2026 Motorsports Season

Motorsports Hall of Fame​

Some names were announced on Friday during a ceremony at the site of tomorrow's Long Beach Grand Prix Indy event. The Class of 2027 will be formally inducted into the MSHFA in March 2027 at a ceremony at the museum located at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Ron Capps (Drag Racing), Rob Dyson (Sports Cars), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Stock Cars), Robert Yates (Stock Cars), Angelle Sampey (Motorcycles) and
Indy car veterans, Lyn St. James, Gary Bettenhausen and Harry Hartz.


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Hartz won the Indy 500 twice as an owner and finished second three times as a driver. He also won the AAA national championship as a driver (1926) and owner (1930). Hartz began as a riding mechanic before moving behind the wheel full-time with a Duesenberg in 1922.
 
The Indy race at Long Beach tomorrow could be quite a good show. Kyle Kirkwood who won two out of three races at Long Beach is a favorite, posting the best lap times in both practices. Friday's practice laps resulted in several drivers having an off, including rookie Mick Schumacher, the famed driver Michael Schumacher' s son. Romain Grosjean and Nolan Siegel also brought out the red flag.
 
Yes, I've been really missing the F1 weekends. Miami could get quite interesting..
Indy races have OK as a filler, but not nearly as exciting. NASCAR, other than the Talladega Massacre, (when half the field was taken out in one sweep), has been fairly boring. I've been fast forwarding through some of the short track oval races, but I still enjoy the road courses. I watched a few of the truck races as well, as there is usually some good competitive racing going on.

 
Sprint Quailfying complete in Miami
Noticeable difference in qualifying with rule changes,
Miami is a good track for these cars, so we will see
but fast through qualy

1. Lando Norris

2. Kimi Antonelli

3. Oscar Piastri

4. Charles Leclerc

5. Max Verstappen

6. George Russell

7. Lewis Hamilton

8. Franco Colapinto

9. Isack Hadjar


10. Pierre Gasly

11. Gabriel Bortoleto

12. Nico Hulkenberg

13. Ollie Bearman

14. Alex Albon

15. Carlos Sainz

16. Arvid Lindblad

17., Liam Lawson

18. Esteban Ocon

19. Sergio Perez

20. Valtteri Bottas

21. Fernando Alonso
 
Sprint race
Norris
Pistria
Leclerc
Russel
Verstapen

Qualifying for race
Here is how that Q3 session finished up.

  • 1: KIMI ANTONELLI (Mercedes) — 1:27.798
  • 2: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.166
  • 3: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.345
  • 4: Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.385
  • 5: George Russell (Mercedes) +0.399
  • 6: Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.521
  • 7: Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.702
  • 8: Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +0.964
  • 9: Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.991
  • 10: Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.012
 
Just caught the news that Alex Zanardi has passed away.

I recall him as part of CART back in the late 90's, I was never a huge fan, I was always rooting for Greg Moore and Paul Tracey, but it was always entertaining to watch Zanardi race.
yes he had a tragic life, lost his legs and racing accident
with Alex tagliani then went on and race sports cars
he then raced para olympic winning three golds on a bike.
he a down hill section lost control of bike and hit big truck
causing brain damage, not much was heard from him after that.

He won 2 car titles, when cart was real good.
never gave up, had a zest for life.
 
Good race today, but you can still see where those who figure out Computer management, battery deployment have advantage
so engineers are as important during race as drivers. Not totaly fixed, not sure they can with configurement

1 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
2 Lando Norris (McLaren) +3.264s
3 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +27.092s
4 George Russell (Mercedes) +43.051s
5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +43.949s
6 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +44.245s
7 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +53.753s
8 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +61.871s
9 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +82.072s
10 Alex Albon (Williams) +90.972s
11 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1 Lap
12 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1 Lap
13 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1 Lap
14 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1 Lap
15 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1 Lap
16 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +1 Lap
17 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1 Lap
18 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +2 Laps
DNF Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
DNF Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
DNF Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
DNF Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
 
I saw Zanardi up close and personal a few times, as I had paddock passes every year that Indy ran in Vancouver, (compliments of Pennzoil).
He was a good Indy driver, not quite as good in F1. Driving for Lotus, a 6th place was his best F1 finish position. He was bouncing from team to team, so that may have been a big factor in him not progressing further. A real tragedy what happened to him at the CART race, in Germany of all places.

Nice to see there looks as if some of the teams have used this time off to substantially improve their cars performance. Mercedes is no longer the dominant team. I'm really hoping Aston Martin, Cadillac, and Audi can start to show up. I can understand teething problems for the two new teams, but WTF is going on with Aston Martin? Has Adrian Newey designed a total lemon?

Should be some great action for the race, both at the front and mid-pack.
 
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