New England race fans can add another race to their plans for the 2021 NASCAR race weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule includes its traditional mid-summer visit to “The Magic Mile” on July 17.
“We’re thrilled to welcome the NASCAR Xfinity Series back to ‘The Magic Mile’ in 2021,” said David McGrath, executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “As New Englanders, we’re all about tradition, and the Xfinity Series has been with us since day one. We’re very much looking forward to next season and NASCAR’s rising stars putting on an exciting show for New England race fans.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series was the first NASCAR-sanctioned race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 1990 when the speedway opened, making the 2021 race the 34th Loudon appearance by the series. The event will again be part of the annual Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 race weekend and the only visit to the six-state New England region for the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series.
Tickets:
Adult tickets are available at https://www.NHMS.com/Events/Foxwoods-Resort-Casino-301/Tickets starting at $35 for Saturday’s Lakes Region 200 and $49 for Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301. Tickets for kids 12 and under are free on Saturday and just $10 on Sunday. Further details can be found on the New Hampshire Motor Speedway website or by calling 833-4LOUDON.
The ACT Late Model Tour will head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next April for the inaugural Northeast Classic. (Daniel Holben photo)
The PASS Super Late Models are part of a six-division card at the Northeast Classic, which was pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Norm Marx photo)
A Tour-Type Modified Open will be held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next April as part of the Northeast Classic. (Matthew Wiernasz/WWLP22 News photo)
An 8-cylinder Street Stock Open is also slated for the Northeast Classic. (Matthew Wiernasz/WWLP22 News photo)
The North East Mini Stock Tour returns to the “Magic Mile” as part of the 2021 Northeast Classic. (Matthew Wiernasz/WWLP22 News photo)
The Exit Realty Pro Truck Challenge has been added to the Northeast Classic for the event’s 2021 debut. (Matthew Wiernasz/WWLP22 News photo)
Waterbury, VT and Naples, ME — American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and Pro All Stars Series (PASS) officials have confirmed the dates for the inaugural Northeast Classic at Loudon’s New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The long-awaited event will be held on the weekend of April 16-18, 2021.
A two-day schedule is planned with open practice on day one and qualifying/features on day two. Whether the event has a Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday schedule will be determined over the winter.
The Northeast Classic was originally scheduled to debut in April 2020 before ultimately being cancelled due to the outbreak of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The event was highly-anticipated throughout the region, and this coming April, the first running will finally be held on the “Magic Mile”.
“We can’t wait to finally get the Northeast Classic off the ground,” PASS owner Tom Mayberry said. “The buzz leading up to the expected debut last April was incredible. Unfortunately, world circumstances didn’t allow it happen, much to everyone’s disappointment. With another year to look forward to it, we think the inaugural Classic will be just as big if not bigger than it would have been.”
The event schedule for 2021 is expected to be much the same as what was planned for 2020. A five-division card includes the PASS North Super Late Models, ACT Late Model Tour, a Tour-Type Modified Open, an 8-Cylinder Street Stock Open, and the North East Mini Stock Tour.
Rules, entry forms, and other Northeast Classic information will be released over the coming months. ACT and PASS both expect to finalize their full 2021 schedules soon.
For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
For technical information concerning all PASS divisions, and for media or marketing questions, please contact passracing@roadrunner.com or visit www.proallstarseries.com. Don’t forget to “Like” the Pro All Stars Series on Facebook or follow on Twitter @PASSSLM14 to keep up with breaking news as it happens.
Source: American-Canadian Tour Media Director
Note: If your track, tour or event is not posted on this blog send your press releases and flyers to: lmodestino@hotmail.com
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 will be decided by Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and expectations are high that positions in this championship foursome are still very much up for grabs.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano of Middletwon, CT is the only driver locked-in to a position in the Championship 4 with his victory at Kansas two weeks ago. Regular season champion Kevin Harvick leads the points standings by 15 points over Denny Hamlin – and 17 points over Logano’s teammate Brad Keselowski.
It will be up to Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott (both -42 points from Keselowski), Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. (-53) and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch (-98) to shake up the current Playoff picture with the ultimate clutch victory on Sunday.
