🏎 Chaos at COTA

Teammate run ins and F1 champs struggle in Austin

March 28, 2023

"The best 5 minutes in motorsports"

- Money Lap

Good morning! The theme from this weekend in Austin was 🔥... With post race fires, tempers boiling over in the pits and an F1 champ suffering from heat exhaustion, there's a lot to recap from COTA... But don't worry, we've got you covered!

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NASCAR

Reddick Survives Triple-Overtime Rampage

Tyler Reddick won his first NASCAR Cup Series race for 23XI Racing at Circuit of the Americas, surviving three overtimes to claim the win over Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman. Sunday saw a number of incidents, including a rash of cautions to end the race. Former Formula 1 champions Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen finished in 18th and 29th respectively. IMSA's Jordan Taylor had high hopes entering the race after qualifying P4 but an on-track incident relegated him to a 24th place finish. Reddick is quickly becoming known as a 'road course ringer' as this victory was his fourth in the Cup Series and his third on a road course.

Dinger Gets it Done in Austin

A.J. Allmendinger won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas after a chaotic 46-lap race. Allmendinger dominated the race, leading 28 laps, before contact with Aric Almirola on Lap 20 sent him back to 26th place. Allmendinger managed to make his way back to the front of the pack and fight off challenges from William Byron to win by 0.853 seconds. Ty Gibbs finished third, Sammy Smith fourth, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top five. The race also saw Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric, and Sam Mayer qualify for the $100,000 Dash4Cash bonus in next weekend's race at Richmond, Va.

Smith off to a 🔥 Start with COTA Win

Zane Smith was victorious in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Circuit of the Americas for the second consecutive year, making him the first driver to win at the track twice. Smith took the lead following a caution for Parker Kligerman’s stalled truck, allowing him to make a pit stop while other contenders were unable to. Kyle Busch finished second after starting in 17th place, while Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five.

Button and Raikkonen Struggle at COTA

Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen made their NASCAR Cup Series debuts at the Circuit of The Americas, with Button finishing 18th and Raikkonen nearly cracking the top five before being spun around and finishing 29th due to a track limits penalty. Button admitted to struggling with the racecraft and suffering from heat exhaustion, but also praised the action on the track. Button will continue his NASCAR stint with races in Chicago and Indianapolis after Le Mans, while Raikkonen's plans remain unclear.

"And then on the next stint I'd had a whack from Kimi [Raikkonen] and it just felt so oversteery, I just went backwards, and I also had heat exhaustion. I was like 'guys, I have to stop', it was that bad."

Jenson Button

Big Machine Owner Scott Borchetta Involved in Trans Am Crash

Scott Borchetta, the owner of the Big Machine Racing team, was involved in a massive crash on lap 24 of the Trans Am Series event at Road Atlanta. He was extracted from his car and transported to a local hospital. The team later issued a statement saying that Borchetta is in stable condition, but did not disclose any specifics about his injuries. Borchetta, who is also a record executive and founder of the Big Machine Label Group, has competed in 34 Trans Am Series events since 2020.

F1

Red Bull's Only Concern - Reliability

In an interview, Max Verstappen stated that he has urged Red Bull to ensure that both of its drivers have a chance to fight for the championship without reliability issues following his recent concerns in Saudi Arabia. Verstappen expressed his worries about how reliability could harm the chances of either himself or Sergio Perez, and added that Red Bull "has to do better" in this regard.

Perez agreed with Verstappen's concerns and stated that reliability is a matter of concern at the moment, but hopefully it won't affect the team anytime soon.

“And then you have to do a recovery race, which I like – I mean, I don’t mind doing it – but when you’re fighting for a championship and especially when it looks like it’s just between two cars, we have to make sure that also the two cars are reliable.”

Max Verstappen

Vasseur Still Optimistic of Catching Red Bull

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes that Red Bull can be caught this season through development but that finding consistency is currently his priority. Red Bull has started the season well with back-to-back one-two finishes, but Vasseur says he feels the gap can be closed.

He also says that there are likely to be some small updates delivered by Ferrari ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, but that they won’t necessarily address the biggest weakness the team currently has, which is the ability to extract 100% of the car's potential in every session.

Horner Wouldn't Hire Hamilton

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has ruled out signing Lewis Hamilton, saying he "can't see where we would be able to accommodate" the seven-time world champion as the team has both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez under contract. Hamilton is nearing the end of his contract with Mercedes, and although both parties have suggested they will sign a new deal, speculation continues.

Horner also commented that intra-team competition between Verstappen and Perez could create an interesting spectacle but that he expects other teams to come back fighting as the season progresses.

More F1

🔀 Big shakeups at McLaren after an abysmal start to the season... a technical restructure leads the teams efforts to get back into form after just two races

🇦🇺 Danny Riccairdo hops back into the drivers seat... He took the RB7 on an off-road trip across Australia

IndyCar

Money Problems for Motorsports Games

Motorsport Games, which had acquired the exclusive license to IndyCar video game-related products, announced that it will not be able to release its dedicated IndyCar game in 2023. In an earnings call, the company said that it does not have sufficient cash on hand to fund its operations for the remainder of 2023, and additional funding will be required. Motorsport Games' CEO Dmitry Kozko said that the company continues to make strides in development efforts but does not believe it will be in a satisfactory position to release the game this year. IndyCar said it remains committed to bringing quality video game products to its community.

Wheldon Brothers Receive Support from Gainbridge, Andretti

Andretti Autosport has announced that Gainbridge has joined its efforts in supporting Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon, the sons of the late IndyCar champion Dan Wheldon. Gainbridge, in its sixth year of sponsorship with Andretti Autosport, will provide branding to the Wheldon brothers as they continue to build upon their father's legacy. Michael Andretti stated that both boys have impressed the team through their karting competition and have continued to develop their skills. The announcement was well received by Susie Wheldon, who expressed gratitude to the Andretti Autosport team for providing support and navigating the complexities of the junior ladder system.

More IndyCar

🎟 IndyCar sees a bump in ticket sales for Texas Motor Speedway... How has Pato O'Ward impacted the sales for his hometown race?

🤝 NTT and IndyCar announce title sponsorship extension... the partnership began in 2019 and is set for a multi-year extension starting in 2024

GLOBAL MOTORSPORT

Take a trip to far away motorsport lands

⚠️ Ferrari puts halt on decision for 499P Hypercar IMSA expansion... all focus is on WEC Championship but a decision could be made this summer

🇺🇸 Could Rallycross make a return to the USA?... Here are the obstacles that will have to be overcome after a 35 year hiatus

🤕 MotoGP rider Marc Marquez undergoes surgery... After a violent crash in Portimao, he will be forced to miss the Argentina GP

eNASCAR

Round #4 Richmond

Don't miss out on Round #4 of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Championship tonight. Kollin Keister and Collin Bowden from eRacr will be doing some short track racing in Richmond at 9:00pm ET. The Pre-race show will begin at 8:30pm ET and can be watched on twitch.tv/iracing.

Memes

ONBOARD OF THE DAY

Sebastian Vettel Australia Pole Lap 2010 Onboard

Let's throw it back to 2010 and ride on board with Sebastian Vettel as he races to the top of the charts in qualifying at Albert Park.

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