Championship leader Oscar Piastri kept his cool under intense pressure Saturday, producing a near-perfect lap to snatch pole position for McLaren at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The 24-year-old Australian posted a blistering time of 1 minute, 14.670 seconds, navigating traffic at the final corner to edge the four-time world champion by 0.34 seconds.

In a qualifying session marred by two red flags and lengthy delays, Piastri secured his third pole of both the season and his career.

McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who trails Piastri by 16 points in the drivers’ standings, will start fourth behind Mercedes’ George Russell. Aston Martin’s two-time champion Fernando Alonso rounded out the top five.

Carlos Sainz of Williams was sixth, ahead of teammate Alex Albon; Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin; Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar; and Pierre Gasly of Alpine.

The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton failed to reach Q3 and qualified 11th and 12th, respectively, ahead of local favorite Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes.

“It was a great session – very tough with the delays and red flags and the tricky tires,” Piastri said.

“The team did a great job and got the car in a nice window. We’ve been trying a few different things this weekend, and we got into a nice place for qualifying.”

Verstappen was satisfied despite missing out on his third consecutive pole.

“It was a good day for us,” he said, a sentiment echoed by Russell. “We could not have achieved much more here today,” the British driver said.

Tsunoda’s high-speed crash halts qualifying

The session began in spectacular fashion under glorious spring sunshine when Yuki Tsunoda walked away from a dramatic high-speed crash.

He lost control of his Racing Bulls car after riding the curbs at Variante Villeneuve, sending the car airborne into a barrel roll before slamming into the barriers upside down.

Action resumed after a 12-minute delay to repair the circuit, only to be halted again in the final seconds of Q1 when rookie Franco Colapinto – replacing Jack Doohan for Alpine – crashed at the exit of Tamburello.

Colapinto’s car was heavily damaged as he spun into the barriers nose-first, but he was uninjured and walked away from the wreckage.

Verstappen topped Q1, ahead of Piastri and Alonso, with Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, and the two Haas cars of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman eliminated along with Tsunoda.

Bearman’s late lap time was canceled and marked “under review” as Q2 was delayed, hinting at a possible reinstatement to replace Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.

Both drivers waited in their cars until the decision was finalized. Bortoleto eventually drove out alone to the pit lane, and Bearman conceded his Q2 place and exited his car.

In the first Q2 run, McLaren returned to the top – two-tenths clear of Verstappen – before a dramatic late charge saw Sainz go fastest, while Aston Martin’s drivers knocked out both Ferraris.

“My God. Oh my God. My God,” Leclerc exclaimed after qualifying 11th. Hamilton followed in 12th, with Antonelli and Bortoleto rounding out the Q2 exits.

In the final shootout, Piastri took the early lead before Verstappen edged him by 0.049 seconds on the initial laps. Norris slotted into third ahead of Russell and the impressive rookie Hadjar.

But Piastri stormed back with a second flying lap to seal pole.

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A flawless entry into pit road during Friday’s time trials propelled Brad Keselowski to the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In a unique qualifying format that features three laps and a four-tire pit stop, Keselowski and his team posted a total time of 87.363 seconds (77.264 mph) to earn the top starting spot both for Saturday’s first of two heats and for the $1-million-to-win main event on Sunday.

In a major upset during the All-Star Open qualifying session that preceded time trials for drivers already qualified for the All-Star Race, Michael McDowell’s over-the-wall crew, composed of ex-football players, won the $100,000 Pit Crew Challenge.

The No. 71 Spire Motorsports crew fired off a stop in 12.587 seconds, and that time stood up against the 20 All-Star crews that followed. Daniel Suarez’s crew came closest with a lap in 12.600 seconds.

For Keselowski, the pole was a welcome high point in a season that has been difficult so far. He’s currently 33rd in the Cup Series standings, with no top 10s and five DNFs (did not finish) through 12 races.

“This event, this format pushes you to your limits, from a driver perspective, a team perspective, pit crew,” Keselowski said. “I stuck my part—I knew I stuck the entry (to pit road). The exit, I was like ‘Maybe I left a little on the table’—it’s really hard to tell.

“But it all came together for an excellent run. The pit crew, they didn’t try to be heroes. They just gave me a really solid stop. (Crew chief) Jeremy Bullins and the team gave me a car that was pretty fast. They just gave me the ball and said, ‘Go play,’ and that’s what we did.”

Christopher Bell and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team, the two-time defending winners of the Pit Crew Challenge, qualified second at 76.485 mph (88.253 seconds). Slight trouble on the left front tire cost Bell’s crew a chance for a third straight $100,000 bonus.