No matter where he may be ranked in the points standings, Truex is the obvious race favorite. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion has won the last two races on the historic half-miler. His 2019 Playoff win at Martinsville was a masterly performance – leading 464 of the 500 laps in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. And Truex’s victory there this Spring was also impressive. He crossed the finish line a commanding 4.705-seconds ahead of runner-up Ryan Blaney.
Truex has five top-five finishes in the last six Martinsville races. The last driver to win back-to-back races before Truex was Jimmie Johnson in 2012-13. Seven times a driver has won three Martinsville races in a row – most recently, current competitors Denny Hamlin (2009-10) and Johnson (2006-07).
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have won the last three penultimate races in the championship schedule – the next to last race of the season.
“It’s high,” Truex said of his confidence level heading to Martinsville. “I’m excited about going to Martinsville. We know we can win there and obviously we’ve shown that in the past.
“It’s a new race and a new week. We have to figure out how to be better than we’ve been there before because I feel like everybody else will get better too. I’m looking forward to it and I’m excited for the opportunity to get to do to this. Hopefully we can go there and do what we have to do to put ourselves in another championship race.”
It won’t be easy. Motivation is in no short supply – among the eight drivers vying for a championship berth or among the rest of the field with a wide assortment of personal storylines. Defending series champion Kyle Busch has been eliminated from playoff contention, but his victory at Texas last week extended his personal win streak to 16 seasons. And seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson isn’t in the Playoff hunt at this point, but he is certainly focused on ending his Hall of Fame career with one more race trophy celebration.
As for the Playoff drivers, Truex’s teammate Hamlin is the odds-on favorite statistically at Martinsville. His five wins at the track are most among the championship-eligible drivers. He has 21 top-10 finishes in 29 starts at the tight half-miler with top five efforts in three of the last four races. His last Martinsville victory, however, was in 2015 – 11 races ago.
Keselowski and Kurt Busch are the only other multi-time Martinsville winners with a pair of trophies each. Keselowski, who has top-10 finishes in the last four races coming to Martinsville and has finished top-five in the last four races there, including a win in 2019.
Busch, who has alternated between top-10 runs and DNFs in the last four Playoff races, definitely finds himself in a must-win position on Sunday. His two Martinsville wins are more than a decade apart (2002 and 2014) but he has three top-10 finishes in his last four races at the track.
Teammates Bowman and Elliott are also in a must-win scenario. Bowman, driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Chevrolet has top-10 finishes in the three Playoff races coming to Martinsville, but has only a pair of top-10 finishes at the track in nine previous races. He was sixth in the Spring but 30th in the 2019 Playoff race.
Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, was fifth in the Spring race at Martinsville and his career-best showing at the track is runner-up in the 2019 Spring race. His Playoff run has been inconsistent. He won at the Charlotte ROVAL and has five top-10 efforts, but also three finishes of 20th or worse – including a 20th place last week at Texas.
Both have to be encouraged by Hendrick Motorsports Martinsville track record. The team’s 24 victories is most among the competition and it scored a top-10 sweep of all four entries in the Spring race.
“For us, we need to go win,” Elliott said. “That’s really the bottom line. I am not even going to look at points because, in my opinion, it really just doesn’t matter. If you can’t win races and win them consistently in the Series you aren’t going to win a championship, anyway.”
Xfinity Playoff contenders face elimination
Although last week’s thrilling race at Texas Motor Speedway had all the makings and feel of an elimination race, it’s actually Saturday afternoon’s Draft Top 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) that will officially decide which four of the eight current NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff drivers will contend for the 2020 title.
A last lap, last corner pass for the victory at Texas dramatically affected the outlook for this weekend’s race. Harrison Burton – who is not championship eligible – passed Noah Gragson – who is championship eligible – to earn his third win of the year.
That victorious maneuver was understandably heart-breaking for Gragson but it simultaneously created a nail-biter of a scenario for Martinsville this week in the first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the half-mile track since Kevin Harvick won in July, 2006.
The top four ranked drivers following Saturday’s Halloween afternoon race will move forward with eligibility to race for the 2020 championship on Nov. 7 at Phoenix Raceway.
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe is the only competitor already in the show for sure after winning at Kansas Speedway two weeks ago.
Austin Cindric, a five-race winner in 2020, is second in the standings, followed by three-race winners Justin Allgaier and Justin Haley.
