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Max Papis Leads Final Nationwide Series Practice at Road America

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As the same as the first practice, it was another Nationwide Series practice with the charts dominated by the road course ringers.

Max Papis, driving the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Incorporated, was first at a speed of 108.991mph (133.707 seconds). Joe Gibbs Racing’s Michael McDowell (108.707mph) followed in second.

Jacques Villeneuve, driving the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge for Pense Racing was third with a speed of 108.509 mph, followed by Ron Fellows, who is driving the No. 7 AER Manufacturing Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, in fourth (107.893).

Series regular Steve Wallace rounded out the top five in fifth (107.853), followed by Andrew Ranger, Ricky Carmichael, Elliott Sadler, Brian Scott and Reed Sorenson.

Series points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. did not practice, nor did his teammate Billy Johnson, who led the first practice.

Billy Johnson to Drive No. 60 Fastenal Ford Mustang in Road America Nationwide Series Race

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Takuma Sato gets first IRL pole at Iowa

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SM Staff
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NEWTON, Ia. – KV Racing Technology’s Takuma Sato scored his first IZOD IndyCar Series pole at Iowa Speedway on Saturday for the Iowa Corn Indy 250. Sato clocked in at 35.6857 and took the pole from Tony Kannan, who had held the pole for a vast majority of the session.

Sato’s previous best start was at Mid-Ohio, when he turned in the third fastest time in qualifying.

“I want to say a big thank you to the whole team, the fans, the sponsors and everyone who has supported me,” Soato said after his qualifying run. “It is a fantastic achievement.  I knew we were going to be competitive because of last year and this morning I was truly comfortable in the car. I could feel where we needed to be with the setup for qualifying. Working so closely today with the three KVRT-Lotus drivers, working so closely with my engineers, we had a great answer. The mechanics also did a great job preparing the car. I am very pleased with today’s result.”

Danica Patrick will start opposite of Sato on the front row after locking down the second place starting spot in qualifying.

“It feels really good to have the GoDaddy car in position to be able to guard up front and have the opportunity for a solid race day,” Patrick said after recording a lap of 35.7184. “On short tracks like this it’s nice to start near the front because you can gain ground more quickly. If you start near the back of the field you could be a lap behind very quickly. I haven’t started on the front row in a long time so it’s a good feeling.”

Rounding out the top-ten qualifiers was Kanaan, JR. Hildebrand, Will Power, Dario Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Mike Conway and Ryan Brisco.

The IndyCar Series will race 250 laps under the lights at Iowa Speedway for the first time ever on Saturday.  The Iowa Corn Indy 250 will begin at 9 p.m. ET and will be televised on Versus and broadcast on the IMS Radio Network.

The drivers will have 24 overtake assists, each lasting 10 seconds and with a minimum of eight seconds between pushes. Each assist will provide an extra 200 RPM, or about 10 horsepower.

 

CHEVY NSCS AT SONOMA: Clint Bowyer Press Conf. Transcript

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TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Denny Hamlin — Notes & Quotes Infineon Raceway

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CHEVY NSCS AT SONOMA: Jeff Gordon Press Conf. Transcript

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CHEVY NSCS AT SONOMA: Ryan Newman Press Conf. Transcript

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CHEVY NSCS AT SONOMA: Tony Stewart Press Conf. Transcript

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Esteban Guerrieri Scores Second Indy Lights Pole in a Row at Iowa

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SM Staff
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For the second straight week in a row, Esteban Guerrieri will start from the pole as he won the Sonoco Pole Award for the Sukup 100.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”276″][/media-credit]”It is very important at this track to do the right thing in qualifying because it is difficult to overtake during the race,” Guerrieri said. “We are in really good shape for tomorrow and I am pleased to start in the front.

“I was able to maximize the short amount of time I had on the track (one practice session), and that is basically what motorsports is in Europe. It is all about making the most of the little time you have on the track. I try to be accurate and visualize what my position on the track will be. This strategy has been working for me so far, but it wouldn’t work if I didn’t have a good car. I have to thank Sam Schmidt and the team because without them I couldn’t do it.”

Last week at Milwaukee, Guerrieri transferred his pole start into his first ever Firestone Indy Lights victory. Guerrieri’s average speed of 160.787 mph puts Sam Schmidt Motorsports on the pole for the forth consecutive week.

Gustavo Yacaman qualified second at a speed of 159.520 mph for his first front-row start.

“It took me three years to get there, but I made it,” Yacaman said. “We were the second car out and that didn’t help us because the track was very dirty from the USAC Silver Crown and Midget cars. When I was out there I was able to work my bars and my weightjacker enough to get a good lap.

“I think if we would have drawn something a little later we would have had a better run. I want to thank my team because this is my best qualifying attempt so far and this is the first time I am starting on the front row. I think we are looking good to run for pole position in the next few races. This is a really hard track to race on and I think we can get it done and hopefully get our first podium of the year and build momentum from there.”

Bryan Clauson qualified in the third position (159.434), followed by Josef Newgarden and Duarte Ferreira.

Victor Carbone qualified sixth, followed by Stefan Wilson and Brandon Wagner.

The green flag for the Sukup 100 at Iowa is set to be drop at 6:30pm EST tomorrow and can be seen on VERSUS.

Kurt Busch Leads Opening Sprint Cup Series Practice at Sonoma Raceway

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SM Staff
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In opening practice at Sonoma Raceway, one of the most underrated road course racers in the series led the way. Kurt Busch took the top spot in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge with a speed of 93.014mph (77.021 seconds).

[media-credit id=41 align=”alignright” width=”290″][/media-credit]“We’ve definitely had some chances of winning on the road courses in the Cup cars through the years,” Busch said.  “We started third and had a strong top-five run going at Sonoma (Infineon) last year before the late-race run-in.  We came back and really threatened for the win last August at Watkins Glen.  To race with (Juan Pablo) Montoya and (Marcos) Ambrose like we did there was definitely a confidence-builder.  Those two guys come from a different world when it comes to road course racing.  We got by Ambrose at the end and were closing in on Montoya.

Once qualifying hits the track later today, Busch will go for his fourth consecutive Coors Light Pole Award at Sonoma, to go along with the four top-five finishes and seven top-10s he has scored on his 20 road course starts to date.

Denny Hamlin drove his No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota to second on the charts at 92.559mph.

After Red Bull Racing has been in the media all week, Kasey Kahne drove his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota to the third spot at 92.546mph. Kevin Harvick (92.361mph) and Martin Truex Jr. (92.359mph) rounded out the top five.

A.J. Allmendinger was sixth, followed by Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, David Gilliland and Marcos Ambrose.

Points leader Carl Edwards, meanwhile, was 37th, 2.052 seconds off the pace set by Busch.

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