Latest news with #AustralianSupercars
NBC Sports
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Reigning Australian Supercars champion to run NASCAR Cup race at Chicago for Kaulig Racing
Reigning Australian Supercars champion Will Brown will return to NASCAR to compete for Kaulig Racing in the July 6 Chicago Street Race Cup event, the team announced Tuesday. Brown will drive the No. 13 for Kaulig Racing at Chicago and be a teammate to AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon. 'After watching SVG (Shane van Gisbergen) win the 2023 Chicago NASCAR race and getting to drive myself at Sonoma last year, I've been really keen to have a go at the Grant Park 165,' said Brown in a statement from the team. 'The Supercars calendar aligned this year to give me time to get over to Charlotte early to prepare and give the race a crack! I have watched Kaulig Racing closely this season and I'm really excited to get behind the wheel of the MobileX and Shaw and Partners Financial Services No. 13!' Dustin Long, Brown is coming off a 2024 season that saw him win the Supercars title in Australia, scoring five wins and 19 podium finishes, the first time in 40 years that a driver had earned a podium in every round in that series. The 26-year-old Australian made his Cup debut last year at Sonoma, driving a third entry for Richard Childress Racing. He finished 31st.
NBC Sports
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Australian Supercars driver Jack Perkins to make NASCAR Xfinity debut with Joe Gibbs Racing
Jack Perkins, who competes in the Australian Supercars series, will make his NASCAR Xfinity debut Aug. 30 at Portland International Raceway with Joe Gibbs Racing, the team announced Thursday. 'This is a long-held dream come true for me, and I am so excited about driving in NASCAR's Xfinity Series for the legendary Joe Gibbs,' Perkins said in a statement from the team. 'I started thinking about competing in NASCAR when I first visited the U.S. in 2008 to watch Marcos Ambrose at Sonoma, and be a spotter for Paul Morris, who was contesting an ARCA West race the same weekend. 'It's been a long journey to get here. I've come close a few times, but we couldn't quite get all the ducks lined up. To do it now with Coach Gibbs and JGR proves you should never give up.' Dustin Long, Perkins arrived in the U.S. earlier this week and has spent time at Joe Gibbs Racing. He's undergone a seat fitting and been in the Toyota Racing Development simulator. He will attend the Xfinity race and the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 'Jack has a distinguished career in the Australian Supercars series and came highly recommended by James Small, our crew chief on the No. 19 team in the Cup Series,' said Steve DeSouza, Executive Vice President Xfinity Series and Development, in a statement from the team. 'We're excited to have him make his Xfinity Series debut with us on the road course in Portland.' Said Perkins of Small: 'James and I grew up together, running round Australia's race paddocks as kids while our dads were busy doing their things, and we've remained close mates. James will be at Darlington with the Cup Series the weekend we're racing in Portland, but he's doing everything he can to help me prepare and ensure JGR and I have a successful experience. Without James, the whole deal just wouldn't be happening.' Perkins has three Repco Supercars Championship podium finishes, nine race victories and 35 podiums in the Dunlop Super2, the Supercars equivalent of NASCAR's Xfinity Series.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR goes to the dogs: Why many drivers bring their dogs to every race
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and his wife, Madyson Joye, stand in victory lane with one of their dogs after Stenhouse's win in the 2023 Daytona 500. (James Gilbert / Getty Images) When Shane van Gisbergen was offered the chance to move from Australian Supercars to NASCAR two years ago, he had one question: Can I bring my dog? And when we say dog, we really mean horse because Ronald is much closer to a small pony than he is to a large dog. Advertisement 'He's a pretty cool dog,' van Gisbergen said of the Rhodesian Ridgeback who weighs 130 pounds, which makes him five pounds heavier than Tyler Reddick, the reigning regular-season NASCAR Cup Series champion. Van Gisbergen wasn't going to leave Australia without him. 'You can't get rid of a dog,' he said. 'He is part of our family.' He couldn't put Ronald on a plane because there weren't any dog carriers big enough. So van Gisbergen and his girlfriend, Jessica Dane, had a special crate custom built for the 21-hour flight from Australia to the U.S., where Ronald lives with 18 horses, five cats and a rescue dog named Steve. That menagerie is a bit extreme for a race car driver, but van Gisbergen isn't the only animal lover on the NASCAR circuit. About a dozen drivers travel with their dogs so regularly, at least two tracks have built dog parks for the race teams. Advertisement 'It kind of brings a feeling of home on the road,' said Alex Bowman, who has three dogs, an 8-year-old charcoal Labrador named Finn, a year-old Golden Retriever mix rescue named Huck and a goldendoodle named Merle that belongs to girlfriend Chloe Henderson, a self-proclaimed 'dog mom.' 