Brandon Jones is the first driver below the cutoff line, four points behind Haley. Ross Chastain is 15 points back, followed by Gragson (-24) and Ryan Sieg (-43).
Among the Playoff contenders, Gragson is the only driver to have visited Martinsville Speedway Victory Lane previously. The driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet won a NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race there in October, 2017. In fact, he boasts a stellar 4-for-4 mark in top-10s in his four truck starts, never finishing worse than seventh.
That’s particularly encouraging news for Gragson, who has three runner-up finishes in the last five Playoff races, but still finds himself rebounding from a disappointing 36th-place outcome at Kansas in this round’s opener. He was a corner away from a victory last week at Texas.
“The way last week ended has definitely fueled a fire to go out to Martinsville and try to dominate the race to get us into the Championship 4,” Gragson said. “This team deserves to be fighting for a championship and I am going to do everything possible on the track to get it done. It definitely gives me more confidence that we are heading to Martinsville, a place where I have had success in the past in the Truck Series.
“I’m just ready to get out there and do what we have to do to get to Phoenix.”
Certainly the frontrunners expect a highly-motivated Gragson to be a factor this weekend. Cindric, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, holds a 14-point advantage atop the cut-off line. He’s competed in three Truck Series races at Martinsville with a best finish of 10th in 2017. He’d like to put together a more consistent showing this week going forward after a 34th-place finish at Talladega followed by a top 10 at Bristol; a 28th-place finish at Kansas followed by a top five at Texas last week.
He expects this weekend’s all-important race at an essentially new venue for the drivers to be a legitimate wild card.
“We’ve seen in the Xfinity Series this year even guys that you don’t expect to run up front even on some of these short tracks because our cars don’t have a lot of downforce,” Cindric explained. “We struggle to put down the power, so I’d expect it to almost be like in the trucks, where you’ve got guys that you don’t expect to be running up front and they’re running up front, whether if that’s in the top 10 or the top five, so I feel like from a fan perspective there’s a great possibility for that.
“On the flip side, I think from a racing standpoint everyone is gonna be learning what’s possible and what’s not. Obviously, the durable nature of an Xfinity car I think is gonna give a lot of people some second chances in that race, so unless you hit really hard, you’re not out. I think there’s gonna be plenty of playoff drivers that are gonna have to never give up all race with how aggressive the style of racing is at Martinsville as of late in the Xfinity Series, so hopefully staying out of trouble.”
Allgaier, the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, is eight points above the cutoff line. He’s made four NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville with a best finish of 13th-place in 2015. He’s had only one top-10 finish in the last four races – a 10th place at Kansas two weeks ago. He crashed out last weekend at Texas.
Haley, the driver of the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, has made six Truck Series starts at Martinsville with a best finish of sixth in 2018. He brings some good momentum with a win and three top-10 showings in the last four 2020 Playoff races.
Jones, driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, also has three top-10 finishes in the last four races, but his worst showing was just last weekend, a 25th place DNF at Texas. In five Martinsville Speedway Truck starts, he has a best showing of seventh in 2015.
Chastain, who has shined all season, is still looking for his first top-10 of this all-important Playoff round. He was 12th at Kansas and 16th at Texas last week. His work in the Trucks at the half-miler is solid. He has four top-10 finishes in eight Gander Truck starts, including a runner-up showing in last year’s Playoff race. He led 121 laps in two Truck races at Martinsville last season.
Sieg, driver of the No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet, has a lot of ground to make up despite an impressive Playoff effort for his small team. He has three top-five finishes in the Playoffs including a runner-up showing at Talladega, Ala. He was third at Kansas to open this round, but finished 31st last week at Texas retiring with mechanical problems. He has one top-10 finish in eight Truck Series races at Martinsville.
Gander Trucks ready to set Championship 4 under the lights
In what’s been a fast and furious, no-holds bar final run toward the 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship, several of the season’s most accomplished drivers find themselves in must-win situations for Friday night’s NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
A rough-and-tumble race last week on the Texas Motor Speedway high banks left reigning series champion Matt Crafton in fifth place in the standings, 12-points below the cutoff line, with only the top four drivers eligible to vie for the season trophy on Nov. 6 at Phoenix Raceway.
