SERGIO PEREZ FINISHES P2 AT MIAMI

May 08, 2023

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Drivers with Skip Barber Racing School experiences are indicated in bold.

Sergio Perez won the pole for the Miami Grand Prix on Saturday. Checo said the pole award was even sweeter after struggling through practice.

“I think it’s been my worst weekend up to qualifying, really. I just couldn’t figure out how to pull those tenths that I was missing all the time to Max and to the Ferraris. I mean, I was just resetting everything; we did a small change into qualifying, and everything became more alive.”

Checo started from the pole and led the first half of the race. Starting the race on medium tires, he came into the pits on lap 20, switching to hards, before teammate Max Verstappen made his stop on lap 45. Verstappen emerged from his pit stop just 1.5 seconds behind Checo on fresher and softer tires.

Perez attempted to put up a defense, but with 10 laps to go, Verstappen went around the outside of turn 1 to claim the lead and gallop away to a 5.3-second victory.

Perez was disappointed to have nothing for his teammate’s pace.

“In all honestly, I think Max also had tremendous pace on the hard tire,” he said. “I think I’ve got to analyze what went wrong today because we simply didn’t have the pace.”

Zane Smith finished 3^rd in Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway.

Zane is chasing the dream of being the series’ first back-to-back champion since Matt Crafton in 2013-14. He is currently tied for the lead in the standings with Ty Majeski. “Now, myself and my whole team are as hungry as ever to defend our title and capitalize on more race wins,” said Smith, who won the title in his first season as driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford.

The driver of the #91 Skip Barber Xfinity car Ross Chastain finished 5^th, and Kyle Busch in 7^th.

Ross Chastain qualified third for the Advent Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series, but it was Hendrick Motorsports that prevailed with a front-row sweep with William Byron on the pole and Kyle Larson P2. Denny Hamlin came out on top after an exciting final lap and a thrilling 400-mile race with 37 lead changes among 12 drivers. The win was Hamlin’s fourth at the Kansas Speedway and the 49^th of his career.

On the last lap, Hamlin made contact with Kyle Larson in the left rear, which turned him into the outside wall. Hamlin drove to victory, and Larson who finished second after an up-and-down day.

“So proud of this whole FedEx team,” Hamlin said after his first win of the season and the 49th of his Cup Series career. “I got position on him there, and I was trying to side-draft him but clipped his left rear. But glad he was able to at least finish.”

Other drivers with Skip Barber experience include Bubba Wallace, who finished fourth, and Ross Chastain finished fifth. Joey Logano finished sixth after winning the second stage, and Austin Dillon 10th.

Chastain got into a post-race fracas with classmate Noah Gragson, whom Chastain admitted he crowded into the fence early in the race when he got tight.

Other Skip Barber notables:

#12 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
#14 A.J. Allmendinger
#17 Chris Buescher
#21 Erik Jones
#22 Ty Dillon
#25 Josh Berry
#26 Michael McDowell
#29 Noah Gragson
#30 Harrison Burton
#31 Austin Cindric
#35 Kyle Busch

Want to drive like a champion? Sign up today for a 1-Day, 3-Day, and 2-Day Advanced Skip Barber Racing School at one of our legendary tracks across America. To enroll, call 866-932-1949 or click on the links below. Our full schedule can be found online at skipbarber.com

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Lime Rock Park 3 Day Mustang GT Racing School – June 12

Lime Rock Park 1 Day Mustang GT Racing School – June 12

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Road Atlanta 3-Day Formula Racing School – June 12

Road Atlanta 2 Day Advanced Formula Racing School – June 15

Lime Rock Park 3 Day Mustang GT Racing School – June 19

Lime Rock Park 1 Day Mustang GT Racing School – June 19

Lime Rock Park 2 Day Advanced Mustang GT Racing School – June 21