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Other series racing

  • Dan Wheldon Dies At 33

    Dan Wheldon Dies At 33

    Sunday afternoon, two time Indianapolis 500 champ Dan Wheldon died in a horrific mult-icar crash in Las Vegas.

    [media-credit name=”indycar.com” align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Weldon, 33, was in the running for the $5 million if he won the race. The officials stopped the race and had a meeting with the other drivers and were informed of Wheldon’s passing. When the race resumed, pit crews lined pit road weeping and trying comfort each other.

    “I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff. I love hard racing but that to me is not really what it’s about. One small mistake from somebody. Right now I’m numb and speechless,” he said.

    “One minute you’re joking around in driver intros and the next he’s gone. He was 6 years old when I first met him. I told his son Thursday night at the parade on The Strip that I’ve known his dad since he was your age. And then I talked to a friend of mine, Jesse Spence, that I used to race go-karts with that we’ve known him since he was this little kid. His mouth worked plenty good, but he was just this little kid and the next thing you know he was my teammate in INDYCAR. We put so much pressure on ourselves to win races and championships and today it doesn’t matter.” Franchitti said about the death of his long time friend.

    Wheldon leaves behind his wife Susie Behm, 2 year old son Sebastian, 16 month old son Oliver his parents and three siblings.

  • Dan Wheldon Dies in Crash at IndyCar Season Finale at Las Vegas

    Dan Wheldon Dies in Crash at IndyCar Season Finale at Las Vegas

    Following a wreck on lap 12 of the IZOD IndyCar Series Season Finale race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 33-year-old Dan Wheldon has died due to injuries sustained in the crash.

    “IndyCar is sad to announce that Dan Wheldon passed away from unsurvivable injuries,” IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family. INDYCAR, its drivers and teams have decided to end the race. We will run a five-lap salute in honor of Dan.”

    Following the press conference of the announcement, the 19 cars that were not involved did five-laps around the track in a 3-wide formation.

    The incident happened on lap 12, which saw three cars catch air and involve a total of 15 cars. Multiple replays show the top of Wheldon’s cockpit hitting the catch fence, breaking the hoop.

    “I saw two cars touch each other up in front of me and then I tried to slow down, couldn’t slow down,” Paul Tracy told ESPN. “Then Dan’s car, from what I saw in the videos, came over my back wheel and over top of me. Just a horrendous accident.”

    “The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something,” Ryan Briscoe added. “I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere.”

    Will Power was transported to hospital following the incident, complaining of back pain, though has since been released. Pippa Mann and JR Hildebrand were also transported to hospital. They both will be kept overnight for observation.

    Wheldon was the 2005 IndyCar Series Champion and won theIndianapolis500 twice, including this year’s running. This past season, Wheldon had been running a part-time schedule due to no ride while also testing the new IndyCar for next season.

    Wheldon was expected to join Andretti Autosport to compete full-time next season. He leaves behind his wife Suzi and two children.

    As a result of the race being canceled, Dario Franchitti wins his fourth IndyCar Series Championship.

  • Statement From Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Dan Wheldon

    MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 16, 2011) – JR Motorsports owner and NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. issued the following statement Sunday evening after the passing of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon:

    “I had the pleasure of meeting Dan Wheldon at the National Guard Youth Challenge dinner about five years ago, and we crossed paths several times since then, mostly through our mutual partnership with the National Guard. His success as a racer speaks for itself, but I will remember him as a true professional who was friendly, respectful, and genuine. On behalf of everyone at JR Motorsports, I send condolences to Dan’s family, team, and friends in the racing community.”

  • Statement From Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage On Passing Of Dan Wheldon

    Statement from Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage on IndyCar Series driver Dan Wheldon, who lost his life Sunday after being involved in a multi-car accident during the IndyCar Series season finale.

    “On behalf of the entire staff at Texas Motor Speedway, our sincere condolences go out to Dan’s wife Susie and their two young boys, Oliver and Sebastian. Dan was a tremendous race-car driver and even more tremendous as a person. I was fortunate to get to know Dan over the years with the series annually visiting Texas Motor Speedway and he always arrived with that infectious personality and charming wit. His outstanding skill in the cockpit and his personality and good nature out of it will be greatly missed by the entire IndyCar community.”

