By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Andretti Global breakout star Kyle Kirkwood erased the label of “street-circuit specialist” from his INDYCAR profile Sunday night at World Wide Technology Raceway. Kirkwood displayed a masterful combination of pace and strategy en route to victory in a chaotic Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on WWTR’s egg-shaped, 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Ill., outside St. Louis. SEE: Race Results Kirkwood’s first oval-track victory was his career-best third in eight races this season and fifth of his NTT IndyCar Series career. Kirkwood’s previous four wins were all scored on the series’ “concrete…
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 Will Power, Team Penske and Chevrolet are poised to end their respective problematic, winless INDYCAR seasons in primetime tonight at World Wide Technology Raceway. Power added to the storied history of Team Penske on Saturday during NTT P1 Award qualifying for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline. Competing in the final year of his current contract, Power secured the team’s 700th pole across all racing series while leading a front-row lockout for Roger S. Penske’s open-wheel powerhouse. Power drove to his first pole since July 2023 at Iowa Speedway…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio A pair of golden Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars will pace the field to the flying start of Saturday’s 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Cadillac Racing completed an historic American, two-car/front-row lockout during Thursday’s Hyperpole qualifying session at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France. For the first time since a Ford GT40 Mk IV qualified first in 1967, an American automaker earned pole position for the world’s greatest endurance race. It’s also the first time a Cadillac will lead the field to the green flag at Du Mans. Alex Lynn drove…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Led by the field-topping lap of Alex Lynn, Cadillac Racing’s four Hypercar entries advanced into first round Hyperpole qualifying for this weekend’s 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Lynn, driver of the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, paced the 21 Hypercar entries on Wednesday with a hot lap of 3-minutes, 22.847-seconds around the famed 8.467-mile/13.626-kilometer Circuit de la Sarthe in France. Lynn ousted the No. 15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Dries Vanthoor of Belgium from pole position by a miniscule four-hundredths of a second (3-minutes, 22.887-seconds).…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Cadillac Racing’s four-car Hypercar contingent combined to record 251 laps during the opening Test Day leading into this weekend’s 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A pair of three-hour sessions on Sunday provided the initial opportunity for drivers and crews from the 21 Hypercar entries to match strengths around the famed, 8.467-mile/13.626-kilometer Circuit de la Sarthe in France. Toyota topped the time sheet at 3-minutes, 26.246-seconds in the No. 9 GR010 HYBRID wheeled by Brendon Hartley of New Zealand. The reigning Manufacturers’ World Champion, Toyota is chasing its sixth overall win…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio A.J. Foyt Racing has accepted responsibility for post-race technical inspection penalties levied by INDYCAR against the No. 14 entry driven by Santino Ferrucci to a second-place finish in Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. The No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet was found to be under the required driver ballast weight following the event won by Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global. Ferrucci finished 3.5931-seconds behind Kirkwood’s No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda. While Ferrucci has retained his season-best finish, the organization has been fined $25,000 and has forfeited 25 championship driver and entrant…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Sanctioning body INDYCAR has levied a post-race technical inspection penalty on the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing entry following Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. The No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet driven to a season-best, second-place finish by Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci was found to be under the required driver ballast weight following the event won by Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global. Ferrucci finished 3.5931-seconds behind Kirkwood’s No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda. During post-race inspection, INDYCAR discovered the driver ballast needed to bring the combined weight of the driver and driver ballast…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood says a tight-and-bumpy street-course like Downtown Detroit is a “very hard drive” in an open-wheel car. “That’s the nature of street-courses,” Kirkwood said after posting his second NTT IndyCar Series victory of the season Sunday afternoon. “The track is very difficult to drive. It’s obviously very bumpy. It brings out the worst in you, and it brought out the worst in me (Saturday) in qualifying. It’s pretty rare for me to make mistakes and hit the wall anywhere else other than street-courses. “Yeah, that was a tough one. But…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Andretti Global’s Colton Herta continued to master the tight, bumpy and basically mean Streets of Detroit Saturday en route to earning pole position for today’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. Herta repeated as NTT P1 Award winner with a best lap of 1-minute, 0.4779-seconds/97.920 mph on the 1.645-mile/nine-turn layout in Downtown Motown. Herta logged his first pole of the season and 15th of his NTT IndyCar Series career during the Firestone Fast Six. Herta secured P1 last year in this event with a lap in 1:00.5475-seconds/97.808 mph. The 25-year-old native Californian…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Kyle Kirkwood rallied from a bump-and-run incident involving Will Power to top the speed sheet after Friday’s opening practice for INDYCAR’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. Kirkwood led the 80-minute session, separated into groups, with a lap of 1-minute, 1.7509-seconds/95.901 mph in the No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda fielded by Andretti Global. That lap around the 1.645-mile/nine-turn circuit in Downtown Motown was recorded after Kirkwood spent considerable time in the pits for repairs to the rear of his car after being nudged from behind through a short section of the circuit amid…