Author: John Sturbin

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio ENNIS – With two races remaining on the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship schedule, Richard Gadson is unashamedly doing the math. “Mostly, I’m counting points,” said Gadson, who is chasing his first Pro Stock Motorcycle world championship. “It’s a math equation right now for me.” Gadson’s victory over Brayden Davis in Sunday’s final of the 40th annual NHRA Texas Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex padded his lead from 29-to-72 points over Vance & Hines teammate Gaige Herrera, the two-time/reigning PSM champion. “I’m not taking nothing for granted,” said Gadson, a 39-year-old native of…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio ENNIS – Drag racing Hall of Famer Billy Meyer and his Texas Motorplex are aging gracefully this weekend, while playing host to what has morphed into the sport’s longest cocktail party. The fifth annual Stampede of Speed is inexorably rolling toward its top end _ Sunday’s eliminations of the 40th annual Texas NHRA Fall Nationals. After 10-days and nights of drag racing mixed with Texas-themed live music, menus and family-friendly events throughout Ellis County, attention-spans are re-focusing on “The Billyplex.” “Yeah, it’s not quite Jerry’s World,” said Meyer, 71, referencing the AT&T Stadium…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio ENNIS – Billy Meyer’s Texas Motorplex drew a comparison to Max Yasgur’s farm during Wednesday evening’s annual Champions Dinner, a prelude to this weekend’s 40th Texas NHRA Fall Nationals. Glenn Menard, the Motorplex’s first general manager, led off a Stampede of Speed program honoring reigning and past national event champions with a look back on the facility’s inaugural day of eliminations on Sunday, Sept. 28, 1986. “It was magic that day,” said Menard, introduced on-stage as Employee No. 1. “People came from all over the country to see the Motorplex, (just ask Funny Car…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Mick Schumacher will add to his globe-trotting motorsports resume during an INDYCAR test later this month with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course. Schumacher, 26, currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) for Alpine. The son of seven-time Formula One World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher, Mick has made 44 starts in F1 with a best finish of sixth in addition to four WEC podiums to-date. Schumacher most recently drove an open-wheel race car as the Mercedes F1 reserve driver while competing in WEC in 2024, and participated in…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Veteran INDYCAR team-owner Dale Coyne will mentor rising star Dennis Hauger during his rookie NTT IndyCar Series season in 2026 in partnership with Andretti Global. Dale Coyne Racing has confirmed that Hauger, the reigning INDY NXT by Firestone champion, will drive one of the team’s Honda-powered entries for the full 17-race schedule. The team also announced it has entered into a technical alliance with Andretti Global for the 2026 season. A 22-year-old native of Norway, Hauger scored six wins, five additional podium finishes, 13 top-10s and seven poles in 14 races en route to…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Native Chicagoan David Malukas has signed a multi-year contract with Team Penske to drive the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet beginning with the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season. Malukas, 23, will be the second driver to wheel team-owner Roger S. Penske’s No. 12 entry heretofore synonymous with Australian Will Power, a two-time series champion (2014, 2022) and winner of the 2018 Indianapolis 500. Free-agent Power, 44, parted company with Penske earlier this month and subsequently signed with Andretti Global to drive the No. Gainbridge 26 Honda formerly wheeled by Colton Herta. Malukas’ move from…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Alex Palou’s dominant run to a fourth NTT IndyCar Series championship arguably generated appointment TV for open-wheel fans on FOX Sports’ various platforms. The plusses-and-minuses of Palou’s eight-win season during the 17-race schedule remains fodder for bench racers at the start of INDYCAR’s lengthy offseason. FOX Sports executives can counter with real-world numbers, beginning with an average of 1,362,000 viewers per event, according to Nielsen Media Research. That represents a 27 percent year-to-year increase from 2024 (on NBC and its platforms) and the most-watched season in 17 years. In 2025, the NTT IndyCar Series…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Will Power’s well-documented free-agent saga has ended with Andretti Global. Power will re-boot his stellar INDYCAR career in 2026 with Andretti Global, while Colton Herta will transition with the organization into Formula One. Andretti Global announced Wednesday the signing of Power, a two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner with Team Penske. Power will drive the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda vacated by Herta, a series regular since 2019 who went winless this season and finished seventh in the 2025 driver standings. Power, a 44-year-old native of Australia, won one race en…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Josef Newgarden’s INDYCAR season from hell ended in the front stretch grandstands of Nashville Superspeedway Sunday afternoon, seated-and-celebrating with his hometown fans. All that was missing was a cold Hap And Harry’s Ale. The Nashville-area native broke a 20-race NTT IndyCar Series winless streak dating to August 2024 with his first victory of 2025 and 32nd of his illustrious open-wheel career by winning the season-ending Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot. “Very special. Never a bad time to show up and have a good day,” said Newgarden, a two-time series…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward secretly began the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season chasing a rather odd statistic. “My goal was actually completing every single lap of the year,” O’Ward said post-qualifying Saturday afternoon at Nashville Superspeedway. “I didn’t really have a win objective. I didn’t have really anything. I just wanted to finish every single lap. Sadly, that dream was crushed in Portland.” Recall that O’Ward inherited P1 from teammate Christian Lundgaard of Denmark for the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI at Portland International Raceway on Aug. 10. Lundgaard…