  • STATEMENT FROM MIS PRESIDENT ROGER CURTIS ON THE PASSING OF DAN WHELDON

    STATEMENT FROM MIS PRESIDENT ROGER CURTIS ON THE PASSING OF DAN WHELDON

    STATEMENT FROM MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY PRESIDENT ROGER CURTIS ON THE PASSING OF DAN WHELDON

    “I am saddened for the entire racing community and all race fans. Dan Wheldon was one of the most personable and friendliest drivers I have ever met in this sport. And he was a passionate, talented and exciting driver whose love of racing really showed. But more than that, he loved his family and our thoughts are with them during this very sad time.”

  • Pulliam Bumps Way To Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 Victory

    Pulliam Bumps Way To Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 Victory

    Pulliam Bumps Way To Victory In Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Oct. 9, 2011) – At a track known for wild finishes, Sunday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 produced one of the wildest ever in the 64-year history of Martinsville Speedway.

    In a race filled with 17 caution periods, a next-to-the-last-lap bumping incident between eventual winner Lee Pulliam and leader Matt McCall had fans on their feet and tempers running wild in the pits. Pulliam made contact with McCall as they went into Turn 3 to make the pass and take home the $25,000 first-place check and the legendary grandfather clock trophy.

    McCall retaliated by spinning Pulliam in the third turn on the cool-down lap after the race.

    “This is breathtaking and the biggest win of my career,” Pulliam said. “I can’t think of a bigger stage to be on and get it (win). This is our Daytona 500.”

    Pulliam, who finished third in the final NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national point standings, made the pass after running in the top five during the entire race.

    “He got into me going into Turn 1 on the final restart and I just paid him back going into Turn 3,” Pulliam said of the finish.

    Brandon Butler took advantage of the action up front to finish second and Stacy Puryear finished third. Dexter Canipe Jr. rebounded from an earlier spin to come home fourth. McCall was able to save his car and collect a fifth-place showing.

    McCall visited the post-race stage to have a few words with Pulliam.

    “I went up to him and told him I will see him around,” McCall said. “I have got too much going for me on my other career in racing but I will remember this and I will see him again.”

    Davin Scites finished sixth and Greg Edwards seventh. Jeb Burton finished an impressive eighth, followed by Coleman Pressley and Mike Darne.

    Philip Morris, the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion and defending race winner, battled mechanical issues all day after winning the pole in Saturday’s qualifying and finished a disappointing 22.

    Racing returns to Martinsville Speedway on October 28-30 with the Tums Fast Relief 500 weekend.

    Tickets for the TUMS Fast Relief 500 are on sale and may be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX or by visiting www.martinsvillespeedway.com online.

  • My early days – David Martinez

    My early days – David Martinez

    My early days

    10/07/2011

    By David Martinez

    With Steve Jobs passing away this week, one of many extraordinary comments he made, created an impact on me and got me to think about my early days. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

    My dad grew up in the farming business inside a wealthy and large family. He is the oldest of 5 brothers and developed an interest for motorsports when he was young. After a while, dad finally convinced my grandfather to buy him a go kart and he was successful right away. He would go to a local track every day after school and practice until the light was gone.

    Gerardo “Platano(Banana)” Martínez as the people knew him, went to win many national championships, but once he finished college he stayed in the family business. While being successful professionally, he got married to my mom and had two sons. Until that day my brother and I had no idea about racing, we were raised in a small town called Mante City located in the State of Tamaulipas.

    As time passed. dad reached his 40´s, and found an opportunity to go racing. He didn´t hesitate and moved our family to Monterrey, Mexico. Like in most of his life, he was successful right away and after only a couple of years, he was already about to start what would be one of the most successful racing teams in Mexican History.

    For me, racing started when I was 4. My dad had just brought us to Monterrey to start a new life. I can still remember the first times I went to a race track, the loud noise and the heat did not do too much for me then. A couple of years later my older brother Gerardo, was already eager and pushing dad to go karting. I will never forget this day. Dad took us to a local rental karting facility. I got in the kart, got to turn 1 and I just knew it. This is what I want to do all my life.

