By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood methodically has emerged as “last man standing” between Alex Palou and his bid for a fourth NTT IndyCar Series championship. The only driver other than Palou to win an INDYCAR race in 2025, Kirkwood led an eventful opening practice Friday for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the All-New 2026 Passport. Kirkwood turned a top lap of 1-minute, 5.8272-seconds/123.487 mph in the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda featuring a special Honda tribute livery. SEE: Practice Results “We’re really fast right now,” said Kirkwood, a 26-year-old native of Jupiter,…
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 Alex Palou stretched his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda’s available fuel supply to the last drop Sunday afternoon at historic Road America, where the Spaniard secured his sixth NTT IndyCar Series victory in nine starts this season. “It was a crazy race. There were moments I thought we were losing a ton of positions,” said Palou, whose victory in the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR was the definition of “strategic.” Consider that Palou, who qualified second, led only six of 55 laps around the daunting, 4.014-mile/14-turn natural-terrain road-course in Wisconsin’s…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Rookie Louis Foster always will be able to frame-and-explain his first INDYCAR pole by the reaction of the driver who qualified second Saturday afternoon at Road America. That would be three-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who admittedly was ambushed by Foster and his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew during Firestone Fast Six qualifying for today’s XPEL Grand Prix of Road America presented by AMR. Foster became the second rookie to earn an NTT P1 Award this season, clicking off a stunning lap of 1- minute, 44.5141-seconds/138.263 mph around Road America’s daunting,…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood remained in relentless championship form Friday during INDYCAR’s opening practice for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR. Winner of two consecutive NTT IndyCar Series races, Kirkwood emerged atop the time sheet with a best lap of 1-minute, 44.9881-seconds/137.638 mph around the 4.014-mile/14-turn natural-terrain road-course in Wisconsin. Kirkwood began the weekend third in the driver standings, two points behind second-place Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren and only 75 behind runaway leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing. SEE: Practice Results “Good start,” said Kirkwood, driver of the…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans historically has been manufacturer-cyclical, and the current cycle is all about Ferrari’s “Prancing Horse.” Ferrari freight-trained to its third consecutive victory in the French classic’s 93rd edition Sunday at Circuit de la Sarthe, where the No. 83 AF Corse 499P Hypercar shared by Robert Kubica of Poland, Yifei Ye of China and Philip Hanson of Great Britain topped the 21-car field. AF Corse emerged as the first “customer team” to win the world’s greatest endurance race since Champion Racing in 2005, upstaging the No. 50 and…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Andretti Global breakout star Kyle Kirkwood erased the label of “street-circuit specialist” from his INDYCAR profile Sunday night at World Wide Technology Raceway. Kirkwood displayed a masterful combination of pace and strategy en route to victory in a chaotic Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on WWTR’s egg-shaped, 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Ill., outside St. Louis. SEE: Race Results Kirkwood’s first oval-track victory was his career-best third in eight races this season and fifth of his NTT IndyCar Series career. Kirkwood’s previous four wins were all scored on the series’ “concrete…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Will Power, Team Penske and Chevrolet are poised to end their respective problematic, winless INDYCAR seasons in primetime tonight at World Wide Technology Raceway. Power added to the storied history of Team Penske on Saturday during NTT P1 Award qualifying for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline. Competing in the final year of his current contract, Power secured the team’s 700th pole across all racing series while leading a front-row lockout for Roger S. Penske’s open-wheel powerhouse. Power drove to his first pole since July 2023 at Iowa Speedway…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio A pair of golden Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars will pace the field to the flying start of Saturday’s 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Cadillac Racing completed an historic American, two-car/front-row lockout during Thursday’s Hyperpole qualifying session at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France. For the first time since a Ford GT40 Mk IV qualified first in 1967, an American automaker earned pole position for the world’s greatest endurance race. It’s also the first time a Cadillac will lead the field to the green flag at Du Mans. Alex Lynn drove…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Led by the field-topping lap of Alex Lynn, Cadillac Racing’s four Hypercar entries advanced into first round Hyperpole qualifying for this weekend’s 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Lynn, driver of the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, paced the 21 Hypercar entries on Wednesday with a hot lap of 3-minutes, 22.847-seconds around the famed 8.467-mile/13.626-kilometer Circuit de la Sarthe in France. Lynn ousted the No. 15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Dries Vanthoor of Belgium from pole position by a miniscule four-hundredths of a second (3-minutes, 22.887-seconds).…
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Cadillac Racing’s four-car Hypercar contingent combined to record 251 laps during the opening Test Day leading into this weekend’s 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A pair of three-hour sessions on Sunday provided the initial opportunity for drivers and crews from the 21 Hypercar entries to match strengths around the famed, 8.467-mile/13.626-kilometer Circuit de la Sarthe in France. Toyota topped the time sheet at 3-minutes, 26.246-seconds in the No. 9 GR010 HYBRID wheeled by Brendon Hartley of New Zealand. The reigning Manufacturers’ World Champion, Toyota is chasing its sixth overall win…