NASCAR

  • Logano wins at Richmond:#22-Joey Logano won the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway for his 1st win of the season, 2nd win at Richmond and 18th career win. Logano led just 25 of the 400 laps after starting the race in the back due to a transmission change. He took the lead for the final time with 16 laps to go after passing 6 cars that stayed out during the final caution.
  • #2-Keselowski finished 2nd followed by #11-Hamlin, #17-Stenhouse, Jr., #4-Harvick, #1-McMurray, #31-Newman, #41-Busch, #43-Almirola, and #78-Truex, Jr.
  • Polesitter #20-Kenseth led 164 laps on the day, but cut a tire late and finished 23rd.
  • Daniel Suarez (12th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Kyle Larson leads the point standings by 40 points over Martin Truex Jr.
  • Logano becomes the fifth driver in series history to win in his 300th start joining Denny Hamlin (Talladega, 2014), Kyle Busch (Texas, 2013), Kasey Kahne (Charlotte, 2012) and Rusty Wallace (Atlanta, 1993).

 John Andretti battling colon cancer

It's one of the most emotional stories Dave Calabro has covered. In fact, it brought him to tears. Longtime friend, beloved race car driver and dedicated "giver" to the community, John Andretti, reveals to Dave that he is fighting stage 4 colon cancer.

 Dave traveled to North Carolina where John and his wife live. The three spent time at home and in the hospital, where you'll see John's playful sense of humor as he sits in a hospital chair with chemo pumping into him to kill those cancer cells. "Chemo sucks a lot," Andretti says honestly with a laugh, "I don't think anybody walks out saying 'Man this is great. Give me more!'"

 What's just as important to John is that he educates others about colon cancer screenings so it can be caught early.

 Google working with NASCAR to test new high-speed wireless technology

Google's wireless broadband team has a new target market: NASCAR racecars. The company is seeking permission from the FCC for an experimental radio license to test "the transmission of broadband data from racecars to transportable/fixed base stations located at racetrack facilities."

 It's all happening this summer at four events in NASCAR-loving locales like Tennessee, Michigan, South Carolina, and Virginia.

 The application, filed with the FCC on Friday, is highly redacted and provides only limited details about the plans. There's scant technical info about the type of wireless technology to be used, other than the fact that it will involve a frequency between 3400 MHz and 3600 MHz.

 Racecar drivers might make for good guinea pigs to test out high speed data and communications services. Or the technology could also potentially be used to track vital car functions, like tire pressure or engine temperature. Of course, Google is also developing self-driving cars so such an experiment could potentially be useful to understand wireless transmissions at high speeds.

 Here's the schedule for the upcoming Google NASCAR tests, per the filing:

June 10-20: Michigan International Speedway
August 11-21: Bristol Motor Speedway
August 26-September 5: Darlington Raceway
September 1-11: Richmond International Speedway

 

NEXT RACE: This weekend at Talladega Superspeedway; TV live on FOX on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT

 NHRA

TORRENCE, CAPPS, MCGAHA AND TONGLET TAKE HOME WALLY TROPHIES AT THE NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS

Steve Torrence raced his way to the Top Fuel victory Sunday in the eighth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Zmax Dragway. Ron Capps (Funny Car) Chris McGaha (Pro Stock) and LE Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also winners in their respective categories at the sixth event on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

 Torrence piloted his Capco Contractors dragster to a 3.783-second pass at 323.89 mph for the ninth victory of his career and first of the season. He defeated current points leader, Leah Pritchett, eight-time world champion, Tony Schumacher and Terry McMillen in the final round.

 Capps, the current Funny Car world champion, ran a 3.933 at 322.65 in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger for his first NHRA Four-Wide Nationals win of his career, second consecutive this season and 52nd of his Funny Car career. Teammate, Jack Beckman took second place, J.R. Todd finished third, and teammate Matt Hagan placed fourth. With the victory, Capps takes a 43-point lead over his teammate Hagan. 

 In Pro Stock, McGaha picked up his fifth career victory and first at zMax Dragway when he ran a 6.591 at 210.44 in his Harlow Sammons Chevy Camaro. He bested Greg Anderson, Shane Gray and Drew Skillman in the final round.

 Tonglet rode his Nitro Fish Racing Suzuki to a 6.864 at 195.00 pass to earn his 10th career victory and first of the season. He defeated three-time world champion, Eddie Krawiec and, Andrew Hines on his way to his first four-wides win. This win also marks the first victory for Tonglet since joining the White Alligator Racing headed by Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Jerry Savoie.

 NEXT RACE: This weekend at Atlanta Dragway; TV on Sunday on FS1 at 3 p.m. PT.

 

INDYCAR

Pagenaud races away to first oval victory, takes points lead

Simon Pagenaud drove away from the field in the final half of the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix Raceway, winning by 9.1028 seconds over teammate Will Power and assuming the points lead after four races of the 2017 season.

 Driving the No. 1 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, Pagenaud collected the 10th win of his Indy car career and led a Chevy sweep of the top four positions on the 1.022-mile oval that has hosted 63 Indy car races dating to 1964. It was also win No. 450 for Team Penske in all racing competitions and its 100th on Indy car ovals.

 Pagenaud took control midway through the 250-lap race, running longer while other frontrunners had to stop for fuel and tires. Pagenaud pitted on Lap 140 with a one-lap advantage on the field under a caution period caused when Takuma Sato's car made contact with the Turn 4 SAFER Barrier. Pagenaud returned to the track in first place and led the final 114 laps.

 Team Penske's four drivers led all 250 laps, the first time a team has paced every lap in a race since Team Penske did the same thing in the first race of Belle Isle doubleheader last year. Power led 59 laps in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet before finishing second.

 Pole sitter Helio Castroneves led 73 laps in the No. 3 REV Group Team Penske Chevy and finished fourth. Josef Newgarden, the winner of last week's Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, led two laps in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevy and ran up front most of the night until contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay forced an unscheduled pit stop and Newgarden finished ninth.

 JR Hildebrand finished third in the No. 21 Fuzzy's Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet - the best result for Hildebrand since his memorable runner-up finish in the 2011 Indianapolis 500 when he crashed while leading on the final lap. Hildebrand was pleased with tonight's showing after he sat out last week's race at Barber Motorsports Park while a broken bone in his left hand mended from an April 9 crash in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

 Pagenaud holds an 18-point advantage in the championship over Scott Dixon, who finished fifth in the race. Newgarden sits third in the standings, 26 points out of first place.

 Sebastien Bourdais of Dale Coyne Racing, who led the points entering the night, was caught in a five-car incident on the opening lap when Mikhail Aleshin spun and collected the cars of Bourdais, Marco Andretti, Max Chilton and Graham Rahal in Turn 2. No drivers were injured. Bourdais finished 19th and dropped to fourth in the standings.

 VIDEO: Phoenix Race Highlights: http://www.indycar.com/Videos/2017/04/04-30-Phoenix-day-2-highlights

 NEXT RACE: IndyCar Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 11-13

 AT SONOMA RACEWAY:

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