Roger Diez
William Byron became the first four-time NASCAR Cup winner in 2023 in last Sunday’s rain-shortened Atlanta race, while Max Verstappen drove his Red Bull to his eighth Formula One win of the season and his sixth in a row at the British Grand Prix. And the Meyer-Shank Racing Acura GTP driven by Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun took the win in the IMSA race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
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Byron overcame an early pit penalty to surge to the front in stage three of the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The big question then became who would run out of fuel before the rain came. Rain won, stopping the race with 185 of the scheduled 260 laps completed. Daniel Suarez, A.J. Allmendinger, Michael McDowell, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.
The series moves on to New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s flat one-mile oval this weekend. Kevin Harvick tops the win list there with four, followed by Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch with three apiece. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have each won once, and one-time winners are Aric Almirola in 2021 and Christopher Bell in 2022.
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers are favored for Sunday’s race with defending champion Christopher Bell at 11-2, Martin Truex Jr. 13-2, and Hamlin 7-1. Harvick, Busch, and Kyle Larson share 9-1 odds while Chase Elliott is 11-2 and Atlanta winner Byron is 12-1. And I like Corey LaJoie at 500-1 as my dark horse pick.
Saturday’s TV coverage on USA includes Cup qualifying at 9:50 a.m. and the Xfinity series Ambetter Health 200 at noon. Sunday’s Crayon 301 Cup race also airs on USA starting at 11:30 a.m.
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A late safety car held Max Verstappen’s margin of victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone to less than four seconds over McLaren’s Lando Norris. Lewis Hamilton claimed the final podium spot for Mercedes. Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastre came home fourth with George Russell in the second Mercedes fifth.
In a blast from the past, I recently saw a 2015 quote from Red Bull Boss Christian Horner, complaining that the sanctioning body needed to do something to curb Mercedes’ dominance that season. Seems like Red Bull dominance is perfectly OK with him seven years later. And speaking of Red Bull, reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo got some practice seat time at Silverstone and apparently impressed management. A few days later Ricciardo was tapped to replace Nyck DeVries in the Red Bull junior team, Alpha Tauri, for the remainder of the season beginning in Hungary on July 23.
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The NTT IndyCar series is back in action this weekend in Toronto on a 1.786-mile, 11-turn street circuit.
Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon won there last year, his fourth Toronto victory. Team Penske’s Will Power has posted three wins there and teammate Josef Newgarden has two. Simon Pagenaud won for Penske in 2019, and Ryan Hunter-Reay is the only other past Toronto winner in the field. The COVID pandemic canceled the 2020 and 2021 events.
You’ll need to subscribe to Peacock Premium, IndyCar Live, or SiriusXM radio for the broadcast of this one. Qualifying takes place Saturday at 11:50 a.m. with race coverage beginning at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
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Finally, Thursday Night Thunder is back! The 2023 Camping World SRX Series actually started last Thursday and will run for six weeks at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
Entries include current and former NASCAR stars Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Bobby Labonte, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Ken Schrader, and Hailie Deegan. IndyCar veterans Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, and Paul Tracy will also compete along with additional drivers to be named later.