Author: John Sturbin

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio A persistent Midwest rain forced postponement of Day 1 of qualifications for the 110th Indianapolis 500 on Saturday, prompting INDYCAR to update its schedule for PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Beginning at noon (EDT) today, all 33 qualifiers will line up based upon Friday’s qualifying draw and have one attempt to post a traditional four-lap/10-mile qualifying speed and the opportunity to advance to subsequent qualifying rounds. SEE: Qualification Order Due to the time parameters required Sunday for “knockout rounds,” initial qualifying runs will determine positions 13-33, with the fastest 12…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist emerged as first driver to top 233 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week during the traditional “Fast Friday” practice leading into qualifying for the 110th Indianapolis 500. Rosenqvist turned his top lap in 38.5650-seconds/233.372 mph around the 2.5-mile oval late in a session shortened from six hours to five after morning rain forced a two-hour delay to the start of on-track activity. Friday’s practice was the fourth and final session before PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. “We started pretty slow, to be honest,” said…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio As a four-time Indianapolis 500 champion, Helio Castroneves certainly knows how to successfully navigate 200 laps/500-miles around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. However, INDYCAR’s updated qualifying procedure for the 110th edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” is another matter. A field of 33 drivers and cars have been practicing at IMS since Tuesday _ enough entries to keep the traditional car-count intact. However, that also means the drama associated with “Bump Day” during Sunday’s final session of time trials will once again not take place. Enter the revised format announced Monday by…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward shot to the top of the speed chart early during Day 3 of practice for the 110th Indianapolis 500, with the promise of increased horsepower and speeds beckoning on “Fast Friday.” O’Ward turned his best lap of 39.5939-seconds/227.308 mph around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway in traffic with the benefit of an aerodynamic tow during the first 35 minutes of Thursday’s six-hour session. It was O’Ward’s fastest lap of the week and third-fastest overall, trailing the 228.080 mph run by Conor Daly of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Speeds soared Wednesday during Day 2 of practice for the 110th Indianapolis 500, with open-wheel journeyman Conor Daly emerging as the fastest of two drivers cracking the 228 mph-barrier at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Daly continued his strong start to the Month of May by posting the fastest speed of the two days of practice _ 228.080 mph _ in the No. 23 DRR Kingspan Chevrolet fielded by Indy 500-only team Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Daly was third-fastest on Opening Day on Tuesday at 225.838 mph. Daly turned his top lap Wednesday in thick…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Alex Palou sussed out “a couple of issues” to post the fastest lap on Opening Day of track activity for the 110th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Palou turned a hot lap of 39.8342-seconds/225.937 mph with less than 15 minutes remaining in Tuesday’s six-hour session around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Spaniard’s fast lap was recorded on the first run Palou made after his crew evaluated the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda for nearly 90 minutes. Palou pulled into the pits around 4:15 p.m.…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio INDYCAR’s second annual Java House Grand Prix of Arlington street race has been booked for March 19-21, 2027 in the city’s popular Entertainment District. Renewal of the contract was expected. INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles confirmed during an interview with racedaySA.com on March 2 that event partners Penske Entertainment Corp., co-owner of sanctioning body INDYCAR and the NTT IndyCar Series along with FOX Sports; the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and MLB’s Texas Rangers via REV Entertainment were working under “a multi-year deal, typically from three-to-five years.” Next year’s date was widely reported on television stations…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Christian Lundgaard joined the short list of international drivers to have carried McLaren Racing’s trademark Papaya Orange livery to an INDYCAR victory Saturday during the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course. Lundgaard drove the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to his second career victory by 4.6713-seconds over the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet of David Malukas. A 24-year-old native of Denmark, Lundgaard snapped a 47-race winless streak to become only the third McLaren driver to win in INDYCAR, joining three-time Indianapolis 500 champion Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth,…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Persistent rain and a balky clutch failed to dampen Graham Rahal’s outlook for INDYCAR’s pivotal Month of May Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pooling of water on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course forced postponement of NTT P1 Award qualifying for the Sonsio Grand Prix to Saturday morning. Live coverage of qualifying is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) on FS2, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls, with the three-round session starting at 10:45 a.m. Coverage will move to FS1 at 11:30 a.m. The warmup session originally scheduled for 11:40 a.m. Saturday…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio FORT WORTH _ NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver may have a new favorite racetrack. Or not. An outspoken critic of Texas Motor Speedway’s reconfigured and high-banked/1.5-mile oval, Elliott marked a workmanlike NASCAR Cup Series victory in Sunday’s WURTH 400 presented by Liqui Moly with a sense of irony. “I have not been a huge fan of this place, and I’ve made that very obvious, but we continue to work hard,” Elliott said after executing a lengthy frontstretch burnout in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “I really think this is a testament to the whole No.…