Grant Enfinger, whose won a career-high three races this year, is ranked sixth, 42-points out of the current championship mix after suffering an engine problem at Texas last week. Ben Rhodes is 45-points back and Tyler Ankrum is 79-points back – a victory this week is their only shot at competing for the title in Phoenix.
On the upside, last week’s winner at Texas, GMS Racing’s Sheldon Creed will make his Championship 4 debut, joining teammate Brett Moffitt, who won this Playoff round’s opener at Kansas two weeks ago.
Regular season champion Austin Hill is ranked third, 27 points up on the cutoff line and Zane Smith, who almost missed even advancing to this Playoff round, is ranked fourth 12-points above the cutoff line.
Should a non-Playoff driver win this week, then the two highest ranked drivers in the points standings would advance. Otherwise, that fourth and final position would be the only one up for grabs in a points-battle. And certainly fifth-place Crafton has an encouraging track record at the historic half-miler with two previous victories. The three-time series champ is the only current Playoff driver with a trophy from this venue.
Another former series champion, Johnny Sauter, is the winningest driver of all time at Martinsville with four victories. Todd Gilliland, who was eliminated from championship contention following the opening round of the Playoffs, is the defending race winner.
Last October, Gilliland beat Ross Chastain by .879-seconds for the win. Sauter was third, followed by Enfinger – the only current Playoff driver in the top-10 last Fall. Moffitt led the most laps – 80 of the opening 81 – but crashed twice.
Among those looking for a victory to secure their move into the Championship 4, Hill, has two top-10 finishes in nine previous Martinsville starts. Ninth place is his best effort (2018). The 21-year old Smith will be making his first career Martinsville start in the series.
Crafton has two wins and an impressive 20 top-10 finishes in 36 starts – easily the longest Martinsville resume among the Playoff contenders. He was 16th and 26th in the races there last year, however. Judging by his work in the Playoff races, Crafton should absolutely be a factor this weekend. The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford has earned top-10 finishes in the last six races, including a victory and two runner-up finishes. And he was runner-up at Richmond, Va. and 10th at Bristol, Tenn. in the other two short tracks stops this season.
Enfinger’s fourth-place finish in last year’s Playoff race was his best work in seven starts. He was top 10 in both 2019 races. The driver of the No 98 ThorSport Racing Ford had six top-10 finishes in the last eight races coming to Martinsville – including a victory at Richmond, Va.
Rhodes, driver of the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford, has four top-10 finishes in nine Martinsville races and was runner-up in last year’s Spring race there. He needs a change in fortune this week as he’s placed 20th in both Playoff races this round and has only a single top-10 (Talladega, Ala.) in the last five races.
The 19-year old Ankrum actually has three previous truck starts at Martinsville with a best showing of 18th in 2018. The driver of the No 26 GMS Racing Chevrolet last earned a top-10 four races ago at Las Vegas.
NASCAR Cup Series Next Race: Xfinity 500 The Place: Martinsville Speedway The Date: Sunday, November 1 The Time: 2 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 1:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 263 (500 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 130), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 260), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 500)
NASCAR Xfinity Series Next Race: Draft Top 250 The Place: Martinsville Speedway The Date: Saturday, October 31 The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 3:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 131.5 miles (250 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 60), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 120), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 250)
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Next Race: NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 The Place: Martinsville Speedway The Date: Friday, October 30 The Time: 8 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 7 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 105.2 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 50), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 100), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
Note: Brett Moffitt also has an Xfinity driving assignment with Cape Cod’s Chris Our who calls Harwich, MA home
Brett Moffitt is in the same position as his GMS Racing teammate Sheldon Creed. He already has a spot in the Championship 4 but would like to have a strong day at Martinsville before heading to Phoenix. He has five starts to his name at the short track with three top fives and four top 10s. He has led 80 laps and has an average start of 9.2 and an average finish of 8.6. He has a best finish of second from 2018.
The 49th annual Don Hoenig’s Flea Market & Swap Meet is ON!!!!! The dates for this year are November 6-8, 2020. Whether it’s race cars, parts, tools, tires or even winter clothing, you’ll find it all at one of the largest Automotive Swap Meets in New England!
