Xtreme Racing News

Well this is fun, way too fun. So it was announced on Monday that Aston Martin is indeed coming to Formula One in 2018 as Red Bull's new title sponsor, so if you thought Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 is a mouthful, try Aston Martin Red Bull Racing F1 or Red Bull Aston Martin Racing F1. Now this means that Aston Martin MAY try and build engines for them, as Red Bull wants out of Renault after next season and the junior team, Red Bull Toro Rosso, is going to Honda next season. But it could take YEARS for this to even happen as the money it takes to even get in let alone build engines for teams is expensive in F1. Red Bull already has enough issues after saying that Daniil Kvyat has been replaced for a "few" races by Pierre Gasly, a better way of saying "you're fired, don't come back". Now Kvyat could only be running one more time as Gasly I believe has a schedule confliction in the coming weeks so unless Toro Rosso has an excuse not to run Kvyat, he'll be back at least one more time, and that means one more disappointment for this team. Red Bull may also lose Daniel Ricciardo after next year so it's getting interesting, they are already losing Carlos Sainz for Toro Rosso next season so now they need a new driver other than Kvyat. 

Driver openings, Jolyon Palmer is getting fired next year, something he found out via Twitter, and that's probably the worst way to get told you're fired, they didn't even tell him, well any way to not hurt his feelings as much. The Brit is out of options though there are plenty of options next season. Toro Rosso obviously has a seat ope, but Palmer isn't in the Red Bull developmental program like Gasly so there goes that one. Felipe Massa may re-retire for Williams so now they need a guy to run to current rookie Lance Stroll. But that brings it's own problems, Williams is looking to bring Robert Kubica back, who hasn't ran since 2010, and if THAT somehow fails. Paul di Resta, who ran once this year for Massa, could be in, so Williams is basically telling Palmer no by trying to bring in every available driver possible. Sauber and Pascal Wehrlein are splitting it seems so Marcus Ericcson needs a ride, but they want to be a Ferrari-junior based team and want Italians running, so Charles Leclarc or current Haas F1 reserve and Ferrari developmental driver Antonio Giovinazzi could be in. Giovinazzi ran multiple races this season for Sauber while Wehrlein was hurt, so he has experience with Ericcson and it could work. McLaren, oh geez. Fernando Alonso is most likely staying since the team is finally leaving Honda for the last available option, Renault so that may keep him there. Stoffel Vandoorne still isn't sure where he's headed yet. If all else fails, Jenson? The fellow Brit? You want a ride? I mean you ran once this year for Alonso while he was in Indy, you had an accident in his seat on purpose, you flipped Wehrlein and you even managed to get a grid penalty for your "next race" which likely isn't coming. Way to re-retire by getting a grid penalty Jenson, now come back and serve it, and try and run again, we miss you, anyone but Palmer.

Palmer, AMRBR, RBAMR, who knows, I'm full of energy, I can't wait for the rest of the year and I can't wait for next year, this is gonna be fun and until next time, peace.

Breaking news out of Red Bull Racing this afternoon, Daniil Kvyat has been removed his Toro Rosso ride effective today by the Senior team, Pierre Gasly is set to take over the ride for the remainder of the season as Kvyat "didn't show his true potential" according to Red Bull. As everyone knows, Kvyat was called up last season to Red Bull but after various wrecks, they demoted him back to Toro Rosso for Dutch driver Max Verstappen, Kvyat has had various run-ins with teammate Carlos Sainz and other driver this season, as well as multiple crashes by himself varying from practice to qualifying to the race. Kvyat, who wrecked out by himself 2 weeks ago in Singapore, sits 19th in the overall drivers standing, something Red Bull was "ashamed of" and noted that it's a "disgrace" that they field a car that low in the standings.

This rumour has taken a massive turn as Gasly was supposed to replace Carlos Sainz in Malaysia after rumours went out before Singapore that Jolyon Palmer was to be sacked from Renault after the race, Palmer is not returning to the team next season anyways as Sainz will be going to Renault on loan no matter what to Nico Hulkenberg, so it would make sense with all of Palmer's issues, that they give Sainz the seat now. Palmer sits 16th in the standings and has had his share of crashes and failures, some his fault, some car failures that were not in his control. Palmer is now expected to stay at Renault and with these rumours, does Gasly have a future at Red Bull? Seems like he's headed to the junior team so this saga is just getting started, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

The close to Fonda Speedway's 2017 season was quite an eventful one. The action started Friday night with Kyle Smith taking the CRSA event, Bobby Varin taking his 2nd straight KoD win in the Modifieds with Rocky Warner winning in the Sportsmans and Gus Hollner in the Pro Stocks.

