Latest news with #roadcourses
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR, Navy and San Diego: Why Southern Cal street race seems perfect
Everybody happy now? Well, maybe not. Universal acceptance went behind the wall years ago. But I think we can agree that many of you are, at least, less unhappy. Naval Base Coronado, connected by sandbar to downtown San Diego, now joins the ranks of modern NASCAR race hosts, alphabetically slotted between Nashville and New Hampshire. And I'm betting you can live with that. A NASCAR street race in San Diego area has plenty of pros NASCAR seems likely to continue this infatuation with road courses, including a street course on the yearly menu — while also insisting on a Southern Cal race date, by the way. So adding a famous U.S. naval air station to the schedule sounds like a welcome consolation to those who grew up with NASCAR on ovals and prefer to die that way. Oh, and this: It's very, very, very unlikely it'll rain. Say what you want about the Golden State, but they haven't found a way to screw up the weather. Sunny and 72 has been the mid-June norm since Spaniards first planted a flag 500 years ago. After three years of angry weathermen in Chicago, that's quite welcomed. Since they weren't going to add (for now, anyway) another one of the beloved old ovals many crave (Rockingham, Nashville Fairgrounds), this seems like the perfect fit, especially for a sport never shy about its respect for flag and country. We all saw San Diego coming, but I don't recall hearing talk about Coronado's naval base. It's not just the U.S. Navy tie-in and backdrops to rival F1's Monte Carlo festival, but logistically it should be monumentally easier than retrofitting downtown Chicago into a workable racetrack. Easier, in fact, than any of the other major cities that jumped on and off the rumor mill in recent months. Unless they manage to incorporate an aircraft carrier deck as a short chute between, say, Turns 9 and 10, they couldn't have landed on a better alternative. And it's not a bad business deal for the Navy, by the way. The military branches are always exploring unique promotional strategies for recruitment, and this will likely become a high-visibility opportunity. Anchors aweigh! Now, let's reach into the bag of residuals for a downer. What happened to NASCAR races at Fontana? Didn't NASCAR already have a Southern California presence — before this, and even before that three-year fling with the L.A. Coliseum? Yes, it was called Auto Club Speedway, over yonder in Fontana, which the snobs like to call Fontucky because it has the gall to sit some 60 miles inland and depend heavily on manufacturing and logistics. The Fontana track had been slowly bleeding cachet (and fans!) over recent years, and if some of those 1½-mile tracks had to go, Auto Club was the first on many folks' lists. But it was ticketed for renovation, not desertion. After a certain amount of demo, Auto Club would re-emerge as a half-mile showplace, albeit surrounded by the Inland Empire's most common modern crop — warehouses. Low overhead, big rent checks. But still, Auto Club would be NASCAR's California residence for as far as the eyes can see. Inflated construction costs and diverted priorities are two of the reasons listed for the officially licensed status of Fontana's NASCAR future: 'Holding pattern.' A common banking term (conveniently) — permanent hold — might come into play for Fontana if this Coronado venture turns out to be a keeper for all involved. And from this view, 11 months out, it's not lacking potential. — Email Ken Willis at This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR is recruited to San Diego's naval air base for 2026 street race
Fox News
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox News
NASCAR Power Rankings: The People's Champ On Top After Sonoma
Shane van Gisbergen is on a hot streak, having won the last three road courses and with the previous two coming on back-to-back weeks from the pole at Chicago and Sonoma, respectively. He still has a lot to prove on the ovals, though, as the series has ovals the next three weeks at Dover, Indianapolis and Iowa before another road course at Watkins Glen. The drivers second and third Sunday at Sonoma — Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott — both moved up in these power rankings heading into Dover: Dropped out: Chris Buescher (LW: 10) On the verge: Buescher, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, van Gisbergen 10. Alex Bowman (Last Week: 7) Bowman was going to finish 17th but a tap from Ty Dillon — who was paired against Bowman as part of the in-season tournament quarterfinals — relegated the Hendrick driver to 19th. Either way, it wasn't the result Bowman wanted as he continues to be on the bubble to make the playoffs. 