All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Josef Newgarden is out to defy his critics. After a trying week in which he and Team Penske have been dealing with the aftermath of their St. Petersburg disqualifications, the No. 2 team did what they do best in the opening practice for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, topping the Friday afternoon session. While the session got off to an inauspicious start, with Newgarden spinning off track in Turn 14 in the opening minutes of the 90-minuteRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – And now for the rest of the story. Ahead of Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, Team Penske has been busy trying to put out the fires after two of their three cars were disqualified for tampering with the Push to Pass system in the season-opening race in St. Petersburg. But many in the NTT IndyCar Series paddock aren’t buying the explanations that have been put forth for the team’s transgressions. Across the board from Andretti Global to ChipRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Team Penske apology tour has begun. Still sifting through the ashes of the disqualifications, points and monetary fines levied by INDYCAR earlier this week for tampering with its Push to Pass system in St. Petersburg, the organization comes into race weekend in Alabama having to fight a war on two fronts. Before the cars ever turn a lap for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, the team will have to find a way to navigate through theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Team Penske started off the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season with a dominant run at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, finishing the race first, third, and fourth, but as of Wednesday morning, those finishes have been wiped off the board. IndyCar officials announced that race winner Josef Newgarden and third place finisher Scott McLaughlin have been handed disqualifications for irregularities with their Push to Pass systems in place for the season opener, dropping both to the bottom of the finishing order. Power was allowedRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Erik Jones will not be racing in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Dover, following his hard crash at Talladega last Sunday. Corey Heim will take up the relief driver role in the No. 43 Toyota, Legacy Motor Club said in a statement Tuesday. Jones was involved in a four-car pileup at the 2.66-mile superspeedway on lap 157, in which his car was sent head-on into the outside SAFER barrier in Turn 3. Though Jones was able to climb from his car under his ownRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Like a Michael Jordan drive to the basket, Tyler Reddick channeled his 23XI Racing co-owner on the final lap at Talladega, weaving his way through the chaos to get to the finish line first and score the win in Sunday’s GEICO 500. Heading into the final lap, it was shaping up to be a battle of the Fords and Toyotas, with pole-sitter Michael McDowell and six-time Talladega winner Brad Keselowski leading the Blue Ovals on the bottom lane, with Reddick leading what wasRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Redemption. It may have taken two overtimes to get there and the stress of a fuel tank running dry, but Jesse Love is a winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, holding off the field to win Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega. In the second race of the season at Atlanta, Love seemed destined to win, only to have his fuel tank run dry and snatch victory from his hands, but this time around, he had enough to see him through to the finish,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Michael McDowell has been a force to be reckoned with in qualifying on superspeedways this season and he was back at it again at Talladega, banking his second pole position of the season. With a lap of 52.609 seconds, 182.022 mph, McDowell put his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford on the front row for the third time on a superspeedway in 2024. For teams like Front Row and drivers like McDowell, Talladega is one race that they circle as an opportunity andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – To fuel save or not to fuel save, that is the question. Coming out of the Daytona 500, one of the major talking points was the rising prevalence of fuel saving at superspeedways and the effect it is having on the racing at those types of tracks. It appears more of the same will be true when the green flag drops on Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega. The overwhelming consensus from the driving corps will be that fuel saving will be the dominantRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. — From deep in the heart of Texas to Sweet Home Alabama. Following last weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series is on to the biggest and baddest track on the circuit – the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s running of the GEICO 500. Since opening its doors in 1969, the track just off Interstate 20 in Eastern Alabama has been a wild card on the schedule with the unpredictable nature of superspeedway racing on full display over the past half-century,Read More