near the end. Keselowski got the lead after final pit stops and beat teammate Joey Logano to the line to get the lead. On the restart, he took the lead and never looked back.
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MONZA, Italy—R.I.S.-- Just when it seemed that Ferrari had control of their home race, a Mercedes strategical plan gave Lewis Hamilton another Italian Grand Prix victory Sunday as the Briton passed Kimi Raikkonen with eight laps to go to win the race at the Monza Autodromo and lead the world driver’s championship by 30 points over Sebastian Vettel with seven races to go. Valtteri Bottas finished in third after the original podium finisher, Max Verstappen, was penalized for not giving Bottas room to pass at turn one, which made the Finn divert off the track.
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DARLINGTON, SC – RIS – Brad Keselowski passed a battling Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick and went on to win the NASCAR Xfinity race at Darlington Raceway on Saturday. Harvick was trying to pass Chastain for the lead when the two got together and Keselowski went wide and passed them both and went on to victory. Cole Custer finished second.
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MONZA, Italy--R.I.S.—On this type of circuit, history is always made. And on Saturday afternoon at this classic track, Kimi Raikkonen became the oldest pole sitter for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix since Nigel Mansall to start alongside his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel, with a new circuit record of 1:19:119. This is the first time since 1994, when two drivers from the Scuderia will start from the front row. Lewis Hamilton finished third for Mercedes.
Unser, Papis, Ribbs Confirmed for September 22 Race At VIR
Southlake, TX (August 28, 2018) – Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) announced today that three star open-wheel race drivers, Al Unser, Jr., Willy T. Ribbs, and Max Papis have entered the “American Racing Legends Charity Pro-Am Presented By RACER Magazine” at the Virginia International Raceway (VIR) September 22. All three versatile drivers are Indy 500 veterans and have NASCAR competition on their resumes. The three drivers join a field loaded with NASCAR veterans, including Cup Champions Bill Elliott, and Bobby Labonte, as well as Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, Mike Skinner and road course specialists such as Ron Fellows, Boris Said, and Dorsey Schroeder.
“Al, Willy, and Max are great friends and well acquainted with SVRA racing,” said SVRA CEO Tony Parella. “All three of these champions have been on the podium of our Indy Legends Charity Pro-Am race and all have NASCAR credentials. Having them with us gives our event a wonderful IROC feel.”
Mike DiNova USA TODAY Sports
BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO – RIS – Justin Haley was handed a gift win on Sunday when the winner of the NASCAR Truck series took its yearly journey to the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. It was the first race in the playoffs for the championship in Florida in November. The circumstances seem almost unreal.
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SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium—R.I.S-- After passing Lewis Hamilton Sunday at the Belgian Grand Prix on the opening lap at Spa-Francorchamps, Sebastian Vettel had no problems afterwards, beating his series rival by 11 seconds, winning his 52nd race and his 107th career podium. In addition, the German now trails his British adversary by 17 points in the championship, going into next week’s European season finale in Italy. Max Verstappen delighted his Dutch supporters by taking third.
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ELKHART LAKE, WI - RIS – Jason Allgaier ran away over the last five laps to win a convincing victory at Road America on Saturday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Allgaier held a 5.4-second advantage over second-place Matt Tifft to take a tense race filled with scrapes and spin-outs around the 14-turn course. Daniel Hemric was third.
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SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium- R.I.S.—With a last-minute rain shower beginning to dry up at the end of the final session of qualifying Saturday for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton took advantage of this situation of being one of the last cars to come over the line last to win his 6th pole of the season, with a 1:58:179 best time, taking his 5th pole in a row at this circuit. Sebastian Vettel was caught out by this situation, but took second, while the Racing Point Force India cars of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, under a recently brand-new owner, locked out the second row by finishing third and fourth, respectively.
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SPA-FRANCHORCHAMPS, Belgium- R.I.S.--Before Thursday (August 23rd) there was a formula one team called Sahara Force India that came into this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix that was in financial trouble. So much that one of his drivers, Sergio Perez was worried that it would not last until the end of the season and filed, putting the team into a desperate bid for a buyer and into administration, which is the British version of bankruptcy.
