(Nigel Kinrade/NKP © 2014)
Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion) led a Penske Racing 1-2 sweep in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday night, with teammate Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Wurth Ford Fusion) coming in second. Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Dollar General Toyota Camry) finished third. It was a huge weekend for both Penske and Ford Racing, with Keselowski winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event on Thursday in a truck he owns, and Ryan Blaney (below) winning for Penske in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Friday night. Watch a NASCAR video here.
(Lesley Ann Miller/NKP ©2014)
Ryan Blaney (No. 22 Team Penske Discount Tire Ford Mustang) drives to Victory Lane Friday night after his NASCAR Nationwide Series win at Bristol.
(Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chevrolet) swept past race leader Mike Conway (No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Fuzzy's Vodka Chevrolet) on Lap 83 of 85 to score a dramatic victory Sunday in the GoPro Grand Prix Verizon IndyCar Series race at Sonoma Raceway in California. The win was the 35th of Dixon's Indy car career, putting him in a tie for fifth place on the all-time Indy car victory list with three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser.
(Photo by Joe Skibinski/IndyCar)
Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda) finished second on Sunday, 1.1359 seconds behind Dixon.
(Photo by John Cote/IndyCar)
Simon Pagenaud (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Occulus Honda) finished third after overtaking Mike Conway, who ran out of fuel and coasted across the finish line for a 14th-place finish. "Strategy was very frustrating, very tough for me because I had to save so much fuel but we made it past Conway in the last corner and third (place), it's fantastic," Pagenaud said after the race.
(Photo by John Cote/IndyCar)
Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) who started on the pole in Sonoma and led a field-high 33 laps, was scored 10th after rebounding from a spin on Lap 40 that dropped him eight positions to a lowly 20th. "It took me by surprise when I spun. That's just racing," Power said. "I would have liked to have had a better finish, but the Verizon Chevy team will look to Fontana working towards the championship." Power, Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Hitachi Chevrolet) and Simon Pagenaud are drivers eligible for the Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Power takes a lead of 51 points over Castroneves and 81 points over Pagenaud to the two-mile Auto Club Speedway oval for the season-closing MAVTV 500 on Aug. 30. A total of 104 points are available in the final round of the Triple Crown series. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Scott Dixon technically remain championship eligible, but will be eliminated if Power participates in Friday practice at Auto Club Speedway, which would assure the Team Penske driver half points for the weekend.
(Pirelli World Challenge)
Mike Skeen (No. 2 Hawk Performance Audi R8 Ultra) won the GT class in Saturday's Round 13 of the Pirelli World Challenge season, the Cadillac Grand Prix of Sonoma, part of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma weekend. After a crash at the start and another on-track incident put the race under a full-course caution that lasted for nearly 18 minutes, Skeen was able to pull away from the rest of the GT field for the rest of the 26-lap race. He took the win by 4.110 seconds at an average speed of 73.730 mph. "We had all the laps out front, but tons of traffic, and a very dirty track," Skeen said. "It was very tight. Cooperation with traffic is crucial. I couldn't let up as we had Ryan (Dalziel) and Butch (Leitzinger) behind pushing me. We closed up pretty good today and look for more tomorrow." Michael Mills (GT-A) and Jack Baldwin (GTS) also took wins in Saturday's race.
(Pirelli World Challenge)
Anthony Lazzaro (No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) took his second win of 2014 in Sunday’s 50-minute Pirelli World Challenge race, Round 14 of the 2014 season at the 2.385-mile Sonoma Raceway. Lazzaro won overall and in GT at an average speed of 71.786 mph, with a winning margin of victory under caution of 2.519 seconds. Ryan Dalziel (No. 31 EFFORT Racing Porsche GT3 R) and Robert Thorne (No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 12C GT3) finished second and third, the three racers running unchallenged for most of the rest of the race. Lawson Aschenbach (No. 1 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro) won GTS and Albert von Thurn und Taxis (No. 24 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo FL2) of Regensburg, Germany, secured his first GT-A win. The Cadillac Grand Prix of Sonoma races will air Sunday, August 30, at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Meanwhile the Pirelli World Challenge concludes its 2014 season with the GT, GT-A and GTS classes running Rounds 15 and 16 at Miller Motorsports Park, Sept. 12-13, in Tooele, Utah, outside Salt Lake City.
(Alison Padron/Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship)
After competing in the series since its foundation, Rhys Millen (No. 67 Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing Veloster Turbo) finally won the first race of his Red Bull Global Rallycross career at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. Millen held off a hard-charging Ken Block (No. 43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST) for the victory, while Bucky Lasek (No. 81 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI) crossed the line third for his second podium of the season. After the event, Red Bull GRC officials found unapproved equipment on Millen’s vehicle, though a full download of the vehicle’s data showed that the equipment was not active or collecting data. In response to the infraction, the series penalized Millen 50 points and set forth a fine. Under series rules, the team is allowed to appeal the penalty.
(IMSA)
Giancarlo Fisichella (No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari) took the checkered flag 0.492 seconds ahead of the Porsche 911 RSR of Wolf Henzler (No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR, co-driven by Bryan Sellers) to win the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in Sunday’s GT-only TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International. A GT record 18 cars finished the two-hour, 45-minute race on the lead lap. A thrilling last-lap pass gave Fisichella and co-driver Pierre Kaffer their second consecutive win in GTLM. Dirk Mueller and John Edwards (No. 56 BMW Team RLL Crowne Plaza BMW Z4 GTE) finished third.
(IMSA)
Dane Cameron (No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 started by Markus Palttala) took the fourth GT Daytona (GTD) victory of the season for the team by 1.420 seconds in the Oak Tree Grand Prix. Alessandro Balzan (No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia started by Jeff Westphal) finished second, followed by Patrick Dempsey and Andrew Davis in the No. 27 Dempsey Racing Porsche 911 GT America. The next race for all four TUDOR Championship classes will be Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 20. That race will have next-day FOX network television coverage on Sunday, Sept. 21.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Watch four-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel lap the newly completed Sochi Autodrom inKrasnodar Krai, Russia, ahead of this year’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix here. The Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver and Infiniti Director of Performance traveled straight to Sochi from Spa Francorchamps after finishing fifth in the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday. Vettel completed a number of high speed laps of the full Grand Prix circuit in an Infiniti Q50 Hybrid. Vettel was joined by former Formula One driver David Coulthard, driving the circuit with VIP guests and media. The 5.8-kilometer Sochi Autodrom circuit, designed by famed Formula One architect Hermann Tilke, features 18 corners and will host round 16 of the 2014 World Championship on October 12th. - PMD