TICKET INFORMATION:
Vendor Pass (Friday, Sat + Sun) $100.00 General Admission $15.00 per day Kids 12 & Under FREE
Formula 1 teams plan to cap salaries at $30 million per team by 2023 to help trim costs.
BY MIKE PRYSON OCT 29, 2020DAN ISTITENE – FORMULA 1GETTY IMAGES
Formula 1 teams want to cap the amount a team can spend on drivers at $30 million for the pair.
There is no salary cap currently for drivers.
F1 will have a $145 million team budget cap beginning in 2021, but that amount does not include driver salaries.
If Formula 1 teams follow through with plans to impose a salary cap, Lewis Hamilton could be looking at a major pay cut in 2023.
That is, of course, if he’s still even in the sport and adding to his championship records at that time.
According to the Daily Mail in London, F1 teams have voted to cap driver salaries at $30 million per team. That same publication is reporting that Hamilton is making about $50 million in 2020–the last year of his current contract—and Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas rakes in about $9 million.
The meeting of the teams took place at Portimao, Portugal, on Monday. The salary cap is to be confirmed at a later date by the World Motor Sport Council.
At that same meeting, a proposal for a reverse grid was shot down.
It is believed any current contracts that go beyond 2023 as well as any deals signed before salary cap is ratified would be grandfathered in. That would seem to encourage Hamilton to do one of two things. Either sign a long-term deal now—before the proposal is ratified—under the assumption that any big-money deal that went beyond 2022 would be OK, or sign a two-year deal that begins in 2021 and call it a career at the end of 2022.
Haas team principal Gunther Steiner has said in multiple reports that a salary cap should be part of Formula 1’s new $145 million budget cap era which begins in 2021. Driver salaries are not included in the budget cap that kicks in for 2021.
“If you want to spend a lot of money on a driver then you cannot do other things,” he said. “That should level the playing field even more and I think the salaries would adjust by themselves and end up lower than they are now.”
The racing on TV season may be winding down, but there’s still plenty of NASCAR, F1, IMSA and NHRA this week.
BY MIKE PRYSON OCT 29, 2020CHRIS GRAYTHENGETTY IMAGES
The calendar switches over to November this weekend, but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of racing left in the season.
This week, NASCAR sets its Championship 4 field, NHRA crowns its champions, Formula 1 visits Imola for the first time since 2006, and IMSA is at Monterey, California for the second-to-last race of its season.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your flat screens!
Joey Logano, left, and Kevin Harvick, right, are still the frontrunners for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship.CHRIS GRAYTHENGETTY IMAGES
NASCAR
What: NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Hall of Fame 200 (Fri.), NASCAR Xfinity Series Draft Top 250 (Sat.), NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 (Sun.)
Where: Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va.
Why it is a Must-See: All three races are the third of the three-race Round of 8, meaning the Championship 4 field will be set after each race. The highest finishing Championship 4 driver at each of the three series finales next week at Phoenix will be a champion. So, yeah, this weekend is a big deal.
What to Watch:
• In Cup, there’s still a little intrigue and a few drivers enter the weekend with a make-or-break attitude. With a victory already in the books in the Round of 8, Joey Logano is locked into the Championship 4. Kevin Harvick is 42 points above the cut line and a safe bet to advance. Top four after this race advance. If anyone on this list other than Logano wins this week, they’re in, regardless of points.
NASCAR CUP STANDINGS
Joey Logano QUALIFIED
Kevin Harvick +42
Denny Hamlin +27
Brad Keselowski +25
Alex Bowman -25
Chase Elliott -25
Martin Truex Jr. -36
Kurt Busch -81
• In Xfinity, there’s plenty to watch, as any of the Round of 8 drivers can get in on points. The only driver locked in is Chase Briscoe. Five-time race winner Austin Cindric is only 14 points to the good, while winless underdogs Ross Chastain and Ryan Sieg are still in it. Of course, the easy way to get in for those on the list behind Briscoe is to simply win this week. No problem, right?
