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Weekend Recap: October 29 - 30, 2022

Published On:: 2022-10-30

Check out all the Monster Energy sport highlights from over the weekend.

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NHRA
Brittany Force Wins Penultimate Round at Vegas, Takes Overall Points Lead

 

With a HUGE weekend of qualifiers and elimination bracket racing, Monster Energy’s Top Fuel sensation Brittany Force put it all together in the finals of the NHRA Nevada Nationals, winning the penultimate round of the Camping World Drag Racing Series and, in the process, taking control of the overall point lead from rival Justin Ashley.
 
Qualifying in the No. 1 position — the ninth time Force has done so this season — earned Force ten (out of a possible 12) bonus points, plus an additional eight points for her 1st place qualifying effort. This would top overall point leader (heading into Vegas) Ashley’s nine qualifying points, and cut his lead from 82 points down to 73 heading into Sunday’s Top Fuel elimination racing. In addition, since there were an odd number of dragsters in the field (15), Force was awarded a first round bye in the eliminations, earning her 20 more points towards her total.
 
Said Force: “We were looking at that [bye run] when we came in and realized there were only 15 cars. That's the spot we want to be, we want that No. 1, for points, obviously, but you get the bye into the second round. And it lets us get out there on the track and feel it out before going into the second round. Looking at our overall qualifying, we're in a great position. To make four solid passes, all high-.60s and a .71. It's fantastic for our team. It’s four good runs to set up going into race day and gives us all a lot of confidence.”
 
With Ashley getting upset in the opening round, Force jumped at the opportunity and bolted to a second round win over former NHRA World Champion Antron Brown. She then dispatched another former World Champ, Tony Schumacher, with a 3.712 pass as Schumacher’s supercharger let go mid-race.
 
In the Vegas finals, Force met Mike Salinas and came away with the victory on a superior start. It’d be Force’s fifth win of the season, earning her a seven-point lead on Ashley heading into the final round of the season – the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, CA, November 10-13.

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FORMULA 1
Lewis Hamilton Snags Second at Mexican Grand Prix

 

A strong 2nd place podium finish for Monster Energy’s Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes/AMG/Petronas) at the Mexican Formula 1 Grand Prix – his eighth podium finish of the 2022 season — moved the British racer into the Top Five in the overall F1 points chase, four points in front of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, 216-212, with two rounds remaining on the 2022 F1 schedule.
 
And just a couple spots back of Hamilton was Monster Energy-backed teammate George Russell, in a respectable 4th place, giving Monster Energy two of the top four positions on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues circuit. On the season thus far, Russell sits comfortably in 4th position overall with 231 points.
 
The theme of the day for Hamilton and Russell was tire choice. An early-race selection of medium compound tires would prove a bit costly for the two, as series champion Max Verstappen’s gamble on the soft compound tires paid off with the proper grip that gave the early race lead ahead of Russell, with Hamilton right behind in 3rd and hometown race hero Sergio Perez in 4th.
 
Just as Russell was closing in on Verstappen, Hamilton joined the fray up front and caught Russell in Turn 2, then passed his teammate in Turn 3. Verstappen was able to open up a lead by the end of Lap 1 (of 71), holding a 1.5 second gap over Hamilton for the first phase of the race. When Verstappen pitted, Hamilton was left out (the medium compound tires showing far less wear than Verstappen’s soft tires) and took over the race lead until Lap 34 when Hamilton had to pit – handing the lead back to Verstappen.
 
As Hamilton kept Perez several seconds back, Russell pitted for a third time for soft tires – and came back out with a blistering 1:20.153 final lap to earn the race’s Fast Lap Bonus Point.

Said Hamilton following the race: “There are so many positives. The upgrade really, really worked in the last race. We still have improvements to make, which we probably won’t make the rest of the year, but we know exactly where we need to improve for next year.”