Saturday? Well this could take awhile, the action started at 7 for the Super DirtCar Series, ESS/URC/PST 360's, Pro Stocks and Street Stocks. Stewart Friesen was running double duty and raced 12 hours after running New Hampshire earlier on in the day. The Modifieds started good but it got ugly fast, tires tires tires. Literally everyone in the field but FOUR did not pit during the feature. Billy Decker had an early issue with the tires but thankfully Matt Sheppard and Larry Wight weren't that close to the front after starting in the rear with backups. Sheppard had to pit twice in the feature and Wight blew his tire late in the race causing a pile up with Josh Hohenforst, Rich Scagliotta and Mike Maresca, who had a night he wants to forget. Stewart Friesen blew a tire trying to re-catch Peter Britten and then blew another one 8 laps later, Friesen who was already on race 2 on the day, left the race to get ready for the Sprints. Danny Varin had halfway tire issues as well. The big problem, Peter Britten had multiple issues, one when he was leading, giving the lead to track champion Tim Fuller and watch out, cause here we go. After numerous more caution for tires, we had a shootout for the win between Fuller, Bobby Varin and remember Danny Varin? Well he made his way up front again. It looked like Fuller had it on the last lap until he entered turn 2... the tire went, the one thing Fuller didn't want and it happened. Bobby Varin took the lead on the backstretch and went on to win over his son Danny and Pat Ward. Danny went on to win the joint 360 race at 2 in the morning over Friesen. Varin swept the weekend and has now won 4 straight events, 3 at Fonda and 1 at Albany-Saratoga. Friesen? Lets just say he ran 3 races in 12 hours (4 if you count the flight trying to get here).

So now you ask, why so many tires and why to the same people? Well the track was not cooperating with anyone, you HAD to be careful with the tires. It was hard, so hard that if you even attempted to push it, like Wight did, you'll lose a tire. I've never seen that at Fonda or anywhere else, I've seen races where fuel has been a problem (Syracuse 2013), but never tires. 

Tonight is the start of Mohawk Valley Weekend at the Fonda Speedway, here are the events.

FRIDAY: KoD 358 Modified's, KoD Sportsman, CRSA 305 Sprints, Street Stocks, Modified warmups.

SATURDAY: Big Block Modified Super DirtCar Series, URC/ESS/PST joint race, Pro Stocks, Cruisers.

Both nights start at 6 with warmups, heats/time trials at 7

It's what McLaren fans have been waiting for, and it's over, McLaren F1 and Honda have officially split up just 3 years into a decade agreement that was made to change and dominate Formula One. The one most affected is Fernando Alonso, who has had various failures in both F1 and IndyCar when his engine failed at the Indy 500 in May while with Andretti-McLaren Autosport. The change comes at a decent time as the first Renault engine will go in this weekend at Singapore for both Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, Singapore is not designed to be a powerised track, more along the lines of just keeping the car together and straight. McLaren has no other option to go to Renault after they failed to reach an agreement when talks appeared to be done with Mercedes, while Ferrari declined to speak with the team after failed agreements with Mercedes. They are expected to use Renault power for 3 years and re-consider Mercedes. The move will likely mean Alonso will stay with the team after showing frustration with Honda for their "lack of power" and liability. Alonso has said he is considering options for F1, a part-time IndyCar ride and possibly other series around Europe.

Also announced today, Red Bull has announced they are leaving Renault after 2018 for their Senior team, it is unknown if Toro Rosso will follow. The team already has Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen locked up for 2018 but Ricciardo reportedly wants out if the team cannot match Mercedes and Ferrari next season. Verstappen is likely to stay with the team no matter what despite multiple DNF's this season with engine problems and collisions.

Speaking of Toro Rosso, there will be a driver change in 2 weeks. Renault F1 is expected to fire Jolyon Palmer after poor performances for 2 years and the team will bring in Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz months earlier than expected. Palmer is to blame for most of his incidents, including a practice fire and multiple other practice crashes. Sainz himself has had run-ins with his teammate and other drivers and is not well liked for a poorly time turn which took him and Lance Stroll out. Palmer was supposed to be fired after the season ironically for Sainz, who is going to Renault on loan next season to be alongside German Nico Hulkenberg. This change is expected to happen in Malaysia and if true, Pierre Gasly will get a call-up to Red Bull and will join the junior team in Toro Rosso.

