Author: John Sturbin

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.…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio FORT WORTH _ Cooper Flagg says he “grew up pretty quick” during his rookie NBA season with the Dallas Mavericks. Flagg’s selection on Monday as 2025-2026 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year reiterated that fact and served as the perfect segue into his role as Honoray Pace Car Driver for Sunday’s NASCAR WURTH 400 presented by Liqui Moly. Flagg experienced his first Cup Series race from the best seat on the planet _ the cockpit of a blue 2026 Chevrolet Corvette pacing the field to the green flag. Flagg was given a preview of…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio FORT WORTH – Kyle Larson spent his Saturday afternoon schooling the field around Texas Motor Speedway en route to a closer-than-it-appeared victory in the 22nd annual Andy’s Frozen Custard 340. Larson scored his second consecutive NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory in Cowtown and third overall at the expense of JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, who fell 0.293-seconds short of what would have been his first series win on TMS’ high-banked/1.5-mile oval. The teammates scuffled for the lead even before the race went green after the day’s seventh and final caution flag fell…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio FORT WORTH – Carson Hocevar is NASCAR’s definition of “smokin’ hot.” Five days after scoring his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway, Hocevar emerged as the winner of a two-lap shootout at Texas Motor Speedway that served as an exclamation point to a frantic NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250. The night’s second red flag stoppage for 6 minutes, 12 seconds for a frontstretch incident involving five trucks set up the overtime after 166 laps of a race originally scheduled for 167 around TMS’ high-banked/1.5-mile oval. When the race went green on…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio INDYCAR rookie Caio Collet of A.J. Foyt Racing rode the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s famed “aerodynamic wave” to the fastest overall speed on Wednesday, closing-out the Month of May’s annual Indianapolis 500 Open Test. The 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone series runner-up, Collet turned a top lap of 226.381 mph in the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet during the early moments of Wednesday’s session. The start of Day 2 of testing around the 2.5-mile oval was delayed 75 minutes by damp track conditions created by overnight and morning rain. Collet’s top speed was…

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio It’s late April, but the motorsports calendar officially flipped to the Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, Day 1 of the Indianapolis 500 Open Test. INDYCAR journeyman Conor Daly topped the speed chart with a hot lap of 225.394 mph in the No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet. A 12-time Indianapolis 500 starter, Daly was among five drivers at the top of the chart to have made at least 10 starts in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The race’s 110th edition will take the green flag on Sunday, May…