Alex Bowman was third fastest, followed by Chase Briscoe, William Byron and defending winner and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano.

Though Keselowski is guaranteed to start on the pole for the All-Star Race, Friday’s qualifying session set the order for the two heat races on Saturday. The first heat establishes the starting order for the inside row in the All-Star Race, while the second heat orders the outside row.

Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott were seventh-through 10th fastest, respectively.

Using his road racing prowess to get on and off pit road in the unique qualifying format, New Zealand’s Shane van Gisbergen won the pole position for the NASCAR All-Star Open, which precedes the All-Star Race on Sunday night.

The top two finishers in the Open transfer to the 21st and 22nd starting positions in the main event.

In his three-lap attempt with a four-tire pit stop, Van Gisbergen recorded a time of 88.685 seconds (75.112 mph). That was good enough to edge Carson Hocevar (75.942 mph) for the top starting spot in the Open by 0.199 seconds.

Van Gisbergen’s total time also was 1.109 seconds faster than Logano’s pole-winning time for last year’s All-Star Race, which Logano won decisively, leading 199 of 200 laps.

“I did a decent job getting in and out of pit road,” Van Gisbergen said, “but my guys did a great pit stop, too (13.175 seconds)… It’s been difficult on the left-handed tracks, but I feel like we are getting better, though.

“I guess my actual lap was good, too, so things are starting to look up.”

Noah Gragson was third-fastest among Open qualifiers at 75.338 mph. Michael McDowell was fourth in time trials, thanks in part to his pit crew, which won the Pit Crew Competition and $100,000 bonus.

Crew members on McDowell’s team are Dax Hollifield (jackman), Max Marsh (front tire changer), Ty Boeck (rear tire changer), Luke Bussel (tire carrier) and Brandon Chapman (fueler).

Kyle Larson’s barnstorming begins this weekend when he undertakes a trying commute between three racetracks in two national motorsports series.

Larson is bidding to become the fifth driver to complete the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. To accomplish the feat, Larson will miss NASCAR All-Star Race preparations Friday and Saturday at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to focus on Indy 500 practice and qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After attempting to qualify for the field of 33 for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday at more than 230 mph in an IndyCar, Larson will hustle to the Indianapolis airport for a flight to tiny North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina, where he will race against the Cup Series’ best for $1 million in the NASCAR All-Star Race.

Larson will return to Indy for Monday practice, spend Tuesday in New York on a media tour and bounce between Indy and Charlotte Motor Speedway three times from Friday to Sunday ahead of the Coca-Cola 600.

It’s a daunting journey, but Larson is ready for the harried itinerary.

The Hendrick Motorsports star has squeezed in several dozen dirt races around his annual NASCAR schedule of 38 Cup Series weekends for the past decade.

“Yeah, I mean honestly it just feels like another week for me,” Larson said. “If anything, it’s a little easier of a week than normal.”

That’s in part because Indy 500 qualifying will end an hour later this year, so Larson will be unable to run for the pole position at North Wilkesboro, even if he were to advance to the final round of six drivers.

He already will be on the way to North Wilkesboro as a favorite, along with defending series champion Joey Logano, who led 199 of 200 laps to win last year’s NASCAR All-Star Race. Larson led 145 laps to win the 2023 All-Star Race debut at North Wilkesboro.

After the runaway wins, NASCAR has spiced up this year’s race by adding 50 laps to the distance and a random caution flag that will bunch up the field.

The format changes don’t faze Larson, who has won three of the past six All-Star Races, nor does the lack of track time. He missed practice and qualifying for last year’s All-Star Race and then drove from last to fourth on the recently repaved track.

“I think you could plug any of us in without practice, and by Lap 10 you’re going to be up to speed,” he said. “Last year was probably more of a disadvantage because I hadn’t made a single lap on that surface, but we were able to move forward right off the bat.”

Justin Allgaier will practice and qualify Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet, but the team will skip Saturday’s 75-lap heat races that set the lineup for Sunday’s main event because Larson will start from the rear for using a replacement driver Friday.

Coming off a dominant victory May 11 at Kansas Speedway, Larson leads the points standings with three wins – making him even more confident of handling his jet-setting lifestyle.

What Larson is trying to do is far from normal. He crashed Friday — after wrecking last month in a test at Indy — while trying to get up to speed with the extra horsepower that he will have for Indy 500 qualifying.