'My dogs are my best friends. So it's always cool to have them at the race track," said Bowman, who finished fifth in Sunday's 400-mile race in Kansas City, Kan., the 12th event on the Cup Series schedule . Bowman found he could no longer travel without his dogs after Roscoe, a rescued beagle mix he once took to Victory Lane at Daytona, passed away two years ago while he was testing in Indianapolis. 'I couldn't be there. So that was pretty tough,' he said. Alex Bowman drives the Ally Best Friends Chevrolet during practice for the Shriners Children's 500 NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix Raceway on March 8. (Chris Graythen / Getty Images) So tough, in fact, Bowman said Roscoe's death inspired his team at Hendricks Motorsports to change their rules and allow the driver to bring his dogs on the team plane. And the driver isn't the only member of the race team who benefits from that change. Advertisement 'It's cool to have dogs around,' said Sara Beam, Bowman's media representative. 'It's like a therapy dog kind of. They make everybody happy.' While everyone knows dogs like to chase cars, Bowman said there's no chance you'll see any of them trying to run one down during a NASCAR race. 'They're not really near the track. They're never in the pit area or in the garage,' said Bowman, 10th in the Cup standings after Sunday. 'Things would have to go pretty wrong for that to happen.' Bowman has long been an outspoken advocate for animal rescue, donating more than $750,000 over the past four years to animal welfare efforts through partnerships with Ally Racing and Best Friends Animal Society, a charity that promotes pet adoption and no-kill rescue. The paint scheme of the No. 48 Chevrolet, that Bowman drove to a seventh-place finish in Phoenix last month, included more than a dozen rescue dogs. Advertisement Trackhouse Racing has also allowed van Gisbergen, who has one top 10 finish this season, to bring Ronald on the team's corporate plane, giving him his own seat. 'I've grown up with dogs and animals. It always puts a smile on your face,' said van Gisbergen, who will take Ronald on his morning runs at some tracks. 'He's always excited to see you you. He's a pretty happy dude.' Yet even with a reserved aisle seat on the plane it's difficult for animals to make NASCAR's western swings since race teams and drivers often stay in hotels, many of which don't allow pets. However some dogs are easier to travel with than others. Mexican driver Daniel Suárez, who also races for Trackhouse, says he takes Emma, a four-pound black-and-white Pomeranian, and Pepper, an 11-pound Manx cat, to about half his races each season. Before the Phoenix race, Suárez posted photos on Instagram of both pets wishing him luck. Advertisement Suárez, who has three top 10 finishes this year, credits his love for animals to his parents, who would routinely collect abandoned dogs on the streets around Monterrey, Mexico, and try to find them a forever home. They currently have 10 dogs at home, Suárez said, 'and every one if them is picked up from the street.' 'The beautiful part about animals is that it doesn't matter how much money you have. It doesn't matter how good or bad the day you just had. They're always there to give you a lot,' said Suárez, who supports animal-rescue groups such a PETA and the Humane Society of Charlotte, N.C., where he lives. 'We're really lucky to have animals in our lives.' Drivers who, unlike Suárez, can't hide their pets in their pocket, limit their dog's travel to races within easy reach of the motor homes most Charlotte-based teams drive to the track. Erik Jones has been taking his 8-year-old German Shepherd Oscar to races since shortly after moving to the Cup Series full time in 2017. Read more: NASCAR figuring out if building new track in Fontana is the 'right thing to do' Advertisement 'The dog's always happy to see you,' he said. 'No matter how your day goes, good or bad, if you can just go back and see him [it] gives me a chance to not think about racing for a second. 'We think about racing plenty through the week. So anytime you can your mind off it is nice.' Although his wife, Holly, once brought her pet rabbit to the Easter race in Richmond, Va., Jones said he's strictly a dog person. 'Taking him on the road, it never felt like a hassle to me,' said Jones, who has one top 10 finish this season. 'It was just always fun to have him there. Always gave me something to kind of look forward to and keep myself entertained. It got me out more, taking him on walks and doing different stuff.' Advertisement Especially at Pennsylvania's Pocono Raceway, Oscar's favorite track, which built a 7,000-foot dog park in the infield for use by fans and drivers. 'It's just an evolution of logic and doing the right thing,' said Ben May, the raceway's longtime president. 