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March 28, 2026

USAC Sprint Cars Battle in Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville

The USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship will host the Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville Speedway on Friday, September 11, at the 0.4-mile dirt oval in Sarver, Pennsylvania. Kirk Spridgeon will serve as race director, and competitors must use radio frequency 464.5500.

The event will be streamed live on FloRacing, with live audio available via the USAC app and Mixlr. Live timing will be provided through MyRacePass and Race Monitor, and live social updates will appear on USAC’s Facebook and X feeds.

On-track competition will use two-lap qualifying (fastest lap counts), followed by 8-lap heat races with a six-car inversion based on qualifying. C-Mains will be 10 laps and semi-features 12 laps, if needed; the feature will be 30 laps and capped at 24 starters. The event winner will receive 70 series points and a $6,000 payout; second place will earn 67 points and $3,000. Entry fees are $30 for USAC members and $40 for non-members, and competitors must hold USAC membership to earn series points and claim contingency awards.
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March 28, 2026

Michelin carcass switch hinders Razgatlioglu at COTA

Toprak Razgatlioglu’s adaptation to the Yamaha M1 has been hampered by rear-tyre issues; he called the Michelin tyres the “real problem” slowing his switch from World Superbikes, highlighting rear grip and acceleration as his main challenges after Brazil. He said the M1’s greater power, aerodynamics and electronics make familiar tracks feel different. Razgatlioglu has improved since Thailand but is still searching for a narrow performance window on the rear tyre and warned that Michelin’s use of a stiffer carcass in Thailand and Brazil, and the planned reversion to the standard carcass for the US GP at COTA, will complicate his learning. Tyre management and suspension/setup choices will be central at Austin, where bumps and a physical first sector may require a softer setup to protect rear grip.

Results in the opening rounds underlined those difficulties: Razgatlioglu failed to score points in Thailand and Brazil, with best race finishes of 17th in both grands prix. He crashed in the Buriram sprint, finished 18th in the Goiânia sprint and was 17th in the Brazilian GP after reaching Q2 and qualifying 12th. He said the sequence of results left him “really down” after Saturday in Brazil. Razgatlioglu has prior experience at COTA — he first raced the circuit in the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2013 and rode it last year on BMW’s M1000RR — but he said the M1 changes how the track feels.

Support staff and industry figures say the start is technically understandable and that he is improving. Coach Sylvain Guintoli said Razgatlioglu was “getting the hang of” the Yamaha M1 after pre-qualifying at COTA: Razgatlioglu posted a 2:02.373 lap to finish 18th overall and was the third-fastest Yamaha behind Fabio Quartararo and Jack Miller, while Ducati’s Marc Márquez topped the session with a 2:00.927. Guintoli pointed to Friday race simulations as evidence Razgatlioglu is learning to manage throttle inputs, “hook the bike up” and improve traction, while stressing that track temperature and overall tyre grip remain key variables. Ducati test rider Michele Pirro said Razgatlioglu’s difficult start “makes me smile,” noting the switch to the V4 YZR‑M1 requires learning ride‑height devices, increased aerodynamics and running Michelins instead of Pirellis. Pirro warned that being seven to eight tenths off the pace effectively places a rider at the back and that gains often come in small fractions — sometimes half a tenth per corner — but expressed confidence Razgatlioglu can improve as he gains experience with the bike, the Michelin tyres and MotoGP fine‑tuning.
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March 28, 2026

Dodge City, Route 66 Winners Earn 70 USAC National Points

The USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship stages rounds Oct. 16 at Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, Kansas, and Oct. 17 at Route 66 Motor Speedway in Amarillo, Texas. Both venues are 3/8-mile dirt ovals and each will run a 30-lap A-feature limited to 24 starters; the A-feature winners at both stops will receive 70 points toward the national title. Drivers must be USAC members to earn championship points or contingency awards, and the mandatory driver radio frequency for both events is 464.5500.

Event-day operations differ by venue: at Dodge City, pits open at 1:00 p.m. CT, grandstands at 4:00 p.m. CT, a drivers’ meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. CT, hot laps begin at 6:00 p.m. CT and racing follows. At Route 66, pits open at Noon CT, front gates open at 4:30 p.m. CT, a drivers’ meeting is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. CT, and hot laps begin at 6:00 p.m. CT. Both programs will use two-lap qualifying sessions (fastest lap counts) and 8-lap heat races; Dodge City will employ a top-six inversion for the 8-lap heats, while Route 66 will use heat and semi transfers to set lineups, run 12-lap semi-features and apply a six-car inversion to the lineup for the fastest qualifiers.

