All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Jimmie Johnson is no stranger to success at Texas Motor Speedway and Sunday, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion proved that success also applies to the NTT IndyCar Series. It’s no secret the Johnson has struggled to get his feet under him while driving an open-wheel car, but with the introduction of the ovals to his schedule in year two with Chip Ganassi Racing, there was hope that things would take a turn for the better. When the checkered flag flew onRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – As they say, it’s never over until it’s over. Scott McLaughlin dominated at Texas Motor Speedway, leading 186 laps and looked to be in the catbird seat on the last lap of Sunday’s XPEL 375. However, his Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden had other plans, passing him on the last lap to steal the win. Biding his time behind McLaughlin over the course of the closing laps, Newgarden saw his chance when the New Zealander caught lapped traffic, powering around McLaughlin throughRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry will have a new pilot for Sunday’s running of the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway, with Santino Ferrucci taking over for Jack Harvey. First reported by Trackside Online, the move comes a day after Harvey crashed heavily in final practice on the 1.5-mile track, which cracked the tub on his primary car and forced the team to a backup for the race. Following the crash on Saturday, Harvey was checked and released fromRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – A day full of action at Texas Motor Speedway concluded on Saturday afternoon with one final hour of practice for drivers and teams to get their cars dialed in for the XPEL 375. When the checkered flag flew on the session, Josef Newgarden was on top of the leaderboard with a lap of 23.235 seconds (223.108 mph). After starting the day off 14th in first practice, Newgarden’s result in final practice marked a steady progression throughout the day for the Team PenskeRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has its work cut out heading into Sunday’s running of the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway. All three team entries struggled in qualifying on Saturday, bringing up the rear of the field with three of the last four starting positions on the grid. Jack Harvey was the quickest of the three in 24th, followed by Christian Lundgaard in 25th, and Graham Rahal rolling off dead last in 27th. While polesitter Felix Rosenqvist timed in with a blazingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Felix Rosenqvist will lead the field to the green in Sunday’s XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway after putting up the fastest lap in qualifying to score the pole position. The two-lap average of 221.110 mph (46.891 seconds) was enough to boost the Arrow McLaren SP driver to the top of the board just 11 cars into qualifying, where he would outlast the remaining drivers to score his first pole since 2019 and first career pole on an oval. “It was aRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Simon Pagenaud is off to a flying start on the first day of NTT IndyCar Series action at Texas Motor Speedway. Aided by new downforce options for the 2022 running of the XPEL 375 and a clear, cool morning, Pagenaud piloted his Meyer Shank Racing Honda to the top of the board early on in the first practice session of the day with a lap of 23.2376 seconds (223.087 mph) and remained there throughout the hour of on-track activity. “It was aRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When the NASCAR Cup Series takes the green flag in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta, it will also be taking a step off into the unknown. Atlanta’s aging racing surface, which had been in place since 1997, held together as long as possible, but the 260 laps around the 1.5-mile track last July were the last on that particular surface as the track underwent a repave and reconfiguration for the 2022 season. Almost as soon as Kurt Busch crossed the line to takeRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When the green flag drops on Sunday’s XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson will be in familiar territory. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has had his hands full since moving over to the NTT IndyCar Series last year, struggling to get a handle on driving an open-wheel car during his part-time schedule that focused only on the road and street courses. With the addition of the ovals to his schedule in 2022 allowing him to run the full season, Johnson is hoping toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The start of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season has seen the Next Gen car put through its paces on a variety of tracks, now it heads to Phoenix Raceway and Sunday’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 for what could be its most important race yet. The one-mile oval in the Arizona desert played host to a two-day test in late January, but there is still a cloud of uncertainty about how the car will race come Sunday, making the very limited track time available like gold forRead More