'Dogs are family. And if you can do something special for someone's dog, to some folks that's the same as doing it for their kid, right? It's a big deal.' The Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, has two dog parks, one outside the track for fans and another in the infield for race teams and drivers. Yet despite the drivers' professed devotion for their dogs, much of the care, feeding and cleaning up after the dogs falls to members of the race crew or a driver's wife or girlfriend. Advertisement 'Madyson takes care of our dogs 85% of the time,' said Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who shares Ruby and River, two goldendoodles, with his wife. Stenhouse, who is 15th in the Cup series standings after Sunday's race, said traveling with his dogs can add some extra tension to what already is a stressful job. In the end, however, it's worth it. Read more: L.A. mayor says animal shelters won't close. Rescue groups are still on edge 'It can be a little bit of a pain sometimes trying to travel with them. Making sure you've got all the things packed and we've got food on the bus,' he said. 'But it's pretty comforting having them. Advertisement 'Ours sleep in our bed with us. We're on the road a lot and when you can have your dogs with you, it just makes you feel more relaxed and more like at home.' Van Gisbergen agrees. So would he really have stayed in Australia with Ronald had he not found a way to bring the dog to the U.S.? 'You can't really leave them behind,' he said with a shrug. 'In Australia and New Zealand you can't take your dog anywhere. We're in America. You can take your dog anywhere.' Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
NASCAR goes to the dogs: Why many drivers bring their dogs to every race
AVONDALE, Ariz. — When Shane van Gisbergen was offered the chance to move from Australian Supercars to NASCAR two years ago, he had one question: Can I bring my dog? And when we say dog, we really mean horse because Ronald is much closer to a small pony than he is to a large dog. 'He's a pretty cool dog,' van Gisbergen said of the Rhodesian Ridgeback who weighs 130 pounds, which makes him five pounds heavier than Tyler Reddick, the reigning regular-season NASCAR Cup Series champion. Van Gisbergen wasn't going to leave Australia without him. 'You can't get rid of a dog,' he said. 'He is part of our family.' He couldn't put Ronald on a plane because there weren't any dog carriers big enough. So van Gisbergen and his girlfriend, Jessica Dane, had a special crate custom built for the 21-hour flight from Australia to the U.S., where Ronald lives with 18 horses, five cats and a rescue dog named Steve. That menagerie is a bit extreme for a race car driver, but van Gisbergen isn't the only animal lover on the NASCAR circuit. About a dozen drivers travel with their dogs so regularly, at least two tracks have built dog parks for the race teams. 'It kind of brings a feeling of home on the road,' said Alex Bowman, who has three dogs, an 8-year-old charcoal Labrador named Finn, a year-old Golden Retriever mix rescue named Huck and a goldendoodle named Merle that belongs to girlfriend Chloe Henderson, a self-proclaimed 'dog mom.' 'My dogs are my best friends. So it's always cool to have them at the race track,' said Bowman, who finished fifth in Sunday's 400-mile race in Kansas City, Kan., the 12th event on the Cup Series schedule . Bowman found he could no longer travel without his dogs after Roscoe, a rescued beagle mix he once took to Victory Lane at Daytona, passed away two years ago while he was testing in Indianapolis. 'I couldn't be there. So that was pretty tough,' he said. So tough, in fact, Bowman said Roscoe's death inspired his team at Hendricks Motorsports to change their rules and allow the driver to bring his dogs on the team plane. And the driver isn't the only member of the race team who benefits from that change. 'It's cool to have dogs around,' said Sara Beam, Bowman's media representative. 'It's like a therapy dog kind of. They make everybody happy.' While everyone knows dogs like to chase cars, Bowman said there's no chance you'll see any of them trying to run one down during a NASCAR race. 'They're not really near the track. They're never in the pit area or in the garage,' said Bowman, 10th in the Cup standings after Sunday. 'Things would have to go pretty wrong for that to happen.' Bowman has long been an outspoken advocate for animal rescue, donating more than $750,000 over the past four years to animal welfare efforts through partnerships with Ally Racing and Best Friends Animal Society, a charity that promotes pet adoption and no-kill rescue. The paint scheme of the No. 48 Chevrolet, that Bowman drove to a seventh-place finish in Phoenix last month, included more than a dozen rescue dogs. Trackhouse Racing has also allowed van Gisbergen, who has one top 10 finish this season, to bring Ronald on the team's corporate plane, giving him his own seat. 'I've grown up with dogs and animals. It always puts a smile on your face,' said van Gisbergen, who will take Ronald on his morning runs at some tracks. 'He's always excited to see you you. He's a pretty happy dude.' Yet even with a reserved aisle seat on the plane it's difficult for animals to make NASCAR's western swings since race teams and drivers often stay in hotels, many of which don't allow pets. However some dogs are easier to travel with than others. Mexican driver Daniel Suárez, who also races for Trackhouse, says he takes Emma, a four-pound black-and-white Pomeranian, and Pepper, an 11-pound Manx cat, to about half his races each season. Before the Phoenix race, Suárez posted photos on Instagram of both pets wishing him luck. Suárez, who has three top 10 finishes this year, credits his love for animals to his parents, who would routinely collect abandoned dogs on the streets around Monterrey, Mexico, and try to find them a forever home. They currently have 10 dogs at home, Suárez said, 'and every one if them is picked up from the street.' 