OUICK LAPS THE FASTEST NEWS ROUND-UP
NASCAR underdog Matt Dibenedetto came within 12 laps of pulling off a shock win for his minnow Leavine Family Racing team at Bristol, just days after losing his seat for 2020. LFR has a technical alliance with top Toyota team Joe Gibbs Racing and is likely to take its protege Christopher Bell for next season. It informed Dibenedetto he was being dropped early last week, but he responded by battling into the lead of Saturday night’s race. JGR driver Denny Hamlin pipped him in the final dice, with Dibenedetto salvaging a career-best second... Indycar race winner Colton Herta looks set to leave the Harding Steinbrenner team for the 2020 season, with Andretti Autosport and Arrow Mclaren SP eager to sign the rookie. Herta scored a pole position at Road America and won at the Circuit of the Americas earlier in the season, and is considered one of the championship’s hottest prospects after his impressive rookie year. Herta declined to comment on talks for next season but said remaining with his current team “doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen”, with the outfit believed to be seeking additional funding… A three-day driver selection process to set the grid for the second W Series season in 2020 will get underway in September. The top 12 finishers from the 2019 championship – including champion Jamie Chadwick and Brands Hatch race winner Alice Powell – have all earned the option of a guaranteed return. Those 12 drivers will not be required to attend the private test, but a handful might be invited in order to set comparative lap times for hopeful applicants.