(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 1 Andretti Motorsport DHL Chevrolet) gets pit service from his Andretti Autosport crew on the way to winning the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Hunter-Reay overtook Helio Castroneves (No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet) on Lap 76 of 90 and then held off Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) to win by .6363 of a second.
(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
"Today was a day of catch up, a big fumble at the start with Will (Power) and it backed the whole line up and we dropped to like sixth or seventh," Scott DIxon said. "I think we had the speed to win the race quite happily but we were just playing catch up all day." Dixon has finished second in all four of the IZOD IndyCar Series races at Barber.
(Shawn Gritzmacher/IndyCar)
Castroneves, who won the inaugural event in 2010 on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park road course, finished third. Next up for the IZOD IndyCar Series is the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21 on the streets of Long Beach, Calif. The race will be telecast live at 4 p.m. (ET) by NBC Sports Network. The IMS Radio Network will also carry the race live on Sirius and XM channels 211.
(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
"I was driving my tail off trying to stay in front of Dixon," said Hunter-Reay, who rebounded from an 18th-place finish in the season opener at St. Petersburg on March 24. Hunter-Reay, who earned the Verizon P1 Award the day before in the No. 1 DHL car for Andretti Autsosport, jumped 13 positions to third in the championship standings heading to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21. Castroneves, with his second podium finish, holds a nine-point lead over Dixon. "I had a little contact there with Helio, I feel bad about it," said Hunter-Reay. "Good thing nobody was affected by it.... Will (Power) did a good job staying in front of me on blacks, not sure how he did it. A lot of great racing out there. It's just great to get a win for DHL, Sundrop, Circle K and Chevrolet back in victory lane. A good way to start the season. The victory was the first by a No. 1 car since Sebastien Bourdais at Mexico City in 2007.
(Bret Kelly/IndyCar)
Also on April 7, Carlos Munoz (No. 26 Dialy-Ser/Andretti Autosport) completed his domination of Barber Motorsports Park by winning the Legacy Indy Lights 100 and sweeping the weekend. The Andretti Autosport driver topped the time charts in each practice session and earned his second consecutive pole start. Jack Hawksworth (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson with Curb-Agajanian), the St. Petersburg race winner, was 5.0684 seconds behind. Gabby Chaves (No. 7 Schmidt Peterson c/w Curb-Agajanian) finished third. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Long Beach 100 on April 21. It will be telecast by NBC Sports Network immediately preceding the IZOD IndyCar Series race.
(Photo by Garry Eller for Chevrolet)
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet SS) takes the checkered flag Sunday at Martinsville Speedway as he wins the STP Gas Booster 500 in Martinsville, Virginia. Johnson started from the pole and led 347 of 500 laps, capturing his eighth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at the .526-mile short track. It was the 62nd win of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career. Clint Bowyer (No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing 5-hour Energy Toyota Camry) finished second and Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS) finished third. Johnson is the first repeat winner of the 2013 season and now leads Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Penske Racing Miller Lite Ford Fusion), who finished sixth, by six points in the championship. "I think the fact that we had just such a calm weekend was the biggest part," Johnson said. "It's easy to start chasing things here and get yourself off track. We always race well, and fortunately here you pit a lot and you can make big changes to your race car to get you in the ball game." Johnson never ran lower than fifth. Danica Patrick (No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Go Daddy Chevrolet SS) ran 12th in her first visit to Martinsville, her career-best Cup finish at an open-motor race track. Patrick was the top finisher from Stewart-Haas Racing. Watch videos from Martinsville here.
(Grand-Am)
Max Angelelli (No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP) led the final 33 laps around the 2.3-mile circuit to post his 22nd Daytona Prototype victory in Saturday’s Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park. Co-driver Jordan Taylor, who led five laps during the opening hour, scored his first DP triumph after winning twice in the GT division. It was Wayne Taylor Racing’s first win of 2013. Angelelli and Taylor averaged a track-record 96.494 mph in the race, slowed by only one early caution. Alex Gurney and pole-winning co-driver Jon Fogarty followed up their recent victory in Austin, Texas, to finish second, closing to within two points of DP leaders Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas (93-91), with the TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates drivers finishing fourth.
(Grand-Am)
Robin Liddell (No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro) beat Alessandro Balzan (No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458) to win for the 19th time in GT competition. The Camaro started from the pole with co-driver John Edwards up. Liddell beat the Ferrari driver out of the pits after his second and final pit stop, and held him off to win by .733 seconds after the two ran nearly nose-to-tail throughout the final 30 minutes.
(Grand-Am)
Dr. Jim Norman (No. 38 BGB Porsche Cayman) took his third consecutive triumph in the new GX class, co-driving with fellow Austin winner Spencer Pumpelly. Next up for GRAND-AM is its first visit to Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., for the Rolex Sports Car Series race on Saturday, April 20.
(Grand-Am)
Matt Plumb (No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche Carrera) took advantage of a rare mistake by John Edwards to win Saturday’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race, giving the team its second consecutive victory at Barber Motorsports Park. Edwards was seeking his second victory of the day when he missed a shift in the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro with 24 minutes remaining. Plumb led the final 14 laps, beating Edwards to the checkered flag by 2.407 seconds. It was the team’s sixth victory since switching to Porsche at the 2012 Barber event.
(Grand-AM)
Tom Long (No. 25 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 with co-driver Derek Whitis) led a podium sweep of Mazda MX-5s in Street Tuner. Teammates Andrew Carbonell and Rhett O’Doski (No. 26 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5) finished second, and and Jason Saini and Chad McCumbee were third in the No. 5 CJ Wilson Racing Mazda. The next Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race will be on Saturday, April 20, joining the Rolex Sports Car Series during GRAND-AM’s first visit to Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.
(BMW Group)
BMW M is celebrating its 15th season as “Official Car of MotoGP”. The opening round, which will be held at the “Losail International Circuit” in Qatar, will mark the public debut of the BMW M6 Gran Coupe. This season, the BMW M6 Gran Coupe will spearhead the fleet of Safety Cars in action in the MotoGP World Championship. The high-performance BMW M6 Gran Coupe is powered by a high-rev V8 engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology generating 412 kW/560 hp. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds. In total, the fleet of official MotoGP cars for the 2013 season comprises five BMW M and M Performance models. A BMW M6 Coupe and the BMW M5 will also see action as Safety Cars. The Safety Officer will take to the track in a BMW M3 Coupe, while two BMW M550d xDrive Tourings will be used as medical cars. BMW Motorrad will also provide two new BMW HP4s as Safety Bikes. You can find more information on the 2013 Safety Car fleet online at www.bmw-m-safetycar.com.
(Images courtesy of Porsche)
Official photos of the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out this new TV spot for the Australian V8 Supercars coming to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in May. - PMD