'The beautiful part about animals is that it doesn't matter how much money you have. It doesn't matter how good or bad the day you just had. They're always there to give you a lot,' said Suárez, who supports animal-rescue groups such a PETA and the Humane Society of Charlotte, N.C., where he lives. 'We're really lucky to have animals in our lives.' Drivers who, unlike Suárez, can't hide their pets in their pocket, limit their dog's travel to races within easy reach of the motor homes most Charlotte-based teams drive to the track. Erik Jones has been taking his 8-year-old German Shepherd Oscar to races since shortly after moving to the Cup Series full time in 2017. 'The dog's always happy to see you,' he said. 'No matter how your day goes, good or bad, if you can just go back and see him [it] gives me a chance to not think about racing for a second. 'We think about racing plenty through the week. So anytime you can your mind off it is nice.' Although his wife, Holly, once brought her pet rabbit to the Easter race in Richmond, Va., Jones said he's strictly a dog person. 'Taking him on the road, it never felt like a hassle to me,' said Jones, who has one top 10 finish this season. 'It was just always fun to have him there. Always gave me something to kind of look forward to and keep myself entertained. It got me out more, taking him on walks and doing different stuff.' Especially at Pennsylvania's Pocono Raceway, Oscar's favorite track, which built a 7,000-foot dog park in the infield for use by fans and drivers. 'It's just an evolution of logic and doing the right thing,' said Ben May, the raceway's longtime president. 'Dogs are family. And if you can do something special for someone's dog, to some folks that's the same as doing it for their kid, right? It's a big deal.' The Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, has two dog parks, one outside the track for fans and another in the infield for race teams and drivers. Yet despite the drivers' professed devotion for their dogs, much of the care, feeding and cleaning up after the dogs falls to members of the race crew or a driver's wife or girlfriend. 'Madyson takes care of our dogs 85% of the time,' said Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who shares Ruby and River, two goldendoodles, with his wife. Stenhouse, who is 15th in the Cup series standings after Sunday's race, said traveling with his dogs can add some extra tension to what already is a stressful job. In the end, however, it's worth it. 'It can be a little bit of a pain sometimes trying to travel with them. Making sure you've got all the things packed and we've got food on the bus,' he said. 'But it's pretty comforting having them. 'Ours sleep in our bed with us. We're on the road a lot and when you can have your dogs with you, it just makes you feel more relaxed and more like at home.' Van Gisbergen agrees. So would he really have stayed in Australia with Ronald had he not found a way to bring the dog to the U.S.? 'You can't really leave them behind,' he said with a shrug. 'In Australia and New Zealand you can't take your dog anywhere. We're in America. You can take your dog anywhere.'
New York Times
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Cadillac's Road to Formula 1
In every sense, the clock is ticking on Cadillac's entry into Formula 1 next year. In March, Cadillac, supported by General Motors and TWG Motorsports, received final approval from Formula 1, expanding the grid to 11 teams for the first time since 2016. 'As soon as we got the entry, one of the things that changed is they put up a countdown clock at the factory in Silverstone,' Dan Towriss, the chief executive of TWG Motorsports, said in an interview in April. The company is a division of TWG Global, which has a sports portfolio that includes the Chelsea Football Club and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers. 'We know exactly how many days to the engine's fired, how many days to the first race,' he said. 'That's how we have to think about it because there's so much work to do between now and then. It's moving faster than I want it to.' The Cadillac entry started life as Andretti Formula Racing two years ago. The F.I.A., the governing body of Formula 1, approved the proposal from Michael Andretti, the initial force behind the bid. A few months later, it was rejected by Formula 1. In an interview a year ago with The New York Times, Andretti said he would fight. Last fall, he stepped back as chief executive of Andretti Global, which owns teams in IndyCar, Formula E, Extreme E and Australian Supercars. He decided 'it was time to pass the baton' to his business partner Towriss. 'From Michael's standpoint, he was very magnanimous in a way,' said Towriss, who has known Andretti since 2017. 'He didn't want to stand in the way of this project. 