INDIANAPOLIS - RIS - AUGUST 24, 2018 - Former Indycar driver, Derek Daly in a statement late yesterday to RIS, said the incident leading up to his dismissal as an analyst from WISH-TV in Indianapolis, stemmed from a chat he had as a rookie driver at the Indy 500 in 1983.
“I used a common saying in Ireland, (and in the USA at that time) ‘I am the (n-word) in the wood pile,’ to describe that I was the unknown on the team. We had experienced crew and engineers, so I was the variable. Robbin Miller heard my use of the word and told me that was offensive in the States. I have never use that word since.”
The origin of the phrase “(N-word) in the wood pile”, does indeed date back to the late 19th century, and has the meaning "some fact of considerable importance that is not disclosed—something suspicious or wrong.”
RIS/Larry Clarino
Willy T Speaks On the Derek Daly Controversy
By Mark Dill,
MDE, Inc.
Yesterday’s news that retired Formula One and IndyCar veteran driver Derek Daly was dismissed from his role as motorsports analyst for WISH, an Indianapolis television station, shocked the media community in the Hoosier capital. The action stemmed from allegations that Daly used a racial slur during a radio interview 35 years ago.
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With the shock of having Daniel Ricciardo leaving for Renault, many spots for next season became wide open. Only a week later following Riccardo’s decision, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, following 17 seasons of formula 1, has decided to leave the sport at the end of the season.
Alexander Rossi pumps it up as he receives a Double Checkered Flag and wins the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. Dean Patton Photo.
Long Pond, PA - RIS - Alexander Rossi makes at statement at Pocono Raceway, “It’s Not Over, Till It’s Over!” With four races yet to run Rossi takes his #27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda and wins the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. The Pole Sitter Will Power lost the lead on the very first lap, but took it back about lap 110, but it didn’t take long for Rossi to make his statement and finish ahead of Power with about 4 seconds to spare.
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BRISTOL, TN – RIS – A Busch was favored to win the Bass Pro Shops NRA 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but the Busch favored was Kurt Busch’s brother Kyle. On this evening the older sibling was the one smiling in victory lane.
Wade Payne, AP Photo
BRISTOL, TN – RIS – Kyle Larson won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the season on Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Larson took advantage of favorite Kyle Busch’s misfortune to get his first victory at the half-mile track that Larson calls his favorite.
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BRISTOL, TN – RIS – Johnny Sauter passed John Hunter Nemechek with four laps to go and went on to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday night. The win clinched the season regular season championship. The win also enabled Matt Crafton to make the playoffs. Any new winner would have left Crafton out in the cold.
BRISTOL, TN - RIS - The weekend triple header in NASCAR’S three national series all came down to a dramatic finish. Johnny Sauter won the Camping World Truck Series on Thursday night, Kyle Larson won the Xfinity race on Friday night, and Kurt Busch won the Monster Energy Cup race on Saturday night. The Cup race was unusual in that the Big Three all had problems.
Long Pond, PA - RIS - Will Power uses will power to win his 53rd Pole Starting Position in IndyCar for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. With a blistering speed of 219.942 MPH for his first lap of qualifying he took and made one dominating statement….. “I am the Power to beat!”
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Just as Fernando Alonso announced that he would not return to formula 1 racing next season, the McLaren team announced Thursday (August 16th) that another Spaniard, Carlos Sainz Jr., will replace him by signing a two-year deal with the Woking-based outfit.
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With the record of 32 grand prix victories, 97 podium finishes, and two world driving championships, Fernando Alonso Tuesday (August 14th) announced that he will step down from driving in formula 1 at the end of the 2018 season.
BROOKLYN, MI – RIS – Kevin Harvick dominated the Consumers Energy 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. Harvick won all three stages and led 108 of the 200 laps for the victory. With Clint Bowyer’s win in the spring race, that means a sweep for Stewart Haas Racing and Ford at the track.
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LEXINGTON, OH - Justin Allgaier passed Austin Cindric with four laps remaining in the Xfinity race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and held the advantage to win his third race of the season. This is the most wins in a season for Allgaier.
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BROOKLYN, MI – RIS – Brett Moffitt was dogging leader Johnny Sauter over the last few laps. Finally on the last turn of the last lap, Moffitt made the deciding pass and won the Corrigan Oil 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday.
