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Fernando Alonso just misses qualifying for Indy 500 on first day

Former Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso will need a clutch run on Sunday to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on May 26 after he failed to seal a guaranteed spot on Saturday. The Spaniard tried fives times to put his McLaren Racing Chevrolet in the top 30, but wound up one spot short. He can make the 33-car field only through a six-car shootout on Sunday that will determine the race's final three drivers. "We have another chance to be in the race," Alonso, who is seeking to make his second Indy 500 field, told IndyCar TV. The Spaniard twice got inside the top 30 but both times was bumped outside the mark, with JR Hildebrand and Graham Rahal the final two drivers to seal qualifying spots. Britain's Pippa Mann will be the only woman in the race, qualifying 30th in 227.244 mph. Race positions 10-30 were determined during the day-long qualifying with Saturday's nine fastest drivers set to return on Sunday to decide pole. Spencer Pigot, driving the Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, led qualifying with a four-lap average of 230.083 mph. He was followed by 2018 winner Will Power of Australia (230.081) and Simon Pagenaud of France (229.854). The troubles for Alonso, whose top four-lap average was 227.224 mph, were exacerbated by a punctured tire in his first qualifying run. "That didn't help," Alonso told reporters. "But, obviously, our performance has been quite bad all week. Quite poor." The Spaniard crashed his Chevrolet in practice on Wednesday and missed nearly two full days of practice while a backup car was prepared. He returned on Friday. Alonso said he was worried the McLaren team was "not ready for the challenge." "We've been slow. You see Juncos Racing crashing yesterday and being ready at 6 o'clock. That's impressive," he said. "For us, we've been a little bit slow on everything." Alonso is bidding to join Graham Hill as the only drivers to achieve the 'Triple Crown of Motorsport' with an Indy 500 victory. He previously won the Monaco Grand Prix and Le Mans 24 Hours race. He also won two Formula One drivers' titles. (Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)Related Video: Motorsports Chevrolet McLaren IndyCar

GM again delays plant that will build the Silverado EV

  General Motors Co. will again push back the planned opening of an electric pickup truck plant in suburban Detroit and has delayed a Buick plug-in amid uncertain growth in battery-powered car sales. Mary Barra, the company’s chief executive officer, told analysts Tuesday on an earnings conference call the automaker is postponing until mid-2026 the opening of its Orion Assembly factory, which will make the Chevrolet Silverado EV. This is the second delay for the plant, which was originally slated to start production in late 2024. Shares of the automaker fell 4.1% to $47.52 as of 9:39 a.m. in New York. The stock is up about 32% so far this year. The delay is a main reason why GM wonÂ’t be able to meet its previous goal of having production in place to make 1 million EVs by the end of next year. The company said they will add production as buyers show more interest in electric vehicles. “We continue to make sure we continue to scale the business to customers and where they are at,” GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said on a call with reporters. GM reported on Tuesday a 60% jump in second quarter profit compared with a year ago, topping Wall StreetÂ’s expectations on strong demand for its traditional gas-powered trucks in the US market.

Nissan recalls 3.5 million vehicles over airbag sensor

Nissan is recalling 3.53 million vehicles globally – 3.2 million in the United States – because the front passenger airbag may or may not deploy properly in the event of a crash. In affected vehicles, the occupant sensing system may not properly register a person sitting in the passenger seat. Passenger-side airbags in roughly 622,000 Nissan Sentra models built between 2013 and 2016 may deploy in crashes when they shouldn't, such as when a child is in the seat. 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, and LEAF, 2013-2017 Nissan Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60 and Q50, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Chevrolet City Express and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles suffer from the opposite problem. In those models, the airbag may not deploy when it is supposed to. Nissan is aware of at least three crashes where airbags in one of the above models did not function properly, resulting in "moderate injuries." There have already been four recalls since 2013 for similar issues in Nissan vehicles. If you own one of these cars, expect a letter from Nissan in short order (or from GM if you own a Chevy City Express). Related Video: RECALL Subject : Passenger Air Bag may not Deploy due to OCS Error , 1 INVESTIGATION(S) Report Receipt Date: APR 26, 2016 NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V244000 Component(s): AIR BAGS Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc. SUMMARY: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF and Sentra, 2013-2017 Nissan Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60 and Q50, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Chevrolet City Express and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles. In these vehicles, the front seat passenger Occupant Classification System (OCS) may incorrectly classify an adult passenger as a child or classify the seat as empty despite it being occupied. As a result, the passenger frontal air bag may be turned off and not deploy in the event of a crash. CONSEQUENCE: If the passenger frontal air bag does not deploy as intended in the event of a crash, the passenger is at an increased risk of injury. REMEDY: Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors.