MAY 10, 2017
Monday, May 8, 2017 at 08:29AM 
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor (No. 10 WTR Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) earned their fourth consecutive victory in Saturday’s Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. It marked the longest win streak in IMSA WeatherTech Championship history and the longest in major U.S. sports car racing competition since Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr won eight straight in the 2013 American Le Mans Series. The No. 10 team dominated the weekend, leading two of three pre-qualifying practice sessions, including both of Thursday’s sessions. And then Ricky Taylor smashed the previous track record by three seconds in Friday’s qualifying session, out-qualifiying his next closest competitor, Johannes van Overbeek (No. 22 Tequila Patrón ESM Nissan DPi), by more than a second-and-a-half. Ricky, the 27-year-old elder Taylor brother, held the lead for the entirety of his driving stint before turning the car over to Jordan Taylor at the one-hour, 45-minute mark in the race. The younger Taylor finished 18.855 seconds clear of Dane Cameron and Eric Curran (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R.). Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R.) finished third after the No. 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Nissan DPi being driven by Ryan Dalziel caught fire, handing the No. 5 car the final podium spot with ten minutes remaining in the race. Editor-In-Chief's Note: Check out a superb gallery of scintillating images from photographer extraordinaire John Thawley, this week from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round in Austin, Texas, at the Circuit of The Americas.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen (No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R) survived a multi-car accident on the first corner of the first lap Saturday to win the GTLM class in the Advance Auto Parts SportsCar Showdown at Circuit of The Americas. Magnussen started in sixth position, taking the inside line in Turn 1 and by the time he cleared the melee, he had moved to third. The No. 3 Corvette moved into the lead on lap 27 and never gave it up, winning its second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race of the season by 2.498 seconds over Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sims (No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M6). “I definitely made the right choice to pick the inside line,” said Magnussen. “Everything was happening on the outside and a few cars got in big trouble and had some heavy damage. I’m really happy I escaped all that without a scratch.” The Turn 1 incident damaged five cars, including the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT of Ryan Briscoe, the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE of Giancarlo Fisichella, and the No. 4 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R of Tommy Milner. The No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT of Dirk Mueller and the No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR of Wolf Henzler also were involved and lost multiple laps due to damage obtained from the incident. It was the strongest run of the season for BMW with polesitter John Edwards and co-driver Martin Tomczyk (No. 24 BMW Team RLL BMW M6) rounding out the class podium. Edwards led 22 laps on the day, but a pit road penalty put the team too far behind the race-winning Corvette to contend for the win. The win was Corvette Racing’s 104th major U.S. sports car victory. The No. 3 team also won the race’s DEKRA Green Award. The award recognizes the cleanest, fastest and most efficient team in the GTLM class in each race through a scoring system developed in a partnership between IMSA, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy and SAE International. “I think it is the perfect way to come back after what happened at Long Beach,” said Garcia. “It’s a shame the No. 4 car had that contact in turn one, but it’s three wins in a row for Corvette Racing. I think no one expected that, but that is what it takes for those results: Zero mistakes."
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen (No. 33 Riley Motorsports - Team AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3) won the GTD class at Circuit of The Americas, in Austin, Texas. It was another big win in his home state for Keating, who was born in Tomball, Texas, and now resides in Victoria, graduated from Texas A&M in 1994, and has since opened 17 automotive dealerships throughout the state. “Winning again, the home race… I love this place,” said Keating. “Nothing beats winning at home.” It was also the third consecutive WeatherTech Championship victory for Mercedes-AMG in the marque’s fourth race. Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan (No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3) finished second and Tristan Vautier and Kenny Habul (No. 75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3) came in third.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
James French and Pato O’Ward (No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA FLM09) continued their dominance of the Prototype Challenge (PC) class. The duo picked up their third straight win on Saturday in the Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown in Austin, Texas, after winning the opening two rounds of the season in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida. Stefan Wilson and Nick Boulle (No. 26 BAR1 Motorsports ORECA FLM09) finished second. The next WeatherTech Championship race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation on Saturday, June 3. The 100-minute race will feature the Prototype, PC and GT Daytona (GTD) classes, while the teams in the GTLM class prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
(Getty Images/NASCAR)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (No. 17 Roush Fenway Fifth Third Bank Ford) celebrates his first NASCAR win with girlfriend Danica Patrick and his Roush Fenway crew. Stenhouse pulled off a last-lap pass in Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway to capture his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in his 158th start, delivering the first win for Roush Fenway Racing since Carl Edwards triumphed at Sonoma in June 2014. "This is for all the guys at the shop - we've been terrible for a long time," an exuberant Stenhouse said of the Roush renaissance. "This year, every race, we're just getting better and better. We knew Talladega was a good race track for us. It's been a good one in the past. This Fifth Third Ford was so fast today. Qualifying on the pole, got the win. Can't say enough about the guys. It's cool to get Jack Roush back in Victory Lane. This is cool. The closest track to my hometown (Olive Branch, Mississippi). Man, this is cool." Jamie McMurray (No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing McDonald's Chevrolet) finished second, .095 seconds behind Stenhouse Jr. Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Skittles Toyota), was third, just .004 seconds behind McMurray at the stripe. Watch a video here.
