APRIL 5, 2023
Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 08:37AM 
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske PPG Chevrolet) timed it just right once again to earn his second consecutive victory at Texas Motor Speedway Sunday in the PPG 375 after a scintillating NTT INDYCAR SERIES race perfectly described as “beautiful chaos.” Newgarden passed Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) for the lead on Lap 249 of the 250-lap event just moments before Romain Grosjean (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda) crashed in Turn 2, triggering the last of five caution periods and ending the race under yellow. It was the second straight win on the 1.5-mile oval for two-time series champion Newgarden. “Pato gave me all the respect in the world when he was racing next to me,” Newgarden said. “It was really hard to fight those guys. I think (Alex) Palou was super strong, too. There are just no gimmes. It was packed up today, very difficult to get away. There were parts when we were good, parts when we were weaker. But when we needed to be good, the car was there at the end.” Newgarden, who led a race-high 123 laps, averaged 169.917 mph for his 26th career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory. Newgarden, from Nashville, Tennessee, also extended his streak to nine consecutive seasons with at least one victory. Palou finished third in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing The American Legion Honda, followed by David Malukas in the No. 18 HMD Trucking Honda. It was an impressive performance for the series sophomore driving for one of the smallest teams in the series. “My new word for this week is going to be ‘beautiful chaos,’” Malukas said. “I loved it. I was having a blast.” Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)
(Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
(Formula1.com)
Max Verstappen (No. 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing) claimed victory during a wild and action-packed Australian Grand Prix, overcoming battles with the Mercedes drivers, several Safety Cars and three red flags to lead home Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team) and Fernando Alonso (No. 14 Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team). Watch the race highlights here.
(MotoGP)
Marco Bezzecchi (No. 72 Mooney VR46 Racing Team) dominated the Argentina MotoGP in Termas as Pecco Bagnaia (No. 1 Ducati Lenovo Team) finished P16 after crashing from P2. The Italian MotoGP sophomore led from start to finish and was untouchable as he produced a wet weather masterclass to claim a debut premier class victory and with it, the World Championship lead. A late-charging Johann Zarco (No. 5 Prima Pramac Racing Ducati) grabbed P2 to beat Alex Marquez (No. 73 Gresini Racing MotoGP™) as the latter stands on the podium for the first time with Ducati. Bezecchi delivered the first win for Valentino Rossi's MotoGP team. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to MotoGP.com)
(Photo of Marco Bezzecchi by AE Special Contributor Whit Bazemore)
(David Jensen/Getty Images)
With the benefit of a fast final pit stop, Kyle Larson put his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet out front at Richmond Raceway and then held off the field in the last 25 laps of Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season. The 30-year-old Californian had to out-duel his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Josh Berry on a pair of restarts in the closing laps to secure the win at the first short-track event of the season on the 0.75-mile Richmond oval. Berry, driving the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for injured Chase Elliott, finished runner-up, capturing his best NASCAR Cup Series finish — 1.535 seconds behind Larson to the checkered flag. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five. It was the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson’s 20th career win and the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series victory for his interim crew chief Kevin Meendering, who has led the No. 5 team at-track while full-time crew chief Cliff Daniels — along with the Hendrick team’s other three crew chiefs — finish out a suspension penalty from NASCAR. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to NASCAR Wire Service)
(BMW)
BMW Group Classic will be bringing its historic Brabham BMW BT52 Formula 1 car to Goodwood in mid-April to celebrate various anniversaries with a series of exclusive demonstration laps. David Brabham, son of three-times Formula 1 world champion and team founder Sir Jack Brabham, will be performing the driving duties. With the Brabham BMW BT52, Nelson Piquet became the first driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship in a turbocharged car. The potential of the Brabham BMW BT52 was first realized in the spring of 1983, during testing sessions at the Goodwood Motor Circuit. It was here that Piquet set the Goodwood lap record, becoming the first driver to power around the circuit in under a minute. The Brazilian’s lap remains the best ever recorded at Goodwood.
