APRIL 22, 2015

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Bill Auberlen started the winning No. 25 RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM from the pole, but lost the lead on the opening lap as Giancarlo Fisichella (No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia) barged his way up from third to first place. The Ferrari added to its lead when Pierre Kaffer took over at the midway point of the 100-minute race, while the No. 25 BMW fell back due to a miscue during refueling. Dirk Warner, Auberlen's teammate, took over the No. 25 machine joining the race in seventh place. Werner then made a charge to take the lead from Kaffer in the closing minutes, giving BMW its first TUDOR United SportsCar Championship victory in the GT Le Mans class in Saturday’s Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach. Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R) finished third in the factory Corvette C7.R started by Jan Magnussen. Brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor (No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Corvette DP) won the race overall, finishing 3.3 seconds clear of a hard-charging Joey Hand in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Ford EcoBoost/Riley started by Scott Pruett. See John Thawley's spectacular images from Long Beach here.

(Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Scott Dixon and his wife, Emma, celebrate in Victory Circle following his win in the Verizon IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday. Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chevrolet), who entered the weekend with just one top-five finish in eight Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach starts, won the 41st edition of the historic street race by 2.2221 seconds over Verizon P1 Award winner Helio Castroneves. It was Dixon's 36th career victory in Indy car racing, breaking a tie with Bobby Unser for fifth on the all-time Indy car list. Al Unser is fourth with 39 victories. It was the 98th Indy car victory for team owner Chip Ganassi. "This is huge," Dixon said. "I love the event, but as far as coming here and doing well it hadn't been on that list. That pit stop exchange definitely helped us get to the lead but the car was fast and all we had to do was maintain that lead."

(Photo by Phillip Abbott/LAT for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet) was the pole-sitter for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, setting a new track record, but he came up short in the race. During the first pit stop on Lap 29, Castroneves was held in his pit box by chief mechanic Travis Law to avoid contact with Tony Kanaan (No. 10 Data Chip Ganassi Racing NTT Data Chevrolet). The extra second was critical as it allowed Dixon to takeover the lead, and with only one caution flag during the 80 laps, he was never headed. Castroneves closed to within three points of Team Penske teammate and championship front-runner Juan Pablo Montoya as the Verizon IndyCar Series heads to Barber Motorsports Park for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 26th.

(Photo by Richard Dowdy/IndyCar)
After winning the season opener at St. Petersburg, Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 2 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) finished third in Long Beach. Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Team Penske Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet) finished fourth. Kanaan finished fifth.

(Photo by Alan Marler/HHP for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Dollar General Toyota Camry) won the rain-delayed Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up to Cancer NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, with Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet SS) finishing second and Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports 3M Chevrolet SS) coming in third. Danica Patrick (No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing GoDaddy Chevrolet SS, above) finished ninth - her sixth career top-10 finish - which is the most by a female driver in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history. Watch a NASCAR video here. 

(Concours of Elegance)
The Concours of Elegance 2015, which takes place at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland, on September 4-6, will feature a tribute to Scottish motor racing heroes and a world-first gathering to celebrate the Ecurie Ecosse racing team, including the Jaguar D-type "Long Nose" Ecurie Ecosse racer, which finished second at Le Mans in 1957, just behind the winning Ecurie car. Sir Jackie Stewart has been named Concours of Elegance Vice Patron, alongside Patron, HRH Prince Michael of Kent and three of Stewart's Formula One world championship cars will be displayed on the lawns of the Palace. There will be a separate homage to some of Scotland’s motor racing heroes, including two Formula One cars driven by Jim Clark and Johnny Dumfries’ Le Mans-winning Jaguar XJR-9. Concours of Elegance will also see the first members of the Scottish Motoring Hall of Fame inducted at the event.