By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio The grinding accident that prematurely ended Chip Ganassi’s promising open-wheel driving career 41 years ago may be ancient history to casual INDYCAR fans. That crash, however, set into motion a motorsports dynasty currently celebrating its latest NTT IndyCar Series championship. Chip Ganassi Racing’s resident wunderkind, Alex Palou, clinched his fourth championship and third in a row with two races remaining on the 17-race 2025 schedule. A 28-year-old native of Spain, Palou is just the fourth driver to three-peat as series champion. His eight wins heading into today’s season-ending Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand…
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 NASCAR’s national touring series will again double-up in Texas in 2026 during separate weekends at Circuit of The Americas in Austin and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) will return to Circuit of The Americas (COTA) for the sixth consecutive season Feb. 27-March 1. The NCS race will be run on Sunday, March 1, preceded by the NOAPS Focused Health 250 (currently badged as the NASCAR Xfinity Series) on Saturday, Feb. 28. On-track activity will begin Friday, Feb. 27, on the world-class permanent road-course…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Denmark’s Christian Rasmussen parlayed deft tire strategy by his Ed Carpenter Racing team during a late caution period and his signature aggressive style to power past all-INDYCAR-everything Alex Palou en route to victory in Sunday’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250. “The race went our way,” Rasmussen said after scoring his first NTT IndyCar Series victory. “We did what we do best on ovals _ running whatever line the car in front is not. Again, we were amazing in traffic, which that’s what made the main difference today again I think. Then with a good…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Newly-minted/repeat INDYCAR champion Alex Palou is stating his case as an oval-track ace. Palou claimed the NTT P1 Award Saturday for today’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 on the final attempt of the qualifying session, turning a two-lap average speed of 162.971 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou, who clinched his fourth NTT IndyCar Series championship on Aug. 10 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, earned his sixth pole this season. SEE: Qualifying Results “I knew I had a good car,” said Palou, a 28-year-old native of Spain. “I just wanted to…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Barring “Breaking News” from The Milwaukee Mile, saving Team Penske from the embarrassment of a winless INDYCAR season has not publicly moved the needle in Will Power’s bid for a new contract. Team Penske’s longest-tenured driver, Power staked his claim for another contract with owner Roger S. Penske by winning the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI on Aug. 10. “A Team Penske-type day, man,” Power said during a post-race presser in Oregon spiced with comments ranging from confidence to defiance. “When we’re put in the position, we can win. It’s…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Mercurial Alex Palou updated his place in INDYCAR history by clinching his fourth NTT IndyCar Series championship Sunday at Portland International Raceway, where the Chip Ganassi Racing ace shared an emotional spotlight with veteran Will Power of Team Penske. Power staked his claim for another contract with team-owner Roger Penske by winning the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI. And Palou hoisted his third consecutive Astor Challenge Cup trophy after a third-place finish in Race No. 15 of a season quickly running out of superlatives. “It’s the best. The way I’ve…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio INDYCAR ace Pato O’Ward will attempt to keep his championship pursuit of Alex Palou mathematically alive Sunday at Portland International Raceway from a “gifted” pole position. Arrow McLaren teammates Christian Lundgaard and O’Ward produced Saturday’s two quickest laps, respectively, during Firestone Fast Six qualifying for the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI. Driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, O’Ward was awarded P1 after Lundgaard incurred a six-place grid penalty (to seventh) for an unapproved engine change after Friday’s practice. Both drivers improved considerably lapping on Firestone’s Firehawk alternate tires…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard momentarily upstaged championship leader Alex Palou during Friday’s opening practice for the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI. With Palou poised to clinch his fourth NTT IndyCar Series title, Lundgaard toured the 1.964-mile/12-turn Portland (Ore.) International Raceway in 58.5320-seconds/119.627 mph in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Palou placed second in the 80-minute session divided into groups with a best lap of 58.5381- seconds/119.614 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda _ a gap of just 0.0061-seconds. SEE: Practice Results INDYCAR is racing in the…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio FORT WORTH – Next spring’s inaugural INDYCAR Grand Prix of Arlington could emerge as a template for future NTT IndyCar Series schedules under the new investment partnership between Penske Entertainment and Fox Corporation, parent company of FOX Sports. Those two mega-entities announced an investment in the future of North America’s premier open-wheel racing series last week with FOX’s acquisition of one-third interest in Penske Entertainment, inclusive of INDYCAR and the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The investment is expected to initiate a new era of growth for the NTT IndyCar Series, featuring innovative and…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio With his fourth INDYCAR championship a fait accompli _ that’s French for it’s a done-deal, race fans _ Alex Palou is free to chase open-wheel history. Palou crushed the slim championship hopes of closest-pursuer Pato O’Ward and the rest of his NTT IndyCar Series peers with a ridiculously dominant victory in Sunday’s Java Grand Prix of Monterey. Pole-winner Palou led a massive 84 of 95 laps around WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca’s 2.238-mile/11-turn natural-terrain layout in Northern California en route to his second consecutive event victory, and third win in the past four years.…