9. Ryan Preece (Last Week: 6) Preece finished a respectable 12th at Sonoma for his sixth consecutive finish of 15th or better and his sixth top-12 finish in his last nine races. 8. Chase Briscoe (Last Week: Not Ranked) A second-place finish was impressive for Briscoe at Sonoma as he got back on track after two finishes outside the top-20. The finish was Briscoe's seventh top-5 of the season in his first year at Joe Gibbs Racing. 7. Ryan Blaney (Last Week: 4) Blaney had a frustrating day at Sonoma, finding himself sent off-course a few times in his battles with other drivers. The Penske driver's day ended four laps short of the finish in 36th. 6. Tyler Reddick (Last Week: 8) Reddick placed sixth at Sonoma as he now has finishes of fourth, third and sixth in his last three races. The 23XI Racing driver had just three top-four finishes in the first 17 events of the year. 5. Christopher Bell (Last Week: 9) Bell's last good finish was nearly a month ago when he placed second at Mexico City before he drove his way to fifth at Sonoma. The JGR driver needs better finishes to have any momentum going into the playoffs. 4. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 2) Larson was involved in a couple of incidents, and he limped his wrecked car home in 35th. It's hard to believe the Hendrick driver's last top-5 was in early June at Michigan. 3. William Byron (Last Week: 5) The series points leader placed eighth at Sonoma as he also earned points in both stages as he tries to hang on for the regular-season title. He's now up on his Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott by just 14 points. 2. Denny Hamlin (Last Week: 1) A speeding penalty and a spin didn't help Hamlin at Sonoma as he left wine country in 20th and nothing to taunt the crowd about. But Dover's up next and that is a great track for the JGR driver. 1. Chase Elliott (Last Week: 3) Elliott had fresh tires at the end, but one little hiccup cost him any shot of possibly challenging van Gisbergen for the win. But it was still quite the run for Elliott, who has four top-5s in his last five starts. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR Power Rankings: Our updated top 10 drivers list. Where's Shane van Gisbergen?
Might as well lead off with who's not here in our humble Top 10. It's tough to win two straight races, and three of the past five, and stay on the outside looking in. But such is the disparity between Shane van Gisbergen on road courses and Shane van Gisbergen everywhere else. Advertisement Given that one-sixth of the Cup schedule is on road courses, should SVG get at least a cursory visit to that 10th slot on our board this week? If not now, for Pete's sake, when? Fair question. He's collecting trophies, but Shane van Gisbergen hasn't cracked our top-10 yet. Here's another fair question: Should Denny Hamlin still be on the far-north end of our top 10? He's had two clunkers in the past three weeks, sandwiched around a rare quality finish on a road course, maybe because that road course was actually a street course. But with the other three-time winners (Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell) bogged down a bit, who else would you put there? So it remains Denny, for now. Advertisement 1. Denny Hamlin CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 06: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course on July 06, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by) Grip on our top spot is weakening, as is his grip on the 23XI charter, if NASCAR decides to play hardball. 2. Chase Elliott Keeps piling up points and conserving room in the trophy case. 3. Kyle Larson Played some pinball at Sonoma as his Summer of Shove continues. 4. Christopher Bell A fifth at Sonoma slowed his recent mini-slump. 5. Chase Briscoe Made SVG work on the late restarts at Sonoma and got a rare good road-course finish. 6. Chris Buescher Wonders why he's never found the White Cliffs of Dover. 7. William Byron Not back on eight cylinders yet, but probably back to 7½. 8. Alex Bowman A win and five top-5s in his last seven Dover starts. Advertisement 9. Tyler Reddick Made some hay at road courses the past two weeks, but right-hand turns at Dover aren't recommended. 10. Ryan Blaney Wine country delivered sour grapes. Raise your hand if you didn't irritate Blaney at Sonoma. — Email Ken Willis at This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Top 10: From Denny Hamlin to Ryan Blaney, and where's SVG?
