AUTORACINGCONNECTED kicked off the 21st week in the 2023 calendar with a couple of races starting off with the IndyCar series going to the Lone Star state at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Following that, the NASCAR HEAT National Series headed to Kentucky Motor Speedway for the Kentucky 150. Rallycross headed to Dirtfish in Washington for the penultimate round in the Rallycross championship. To round out the week, Porsche Supercup headed to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain, and the Extreme Pro Rally Raid Championship headed to Algtaar.
IndyCar Lone Star Grand Prix at COTA recap
IndyCar headed down south to Austin Texas for the 3rd race in the 17-race calendar for the championship. It was a tight race for pole in the remaining few seconds. AJ Knickle had set the fastest lap time with a 1:44.900 but that was quickly beaten by Jonathan Jurgensmeyer with a 1:44.642 knocking the Canadian off the top spot for Provisional Pole. It seemed to be a dominant win for Jurgensmeyer but in the closing laps, Matthew Stotts was closing in on the leader at a very fast rate. On the last lap of the race, Stotts went for the overtake in the last corner and got the lead, but Jurgensmeyer had the better exit beating Stotts to the start finish line claiming his very first IndyCar race win at Circuit of the Americas.
NASCAR HEAT National Series at Kentucky Recap
NASCAR Heat headed to the Kentucky Speedway for the Kentucky 150. Luke Allen took victory for stage 1, earning him another playoff bonus point which could be a factor towards the end of the season. The same can be said for Jackson Tate as he got the green and white checkered flag in stage 2 earning himself a playoff point. However, in the end it was the rookie Austin Wilmot who got the victory at Kentucky Speedway for his 2nd win in his career.
Pro Rallycross at Dirtfish Recap
Heading into the penultimate round of the championship in the Pro Rallycross at Dirtfiish, only 1 point separated Travis VanOostendorp and Fidel Fabian. VanOostendorp takes a commanding win in Heat number 1. There was a surprise in Heat 2 as Luis Ramirez picked up the win in the 2nd heat on his Pro Rallycross debut. Shawn Kissane picked up the victory in heat 3 over Jonathan Jurgensmeyer. It was a tight battle in heat 4 as Luis Ramirez overtook Matthew Stotts on the last lap taking victory in the 4th and final heat. Heading into the semifinal heats, Luis Ramirez takes the semifinal heat 1 and Travis VanOostendorp managed to finish 3rd while his championship rival Fidel Fabian did not make the final. This plays a major factor in the championship because for Fabian to have a chance to win the title, he has to hope VanOostendorp does not score any points in the season finale. Matthew Stotts took a commanding win in the Semifinal heat 2, earning him a spot in the final. Heading into the final, it was AJ Knickle taking the victory for his first win of the Pro Rallycross season.
Porsche Supercup at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Recap
It was round 2 of the Porsche Supercup at Barcelona in Spain and qualifying for the top spot was close! In the remaining seconds of qualifying. It was almost pole position for Matthew Stotts by a significant margin over Tyler Crabtree, but it was Dylan Bahm snatching pole away from Stotts, and beating his time by almost 3 and a half tenths with a lap time of 1:45.582. It was a tight battle for the race victory in the closing laps between Matthew Stotts and Dylan Bahm, but it was Stotts taking the victory as Bahm made a costly error by spinning late in the race not only a chance for the race win but a podium as well finishing down in 6th position. Gabe Cazzolla finished 2nd and Tyler Crabtree finished in 3rd rounding out the podium.
Extreme Pro Rally Raid at Algtaar Recap
Just under halfway into the season, the Pro Rally Raid Championship headed out to the desert of Algtaar for the 5th round of the season. In the car class it was Daniel Barkasz going on a dominate win streak picking his 4th win of the season. In the truck class it was Mick Harper getting his 3rd win of the season, and in the SSV class it was AJ Knickle picking up his 2nd win of the season. To round things off, in the bike class, it was Thomas Fisher getting his 3rd of the season as well. No first-time winners in the Extreme Pro Rally championship this week but will we see a new face take victory or will the dominate drivers continue their hot streaks of wins? Find out next event as they will head to Shigry rally raid that takes from May 29th to June 4th.
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