    Now, I will never need to answer this question ¿How did I know I would be good enough to succeed? I have no idea. It was just something I knew and it came from the heart.

    Stay tuned for Racing for Mexico Race Car Driver David Martinez

  • Morris Keeps Hot Streak Alive With Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 Pole Victory

    Morris Keeps Hot Streak Alive With Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 Pole Victory

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 8, 2011) – Philip Morris keeps finding a way to outdo himself.

    The veteran Virginia driver set a track record Saturday in qualifying for Sunday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 at Martinsville Speedway, adding to a season of amazing success, which includes 20 victories, a track championship and his fourth NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship.

    “This year has been surreal,” said Morris, who is also the defending Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 champion. “It has been a blur of victories.”

    There was never much doubt Saturday that Morris was going to be the class of qualifying after he led both morning practice sessions.

    Morris toured the .526-mile Martinsville oval in 20.165 seconds (93.905 mph) to shatter the old Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 Late Model Stock car record of 20.216 seconds (93.668) set by Davin Scites in 2008. By winning the pole, Morris picked up the $1,000 Sparks Oil Pole Award.

    “I had been looking for that lap all day long,” Morris said of his qualifying lap. “A lot of preparation went into the car. I drove way deep in the corner and it felt a little like the pole and when I looked up and saw it on the scoreboard, I was the happiest guy in Martinsville.”

    Matt McCall was fairly happy, too, nailing down the second starting position with a lap of 20.347 seconds (93.065).

    “We got waxed by two-tenths of a second,” McCall said chuckling. “We had a good lap, but Philip had an awesome lap.”

    Last year’s pole winner, Lee Pulliam, earned the third starting spot (20.365, 92.983 mph) followed by Scites (20.381, 92.910) and Kenny Forbes (20.397, 92.937).

    The top five qualifiers were in Chevrolets.

    Rounding out the top 10 were B.J. Mackey, Brandon Butler, former winner Frank Deiny Jr., Josh Berry and Ryan Reed.

    Only the top 22 positions for Sunday’s 42-car field were determined in Saturday’s qualifying. The remaining 20 spots will be filled through four 25-lap heat races beginning at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. The top five finishers from each heat race transfer to the 200-lap feature.

    Tickets are $20 for adults and children 12-and-under are free for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300.

    Fan gates will open at 9 a.m. Sunday.

  • CORE autosport claims two 2011 ALMS championships

    BRASELTON, GA, Saturday, October 1, 2011: The ending couldn’t have been written, or predicted by the best Vegas odds-maker. A drama-filled 1000-mile American Le Mans Series (ALMS) finale was decided a mere nine laps before the finish, and the result was two championships for CORE autosport.The first-year Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC) team scored both the 2011 ALMS LMPC team championship and the driver championship for Gunnar Jeannette and Ricardo Gonzalez.The team championship came down to one point over Genoa Racing – quite an accomplishment for CORE autosport, who only announced their intention to move from IMSA Prototype Lites to ALMS competition less than a year ago.

    Over the nine-race 2011 season, the two-car team won two races, was on the podium 10 times and scored three pole positions.The 2011 ALMS LMPC driver championship race came down to an even tighter margin – zero. The prize for Jeannette and Gonzalez, co-drivers of the #06 Excel Consultants / Composite Resources ORECA FLM09, is shared with Eric Lux of Genoa Racing. The drivers all scored the exact same number of wins, second, third, fourth and fifth place finishes.

    This is the first time in ALMS 13-year history that such a tie exists and cannot be broken.But championships were merely a result of the rollercoaster that was Saturday’s Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda – the 1000-mile ALMS 2011 finale at Road Atlanta. For the #06 machine, driven by Jeannette, Gonzalez and Rudy Junco, the day began with a bump off-track by a GT car, shoving the car into gravel. The car was unharmed but lost two laps and Gonzalez drove the car from the sixth spot until turning it over in fourth to Jeannette.

    A combination of driver skill and strategy allowed Jeannette to lead the LMPC class until just after halfway, when the engine threw the accessory belt that drives the water pump and power steering. The #06 crew worked hard to fix the car and was able to get it on track, many laps down, but still running strongly.