NASCAR XFINITY STANDINGS
Chase Briscoe QUALIFIED
Austin Cindric +14
Justin Allgaier +8
Justin Haley +4
Brandon Jones -4
Ross Chastain -15
Noah Gragson -24
Ryan Sieg -43
• The Trucks picture is a bit clearer, as Brett Moffitt and Sheldon Creed are locked in after earlier wins in the Round of 8. Austin Hill is in good shape in the No. 3 spot, so long as one of the bottom four on the list don’t win this week. Such a win would have Hill counting points to try to stay above the cutline.
NASCAR GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK STANDINGS
Brett Mofffit QUALIFIED
Sheldon Creed QUALIFIED
Austin Hill +27
Zane Smith +12
Matt Crafton -12
Grand Enfinger -42
Ben Rhodes -45
Tyler Ankrom -79
Where to Find the Action:
FRIDAY, OCT. 30
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200, Martinvsille, Va.; 8 p.m., FS1 (L)
SATURDAY, OCT. 31
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200, Martinvsille, Va.; 5 a.m., FS1 (T)
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200, Martinvsille, Va.; 10 a.m., FS2 (T)
NASCAR Xfinity Series Draft Top 250, Martinsville, Va.; 3:30 p.m., NBC (L)
SUNDAY, NOV. 1
NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500, Martinsville, Va.; 2 p.m., NBC (L)
Formula 1 is in Italy this week.BRYN LENNON – FORMULA 1GETTY IMAGES
FORMULA 1
What: F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Where: Imola, Italy
Why it is a Must-See: Hate to be a downer, but the COVID-19 virus is once again on the rise and countries in Europe are preparing for heightened lockdowns in the coming days. Don’t be shocked if F1 doesn’t get in its last five races this season. Just sayin’. That’s good enough reason to tune in this week. You never know is this crazy season what might (or mght not) happen.Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
What to Watch:
• Note that it’s a short race weekend for Formula 1. No Friday practice this week. Tune in Saturday morning for practice and qualifying. It’s also F1’s first race at the Imola Circuit since 2006. The podium finishers at that 2006 race were Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Juan Pablo Montoya.Related StoryVerstappen Roasted on Social Media for F1 Outburst
• For those still rooting for someone other than Lewis Hamilton to win the championship, it’s a good week to start rooting for engine failure, a blown tire or crash in Turn 1 that takes out the six-time champion—every race for the next five races. So you’re saying there’s a chance?
• If you like living in the midpack, the battle for third in the F1 Constructors’ Championship is entertaining, as Racing Point, McLaren, Renault, Ferrari and AlphaTauri are separated by just 49 points. Anyone of these teams could still finish third.
F1 CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS
Mercedes 435
Red Bull 226
Racing Point 126
McLaren 124
Renaul 120
Ferrari 93
AlphaTauri 77
Alfa Romeo 5
Haas 3
Williams 0
• The only real drama left on the driver side (unless you look your buddy in the eye and honestly say you care about which midpack driver finishes fourth in the points), is whether or not Hamilton clinches the tile with three races left in the season or two. There are five races left, and the math won’t let him do it this week.
F1 DRIVER STANDINGS
Lewis Hamilton 256
Valtteri Bottas 179
Max Verstappen 162
Daniel Ricciardo 80
Charles Leclerc 75
Where to Find the Action:
SATURDAY, OCT. 31
Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Practice, Imola, Italy; 5:55 a.m., ESPN (L)
Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Qualifying, Imola, Italy; 8:55 a.m., ESPN2 (L)
SUNDAY, NOV. 1
Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Imola, Italy; 7 a.m., ESPN2 (L)
Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Imola, Italy; 3 p.m., ESPNews (S)
Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Imola, Italy; 8 p.m., ESPN2 (S)
Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Imola, Italy; midnight, ESPNews (S)
Matt Hagan, left, and Jack Beckman, right, are still in the hunt for the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Funny Car title.RON LEWIS
NHRA
What: Dodge NHRA Finals Presented by Pennzoil
Where: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Why it is a Must-See: This is it. The grand finale. The be all and end all (for 2020 anyway). Champions will be crowned. Tears. Emotion. Wallys. What more do you want?
What to Watch:
• The abbreviated, 11-race, 2020 season wraps up this week at Las Vegas. As strange as this season has been (no John Force Racing, title sponsor switch midway through the season among), it’s been entertaining on the track. All for pro classes are undecided going into the final week.
