Issue 1273
November 13, 2024
 

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Saturday
Jul262014

THE LINE - JULY 30, 2014

 

(Photo by Harold Hinson/HHP for Chevy Racing)
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Axalta Chevrolet SS) won the Brickyard 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. It was the second win of the season for the 42-year-old Gordon and the 90th of his illustrious career - third most all-time - in NASCAR. It was also Gordon's fifth win at The Speedway. Gordon had previously won at IMS in 1994, 1998, 2001 and 2004, and on Friday he was honored on the 20th anniversary of that first win. Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles presented Gordon with a No. 24 placard from the IMS scoring pylon that was removed last month, and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard proclaimed Sunday "Jeff Gordon Day." "I don't think there's a greater feeling for a racecar driver and a race team," Gordon said. "It's such a great race and such an important victory and such an important moment in the season and championship." Gordon leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings. "I was trying so hard with 10 (laps) to go not to focus on the crowd," Gordon said. "Every once in a while I'd glance up there and see the reaction and I was trying not to let it get to me, but you can't help it -- it's such a great race." Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Snickers Toyota Camry) finished second, Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Express Toyota Camry) was third and Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Dollar General Toyota Camry) finished fourth. Watch a NASCAR video here.

(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/HHP for Chevy Racing)

(Infiniti Red Bull Racing)
Daniel Riciardo (No. 3 Red Bull Racing-Renault) won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday in a stirring race. Fernando Alonso (No. 14 Ferrari) was second and Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes) charged all the way to the last podium position after starting in the pit lane. "I've got a lot more belief in myself and it's cool," Riciardo said. "I definitely feel like I belong here now, and I've got confidence; obviously we've converted two races into wins this year so far, and I think that confidence is showing. I've got some friends from Australia here this weekend, so the plan was to always have a few drinks tonight, so I think we've got an excuse to now!"

(Image courtesy of @Ford Racing)
Ken Block (No. 43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST) absolutely dominated the Red Bull Global Rallycross Charlotte, qualifying first and winning all of his heat races on the way to a convincing victory at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Sverre Isachsen (No. 11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI) earned a career-best second place finish, while Nelson Piquet Jr. (No. 07 SH Racing Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST) extended his points lead with his third-place run.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer (No. 93 SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R) delivered the first TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class victory for the Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R on Friday in the Brickyard Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Bomarito qualified the car third and Wittmer took the start. With 44 minutes elapsed in the two-hour and 45-minute race, Bomarito took over from Wittmer. Just over an hour later, Bomarito passed Nick Tandy's Porsche 911 RSR for the lead and held it to the finish. “I was second in 2012, and I’ve got to tell you, I was pretty jealous watching those guys kiss the bricks,” said Bomarito. “To come back here and experience that first hand with the team… everybody that is part of this team was out there kissing the bricks. I hope, and I know, it drives everyone to push even harder between now and the race at Road America.” Formula 1 veteran Giancarlo Fisichella and Pierre Kaffer (No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia) finished second and Patrick Long and Michael Christensen (No. 911 Porsche North American Porsche 911 RSR) finished third, just 0.348 seconds out of second. Earning its reputation - yet again - as the most hotly competitive racing in the world, the top seven GTLM cars finished on the same lap. Check out John Thawley's scintillating images from the Indy race here.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Westphal (No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia) won the GT Daytona (GTD) class for their second victory of the year. Westphal held the lead with the Ferrari briefly while under caution before he turned over the wheel to Balzan at the one-hour mark. On the seventh and final class lead change of the race, Balzan passed James Davison (No. 007 TRG Aston Martin V12 Vantage) with 36 minutes remaining. Christopher Haase and Bryce Miller (No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS) finished second and Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating finished third in the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa (No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP) took the overall win in last Friday’s Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Barbosa took the Prototype class lead with 48 minutes remaining and never looked back, maintaining a healthy lead for much of his stint while also conserving fuel. When the Prototype contenders hit pit road with less than 20 minutes remaining, Barbosa was able to stay out and then take the checkered flag, 48.964 seconds ahead of the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford EcoBoost/Riley DP of Scott Pruett and Sage Karam. It was the second TUDOR United SportsCar Championship victory of the season for Fittipaldi and Barbosa after the duo opened the season with a victory in the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona. For Fittipaldi, the win came 19 years after he made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1995, where he finished second and earned Rookie of the Year honors. Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante (No. 90 VISITFLORIDA.com/GoPro Corvette DP) finished third.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Jack Hawksworth (No. 08 RSR Racing AutomaxUSA.com ORECA FLM09 started by co-driver Chris Cumming) and Bruno Junqueira battled it out Friday for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge (PC) class win in the Brickyard Grand Prix. While Junqueira — the 2002 Indianapolis 500 pole winner — led much of the final stint, it was Hawksworth who made the winning pass with three minutes remaining. “The last 45 minutes were some of the most fun I’ve had in a race car, to be honest,” said Hawksworth, who finished 20th in the Indianapolis 500 this season, but finished seventh on the same IMS road-course layout in the IndyCar Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. “I had a great battle with Bruno, fighting through the traffic. I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s a great circuit and I enjoyed it. To finally get a win here, it feels awesome.” Junqueira and co-driver Duncan Ende (No. 09 RSR Racing ORECA FLM09) made it a 1-2 finish for RSR Racing by finishing second. Colin Braun and Jon Bennett (No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09) finished third. The next race for the TUDOR Championship will be the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday, August 10.

(Image courtesy of GM Racing/Chevrolet)
Robin Liddell, with co-driver Andrew Davis (
No. 6 Stevenson Automotive Group Camaro Z/28.R), won the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, their third victory of the season. Liddell finished the race 3.494 seconds ahead of Trent Hindman in the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports Trim-Tex/Cirroco Ozzimo BMW M3, co-driven by John Edwards. It was the fourth win in eight races for the Stevenson Motorsports team. Shelby Blackstock and Joey Atterbury (No. 48 Starstruck/Trianon Hotels BMW M3) finished third.

(IMSA)
Corey Lewis and Cody Ellsworth (
No. 50 BERG Racing Porsche Cayman, shown in practice) pulled off an upset Street Tuner (ST) class victory Friday in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. closing in on its second consecutive ST win, the No. 04 BBA Accounting/DE Labs Porsche Cayman of Remo Ruscitti slowed on course - out of fuel - on the final lap of the two-hour, 30-minute Brickyard Sports Car Challenge, allowing Lewis to make the pass for the win. Wayne and Will Nonnamaker (No. 42 Sahlen’s Porsche Cayman) finished second and Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss (No. 56 Mosing Motorcars BMW 328i) came home third. The Brickyard Sports Car Challenge will be televised on FOX Sports 1 on Aug. 3 at noon ET.

(Image courtesy of Goodwood Motor Circuit)
The Goodwood Revival will mark 60 years of the Maserati 250F Formula 1 car, with one of the largest ever on-track collections of the machine at the September 12-14 event. As many as 16 examples of the 250F will take part in the Richmond Trophy, which this year will feature 2.5-liter, front-engined Grand Prix cars of a kind that raced from 1954 to 1960. Among them is one of only two of the V12-engined versions of the machine ever built. The beautiful 250F took victory on its debut at the 1954 Argentinian Grand Prix in the hands of five-time Formula 1 world champion Juan Manuel Fangio and was raced in period by more of the world’s top names, including Sir Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks, Roy Salvadori, Mike Hawthorn and Jean Behra. All 250Fs will be housed in the main paddock - which will resemble the Monza pitlane of 1954 - and is sure to be a highly-popular attraction for visitors to the Revival in September. Check out the Goodwood YouTube site here.

 

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