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR Sonoma results, highlights: van Gisbergen dominates for second straight win
Another week, another win for Shane van Gisbergen. The Trackhouse Racing driver made it back-to-back wins for the first time in his young NASCAR Cup Series career with a dominating victory at Sonoma Raceway. Advertisement Van Gisbergen took the pole position for Sunday's race in Sonoma after sweeping the pole positions and the race wins in both the Xfinity and Cup Series events last weekend in Chicago. This weekend was a similar story with even more dominance on race day. In all, van Gisbergen led 97 of the 110 laps of the race. He's by far the top driver on road courses this year with three wins (Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma) out of four races. The New Zealander started Sunday's race from the pole and kept in front early. He pitted just before the end of Stage 1, ceding the stage win to fellow Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain, and re-took the lead soon after his stop to win Stage 2. Advertisement Another pit stop dropped him down the order during Stage 3 but he quickly recovered to take the lead once again by lap 90. He kept control through late caution periods to secure the win. Chase Briscoe came home second – exactly where he started the race. Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five. Round three of the in-season challenge saw the 32-driver field whittled down once again. Four drivers remain: Ty Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick. Dillon and Nemechek square off next week in the top half of the bracket, while Gibbs and Reddick face off to decide the bottom half of the bracket. Advertisement The rest of the Cup Series field will have a much better chance at victory next weekend in Dover. That's also the penultimate round of the NASCAR in-season challenge that will leave two drivers in contention for the $1 million prize. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR Sonoma results, highlights: Shane van Gisbergen wins Cup race
Forbes
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Shane van Gisbergen Is Nascar's New Road Course King
Shane van Gisbergen celebrates after winning the Grant Park 165 race of NASCAR Cup Series at the ... More Chicago Street Course in Chicago, Illinois, United States on July 6, 2025. (Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images) Shane van Gisbergen is not just winning races at Nascar's top level. He is putting on a clinic at road courses. The New Zealander moved to America last year, less than a year after winning the inagural race at the Chicago Street Course in 2023. His deal with Trackhouse Racing came together in partnership with Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series. Quickly, he picked up a knack for oval racing. Shortly there after, Trackhouse bumped him up to the Cup Series. Now, he's a full-time Cup Series racer. While oval racing is still a work in progress for the 36-year-old, he is proving he may be the best Nascar racer to ever tackle road courses. "Justin [Marks, Trackhouse Racing owner] took a massive chance on me to bring me over, and as I've said many times, these races are like a holiday to me. It's the ovals where I'm really focused on getting better and better. "I come here and there's no stress. People probably think there's more stress and expectation on us, but I kind of just get excited by it and love driving. It's the ovals where I know I'm getting better. I'm not stressed about it and I'm not forcing it, but I love trying to progress and get better and better. Van Gisbergen's dominanting win during Sunday's Grant Park 165 on the Chicago Street Course is his third Cup victory, making him the winningest foreign-born driver. Previously, road courses were few and far between on the Nascar schedule. Until the schedule changed during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, there were usually only a pair of road course races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, so it wasn't an emphasis for drivers. But over the years, there were road course experts, such as Marcos Ambrose, Juan Pablo Montoya, Robby Gordon and others. A handful of full-timers also had a knack for road course racing, including Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace. But none had the raw ability to turn left and right like van Gisbergen, who is simply in a league of his own in the Next Gen era, which makes it even more difficult to stand out amongst the pack. Van Gisbergen is – at the same time – making his competitors better road course racers, as he's showing them how to max out everything in their racecars. The limits they previously thought were there can be stretched, as he's proven. During Sunday's street course race, only Michael McDowell was able to actually give van Gisbergen a run for his money, leading the opening 31 laps. What may be scary for the competition is that van Gisbergen believes Trackhouse Racing has room for improvement. 'I'm slowly starting to understand it, but there's still some things we can be a lot better at,' van Gisbergen said. "But try again next week, and we can just keep trying to be better. We're near in the position now where you have that playoff spot, you can take more risk. It's been enjoyable figuring this car out and getting outside the box a little bit." The next Cup Series race is at another road course – Sonoma – a new track for the New Zealander.
