TMW: Road Course Races Abound
F1 in Australia. IndyCar at The Thermal Club. NASCOTA. The world's top racing tours were turning right and left this weekend.
The Morning Warmup
March 25, 2024
Race Recaps
It was a weekend of road course racing. Formula 1 raced in Australia, IndyCar trialed an exhibition race at The Thermal Club and NASCAR rolled through Circuit of the Americas.
NASCAR
Cup Series: Last year William Byron was the Cup Series’ winningest drier. This season he’s the first multi-time winner. The Daytona 500 champ kept a charging Christopher Bell in the rearview mirror to score his second win of the year at COTA. (Holly Cain / NASCAR.com)
Xfinity Series: On paper Kyle Larson had a near-perfect day. He started on pole and won the Xfinity Series race at COTA. But in reality he led just one lap, sliding by Shane Van Gisbergen and Austin Hill after they made contact on the final lap. (Holly Cain / NASCAR.com)
Craftsman Truck Series: Corey Heim had been waiting for this one. The 2023 Championship 4 qualifier led 31 of 46 laps to score a convincing early-season win. (Holly Cain / NASCAR.com)
ARCA Menards Series East: Gio Ruggiero scored his first series victory over defending champ William Sawalich at Five Flags Speedway. (Adam Fenwick / ARCARacing.com)
Stories from COTA:
Here’s what drivers had to say after Sunday’s race. (John Newby / NBC Sports)
A solid top-20 run for Justin Haley was undone after his No. 51 Ford was found in violation of the minimum weight requirement Sunday, resulting in a disqualification. (NASCAR.com)
Bell was on the charge late, but needed a mistake from Byron to have any shot at a win. (Kelly Crandall / RACER)
Van Gisbergen and Hill were at odds after their contact and loss in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. (NASCAR.com)
SVG was less fortunate in he Cup race, finishing 21st after a penalty and gearbox issues plagued his run. (Daniel Herrero /Speedcafe)
Connor Zilisch was up, down, forward and back during his Truck Series debut. But he was also fast, salvaging a top-five at race’s end. (Dustin Albino / NASCAR.com)
IndyCar
The NTT IndyCar Series’ new-look event had a familiar outcome at The Thermal Club. Defending champ Alex Palou was dominant en route to a $500,000 win. (Paul Kelly / IndyCar.com)
Thermal Takeaways:
IndyCar plans to evaluate a Thermal return with Sunday’s event over. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
With the first try complete, there are some ideas on how to improve the event in a potential redux. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
Romain Grosjean was left frustrated after suffering an early exit. (Charles Bradley / Motorsport)
Runner-up Scott McLaughlin felt clean air was the difference for Palou. (Joey Barnes / Motorsport)
F1
Formula 1: For the second time, Carlos Sainz is the only non-Red Bull race winner in Formula 1. The Spaniard struck after Max Verstappen had technical issues to score a big victory for Ferrari in the Australian Grand Prix. (F1.com)
Formula 2: Isack Hadjar took advantage of a timely virtual safety car to win the feature race in Melbourne. (Rachit Thukral / Motorsport)
Formula 3: Dino Beganovic stood tall in a feature race filled with tire management and tense battles. (Motorsport)
The latest from Melbourne:
Fernando Alonso was dropped to eighth after being penalized for his role in a last-lap shunt for George Russell. (Chris Medland / RACER)
As you might expect, the Spaniard wasn’t a fan of the call. (Filip Cleeren / Motorsport)
It’s been an eventful 16 days for Sainz, who went from missing a race for a medical emergency to the top step of the podium in successive grands prix. Along the way the Spaniard has shown his grit. (Luke Smith / The Athletic)
Sunday’s win was particular special, given Sainz’s “roller coaster” start to the year. (Chris Medland / RACER)
A stuck brake set off the end of Verstappen’s winning streak in Australia. (Chris Medland / RACER)
Red Bull has many lessons to take from its first real sign of weakness on the year. (F1.com)
A Mercedes double-DNF left team principal Toto Wolff with few positives to take away from the weekend. (Matt Kew / Motorsport)
Sauber was fined €5000 after a disastrous pitstop. (Adam Cooper / Motorsport)
Here are The Athletic’s takeaways from a memorable run at Albert Park. (Madeline Coleman & Patrick Iversen / The Athletic)