(Getty Images/NASCAR)
(crash.net)
Dani Pedrosa (No. 26 Repsol Honda Team) won Sunday's Spanish MotoGP, holding teammate team-mate Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team) at bay throughout the 27 laps. Jorge Lorenzo (No. 99 Ducati Team) celebrated his first podium with Ducati in third, ahead of rookie Johann Zarco (No. 5 Monster Energy Yamaha Tech 3), who fought his way through the field brilliantly in the early laps.
(Audi Sport)
Mattias Ekström (No. 1 EKS Audi S1 RX quattro) won round three of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship at the Hockenheimring in difficult weather conditions. Johan Kristoffersson (No. 3 PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Volkswagen Polo) was second and Timmy Hansen (No. 21 Team Peugeot-Hansen Peugeot 208 WRX) finished third. Ekström has extended his lead in the drivers' classification, while EKS continues to trail Team PSRX Volkswagen Sweden in the teams’ classification.
(Photos by Chris Owens/Indianapolis Motor Speedway for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
The 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport will be the Indianapolis 500 Pace Car for the 101st running of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday, May 28, 2017. It marks the 14th time a Corvette has served as the official pace car for the "500" (starting in 1978), and the 28th time a Chevrolet has led the field, dating back to 1948. No other vehicle has served as the pace car more than the Corvette.
(PPG)
Editor-In-Chief's Note: Thanks to PPG for the following on the "Beast." -PMD
While the build of Beast IV took a quick three weeks, the restoration required fifteen months of intense research and meticulous craftsmanship. Much of the racer had deteriorated and few of its original parts remained. With museum curator Greg Sharp providing historical guidance on the project, the Webb and Hollenbeck crews worked primarily from vintage photographs and magazine articles to source rare parts, fabricate components and determine and reproduce the Beast’s exact colors. Craig Naff, of Woodstock, Va., blended the Beast’s remaining original sheet metal with new material to create a complete body; in effect, a canvas for Hollenbeck to paint. Consulting with PPG’s segment manager Steve Lehner and technical trainer Jim Kvatek, Hollenbeck and team members Darrell Schneider and Dennis Sayers selected several PPG automotive refinish products to replicate the car’s initial paint job. Eric Reyes’ steady hand provided the Beast’s elegant lettering and detailing.
“Color was a challenge,” said Hollenbeck. “There were color photos of the original Beast and we knew the car was blue and yellow, but the colors looked different in every photograph. So we compared the colors of other cars in photos with the Beast. We figured out the other cars’ colors and were able to come very close to equaling the Beast’s color. Then we generated dozens of blue and yellow samples and tweaked them to match the paint. The museum made the final decision and we gave the Beast its proper design and color scheme.”
According to Larry Fisher, the museum’s executive director, Beast IV was originally built in 1953 by Chet Herbert just in time to compete in that year’s Bonneville Speed Week and International Speed Trials. The aluminum-bodied, Chrysler Hemi-powered racer streaked across the Utah Salt Flats hitting a top speed of 246 mph and breaking eight long-standing performance records. Beast IV — the successor to Herbert’s original Beast (a motorcycle), Beast II and Beast III racers — ran until 1992 in a number of configurations with a variety of engines and reached speeds up to 289 mph. The racer then rested on its laurels; unused, it fell into disrepair and was acquired by David and Marianne Duthu. The couple donated Beast IV to the museum and agreed to fund the car’s badly needed restoration.
Beast IV is now on permanent display with Beast III at the NHRA Motorsports Museum.