    Junco took over and was able to maintain pace, eventually bringing the car into third spot even after an off-course excursion due to cold tires after a restart. Gonzalez brought the #06 home in the third LMPC spot (30th overall).

    The sister #05 Bayshore Recycling / Composite Resources machine, driven by team principal Jon Bennett, Frankie Montecalvo and Ryan Dalziel, encountered even more drama. Montecalvo was able to stay out of trouble during his stints, despite minor on-track contact with a variety of aggressive traffic. About six hours into the event, Bennett was spun by a GT car, resulting in a lock-up of the #05’s transmission. The car was quickly fixed by the CORE autosport crew and was laps down, but still ahead of the Genoa team. It wasn’t until Dalziel’s final stint, nine laps to the finish, when tragedy struck. When exiting pit road, Dalziel was involved in an on-track incident with the #16 LMP1 machine – severely damaging the car and forcing it out of the race. The #05 machine ended the race in fifth spot (35th overall).

    The Genoa team was able to claim the fourth spot, which allowed for the driver championship tie. To see highlights of the Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda, tune into ABC-TV, who will televise a tape-delayed highlight of the event on Sunday, October 2 at 4 p.m. EST.Morgan Brady, team manager, CORE autosport: “Overall it was a phenomenal first season for CORE autosport. “The year had its ups and downs, but at the end of the day we were able to walk away with the team championship, which is something we set out to do from the beginning.

    And to be tied with Eric Lux for the driver’s championship is quite an accomplishment.”I really want to thank everyone, but especially the folks that work at the shop day-in and day-out make this happen, including Mike Sales, Eric Vanbibber, Jay Ribas, Adam Wareing, Neal Everhart, Jamie Brooks, Alec Crabbe, Michele Henn and Lindsay Brown. “And on behalf of the entire team, I’d like to thank Jon Bennett for making CORE autosport possible.”

    Website: http://www.coreautosport.com

    Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/coreautosport

    Twitter: @coreautosport

    YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/coreautosport

  • CONQUEST RACING KENTUCKY RACE REPORT

    Sparta, Kentucky – October 2, 2011 – Conquest Racing had an early end to their race today after a positive start in which Dillon Battistini took the green flag in the 25th position and had his first wheel-to-wheel fight with the 28 IZOD IndyCAr competitors as he made his series debut at the Kentucky Indy 300. Battistini, who had been feeling ill for a few days leading up to the event this weekend, held on for 124 laps at the 1.5-mile D-shaped oval but eventually decided to retire from the race as he felt it was no longer safe to continue clocking laps in excess of 210mph. The British rookie was scored in 28th position for the second to last race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season.

    For Battistini this race marked a highlight in his career as he completed his climb through the Road to Indy program which took him from winning races in the Firestone Indy Lights series, including the event at Kentucky, to getting behind the wheel of an IndyCar. Despite the unfortunate outcome, the Conquest Racing crew once again had a strong showing and used their experience to coach and bring a young rookie up to speed in the fastest racing series in the world.

    Conquest Racing will now head to the IZOD IndyCar World Championship presented by Honda at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the 2011 series champion will be crowned. The event will take place October 16th and will be televised on ABC at 3:00PM Eastern.

    For more information please visit www.conquestracing.com and www.indycar.com. You can also follow Conquest Racint at www.facebook.com/conquestracing and www.twitter.com/conquestracing.

    Dillon Battistini

    Driver

    No. 34 Conquest Racing/ Honda /Dallara /Firestone

    “It’s obviously not the way we wanted to end the weekend. After having a strong start to the race I was getting up to speed and getting used to driving around in traffic. I haven’t been feeling well for a few days and as the race went on it got worse and worse until it got the point that it wasn’t safe to be out there anymore. I’m very excited that I had the chance to make my debut in the IZOD IndyCar Series and I look forward to coming back and pick up where we started.”

    About Conquest Racing

    Conquest Racing is entering its 15th season of professional racing. Throughout its history, the team has been known to give young up and coming drivers a chance to make it to the big leagues and Conquest Racing is keeping up that tradition this year with rookie Dillon Battistini.