As if Glen Ridge can't get any worse now, after numerous rain-outs, low car counts and little attendance, the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park has cancelled yet again for tonight as they move onto a new era. Wednesday night a meeting was held and Pete Demetraszek has decided that he will leave the track, focus on Fonda and will leave his old job for car owner Mike Parillo. Parillo, who owns Tim Hartman Jr's Sportsman car for Friday nights at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, will change racing from Friday nights to Sunday nights starting next weekend. Parillo also said the headline division will be the 602 Crate Modifieds, but there's one problem, what driver outside of Alissa Cody has a Crate? Parillo said anyone with a legal 602 Sportsman engine will be allowed to run Modifieds, meaning the Sportsmans may end up being the headliners since no Modified driver at the track has a Crate Modified engine, as everyone runs a Big Block or a Small Block and will have no intentions on  buying a Crate. Multiple drivers will have decisions now to go to Glen Ridge, but a majority will still head out to the Utica-Rome Speedway like Stewart Friesen, or Devils Bowl like David Schilling. Craig Hanson and Jeremy Wilder are running tracks too, Hanson for the STSS,  Wilder has some King of Dirt events with Andy Romano and the 97, which is ran by Peter Britten on Friday night's, along with Jeff Trombley if Modifieds are ran on the same night as the Patriot Sprint Tour, Empire Super Sprints, or CRSA 305 Sprints. A new era has begun, but the question is, if Parillo goes through with Crate Mods, will the track last?

I feel like Lebanon Valley Speedway is always in the news for the wrong reasons, 2 years ago on the Eve Of Destruction night, one driver passed away after crashing his motorhome in a demolition derby, last night the track was in the news yet again, this time for one driver being arrested. It was a good night gone wrong, Kenny Tremont turned it around in the Small-Blocks to win his first of the year and Rob Pitcher won his first race in 5 years, winning the JC Flach Memorial race, that is put on yearly by Keith Flach, Flach Companies and Gould. That all went wrong in the Pro Stocks, a 12 car pileup caused even more bad tensions as it involved drivers who were on their 2nd straight night of racing each other and getting taken out. After the night was over, there was a massive brawl in the pits between Pro Stock teams, driver Paul LaRochelle was arrested for assault in the process. Lyle Devore has not commented on both the incident and LaRochelle's future at both LVS and A-S, but it's not looking good as he's facing criminal charges and will be in court soon. His son Steven finished 2nd in the race, Paul was in the incident, it is unclear what other team was involved.

Well, we're going to try this again... after every track rained out last weekend (or in Lebanon Valley's words, lights out... literally), we're going to try again. With rain already in the forecast Airborne and Devils Bowl have cancelled tomorrow's show, but we're all good today in Malta and ready to get back in action. Tonight's events features the annual "Hoosier Mama" night, Mia and Marcy Mangino will be around all night giving away flowers. Tonight's show is a regular event featuring the Upstate GMC Modifieds in a regular 35 lap showdown, the Sportsman class, the Pro Stocks, Limited Sportsman, Street Stocks also in action. Our Modified winner 2 weeks ago, Stewart Friesen from Sprakers, NY in the Halmar International, Jeff Daley and Sons #44 will not be in attendance tonight as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has an event tonight at Kansas Speedway, no way he'll be able to pull off this double as by the time the Truck race ends stage 2, the Modified main will be done.

Multiple warnings were given out after the event 2 weeks ago for the Pro Stock division, those drivers were Robbie Speed and Luke Horning. Speed intentionally wrecked Nick Stone on the backstretch as those 2 did often last year. Speed has been warned to not wreck anyone anymore or a victory caused by wrecking others will be taken and he will be suspended. Horning was given various warnings for being involved in a mid-race caution with the front of the field. Horning came back out and intentionally wrecked the car in last place so he could catch back up, he has also been told to not do that again. After the race was over, Brandon Emigh out of Ballston Spa, who was involved in the wreck with Horning but did not cause it, sped up to get to the pits faster after Horning was trying to charge at him to spin him out. Dave Depaulo was also given a warning for driving with a tire down after his involvement in the Horning fiasco, drove 3 laps and then spun out. His tire was down.

Warnings also in the Sportsman division for too many 3 wide starts, JaMike Sowle in general. Just about every heat started in a 3 wide start and had multiple people in the wrong heat race. 5 drivers who came out in the wrong heat came out again, 2 came out in the wrong heat again. 3 Limited Sportsman drivers were disqualified on the track for their heat after coming out for the wrong one then trying to make their own afterwards.

Jessey Mueller got all of his laps back after he was spun around in turn 3 for 4 or 5 laps before someone noticed him, after reviewing footage they realized they made a mistake and gave Mueller his laps back and let him re-start where he would've blended in.

