By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio In what played-out as a high-profile INDYCAR seat swap, Chip Ganassi Racing has signed Christian Lundgaard to a multi-year contract to drive the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda vacated by Scott Dixon. Lundgaard became an NTT IndyCar Series free-agent in early July, when Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan announced the surprising addition of Dixon, a six-time series champion and winner of the 2008 Indianapolis 500, to a revamped 2027 lineup. “Dixie” will team with Pato O’Ward of Mexico and reigning Indy 500 champ Felix Rosenqvist of Sweden beginning in ‘27. Lundgaard finished…
Author: John Sturbin
John Sturbin
John Sturbin is a Fort Worth-based journalist specializing in motorsports. During a near 30-year career with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he won the Bloys Britt Award for top motorsports story of the year (1991) as judged by The Associated Press; received the National Hot Rod Association’s Media Award (1995) and several in-house Star-Telegram honors. He also was inaugural recipient of the Texas Motor Speedway Excellence in Journalism Award (2009). Email John Sturbin at jsturbin@hotmail.com.
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Meet Dennis Hauger, the new face of A.J. Foyt Racing. Hauger, the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, has signed a multi-year agreement to drive the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet beginning with the 2027 season. Hauger finished 22nd in the final 2026 point standings driving Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 19 Honda. A 23-year-old native of Norway, Hauger replaces Santino Ferrucci in Foyt’s signature No. 14 Chevrolet. The 28-year-old Dallas resident placed 17th in the final driver standings during his fourth full-time season (2023-2026) with Foyt’s Waller, Texas-based team.…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Alex Palou racked-up miles-and-smiles during Day 2 of INDYCAR’s IR-28 oval validation test Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Testing on the next-generation NTT IndyCar Series car went so smoothly that Palou pulled into pit road 15 minutes early after his Chip Ganassi Racing team completed every item on its checklist. “Very fun,” said Palou, the newly-crowned five-time/reigning series champion. “At the beginning, it was super-fun because it’s a new car and you’re back at the Speedway. Then you’re like, ‘Can we go faster?’ It’s still super-fun. I’m testing the new car at the…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio INDYCAR’s traditional six-month offseason lasted all of two days for an appreciative Alexander Rossi. A hot and humid late-summer Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw Rossi become the first driver to turn a wheel in the superspeedway configuration of the IR-28 chassis, launching the next phase of INDYCAR’s development of its new-for-2028 car. “It does everything that INDYCAR machinery should do around here,” said Rossi, an NTT IndyCar Series regular with Ed Carpenter Racing. “We got through some basic mechanical and aero changes to kind of understand the offsets that they’re going to…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Scott McLaughlin placed an exclamation point on the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series schedule _ and Team Penske’s landmark 60th season _ with a workmanlike victory in Sunday’s Misson Foods Grand Prix of Monterey. Pole-sitter McLaughlin ended a winless streak dating to the 2024 campaign by wheeling the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by 1.3739-seconds over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The win was the eighth of McLaughlin’s INDYCAR career and first since Sept. 1, 2024, in the second race of a double-header weekend at The…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Winless in the NTT IndyCar Series since 2024, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin will confront his road-course gremlins from pole position during Sunday’s season-ending Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey. McLaughlin delivered Chevrolet its landmark 250th INDYCAR pole on Saturday with a hot lap of 1-minute, 9.1363-seconds/116.535 mph in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet. SEE: Qualifying Results McLaughlin is mired in a 36-race winless streak since his most recent series victory in August 2024 at The Milwaukee Mile. On the upside, the pole-winner at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca has driven to victory in…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Mick Schumacher has landed a second chance to showcase his INDYCAR potential.next season. Meyer Shank Racing confirmed Friday that Schumacher will join the team’s NTT IndyCar Series program starting in 2027. Schumacher will make his final start in the No. 47 NEREUS Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on Sunday in the 2026 season-ending Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Schumacher will wheel the No. 66 MSR Honda next season alongside returning driver Marcus Armstrong, the native New Zealander who will enter his third season with the team…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Dueling donuts were served-up on the front stretch of The Milwaukee Mile by Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou after completion of a rain-interrupted/record-setting INDYCAR double-header in West Allis, Wis. O’Ward won Sunday’s Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 to sweep both races on the historic 1.015-mile oval, winning the event suspended due to weather Saturday just a few hours after wheeling the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to the checkered flag in the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250. O’Ward became the first driver to win two INDYCAR races on the same day since Rick Mears…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio A revised and likely relentless 507.5-miles of back-to-back NTT IndyCar Series racing has been rescheduled for Sunday at The Milwaukee Mile, where rain Saturday afternoon forced a halt to Race 1 of the Snap-on INDYCAR Weekend double-header. The red flag for rain flew over the historic 1.015-mile oval in West Allis, Wis., after 90 of the scheduled 250 laps of the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250, with Pato O’Ward leading the 25-car field in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. The race is booked to resume at 9 a.m. (EDT) today and run…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio NTT IndyCar Series ovalmeister Josef Newgarden paced Practice 1 for the Snap-on INDYCAR Weekend Friday at The Milwaukee Mile, where anticipation over Alex Palou’s latest championship was momentarily muted by a grid penalty. The historic 1.015-mile oval in West Allis, Wis., is playing host to the only double-header on the 2026 series schedule. SEE: Practice Results Newgarden, winner of two-of-three short-oval events this season, was fastest at 159.430 mph in the No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevrolet. The two-time series champion, who completed 83 laps Friday, has earned 14 of his 34 career victories…