Purses and fees vary by stop: the Dodge City A-feature winner will be paid $6,000. At Route 66 the A-feature winner will receive $10,000, second place $3,500, and non-transferring drivers $200. General admission at Dodge City is $25 for ages 13 and up with ages 12 and under free; pit passes are $40. Route 66 lists entry fees of $30 for USAC members and $40 for non-members, with pit passes at $45. Both events will stream live on FloRacing, with live audio available via the USAC app and Mixlr; Dodge City will use MyRacePass and Race Monitor for timing and scoring, and Route 66 will post live updates on USAC’s Facebook and X pages. Race Director Kirk Spridgeon will oversee operations at the Dodge City event.
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March 28, 2026

Norris hit by hydraulics, ERS faults; faces 10-place drop

Lando Norris endured a reliability-hit weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix after a sequence of hydraulics and ERS/battery faults severely restricted his practice running and left him at risk of a significant grid penalty. Norris called Friday “a pretty terrible start to the weekend” after a hydraulic leak curtailed his FP1 and forced him to miss the opening portion of FP2, including more than 20 minutes in the garage. McLaren then identified a battery/ERS-pack fault that required Mercedes HPP to replace the unit during FP3, keeping Norris in the pits until roughly the final 22–25 minutes of the session.

The battery issue was described as his third battery of the season; under the current rules drivers face limits on battery usage and McLaren warned that taking another new battery would trigger a 10-place grid drop. The mechanical problems left Norris short of vital long runs and high-fuel laps needed to dial in setup and energy management for Suzuka’s demanding surface. He completed just 17 laps in FP2 and 13 in FP3 and said he had “done no laps of high fuel” or “continuous laps,” leaving him “two or three steps behind” on setup work and “playing catch-up” all weekend.

McLaren carried out frantic repairs overnight and on-site interventions, and team figures including CEO Zak Brown and racing director Randy Singh said the squad would monitor the car closely, investigate whether the Japan battery fault was related to China’s earlier electronics failures, and weigh spare-usage choices to avoid repeat problems or further penalties. Despite the disruption McLaren managed some recovery — Oscar Piastri topped FP2 and Norris improved through qualifying to take fifth on the grid — but Norris acknowledged he had “underdelivered” on parts of his fastest lap and remained behind the leaders. McLaren stressed the Friday issues were a hindrance to setup and long-run evaluation rather than a definitive measure of race competitiveness, but the combination of lost track time, complex 2026 energy-management demands and the prospect of a grid drop left question marks over Norris’s race readiness at Suzuka.
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March 28, 2026

Macedo Holds Off Kofoid at U.S. 36

Carson Macedo held off a late-charging Michael “Buddy” Kofoid to win the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car feature at U.S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Mo., scoring the 59th victory of his career and his first World of Outlaws win of the 2026 season. Macedo drove the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 and the triumph moved him past Jason Meyers into sole possession of 16th on the World of Outlaws all-time win list; it also marked Jason Johnson Racing’s 83rd World of Outlaws checkered flag.

A late caution set up a wheel-to-wheel duel in heavy lapped traffic in the race’s closing laps. Macedo reported his car was “in big trouble” and “down a cylinder” but managed to get ahead as the white flag waved and paced the final circuit to the checkered flag. Kofoid, driving the Roth Motorsports No. 83, finished second after his second straight runner-up result.

David Gravel finished third — his eighth podium in 10 races — a result that trimmed his championship lead to 52 points. Kofoid’s runner-up effort moved him into fifth in the standings (advancing past Logan Schuchart), while Sheldon Haudenschild finished fourth and Emerson Axsom took fifth.
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March 28, 2026

Álvaro Carpe lowers Moto3 lap record at COTA to 2:13.190

Moto3 practice at the Circuit of the Americas produced a rapid succession of record laps, with Máximo Quiles opening the run on Friday by setting a new all-time Moto3 lap record of 2:13.757 on a Pirelli-shod CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team KTM, breaking Matteo Bertelle’s 2025 benchmark of 2:13.939. Álvaro Carpe then lowered that mark to 2:13.190 in Saturday morning practice aboard his Pirelli-shod Red Bull KTM Ajo machine; Quiles’s 2:13.757 session also featured Guido Pini second fastest on a Leopard Racing Honda with a 2:13.929.

Carpe had earlier topped Friday morning Free Practice One with a 2:14.209 for Red Bull KTM Ajo before finishing third in Friday’s faster session with a 2:14.202.