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, either via Hendrick Motorsports or any sports page in general, Hendrick did confirm this morning on Twitter that Dale Earnhardt Jr will be retiring after this season for the Cup Series, this will not affect JRM, his Xfinity team, in any way. He will still be at the shop and some tracks with the team, whoever it may be, and his sister Kelley will still run it. This year Elliott Sadler, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier and William Byron are on the team with Byron the rookie, Sadler and Allgaier are returning, both former Cup drivers, and Annett coming back to the series after HScott Mortorsports dropped out of the Cup Series due to sponsorship and money problems. Now we ask, who replaces Jr? I can tell you 2 drivers already: William Byron and Carl Edwards. This is not going to be like the Edwards situation at JGR where Daniel Suarez was called up from the series the day after. Edwards is not coming back at this point, he hinted about joining government and I think that's where he needs to go, he needs to stay healthy, one reason why Jr is retiring because of his concussion from last year in July. Byron on the other hand, I personally don't think he's ready yet. Yes, I'm a JGR/KBM guy saying a former driver is not ready yet. Why? He needs more experience. Byron is a former developmental driver for JRM and drove for Kyle Busch in Trucks last season and was 8 laps from going into the Final Four but blew his engine, if it wasn't for that, he would've won the title because he won at Homestead. He's now back at JRM for Xfinity with his college, Liberty University, backing him up again, along with Axalta Paint. Suarez won the Xfinity title last year to prove he was ready for Cup, but he wasn't ready either. Erik Jones would have been the driver if he didn't already sign a deal with affiliate FRR. They could implement a driver swap where Jones could go to JGR, where he runs his Xfinity races, and Suarez to FRR, depending on how this year turns out. Byron just isn't ready being so young and as these Cup cars improve, the more dangerous it can get sometimes. Byron is probably a target but give him a year. I suggest Alex Bowman, former Cup driver for BK Racing and the man who filled in for Jr last year. His performance every week, including Phoenix, where he almost won, was outstanding. A former Cup driver that's pretty good depending on the track size, makes sense for a team like Hendrick. I would say Cole Custer since he drove some last year for JRM, but now with Stewart-Haas in Xfinity, he falls into the same boat as Byron, young, not as experienced and just unprepared. Hendrick needs to feel professional, and his fight at MoSport last year kinda hurt the professionalism, it was uncalled for and dangerous. I say Alex Bowman if he can get a sponsor, for Hendrick that's no problem, then wait on Kahne to think, because knowing Kahne as I do some stuff for his Sprint Car team, I think he needs to back to dirt, he'll run more races and he's successful on dirt, he's been struggling in NASCAR for the last few years, I say he retires within 2 2 years to get back on the dirt, that's where Byron can come in. Sadler's full-time Cup career is pretty much done, I think we can all agree on that. Allgaier, I think he would fit perfect, former Cupper, ran pretty decent in not so great equipment, can run better with Hendrick. Now the waiting game begins...

Apparently it was worth the wait. Last Saturday rain came through the capital region and forced Fonda to postpone the annual Ice Jam for the Modifieds until this weekend and it didn't disappoint. Due to rain outs at Orange County and Canandaigua, 4 time track champion Stewart Friesen, Billy Decker and Tim Fuller all came up real quick to try and get a $4,000 pay day. Bobby Varin and Decke ed the field to the green after original polesitter Mike Maresca had an electrical problem forcing him to miss the feature. Also, Mike is ok after flipping last night at Utica, not a great week for Mike and the 7 team. Varin was an early retiree after smoke started showing from the Palmer's Service Center 00. If you thought Stewie wasn't gonna get up there early, think again. Friesen in a now rare appearance was here due to no Truck race at Bristol and Orange County raining out. Friesen was gone when he took the lead, as he usually is. Decker, Fuller and Justin Boehler were trying to catch him, until on lap 44, which is pretty ironic... Friesen blew a tire. Caution came out as he had to go in and get a new one on the Halmar International, Parks Companies machine. On the restart Boehler overtook both Fuller and Decker to take the lead. Final cauon came out at lap 46 for defending track champ Ronnie Johnson as the rear suspension snapped in turn 1. Boehler never looked back en route to his first career win at the track and bacame the 127th different person to win in the division in the Fox Shocks #50J. Other winners on the night were Rocky Warner in the Sportsman, Mike Block in the Limited Sportsman, Kenny Gates over... yep, Josh Coonradt, who moved up from Street Stocks to the Pro Stocks, Dave Horning Sr in the Street Stocks (seems odd not saying Coonradt), PJ Bleau in the Cruisers and Brett Jaycox came out victorious in the 20 lap A-Main for the CRSA 305 Sprints.