Hadjar saw a failed appeal of a penalty in the F2 sprint race, while Franco Colapinto was disqualified from the feature. (Sam Hall / Motorsport)
Supercars
It was an eventful weekend at the Australian Grand Prix. Broc Feeney won the opener over teammate Will Brown to take over the championship lead. (Supercars.com)
But it was Brown that won the following race while Feeney made a late mistake. (Supercars.com)
Feeney struck again in the third race of the weekend, highlighted by a crash between Matt Payne and Cam Waters. (Supercars.com)
Nick Percat scored in the weekend finale, while Brown clinched the weekend’s Larry Perkins Trophy with a second-place run. (Supercars.com)
Storylines from the Supercars weekend:
A wild race weekend left driving standards as a key topic of conversation leaving Albert Park. (Daniel Herrero / Speedcafe)
The cars of Payne and Waters required extensive overnight repairs after their race three crash. (Daniel Herrero / Speedcafe)
Matt Stone Racing filed a complaint to Motorsport Australia alleging physical contact between a member of its staff and another from Walkinshaw Andretti United. (Andrew van Leeuwen / Speedcafe)
Sports Cars
24H Series: Team GP Elite took its first series win in an eventful 12H Mugello. (Daily Sportscar)
Dirt
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars:
Heavy rains led Mother Nature to call off Friday’s race at Big O Speedway. (WorldofOutlaws.com)
The field was able to race Saturday, with Carson Macedo beating David Gravel to win the tour’s Kennedale Speedway Park debut. (Alex Nieten / WorldofOutlaws.com)
LOLMDS:
After years of attempts, Devin Moran is finally a winner at Brownstown Speedway. (LucasDirt.com)
Jonathan Davenport dominated to take the Buckeye Spring 50 at Atomic Speedway. (Kyle McFadden / Dirt On Dirt)
Short Tracks
ASA STARS: Try as he might, Gio Ruggiero couldn’t sweep the weekend at Five Flags Speedway. He claimed an ARCA East win, but fell short of Cole Butcher in the ASA STARS feature. (Matt Weaver / Short Track Scene)
SMART Modified Tour: Luke Baldwin beat Matt Hirschman at South Boston Speedway to earn the title King of the Modifieds. (Matt Weaver / Short Track Scene)
Moto
MotoGP: Jorge Martin dominated the Portuguese Grand Prix while prodigy Pedro Acosta scored his first podium. (Lewis Duncan / Motorsport)
Supercross: A tense showdown in Seattle went the way of Cooper Webb over Chase Sexton in the 450 class. (Dan Beaver / NBC Sports)
Moto stories from Portimao:
Joan Mir was critical of Franco Morbidelli for a “not clever” move on the opening lap. (Rachit Thukral & Oriol Puigdemont / Motorsport)
Pecco Bagnaia was angry over a clash with Marc Marquez, though he accepted it was a racing incident. (Lewis Duncan & German Garcia Casanova / Motorsport)
Marquez felt it was a mistake on Bagnaia’s part. (Lewis Duncan & Oriol Puigdemont / Motorsport)
Drag Racing
NHRA: Tough break for America’s top drag racing tour. Inclement weather forced the postponement of Sunday’s finals to the NHRA Arizona Nationals. (RACER)
Today’s Top Stories
1) Skip Barber Racing School acquires SRX, plans for 2024 season (SRX)
The Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) may not be dead just yet.
Skip Barber Racing School announced an acquisition of the series Friday, a day after confirming the arrival of former SRX CEO Don Hawk as a chief strategy hour. Skip Barber also claimed plans for a 2024 season are being formed.
“This is an exciting time for the entire SBRS team,” Skip Barber CMO Dan DeMonte said in a release. “We take great pride in providing valuable and exciting events to the motorsports community and now have the opportunity to continue that with the SRX series.”
The move came two months after the short-lived veteran all-star series announced it wouldn’t have a 2024 racing season, effectively shutting it down after three years of operation.
SRX was launched amid the COVID-19 pandemic, running its first season in 2021 in an effort founded by Tony Stewart, Ray Evernham, Sandy Montag and George Pyne. It was set up as a spiritual successor to the International Race of Champions, running for six weeks across American short tracks with a mixture of familiar drivers - albeit mostly those retired from full-time carers in series like NASCAR and IndyCar.
