🏎 Hankering for Horsepower

Does NASCAR's short track package need fixing?

April 18, 2023

Good morning! This weekend's racing featured a little bit of everything from racing in the rain to post race fires and everything in between. Catch up with us on the latest happenings in the motorsport world as we kick off another week!

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NASCAR

Larson Clocks First Win at Martinsville

Kyle Larson won the 400-lap NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, his second win of the season and 21st of his career. Larson took the lead in the closing miles and quickly built a three-second lead, eventually winning by 4.14 seconds. His teammate William Byron also has two wins this season. Following Larson in order were Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe. The win was the record 28th for Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville, and Larson's first win at the track. Ryan Preece won the first stage, while Kevin Harvick won the second.

Nemechek's 🔥 Drive

John Hunter Nemechek won the NASCAR Xfinity race at Martinsville Speedway, dominating by leading 198 out of the 250 laps, and securing his fourth win of his career. A late caution set up a restart with 17 laps left, but Nemechek quickly pulled away and was never seriously challenged for the lead. The win at Martinsville also saw Nemechek claim the $100,000 Dash4Cash bonus. Completing the top five were Sammy Smith, Cole Custer, Josh Berry, and Brandon Jones. Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Custer, and Berry will be eligible for the $100,000 Dash4Cash bonus next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

Heim Hangs on through the Rain

Corey Heim won the rain-shortened NASCAR Truck race at Martinsville, which marked the first use of wet weather tires on an oval track. The race was initially delayed by thunderstorms and eventually called official after 124 of the originally scheduled 200 laps. Heim's win is his first of the 2023 season and third of his career. Kyle Busch finished second, followed by Zane Smith, Ty Majeski, and Tanner Gray. NASCAR approved the limited use of wet weather tires for several oval tracks across all three national series, including Martinsville. Some drivers were critical of the wet weather tire claiming that they were underutilized and should have been used in more wet conditions.

Drivers Call for Adjustments to Short Track Package

Following the NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville Speedway, drivers called for more horsepower and tire fall-off to improve short track racing. Although NASCAR statistics showed that there were more green flag passes at Martinsville than in either of last season's two races there, Joey Logano highlighted how tough it was to pass, explaining that there's not much fall-off in the cars, and the cars are almost the same, which leads to follow-the-leader racing.

“You got 30-something cars out there that run within a tenth (of a second). I was racing cars that I didn’t think I’d be racing, cars that in the past you would pass with ease. I couldn’t do that. … There’s just not enough speed difference in the cars."

Joey Logano

Hendrick Motorsports President and General Manager Jeff Andrews said increasing horsepower would take a long time to achieve, but Denny Hamlin argued for tire wear as a solution, citing NASCAR's use of wet weather tires at Friday's Truck race to slow lap times significantly over the run.

F1

Ferrari's Hearing on the Horizon

Ferrari has requested a right to review Carlos Sainz's penalty from the Australian Grand Prix, and the FIA has set a provisional hearing for April 18th. The hearing will determine if there is a new and significant element that was not available at the time of the decision, and if there is, the stewards will re-open the investigation and consider different outcomes. Sainz received a five-second penalty for a collision with Fernando Alonso, which demoted him from fourth to outside the points. Ferrari was unhappy with the inconsistency shown in other incidents, and multiple outcomes are possible if the decision is overturned.

Mick Breaks down his New Gig

In an interview, Mick Schumacher discussed his role as a reserve driver and simulator operator for Mercedes, saying he is settling in well but was "quite shocked" by the amount of radio conversations happening between engineers during on-track sessions. Schumacher, whose father Michael raced for Mercedes between 2010 and 2012, also spoke about working with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and said he hoped to be an "extra pair of eyes and resource" to help the team's development program.

More F1

😮‍💨 Progress also means pressure... Aston Martin's hot start to the season doesn't mean they can relax

IndyCar

Kirkwood Claims Long Beach Grand Prix

Kyle Kirkwood has won his first NTT IndyCar Series race at the Long Beach Grand Prix. Kirkwood executed every aspect of the race to perfection, leading the race after the middle stint and winning by more than a second from his Andretti Autosport teammate Romain Grosjean. The podium was rounded out by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson, who was the victim of contact with Pato O’Ward in the first stint. O’Ward spun in Turn 8, causing several cars to slide around him, before he eventually retired from the race with an issue.

More IndyCar

✅ The field for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 is set... 34 entries will attempt to make the 33 car field

🚧 Unnanounced changes to track configurations catch drivers off guard... lack of communication caused crashes in practice

GLOBAL MOTORSPORT

Take a trip to far away motorsport lands

👂 Radio issues leave Oliver Jarvis on his own for last stint of Portimao... Despite having no radio, Jarvis secured the LMP2 victory

eNASCAR

Round #6 Talladega

Join in the thrill of Round #6 in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series at Talladega for some exciting superspeedway racing, airing tonight at 9:00pm ET. Root for eRacr's Kollin Keister and Collin Bowden as they take on the high banks of Dega. Tune in to the pre-race show beginning at 8:30pm ET, available for viewing on twitch.tv/iracing.

Money Lap Fantasy by eRacr

Join the eRacr Fantasy leagues to compete against other Money Lap subscribers and compete for exclusive prizes all season long! It's not too late to enter! Join below:

Fantasy Results

Memes

ONBOARD OF THE DAY

Sebastian Vettel 2009 Singapore Q3 Onboard

Hop on board with Sebastian Vettel as he pilots his Redbull RB5 around the Marina Bay Circuit for a P2 qualifying effort in Q3!

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