Pro Motocross Round 8 at Unadilla: How to watch, start times, schedule, TV info

By Aug 13, 2021, 1:58 PM EDT
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After two weekends off, the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship surges back into action as they take on Unadilla MX Park in New Berlin, NY this Saturday, August 14 for Round 8 of the 2021 season.

All eyes will be on Dylan Ferrandis to see if he can maintain momentum as he looks to keep a perfect streak of overall podiums finishes alive and pad his 47-point lead over Ken Roczen.

Meanwhile Roczen needs to stop a slide that saw him finish outside the top five in back-to-back races while Eli Tomac earned second-place results and now has Roczen in sight.

Unadilla was one of several races that dropped off the schedule last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the last time the 450 riders challenged this track in 2019, Roczen had a perfect weekend with a sweep of both motos and the overall.

It won’t be easy to outride Ferrandis though. He finished second in Moto 1 and won the second race in the 250 class that year.

Here are the pertinent details for watching Round 8 of the 2021 Pro Motocross season Saturday in the Unadilla Nationals:

(All times are ET)

BROADCAST/STREAMING SCHEDULE: TV coverage of the second 450 moto from Round 8 will be shown live Saturday, August 14 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. The MAVTV Motorsports Network will have the live broadcast of the first moto for the 250 and 450 class beginning at 12 p.m. ET.

All the coverage, including exclusive qualifying, will be streamed live on Peacock Premium (the exclusive streaming coverage formerly on NBC Sports Gold’s Supercross and Pro Motocross Pass moved in 2021 to Peacock Premium, which is available for $4.99 per month).

Here’s this weekend’s Peacock Premium live schedule for Pro Motocross Round 8 at Unadilla:

— Qualifying: 9 a.m. ET
— Moto 1 (250/450): 12 p.m. ET
— Moto 2 (250/450): 2 p.m. ET

Jason Weigandt will serve as the play-by-play announcer for all race telecasts alongside analyst and two-time AMA Pro Motocross Champion Grant Langston. Ashley Reynard will serve as pit reporter during the 2021 season.

SEASON SO FAR: Recaps of the 2021 season:

Round 1: Dylan Ferrandis (450) and Jett Lawrence (250) took overall wins at Fox Raceway

Round 2: A “perfect day” for Ken Roczen at Thunder Valley

Round 3: Dylan Ferrandis retakes the lead with High Point win

Round 4: With third win, Dylan Ferrandis stretches lead over Ken Roczen

Round 5: In 450s, Dylan Ferrandis gets his fourth win; Hunter Lawrence earns his first in 250s

Round 6: Justin Barcia gives GasGas first 450 MX win

Round 7: Chase Sexton gets first 2021 win; Jeremy Martin doubles down in 250s

POINTS STANDINGS:

450 class

  1. Dylan Ferrandis, France, Yamaha – 303
  2. Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda – 256
  3. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki – 249
  4. Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., GasGas – 239
  5. Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda – 238
  6. Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha – 217
  7. Christian Craig, El Cajon, Calif., Yamaha – 182
  8. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM – 177
  9. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM – 177
  10. Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki – 147

250 class

  1. Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha – 281
  2. Jett Lawrence, Australia, Honda – 273
  3. Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda – 237
  4. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha – 220
  5. RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna – 205
  6. Jo Shimoda, Japan, Kawasaki – 178
  7. Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha – 172
  8. Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., GasGas – 154
  9. Jalek Swoll, Belleview, Fla., Husqvarna – 148
  10. Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Yamaha – 141

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Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”