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XFINITY
Ty Gibbs Victorious at Martinsville Speedway Ahead of Championship 4 Finale

 

Monster Energy's Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing) was victorious on Saturday in NASCAR’s Xfinity Championship Series’ playoff race, taking the third overtime victory over teammate Brandon Jones.
 
The win for Gibbs, the 10th of his career, came when he got into the back end of Jones in Turn 1, sending Jones into the wall and bringing out the full course caution. Gibbs would score 59 Xfinity Championship points with the win and is in 2nd place in the overall championship standings behind Noah Gragson heading into next Saturday’s final race.
 
Said Gibbs: “I definitely didn’t want to wreck him (Jones), but I did want to get him out of the groove. We lost earlier this year, in the spring race, the same way. I’m just pumped to get this win, especially a track that I’ve been coming to forever.”


Jones won the race’s first stage, leading 66 laps in the close-quarters Martinsville half mile – the shortest track on the NASCAR circuit. Gibbs and Jones would go at it again in the second stage, Gibbs winning this one.
 
Cautions flags came in bunches to slow the pace of the race in the latter stages, which included a crash, leading to the third overtime restart. On the restart Gibbs started on the pole and took an early advantage on the inside, only to have Jones sneak in on the extreme inside of Gibbs and push him into the middle of the track. From there it was three wide into Turn 2 when Sheldon Creed got into the back of Jones, moving him ahead of Gibbs. Then it was Gibbs getting into the back end of Jones, spinning his teammate, and taking the combination Checkers/Yellow Caution flag.

 

Monster Energy’s Riley Herbst meanwhile snatched third on Saturday, giving him a career-high eighth top-five finish of the season.

Next up on the NASCAR Xfinity Championship tour is the November 5th series finale at Phoenix Raceway.

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NITRO RALLYCROSS
Andreas Bakkerud and Robin Larsson Share Podium at Electric-Powered Nitro Rallycross in SoCal

 

Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California hosted Nitro Rallycross’ premier Group E category and Monster Energy RX Cartel athletes Andreas Bakkerud of Norway and Robin Larsson of Sweden were ready, willing and able to take on the electric-powered form of motor racing, the two legendary rallycross drivers climbing into their respective Frankenstein-green Monster Energy FC1-X Nitro-RX machines.

 

Motivated by their astonishing 1,070-horsepower, all-electric machines capable of going 0-60 in a mere 1.4 seconds (faster than a Formula 1 car!) Larsson prevailed on the afternoon to take his third consecutive second-place finish of the 2022-2023 Nitro Rallycross season, continuing his excellent streak of top-three finishes, while Bakkerud settled for a spirited third place finish on the day to secure Monster Energy RX cartel and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing JC’s second podium lockout from four rounds on global Nitro Rallycross competition.

“To be here in California and competing here in these incredible race machines has just been a blast,” offered an enthused Bakkerud after the racing was said and done. “We’ll go to Arizona next and then it is off to Saudi Arabia. Our season is just getting going and I’m super-excited about just what we can accomplish and achieve.”

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BRITISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Oliver Solberg Dominates Cambria Rally in Wales

 

“It’s a win at the @CambrianRally! That was fantastic fun in a great car and on amazing stages — and the biggest smile in a long time and a big thanks to the team, @MonsterEnergy and HTB Racing for making it all possible!”
 
So wrote 21-year-old Monster Energy rally ace Oliver Solberg after posting up a very convincing win over the weekend at the prestigious Cambria Rally in Wales. It was the Swedish driver's first victory in more than a year. Solberg lined up and raced in Wales in a potent Volkswagen Polo R5 and the rally super-talent and son of 2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg won eight out of ten speed tests and took the measure of the second-placed British driver Ruairi Bell by one minute and 51.8 seconds. The third-placed Irishman Eamonn Kelly lost out to Solberg by more than three minutes.
 
“It's a lot of fun to stand on the top step of the podium again,” said a delighted Solberg. “I haven't smiled so widely or had so much fun in a car in a long time.”