• Don’t forget to wave good-by to Pro Stock legends Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Jason Line. Both have announced this is their last season. Both would like nothing better than to go out with a win. Meanwhile, Erica Enders holds a 55-point lead over the two as she goes for her fourth title.
• Don Schumacher Racing goes for 13 Funny wins in a row. The team hasn’t lost an event since October, 2019. All four of its drivers occupy the top four places in the standings. Hard not to like DSR’s chances at an 18th NHRA title this weekend.
• Steve Torrence hopes to wrap up a third consecutive Top Fuel championship. That hasn’t happened in the sport since Tony Schumacher won six straight between 2004 and 2009. At last year’s final, Torrence had an altercation with rival Cameron Ferre which led to a hefty fine and a an assignment for a little anger management. Torrence has been all business in 2020.
• This weekend, points are increased 50 percent. That means 30 points for a round win and a total of 183 points for a perfect weekend, qualifying bonus points for each session included. Qualifying for the 16 spots in eliminations is worth 30 points.
THE CONTENDERS
Top Fuel
Steve Torrence
Doug Kalitta -101 points
Funny Car
Matt Hagan
Tommy Johnson Jr. -42
Jack Beckman -43
Ron Capps -163
Pro Stock
Erica Enders
Jason Line -55
Jeg Coughlin Jr. -55
Greg Anderson -183
Where to Find the Action:
SUNDAY, NOV. 1
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Qualifying, Las Vegas, Nev.; 2 p.m., FS1 (T)
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Dodge NHRA FInals Presented by Pennzoil, Las Vegas, Nev.; 4 p.m., FS1 (L)
Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia can close out the GTLM field this weekend.ICON SPORTSWIREGETTY IMAGESAdvertisement – Continue Reading Below
Why it is a Must-See: This is the second-to-last event of the season, and there’s a chance the GT Le Mans class will be decided in California. The other three classes will be going down to the Sebring finale on Nov. 14
What to Watch:
• Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R can wrap up the GTLM championship if they leave the weekend with at least a 35-point lead. And it’s possible. The team comes into the weekend with a commanding 28-point advantage over the No. 4 Corvette Racing machine. Corvette Racing is seeking drivers title No. 13 and team title No. 14.
• The race is 1 p.m. ET on Nov. 1. Watch it live on NBC Sports Gold TrackPass live or at 4:30 p.m. on NBCSN (tape delayed).
David Gravel became the first driver in eight years to sweep a weekend at The Dirt Track at Charlotte last year. On Nov. 6-7, during the season ending World of Outlaws Last Call, he’ll try to become the first driver to do it for a second consecutive year.
His chances?
“If we have the car that we had on Saturday night last year for both nights (this year) I think we’ll have a good shot,” Gravel said about parking the Jason Johnson Racing #41 in Victory Lane on both nights again.
However, he admitted sweeping the weekend isn’t as easy as statistics on a page make it look.
David Gravel at speed / Jon Arndt photo
While the Last Call, which is replacing the World Finals this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, is still a two-day show, drivers will be dealing with an entirely different surface. The track put down new clay in August and this year the Sprint Cars will have the day to themselves.
Typically, the Super DIRTcar Series and World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models would share each race day with the Sprint Cars, creating more wear on the track surface. Friday and Saturday’s events will only see the Sprint Cars hitting the track this year. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Super DIRTcars will not be at Charlotte and the Late Models will race on Wednesday and Thursday before the Sprint Cars.
“I think with it being just us, the track will be way different than just World Finals typically is,” Gravel said. “Who knows what we’ll get track surface-wise? We’ll get to watch the Late Model guys the couple days before. But, I’m excited to go there. We’ve got a good notebook. We’ve got a good motor. But what we ran last year doesn’t really work this year. We’re going to go down there with an open mind, see how we unload and go from there. We know if we can get the car close that we’ll be able to qualify well. Hopefully have a good weekend.”
Aside from the track conditions, Gravel stated that his sweep last year didn’t come without a little bit of luck.
During the first race night of the World Finals last year, Aaron Reutzel passed Gravel for the lead at the halfway point with the more dominant car. But soon after had his chance of a win taken away. A lap car got sideways in front of him, forcing his left foot to marry the brake pedal and allowed Gravel to reclaim the lead.