“Obviously it’s tricky. I spun,” Larson said after leaving the Indy care center. “I don’t know. Kind of caught off guard a little bit there, but I think we’ll be fine. I tend to get over things pretty quickly. I know I spun but my balance felt pretty close to being good.”

Last year, his attempt at the feat known as “The Double” was scuttled because the Indy 500 was delayed four hours by rain, preventing him from racing in a rain-shortened event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It’s something that not many people have gotten the opportunity to do and it’s a challenging day of racing,” he said. “I love the challenge. I’ve looked up to a lot of the guys that have done it, and you want to add your name to the record book somehow.”

Qualifying, Pit Crew Challenge results

Brad Keselowski rebounded from a dismal season to win his first All-Star Race pole position. The No. 6 Ford driver beat Christopher Bell by nearly a second to earn the top starting spot in Sunday’s main event and in the first of two 75-lap heat races Saturday that will determine the rest of the All-Star Race starting lineup.

“It’s pretty freaking cool, man,” said Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series champion who is ranked 33rd in the points standings with a best finish of 11th this year. “It’s one of the things I’ve never done in my career. And to do it by so much. But a total team effort.”

The driver-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing has three runner-up finishes in the All-Star Race, tying him with Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader for the most seconds without a win in the event.

Michael McDowell’s team won the Pit Crew Challenge and a $100,00 bonus with a four-tire stop in 12.587 seconds.

Shane van Gisbergen captured the pole position for the All-Star Open, a 100-lap warmup race Sunday. Carson Hocevar qualified second. The top two finishers in the All-Star Open, plus the winner of an online fan vote, will transfer into the 250-lap main event.

Fresh start

Harrison Burton will be making his All-Star Race debut Sunday, even though he last raced the Cup Series in the 2024 season finale. After three years in the No. 21 Ford, Burton lost his ride with Wood Brothers Racing and dropped to the Xfinity Series.

But he was guaranteed a spot in the All-Star Race because of his victory at Daytona International Speedway last August, so Rick Ware Racing hired Burton to drive its No. 51 Ford at North Wilkesboro in a one-off deal.

“You kind of never know if an opportunity will come and having an automatic bid into the All-Star Race is such a big deal to me,” Burton said. “Especially how my story has gone with the ups and downs. This is such a cool moment for me. I really wanted to make this deal work out, and I’m really happy it did.”

Title barometer

The All-Star Race winner has gone on to win the Cup championship in three of the past five years (Chase Elliott in 2020, Larson in ’21, Logano last year), which adds another layer to the race’s prestige. The select field will feature 23 drivers.

“Just being a part of the race against some of the biggest names in the series is big and important,” said Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, who missed last year’s main event. “It’s not a points race but there’s a lot of cash on the line and definitely a cool title to go with it.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

What’s Happening?

Garrett Mitchell, better known by his persona Cleetus McFarland, will race in his third ARCA Menards Series race on Friday, May 23, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Per a post on his Facebook account, Mitchell will once again race for Rette Jones Racing in the No. 30 Ford Mustang.

This will be Mitchell’s third ARCA race of the season. So far, the 30-year-old has entered races at Daytona and Talladega. This will be his first start on an Intermediate, or 1.5-mile oval; he also has a scheduled short track start on Sept. 11 in the ARCA Menards Series East finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In his ARCA Menards Series debut, he crashed early and finished 30th. However, he recovered from an early mechanical issue at Talladega to finish 10th. His races in ARCA have drawn massive amounts of attention to ARCA, NASCAR, and Mitchell, with some dubbing it the “Cleetus McFarland Effect.”

The green flag for the ARCA Menards Series’ General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will drop at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, May 23, and will air live on FS1.

Cleetus Takes on NASCAR

With over 4.34 million subscribers on YouTube, Mitchell, who goes by the screen name Cleetus McFarland, found his way into NASCAR via his relationship with former NASCAR champion Greg Biffle. Biffle helped Mitchell, who has a history of racing in oddball events at his short track, the 3/8-mile “Freedom Factory” in Bradenton, Florida.

Mitchell’s work in ARCA is all aimed at the goal of racing in the Daytona 500 in 2027. However, he has recently claimed that his adding more ARCA races to his schedule, along with considering doing some Xfinity Series racing, has come with him realizing how hard it is to master racing a stock car.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Alex Guénette is thrilled to announce his return to the NASCAR Canada Series for the 2025 season, this time with the newly formed JASS Racing team. Despite being a new entry, JASS Racing brings a wealth of NASCAR Canada experience to the table, led by crew chief Jonathan Côté.