'It was a long process, a taxing process, and so he chose to step away. He wasn't asked to step away, he wasn't asked to leave. I think he saw that a level of acceptance wasn't there for him.' Towriss said the move 'opened the door' with Formula 1. Five months later, Stefano Domenicali, Formula 1 president and chief executive, welcomed Cadillac. With the commitment of G.M. to bring in a Cadillac team, Domenicali said, 'it was an important and positive demonstration of the evolution of our sport.' Cadillac will become the second U.S. automaker to have a presence in the sport. Ford will provide power units to Red Bull, also starting in 2026. Towriss is saddened that Andretti stepped down. 'Just tremendous respect for what the family legacy is in motorsports, for him personally, for Mario, and the family from that standpoint,' he said, referring to Andretti's father. 'My personal opinion is that it all felt a bit unfair to be singled out in that way,' he said. 'To his credit, at some point, you just have to accept the situation for what it is and move on. With his blessing, that's what we did.' Throughout the process, the team did not stand still. Workers were hired, and the facility in Silverstone, England, was opened a year ago to complement its headquarters near Indianapolis. Formula 1's approval has accelerated the project's growth. Without a guarantee from Formula 1 of acceptance, the company still had to make a commitment. 'It was not for the faint of heart,' Towriss said. 'It takes a long time to build a Formula 1 team. I don't think anybody on our side, or anybody who knows the sport, thinks you can just show up and in a short period of time, do that. 'If we had waited until the point we were approved and then said, 'Great, now let's start hiring people, let's start building,' we'd be a long way from racing at that point.' Towriss said that Graeme Lowdon, a longtime Formula 1 executive who advised the team, was a great salesperson in convincing people to join the team. Lowdon was chief executive of the now-defunct Manor Racing. He had also been a consultant on the acquisition in 2020 of the Williams Formula 1 team by Dorilton Capital, a private investment firm whose headquarters are in New York City. In December, Lowdon was announced as the team principal of Cadillac. 'At the very beginning, a big part of the advice was to tell them to start building the team now,' he said in an interview in April. 'Then my engagement changed because they said: 'OK, we're happy with all this advice. Now you're asking us to build a team. Can you go from advising to doing it?' I guess I must have earned their trust, and they must have had confidence in what I'm doing because they then asked me to be the team principal.' Being offered the position did not come out of the blue. 'Even on our entry, I was down as the team principal,' he said. 'For two years now, on our race license — and we have a U.S. race license, and an international race license — it's my picture on it. That was something that was envisaged fairly early on.' Throughout the two years, Lowdon never doubted that the bid would fail. 'There is absolutely no scenario on earth where you could keep a perfectly good sports team from competing in a world championship,' he said, although there was a consequence. 'The thing that worried me and stressed me enormously, and I have to say it took a toll on me big time, was that it's one thing saying it will definitely happen, it's another saying when. 'We completely respected the process. Our role was to answer questions, but there's only so much of that you can do. That was an unpleasant and enormously difficult period.' The team has about 350 employees, with a target of 550 by the end of the year. Pat Symonds, former chief technical officer of Formula 1, has become the executive engineering consultant. and Nick Chester, once a technical director at Renault, is the chief technical officer. 'I thought it was going to be super difficult to hire people, but it was much easier than I thought,' Lowdon said. 'The reality is, we were very lucky. We were in a position where a lot of the early discussions with key people who came on board shared the vision.' 'On the day our entry was confirmed, we wrote to them, with an old-fashioned letter. It wasn't an 'at-all' email. The reason for that is they'd all taken a bit of a leap of faith, and we wanted to show our appreciation personally.' For the first three seasons, Cadillac will be powered by Ferrari engines until G.M. builds its power unit, which will debut in 2029. Mark Reuss, the president of G.M., said in an interview in April that it was 'a moment filled with pride, a truly historic event for the entire company' when Formula 1 confirmed the entry. From 2026 through 2028, G.M. will support Cadillac technically, including aerodynamics, performance engineering and manufacturing as it builds to become 'a distinctly American team,' Reuss said. He is aware of the challenge ahead. 'G.M. and Cadillac have been at the forefront of racing and winning in elite series for more than a century,' he said. 'We do not underestimate the level of competition nor the level of commitment needed to be included in F1.' With nine months to go until the first Cadillac/G.M. car hits the track in preseason testing, the race is on, with the countdown clock providing a continual update. 'The last time Dan was across,' Lowdon said, referring to Towriss, 'he talked to everyone at Silverstone, and he ended his address by saying, 'As you can see on the wall, we've got X number of days left, so let's crack on.' 'Everybody knows what the mission is.'
