Author: John Sturbin

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Will Power returned to street-fighting form during Friday afternoon’s opening practice for the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, taking P1 under sunny Southern California skies. See results: click here. A two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, Power led the session at 1-minute, 7.3227-seconds/105.236 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. The native Australian’s quickest lap was recorded on his final tour of the 1.968-mile/11-turn layout shod with Firestone’s grippier, faster alternate Firehawk tires. “Pretty good,” said Power, a two-time winner of domestic open-wheel racing’s version of Formula One’s Monaco Grand…

John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Christened by INDYCAR royalty Mario Andretti on April 1, 1984, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is celebrating an historic milestone this weekend. Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series event will mark the 50th auto race conducted on the street circuit that has morphed into domestic open-wheel racing’s equivalent of Formula One’s crown jewel, the Monaco Grand Prix. Indeed, entrepreneur Chris Pook’s vision for an event that debuted on the Formula 5000 schedule in 1975 and quickly transitioned into an FIA-approved Formula One race triggered a business, travel and financial renaissance at a heretofore hard-scrabble, Navy…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Shigeaki “Shige” Hattori, one of eight Japanese-born drivers to compete in the Indianapolis 500, died Saturday, April 5, 2025 in a car accident in Huntersville, N.C. Mr. Hattori was 61. According to nascar.com, the Huntersville Police Department confirmed Hattori’s death on Monday, April 7. Officers responded to a two-vehicle collision on NC Highway 73 at approximately 9:15 a.m. (EDT) Saturday. According to the release, the department’s preliminary investigation indicated Hattori’s 2025 Toyota Crown was traveling westbound when it crossed the centerline into the oncoming lane and collided with another vehicle. Hattori was pronounced dead…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has appointed a bona fide INDYCAR “insider” as team president. Industry executive Jay Frye will report directly to a team ownership group fronted by 1986 Indianapolis 500 champion Bobby Rahal, and oversee operations in the NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Frye’s experience spans over 30 years and includes series and team leadership roles on the competition, marketing and sales and ownership sides. Team leadership also announced it has parted with Steve Eriksen, who served as chief operating officer since January 2023. “First, I would like to thank Steve…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Team-owner Chip Ganassi believes his latest ace – three-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou – is only beginning to scratch the surface of his race craft. Who’s to argue, following Palou’s calculated performance during Sunday’s The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix deep in the California desert. Palou again made the impossible happen, completing a late-race dash from a nine-second deficit to pass pole-sitter Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren. Palou earned his 13th career INDYCAR victory in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, beating O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to the…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Arrow McLaren will start The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix Sunday afternoon from the two best seats…even its affluent club members can’t buy. Lead driver Pato O’Ward and teammate Christian Lundgaard collaborated to give Arrow McLaren its first 1-2 start in INDYCAR competition since rejoining the NTT IndyCar Series in 2020, locking-out the front row during NTT P1 Award qualifying Saturday for Round 2 of the 2025 season. O’Ward scored his sixth career pole and first since July 2022 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, with a hot lap of 1-minute,…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Alex Palou is working on a perfect start to the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season. The three-time/reigning series champion paced Practice 1 Friday for The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix in the California desert. Winner of the season-opener on the Streets of St. Pete in Florida on March 2, Palou posted a hot lap of 1-minute, 40.5486-seconds/109.810 mph around Thermal’s 3.067-mile/17-turn natural terrain road-course. “A really good start to the weekend,” said Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “We didn’t get many laps (11) because of some red flags, but…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio FORT WORTH – Retired NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick will be honored as 2025 inductee into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame on Friday, May 2, during ceremonies at Texas Motor Speedway. Harvick compiled a stellar 23-year Cup Series career during his tenures with Richard Childress Racing and Stewart Hass Racing, including three victories on TMS’ high-banked/1.5-mile oval. Harvick will be honored during a program scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (CDT) in The Speedway Club Ballroom, with local FOX 4 sports anchor Mike Doocy serving as emcee and PRN lead…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Lee Kunzman’s open-wheel racing resume features four starts in the Indianapolis 500, a combined total of 467 race-day laps completed around Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a best finish of seventh (twice). These are the stats of a journeyman driver, albeit in a benevolent sense. Because the story chronicled throughout Kunzman’s back pages _ a journey from his small hometown of Guttenburg, Iowa, to “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” _ is one of old-school, Midwest, never-quit grit. Lee J. Kunzman died on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025 in Indianapolis at age 81. A Celebration of…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Takuma Sato, longtime favorite open-wheel son of Honda Racing, will attempt to join the elite list of three-time Indianapolis 500 champions on May 25th in a one-off ride with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. RLLR announced that Sato will return to its INDYCAR organization for the 109th edition of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge during the Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Amada America, Inc. _ a leading global machine tool manufacturer and supplier in the sheet metal industry _ again will serve as primary sponsor for Sato’s No. 75 Honda-powered Dallara. Sato…