Friday’s timing sheets showed a cluster of leading Moto3 riders in the 2:14s — Matteo Bertelle (2:14.293), Valentín Perrone (2:14.309) and Joel Esteban among them — while Saturday morning produced a tight top three of Carpe (2:13.190), Perrone (2:13.280) and Esteban (2:13.349). The practice sessions ran around the 3.43-mile (5.51 km) Circuit of the Americas with a 25-rider field, Pirelli control tires prominent among the front-runners and KTM machinery occupying many of the top positions. Final grid places will be decided in subsequent practice and qualifying sessions.
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March 28, 2026

Hamilton says he has ‘no confidence’ in Ferrari SF-26

Lewis Hamilton told his team over the radio that he had “no confidence in the car” after running race simulations in the Ferrari SF‑26 at Suzuka, underlining persistent handling and setup problems that left the seven‑time world champion unsettled heading into the weekend. The 41‑year‑old reported rear “snaps,” persistent oversteer and a lack of confidence on long runs — issues he said were similar to those he experienced at Suzuka last year — and cautioned that Ferrari were “miles and miles away” from the pacesetters under the current regulations.

Practice and qualifying painted a mixed picture that reinforced Hamilton’s concerns. He finished sixth in both FP1 and FP2, with a FP1 lap compromised by two yellow sectors and an FP2 gap of roughly eight tenths to the pace‑setter Oscar Piastri; Ferrari slipped behind McLaren and Mercedes in the timing sheets. In qualifying a glitch‑hit session and a systems issue also compromised Hamilton’s running, as he lost time in the final sector and a snap of oversteer altered the car’s algorithm — costing him about two‑and‑a‑half tenths down the back straight — leaving him 0.789 seconds off pole and starting sixth, his lowest grid spot so far this season (and his best Suzuka qualifying since 2022).

Ferrari have scheduled an overnight deep‑dive using simulator data to search for a better setup and to address the balance, energy deployment and chassis limitations Hamilton highlighted; teams across the paddock planned similar reviews. Hamilton said he had “no clue” how the Japanese Grand Prix would unfold, warned that McLaren’s improving pace is becoming a larger threat, and flagged uncertainty over how much overtaking to expect on Sunday — leaving Ferrari to hope that setup and strategy changes overnight can unlock more performance for the race.
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March 28, 2026

David Alonso breaks COTA Moto2 lap record with 2:05.847

David Alonso set the quickest time in Moto2 practice at the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), posting an all-time COTA lap record of 2:05.847 in Friday afternoon running. Alonso’s lap aboard his CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team Kalex on Pirelli control tires was the only time in the 2:05s and shaved roughly 1.508 seconds off the previous COTA benchmark of 2:07.355 set in 2025.

Manuel Gonzalez was second in that session with a 2:06.341 (he suffered a crash), Barry Baltus third with a 2:06.453, followed by Filip Salac (4th), Senna Agius (5th), Tony Arbolino (6th), Ivan Ortola (7th), Celestino Vietti (8th), Izan Guevara (9th) and Joe Roberts (10th, 2:06.853).

Earlier and later practice sessions showed similarly tight margins. Celestino Vietti topped FP1 with a 2:06.724 on an HDR SpeedRS Team Boscoscuro, with David Alonso second (2:06.779) and Tony Arbolino third (2:06.863); the gap between first and second in FP1 was just 0.055 seconds. Tony Arbolino then led FP2 with a 2:06.159 on his REDS Fantic Racing Kalex, Senna Agius was second in FP2 with a 2:06.369 on a Liqui Moly Dynavolt IntactGP Kalex and Alonso Lopez third with a 2:06.402 on an Italjet Gresini Moto2. Across sessions, multiple front-running teams ran Kalex chassis on Pirelli tires, and the practice times provided a snapshot of early pace for the weekend.
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March 27, 2026

Red Bull KTM withdraws Plessinger from Detroit for recovery

Red Bull KTM announced that Aaron Plessinger will miss the 11th round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross in Detroit to recover after recent crashes. The team said Plessinger crashed and failed to finish at the last two rounds — Indy and Birmingham — and needs an extra week to reset and give his body time to heal. No injuries were reported, and the team framed the decision as a short recovery hold to ensure he is ready for subsequent rounds rather than an injury-related or season-ending withdrawal.

Plessinger, nicknamed “The Cowboy,” will not compete in Detroit and therefore will not score points at that round, removing him from contention to improve his points position there. Entering the weekend he sat 10th in the 450SX standings, with a 2026 season-best sixth place at Daytona and six top-10 finishes overall.

Red Bull KTM confirmed it will still field Eli Tomac and Jorge Prado in Detroit; Plessinger’s absence shifts the team lineup and race expectations for the weekend.
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