“The first night, we actually weren’t that great,” Gravel said. “Aaron Reutzel had the lead and ended up spinning out with a lap car. That’s what won us the race.”
The next night, no luck was needed.
“Saturday night, we for sure had the best race car in the pits,” Gravel said. “The thing could drive itself. It could go anywhere.”
Attached to Gravel’s goal of sweeping the weekend is the focus of trying to give Jason Johnson Racing its first team championship. JJR is currently 30 points behind Kasey Kahne Racing for the points lead.
Jason Johnson Racing celebrate Lernerville win / Trent Gower photo
Gravel and the team collected six wins this season and were one of the most consistent pairs in the Series. From June to September they went on a run of 26 top-10 finishes in row – 19 of them top-fives – and finished outside the top-10 only six times in their 48 races together, so far, this year.
“I feel like [the season] has been average until a month ago when we were able to win at Lerneville and Eldora (with the All Stars) and Williams Grove,” Gravel said. “Those kind of turned the year around. I think we’ve always been pretty consistent and solid. Just have lacked going forward in the [Feature]. Overall, we’ve been super solid. No mistakes. No part failures. Stuff like that. We’ve been really good a finishing races. That’s been a big part of it.”
He and JJR have had a solid two years together, collecting 18 World of Outlaws wins in total to this point. What the rest of their future entails may be revealed at Charlotte, according to Gravel.
For pit passes to the Nov. 6-7 World of Outlaws Last Call, click here.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the action live on DIRTVision.
Thursday, October 29, 2020 – Highlands, NJ – AIM Vasser Sullivan driver Frankie Montecalvo, alongside co-driver Townsend Bell is ready to take on the penultimate round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Laguna Seca. The team had a massive job putting the car back together in such a short period of time,” explained Montecalvo.
The No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 sustained heavy damage from an incident at Petit Le Mans less than two weeks ago when a GTLM car made contact with Bell during a restart in the final minutes of the 10-hour race.
“Our goal is to get to Laguna and do our best for the guys and the team who put all of that hard work towards getting the car ready to go for the race. I can’t thank the guys enough for all of their efforts. They’ve worked so hard the last week and a half to get everything repaired and put back together in time for Laguna.”
Montecalvo is no stranger to the 2.238-mile circuit situated in Monterey, CA. However, Laguna Seca is known as one of the most technical tracks in North America, so finding a good setup for the No. 12 Lexus will be key for the weekend’s two-day event.
“We’ve been learning so much in the last few sprint races to be able to get our car set up well for these shorter events, so we have a lot of confidence in that going into the race week. Laguna is a very technical, low-grip circuit, which always makes setup a bit more difficult, but I’m confident that the team will be able to find a setup that suits our Lexus well.”
“It’s crazy to think this is our final sprint race of the season. We’ll be doing everything we can to finish on the podium. Lexus is currently leading the manufacturer’s championship, so our goal is to have a clean race, finish on the podium, and to maximize the number of points we can score for Lexus as we head into the final race of the 2020 season.”
On track action for the Monterey Sports Car Championship begins Saturday, October 31, and continues through Sunday. Although fans will not be allowed to attend the race, you can catch all the race action on Sunday, November 1, at 4:05 PM ET on NBC TrackPass or on NBC Sports with tape-delayed coverage beginning at 6:30 PM ET. Be sure to follow Frankie on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with current broadcast times and all of Frankie’s racing news. 2020 Schedule
Laguna Seca October 30 – November 1
Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring November 12 – 14
2020 Results
Rolex 24 At Daytona January 23 – 26 – P12
WeatherTech 240 at Daytona July 3 – 4 – P2
Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring July 16 – 18 –P5
Road America July 31 – August 2 – P1
Virginia International Raceway August 21 – 23 – P9
Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta – 6 Hour September 4 – 6 –P5
Mid Ohio Sports Car Course September 25 – 27 – P10
The IMS Museum is proud to partner with Bank of America to offer BOA card holders free admission to the museum on the first weekend of each month through the Museums on Us program. Active Bank of America, Merrill, or Bank of America Private Bank (U.S. Trust) credit or debit cardholders with a photo ID receive one free general admission per cardholder.
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