The team is backed by an impressive roster of sponsors, including GL Électricité Automatisation, BetGRW, DLGL, and the Casinos Grand Royal Wôlinak, all proudly supporting Guénette’s campaign throughout his selected events.

“I’m really happy to be back for a partial season with this new team,” said Guénette. “I think we’re going to surprise people. My goal is to achieve as much success as possible, just like last year when we scored three podiums in six races. With the support of JASS Racing and Jonathan as crew chief, we have everything we need to be competitive right from the start.”

The team has confirmed participation in seven races for the 2025 season, beginning with the season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on May 18. JASS Racing will return to the track on May 31 at Autodrome Chaudière, followed by the inaugural race at Calabogie Motorsports Park on July 27. Guénette will also compete in the prestigious Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières on August 10, where he’ll aim for a second victory at the historic event. He will then head to ICAR on August 23 to race in front of family, friends, and sponsors, as it is his home track. Guénette will conclude his season with races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on August 31 and Autodrome Montmagny on September 21.

Jonathan Côté added, “We’re thrilled to have Alex behind the wheel this season. His proven track record and dedication to excellence perfectly align with the values of JASS Racing. We worked hard throughout the winter to prepare competitive cars for each event.”

Fans can follow Alex Guénette’s progress on his personal social media channels and through the team’s official platforms for exclusive content, updates, and special announcements.

JASS Racing PR

For the third time this season, Max Stambaugh went wire-to-wire with the Great Lakes Super Sprints Presented by PERFIT & ARP, and for the second time this year he was crowned a winner with the Ohio CAT Division at Limaland Motorsports Park.

Stambaugh, who was originally set to roll off third for the 2025 Run for the Rabbit Memorial event, was able to slide to the front row after a penalty was handed out to the original pole. Stambaugh led the field to green alongside two-time Run for the Rabbit and GLSS Champion, Jared Horstman. The only two drivers to win so far this season were the class of the field once again.

With heavy storms breathing down the neck of fans and drivers, Stambaugh quickly reached lapped traffic with well over a straightaway lead on Horstman, who was forced to deal with a pesky Devon Dobie and Chase Dunham early for the second spot. Once Horstman shook Dunham and Dobie he was able to chase down Stambaugh in lapped traffic.

With five laps to go, no cars separated the pair at the front. Horstman was able to draw within two car lengths of Stambaugh in the final two laps, but couldn’t get close enough to make a move on Stambaugh. The Smith Motorsports No.71H went on to collect the win over Hortstman Dunham, Dobie, and Dustin Daggett. 

The win, Stambaugh’s third of the season, is the 21st of his career and keeps him third on the all-time GLSS wins list. Stambaugh now takes a 55-point advantage in the Ohio CAT Division Championship lead, and a slim two-point advantage over Horstman for the GLSS Tour Championship lead. 

Chase Dunham earned the Ti22 Performance Fast Qualifier Award.

Chase Dunham won Engler Machine & Tool Heat Race Number 1.

Max Stambaugh won Howard-Johnson of Lima Heat Race Number 2.

Kobe Allison won Miami Paint Heat Race Number 3.

Luke Griffith was the Operating Engineers 324 Hard Charger advancing eight positions from 15th to 7th.

The next event for the Great Lakes Super Sprints is back at Limaland Motorsports Park on Friday, May 23rd, before heading to Millstream Speedway on Saturday, May 24th, and Waynesfield Raceway Park on Sunday, May 25th. For more information, log onto GreatLakesSprints.com. Find the Great Lakes Super Sprints on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube.

Ohio CAT A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 71H-Max Stambaugh[3]; 2. 17-Jared Horstman[2]; 3. 66-Chase Dunham[5]; 4. 23-Devon Dobie[4]; 5. 85-Dustin Daggett[7]; 6. 5M-Steve Irwin[13]; 7. 11G-Luke Griffith[15]; 8. 13-Van Gurley Jr[9]; 9. 49T-Gregg Dalman[16]; 10. X-Mike Keegan[14]; 11. 11H-Caleb Harmon[8]; 12. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[11]; 13. 24-Kobe Allison[6]; 14. 7C-Phil Gressman[1]; 15. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[12]; 16. 31-Jac Nickles[10]; 17. 83-Adam Cruea[17]; 18. 18-Brian Razum[21]; 19. 21S-Benji Siferd[20]; 20. 37-Noah Dunlap[18]; 21. 33-Jeremy Ferguson[19]

GLSS PR