Author: John Sturbin

By John Sturbin | Raceday San Antonio ENNIS – Kalitta Motorsports’ signature mosh-pit victory celebration was well underway late Sunday afternoon when J.R. Todd bounded out of his Funny Car at the top end of the Texas Motorplex. Todd had just trailered championship point-leader Matt Hagan in the final of the 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals for his second victory of the season. With two races remaining in the six-event Countdown to the Championship playoffs, Todd’s victory not only temporarily paused Hagan’s bid for a fifth “Flopper” crown, it also rekindled his own title hopes and allowed for a bit…

By John Sturbin | Raceday San Antonio ENNIS – Jack Beckman and his No. 1 fan are poised to reprise a Texas Motorplex family moment _ and delay Matt Hagan’s bid for a fifth Nitro Funny Car championship – during Sunday’s 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals. Beckman secured his fourth pole of the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season via the 3.852-second/330.13 mph lap he recorded during optimum weather conditions Friday night. Fourth in the Countdown to the Championship point standings through three of six national events, “Fast Jack” closed-out Saturday afternoon’s time trials with a similarly stout 1,000-foot pass…

By John Sturbin | Raceday San Antonio ENNIS – Jack Beckman’s fascination with the Texas Motorplex was launched long before he became “Fast Jack” and an NHRA Nitro Funny Car world champion. The 39-time “Flopper” winner was a drag racing fan serving in the Air Force in Clovis, N.M., when he and a buddy drove 500 miles (one-way) to attend the inaugural NHRA national event here in 1986. “My dad (Bob) was living in the Dallas area,” Beckman recalled in the track’s Media Center Friday evening. “We stayed with him and watched Don Garlits beat Darrell Gwynn in the final…

By John Sturbin | Raceday San Antonio Two days of testing INDYCAR’s next-generation IR-28 chassis at Sebring International Raceway produced an impromptu-yet-historically significant moment Monday with Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing at the wheel. Palou passed a current Dallara IR-12 NTT IndyCar Series car driven by Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who was testing Firestone Firehawk tires along with Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske. Sebring International features three layout configurations, including the 3.7-mile circuit which plays host to IMSA’s 12 Hours of Sebring endurance event in March. Mark down Palou’s pass as the first on-track/at-speed pick-off move for the…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Gordon Johncock, whose open-wheel odyssey took him from Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway to a pair of Indianapolis 500 victories, died of natural causes on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026 at his home in South Branch, Mich. Mr. Johncock was 90. Born Aug. 5, 1936, in Hastings, Mich., the lifelong resident of the Great Lakes State won 25 INDYCAR races and was crowned national champion in 1976. However, Johncock is best-known for winning both memorable and forgettable 500s, each driving for Patrick Racing. Nicknamed “Gordy,” his stirring drive late in the 1982 Indianapolis 500 wheeling the…

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…

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…