This Week In Action Motorsports: April 29-May 1, 2022
Image via Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
Gear up for events from the biggest series in action motorsports with our weekend preview of the most exciting races in the world! From the premier open-wheel circuits in the world to both two and four-wheel events in the dirt, check in here each week to find out who’s running up front and how to watch.
IndyCar at Barber (Sunday, 1PM ET, NBC)
The fabled month of May kicks off for IndyCar not at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but in Alabama, with Barber Motorsports Park’s annual spring festivities touching May for the first time. Last year’s Barber event served as the season opener and saw Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou take the checkered flag in his first race with the team, kicking off what eventually wound up as a championship season after holding off past champions Will Power and Scott Dixon.
After winning the first three rounds of the season, Team Penske will look to return to the dominant form that gave it the first three Barber wins and six of 11 overall. Josef Newgarden, winner of this year’s rounds in Texas and Long Beach, is responsible for two of those, as is Power; they’re first and fourth in the standings, with St. Petersburg winner Scott McLaughlin second as the team enjoys a renaissance after contracting to three cars in the offseason.
Best in the Desert Silver State 300 (Saturday, 2PM ET)
One of Best in the Desert’s biggest events will see more than 200 total entries—including over 100 UTVs—take on a 300-mile point-to-point course on Saturday for the Silver State 300. As BITD’s first event of the season that includes all of its divisions, Silver State should prove to be one of the most impactful rounds of the year when determining this year’s champions.
The Trick Truck title battle may come down to defending champion Kyle Jergensen and Parker 425 winner BJ Baldwin, but fellow Parker podium finishers Nic Whetstone and Alex Wacker are among those looking to build on the early momentum. In the premier UTV Pro Turbo division, meanwhile, multi-time BITD champion Phil Blurton will aim to carry on the momentum two straight wins in Parker and Laughlin to start the year in the largest class on the grid.
Supercross at Denver (Saturday, 3PM ET, NBC)
After a switch to Monster Energy Star Yamaha over the offseason, Eli Tomac looks set to pay off the move with his second Monster Energy Supercross 450 title in three years at his home race in Denver on Saturday. While his Monster Energy Kawasaki replacement, Jason Anderson, took the win last weekend in Foxborough and closed the gap slightly, Tomac’s 43-point advantage going into the penultimate round of the year should be enough to lock it up unless he has a completely catastrophic weekend.
Jett Lawrence locked up the 250 East class title a round early last week, but in the 250 West class, his brother Hunter is on the other end of the championship battle at 23 points behind Christian Craig. With the prospect of locking the title up with a victory, expect Craig to be pushing in Colorado as he looks to join his Yamaha teammate Tomac in earning a number 1 plate on Saturday.
NHRA at Charlotte (Sunday, 7PM ET, FS1)
The second and final four-wide round of the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series sees the format return to where it all started, zMAX Dragway in Charlotte. Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) took the wins in the most recent four-wide race in Las Vegas, while Force and Enders each have two-race winning streaks after taking the Wallys last weekend at Houston Raceway Park in the final SpringNationals.
The Funny Car battle is poised to get more interesting after last week in Houston. Matt Hagan scored his second win of the season to equal Robert Hight on the season, and now holds a 60-point lead over Hight in the standings. Capps is third, 87 points back, but will be running with Toyota power for the first time this weekend after announcing a manufacturer switch this weekend.
Additional Broadcasts
· Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Practice 1: Friday, 4PM ET, Peacock
· NHRA 4-Wide Nationals Friday Qualifying: Friday, 7PM ET, FS1
· Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Practice 2: Saturday, 10AM ET, Peacock
· Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Qualifying: Saturday, 1PM ET, Peacock
· Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Final Practice: Saturday, 5:20PM ET, Peacock
· Formula E Monaco ePrix: Saturday, 9PM ET/Sunday, 4PM ET, CBSSN
· Trans-Am at Laguna Seca: Saturday, 11PM ET/Sunday, 3PM ET, CBSSN
· Indy Lights at Barber: Sunday, 10:55AM ET, Peacock
· NHRA 4-Wide Nationals Saturday Qualifying: Sunday, 11AM ET, FS1
· Trans-Am TA2 at Laguna Seca: Sunday, 6:30PM ET/10PM ET, CBSSN