It was shut down on Jan. 11, 2024, citing “market factors” after a shift from Saturdays with CBS to Thursday nights with ESPN in 2023 yielded poor TV ratings.
That seemed to be the end of the road. But for now, SRX once again has life.
(Source(s): James Krause / Frontstretch)
2) Sargeant sits out in Australia after Albon crashes primary car (F1)
Williams entered the Australian Grand Prix with hopes for a solid, points-scoring weekend. But an early shunt for Alex Albon forced the team to make a controversial decision for Sunday’s race.
Albon lost control of his car and crashed into the barriers during the first practice session of the weekend, sustaining heavy damage in the process. Williams evaluated the machine and determined it couldn’t be repaired in time for qualifying or the race.
That’s where things took an unfortunate turn. Williams didn’t have a backup chassis for the weekend, which meant it could only field one car in the race. That left the team with an unenviable decision to make - should it reward Logan Sargeant for keeping his car clean or give the car to its best driver on pace, Albon?
Given the emphasis on earning points in Formula 1, the company leaned toward the latter option. In what he called “the hardest moment I can remember in my career,” Sargeant was called to sit out so Albon could take over the machine.
“We should never be in a situation in the top tier of motorsport where we’re not able to produce two cars to go to the grid,” team principal James Vowles said of the situation. “But I’ve always said all along that this catalyst of change that we need to do—the change that we’re doing within Williams at the moment—is not one that will take place over one month or one year but many years to start resolving all these issues.”
Unfortunately for Williams, the decision didn’t quite bear fruit. Albon came home 11th at race’s end, one spot short of a points-paying finish.
(Source(s): Luke Smith / The Athletic)
3) Zak Brown signs new deal with McLaren Racing (F1)
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is staying put through at least 2030 after signing a new contract extension with the organization.
Brown has been with McLaren since 2016 and CEO of McLaren Racing since 2018, helping the papaya squad elevate and sustain its program in Formula 1 while launching efforts in IndyCar, Formula E and elsewhere.
He contract extension comes with support from McLaren Group executive chairman Paul Walsh after a good start to the 2024 season in F1. McLaren started 2023 off poorly, but rose to fourth in the constructors championship after midseason improvements led it to be quickest behind Red Bull in the second half of the season.
Lando Norris finished third in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. The company currently sits third in the 2024 championship, between Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes.
“I am thrilled to continue leading McLaren Racing and to be a part of such a historic race team,” Brown said “It is a privilege to work alongside the talented men and women across McLaren Racing’s different race series. Together, we will continue to push the boundaries of motorsport and strive for the highest performance on and off the track.”
(Source(s): Chris Medland / RACER)
News and Notes
NASCAR
NASCAR is reportedly set for a return to Circuit of the Americas in 2025. (John Newby / NBC Sports)
IndyCar
After a trend of early issues, there is rising concern over IndyCar’s PFC braking system. (Joey Barnes / Motorsport)
With the changing economics and trends within IndyCar, Josef Newgarden’s free agency is set to be a story to follow this year. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
F1
Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund has reportedly bought out the McLaren Group, which owns a majority share in the F1 team. (Matt Kew / Motorsport)
While Daniel Ricciardo chases a Red Bull seat, RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda wants to increase his value to others in case a Red Bull opportunity never materializes. (Matt Kew / Motorsport)
Sports Cars
The Super GT test at Fuji Speedway ended with ARTA Mugen Honda on top. (Daily Sportscar)
Dirt
High Limit Racing has a title sponsor: Kubota. (HighLimitRacing.com)
Rally
Terrible news: Four people died and another eight were injured in an accident at Hungary’s Esztergom-Nyerges Rally. (Alasdair Lindsay / DirtFish)
Paraguay is among the candidates for a 2025 slot on the FIA World Rally Championsip calendar. (Tom Howard / Motorsport)
On Track This Week
All Times ET
Monday, March 25
No races scheduled.
Tuesday, March 26
Dirt
Weekly Racing (Millbridge Speedway): 6:15 p.m., DirtVision
Sim Racing
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series (Richmond Raceway): 8:00 p.m., eNASCAR on Twitch/YouTube
Fast Fact
I’ll concede to Kickin’ the Tires’ Seth Eggert for this one.
https://twitter.com/SethEggert91/status/1771727650131726509
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