(Photos Copyright © 2023 LandSpeed Productions, All rights reserved.)
American five-time World Record Setter Norman Craig Breedlove, Senior, 86, the first person to surpass speed marks faster than 400-, 500- and 600- miles per hour, died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Rio Vista, CA. “He was an American treasure,” said wife Yadira Breedlove. “Our hearts are heavy today letting him go, but we also acknowledge Craig’s courage and bravery seeking motorsports honors for the United States of America. For decades, his deeds touched many, many people around the world.” Personally, Mrs. Breedlove, aka “Yadi”, added, “I shared my life with a wonderful man that I will always admire; he filled me with deep, abiding love. My intelligent, strong, happy, brave, humble husband saw life with great positivity and was always full of so many projects! For 20 years I have known joyful love, complicity, respect, and learned so much by his side. He will forever stay in my heart!”
Son Norman credits his father with demonstrating how to shepherd dreams forward. “What I admired most about dad was his tenaciousness,” he said. “He simply would not accept rejection and repeatedly went back to people and companies until he got a “yes”. Equally important was his father’s exceptionally high quality of workmanship. “He built things as if they were pieces of art,” recalled Breedlove junior. “He taught me to always ‘give it my best’ reminding me that ‘if you are going to build it, build it to last.’ The “Breedlove stamp of approval” endures. “He taught to care about what I do,” he added. “I’m so gonna miss him.”
Breedlove Senior’s humble hunt for speed began in his teens spending four years rebuilding a junk three-window ’34 Ford Coupe. In 1955, at age 18 and without any fanfare, he collected his first time slip on the Bonneville Salt Flats at 152.80MPH in Class Coupe and Sedan. Inspired deeply by the line from JFK’s ’61 Inauguration Speech “Ask what you can do for your country” Breedlove put the words into jet-powered action reclaiming world honors for the USA on August 5, 1963, with a 407MPH mark. Dethroning Britain’s John Cobb, it was the first time an American’s name was on top since 1928 when Ray Keech posted a 207.552MPH record driving his “White Triplex.” “It was the most patriotic thing I could think of,” Breedlove often recalled. “I wanted a name every American could be proud of, and “Spirit of America” seemed like a natural.”
This ushered in years of record-setting swaps with brothers Art Arfons, Tom Green and Walt Arfons driving their “Green Monster” jet cars. “Their rivalry made each other,” offered Tim Arfons, son of Breedlove’s long-time rival Art Arfons. “Without each other I think they might have ended up a historical footnote instead of splashing the front pages of newspapers worldwide.” Breedlove’s astonishing accomplishments inspired The Beach Boys to include the song “Spirit of America” as a tribute to him on their 1963 “Little Deuce Coupe” album. All Breedlove’s jet-powered cars carried the same name through his 60 year-racing career.
Blue Flame Gary Gabelich ended Breedlove’s hold on the absolute World Record when he clocked a 622MPH record in his "Blue Flame" rocket car in 1970, but it did nothing to weaken their bond. In his 1971 book, Spirit of America, Winning the World's Land Speed Record, Breedlove inscribed: “To Gary, With my admiration and sincere gratitude for your friendship and help. Always.”
Breedlove was voted into Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1993), Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame (1995), International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2000), Automotive Hall of Fame (2009). He earned life membership in the Bonneville 200MPH Club (1963). In addition to his wife Yadira, Breedlove is survived by sister Cindy Bowman, children son Norman Craig (Stacy), daughters Dawn Marie and the late Chris Maureen Breedlove, grandchildren Stephanie Finnegen, Thomas Perry, Liana Perry, Tara Van Wieren, Brook (Breedlove) Hart, and great grandchildren Jacob Thomas, Presley Perry, Parker Perry, Paige Perry, Brenton Hall, Ryan Hart, Wren Hart and godson Luis Portilla Figueroa.
Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG
