(April 13, 2025) – Porsche Penske Motorsports remains perfect in IMSA competition in 2025 plus Hendrick Motorsports Alex Bowman wins the NASCAR Cup Series pole position in Bristol.  The USF 2000 and USF Junior’s take on NOLA Motorsports Park.  Chip Ganassi Racing and Journie Rewards announce their driving academy class of 2025.

Porsche Penske Win At Long Beach

• Porsche Penske Motorsports (PPM) is perfect so far in 2025 in IMSA as Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy captured their third consecutive overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class win in Saturday’s Long Beach race. PPM completed its second straight 1-2 finish, with Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell again finishing second in their No. 6 Porsche 963. The No. 24 BMW, started by Dries Vanthoor and finished by Philipp Eng, came home third for both the pair and the team’s first GTP podium finish of 2025.

Alex Bowman on Bristol Cup Pole

• Alex Bowman’s fast lap of 14.912-seconds (128.675 mph), the fastest lap ever run at Bristol Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series Gen 7 race car, was good enough to hold off Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 0.013 seconds (128.563 mph) to earn the pole position for Sunday’s Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series race. Kyle Larson (128.511 mph) qualified third.  Denny Hamlin, winner of the last two Cup events, was fourth at 128.460 mph and Ryan Blaney topped all Ford drivers with a fifth-place qualifying lap at 128.305 mph. Bristol Cup Lineup

Journie Rewards Driving Academy Class of 2025

• Journie Rewards has selected three drivers to participate in the 2025 edition of the Journie Driving Academy (JDA). Decklan Deonarine (13, Ontario) will compete in the Rok Cup, Rotax Max Challenge and Kartstars championships this season. Jack Klym (9, Saskatchewan) will compete in the Rotax Max Challenge this season. Nathan Reddish (13, Ontario) will compete in the Briggs Junior Light division of the Mosport International Karting Association (MIKA) schedule in what will be his first season of club competition. To learn more about the JDA, visit chipganassiracing.com/jdac.

McNeilly Dominates First Leg of USF2000 Tripleheader at NOLA

• Liam McNeilly was peerless today in the first of three USF2000 races at NOLA Motorsports Park. McNeilly led throughout the 15-lap race under sunny skies to secure his third win in as many races for the Jay Howard Driver Development team. Jack Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas, finished second for Exclusive Autosport, while Thomas Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, climbed from his 10th starting spot to finish third for VRD Racing.

Vergara Edges VRD Teammate Wheldon in USF Juniors Opener

• Joao Vergara narrowly beat VRD Racing teammate Oliver Wheldon to win the opening race of the USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire season at NOLA Motorsports Park. Vergara took the lead from early pacesetter Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing) on the sixth lap and fought off a determined challenge from Wheldon, from St. Petersburg, Fla., to secure a well-deserved maiden USF Juniors victory.  Escorpioni rounded out the podium in third.

(April 6, 2025)  – William Byron wins Cup Series Darlington pole plus Mother Nature washes out Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway and Lernerville; Marcus Armstrong to run Root colors at Long Beach; Dennis Hauger leads INDY NXT testing at Nashville; Robinhood joins 23xi and more in Sunday’s Racing Notebook;

William Byron Wins Cup Series Pole

• Hendrick Motorsports William Byron will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag Sunday at Darlington Raceway.  Byron’s fast lap of 28.774 (170.904 MPH) edged Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Ryan Preece, who posted a fast lap of 28.858 (170.407 MPH).   Last week’s winner Denny Hamlin will start third. Darlington Cup Starting Lineup

Mother Nature Wipes Out Western PA Weekend

• Mother Nature was the winner this weekend in Western PA as Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway was forced to cancel their 47th season opener Saturday night.  The PPMS cancellation came on the heels of Lernerville Speedway being forced to cancel their test & tune session Friday night.  PPMS will try to open their regular season this coming Saturday. Another Test & Tune night is currently on tap for Friday, April 11 at Lernerville with opening night April 25th.

Marcus Armstrong to run Root colors at Long Beach

• Marcus Armstrong and the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda will be carrying the Root Insurance colors when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to action next weekend with the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Root Insurance’s title partnership will extend to three additional races: the Detroit Grand Prix (June 1st), the Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca (July 27th) and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway (August 31st).

Hauger Leads INDY NXT Testing At Nashville

• Andretti Global’s Dennis Hauger led all drivers with a fast lap of 187.564 mph on his first day of ever driving on an oval.  Myles Rowe was second fastest at 187.491 mph.  Rookie Lochie Hughes helped Andretti Global produce a 1-3 finish on the speed charts, as he was third at 186.651.  Nashville Superspeedway will host the 2025 series finale Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, Aug. 31.

Robinhood Partners with 23XI Racing

• Financial Service company Robinhood is partnering with 23XI Racing. At select NASCAR Cup Series races this season, Bubba Wallace and 23XI development driver Corey Heim will pilot Robinhood-branded cars. For the remainder of the season, Robinhood branding will also be placed on Wallace’s and Heim’s uniforms and team equipment.

(March 22, 2025) – Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward leads a front row lockout for Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at The Thermal Club, where Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou starts third, plus Alex Bowman edges Josh Berry for the NASCAR Cup Series pole position at Homestead Miami Speedway; Paul Tracy wins in Trans Am and Anthony Macri and Rich Eckert grab wins Saturday night at Port Royal all in today’s Racing Notebook.

Pato O’Ward Wins IndyCar Pole at Thermal

• Pato O’Ward led an Arrow McLaren front row lockout for Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at The Thermal Club. O’Ward’s fast lap of 1 minute, 39.9567 seconds (110.460 mph) was 0.1678-seconds quicker than teammate Christian Lundgaard.  The front row lockout is the first for the team in the series. Thermal Starting Lineup

Alex Palou leads CGR qualifying at Thermal

• Two-time defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion and current points leader Alex Palou lines up third for Sunday’s race at The Thermal Club.  Palou’s fast lap in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was 1-minute, 40.3092 (110.072 mph). Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon failed to make the Firestone Fast Six and will line up 11th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.  Second-year CGR driver Kyffin Simpson failed to make it out of the first round and will start 20th.

Alex Bowman on NASCAR Cup Series Pole

• Hendrick Motorsports Alex Bowman is on the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway after a fast lap of 168.845 mph around the 1.5-mile oval.   Last week’s winner Josh Berry will start second in the Wood Brothers Ford.  Noah Gragson, who sat atop the speed chart for a time, will line up third.  Championship points leader William Byron will start fifth.

Paul Tracy, Matthew Brabham grab Trans Am wins at Road Atlanta

• Paul Tracy started on the pole position and led from start to finish to grab the Trans Am Series XGT Class win at Road Atlanta.  Matthew Brabham snagged the win in the TA Class subbing for Chris Dyson, who is recovering from a crash at Sebring.   Joshua Carlson dominated in the SGT class for the second race in a row, leading from green flag to checkers.  Chris Coffey grabbed the GT Class win and Rob Dickey claimed the GT1 Challenge.

Macri, Eckert win at Port Royal

• The green flag was flying at Port Royal on Saturday night where Anthony Macri grabbed the 410 Sprint Car feature win and defending late-model Champion Rich Eckert snagging the win at ‘The Speed Palace’ in a throwback paint scheme. Next week, Port Royal Speedway will present a three-division program. Joining the 410 Sprint Cars and Super Late Models will be the Limited Late Models. Race time will be at 4 p.m.