Last weekend’s word in racing circles was “attrition” with large portions of the NASCAR Cup, IndyCar, and IMSA fields failing to finish as did one of the top teams in Formula 1.
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Atlanta Motor Speedway’s new track configuration proved to be the match of the longer superspeedways on the NASCAR schedule, with the same big drafting packs and big wrecks. Of the 37 entries, 28 were involved in one pileup or another with a round dozen cars not running at the end.
William Byron became the fifth winner in five races, a sign of how the Next Gen car has leveled the playing field. Of course, three of those wins have gone to Hendrick drivers, so perhaps the field is still a little off plumb. Ross Chastain ended up second after Christopher Bell was penalized for crossing the double line on the final lap.
It’s on to the Circuit of the Americas road course this weekend, with hopefully better weather than last year’s biblical rains. Chase Elliott won last year’s inaugural race at COTA. Can he repeat this year and become the fourth Hendrick driver to score in 2022? He’ll have to deal with fellow road course aces Kyle Larson and A.J. Allmendinger as well as road course ringers Boris Said and Andy Lally if he wants to notch his first win of the season.
It will also be the first road course race for the Next Gen car, which with its independent rear suspension, sequential shifter, rack and pinion steering and bigger brakes is well-suited to road racing. Saturday’s TV schedule has Cup qualifying at 8 a.m., the Camping World Truck race at 10 a.m., and the Xfinity series race broadcast at 1:30 p.m., all on FS1.
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Last Sunday’s NTT IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway saw only 18 of the 27 starters still around at the checkered flag. Josef Newgarden made a last-lap, last-turn pass to nip teammate Scott McLaughlin by 0.0669 second for the win. Behind them another teammate battle dropped Jimmie Johnson out of a top-5 finish as Scott Dixon passed him in the late going for fifth.
Nevertheless it was Johnson’s best IndyCar effort yet and his first oval race with the series, giving him a massive confidence boost for the Indy 500 coming up at the end of May.
The next race for the series is April 10 on the streets of Long Beach.
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Formula One’s new technical regulations provided the best F1 race in recent memory as the series opened its season in Bahrain. And the early battle between the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was the stuff of legend. In the end, Ferrari prevailed with a 1-2 finish as both Red Bulls succumbed to suspected fuel pump issues in the late going.
When Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez spun and dropped out on the last lap, Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes inherited the final podium position. Other teams making progress from last season were Haas (5th and 11th), Alfa Romeo (6th and 10th), and Alpine (7th and 9th).
The series races at Saudi Arabia this weekend with qualifying on ESPN2 on Saturday at 10 a.m. and the race airing the same time Sunday on ESPN.
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The IMSA WeatherTech 12 Hours of Sebring last weekend saw nine of the 53 starters not running at the finish, with Cadillac DPi entries taking the first three places. It was not an easy race for the winner, however, overcoming two incidents and a penalty, and losing the lead twice in the final 75 minutes. At the end of the 12 hours the No. 02 Cadillac beat the No. 5 by 6.47 seconds, with third place another 52 seconds back.
