Headline News Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Josef Newgarden will be starting the year with the best seat in the house after capturing the pole for Sunday’s 20th annual Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. With a lap of 59.571 seconds, the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet jumped to the top of the board in the final round of qualifying and was able to hold off all comers to score his first St. Petersburg pole position and 17th overall in his NTT IndyCar Series career. TheRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin was convinced he had to improve his performance at Phoenix Raceway, and on Saturday afternoon, he took the first step in that direction. Touring the one-mile track in 27.138 seconds (132.655 seconds) in the final round of qualifying, Hamlin put his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the pole for Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hamlin, who hasn’t won at Phoenix since 2019, beat JGR teammate Ty Gibbs (132.227Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Day two in St. Petersburg is off and running, with Colton Herta and Andretti Global topping the charts in practice on Saturday morning with a lap of one minute, 0.133 seconds in his No. 26 Honda. The 2021 winner of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg jumped to the head of the line in the final 10 minutes of practice, eclipsing the Team Penske duo of Josef Newgarden and Will Power. “The car has been good so far,” Herta said. “IRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season is officially underway. Friday’s opening practice session for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg marked the first laps turned in anger this year, with Felix Rosenqvist striking the first blow of the weekend with a lap of one minute, 0.339 seconds. Rosenqvist enters 2024 with a new team, having moved over to Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60 Honda entry after spending the past three seasons with Arrow McLaren. “Really smooth start for us,” Rosenqvist said.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer All the talk and preparation is over as the 2024 INDYCAR season kicks off at the popular St. Petersburg Street Circuit in Florida. Several headlines will be made throughout the 18 sanctioned events, highlighted by the million-dollar exhibition race at Thermal Club, and the return of both Milwaukee and Nashville Superspeedway. The stories range from veterans moving onto new teams to others looking to reclaim their reputation as racers. As always, you’ll have a new breed of competitors ranging from Indy NXT grads to a formerRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a long six-month offseason, the NTT IndyCar Series is back in action for the 2024 campaign, beginning with Sunday’s running of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. As the home of the IndyCar season opener, the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit along the waterfront in St. Petersburg, Florida, including the runway of the Albert Whitted Airport has provided an exciting venue to kick off the season and the 2024 edition should be another action-packed chapter. The on-track activity begins with practice on Friday afternoon atRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer “This Mustang Dark Horse is bitchin’!” Noah Gragson didn’t mince any words on how he felt about bringing home a superb sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In a race where the four-car organization remained quiet or faltered, Gragson and his No. 10 squad put together a strong showing. Notably, Gragson’s charge towards his third career top-10 finish shined bright in the final 27 green flag laps where he was in a battle for a top-five finish,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — Based on the box score alone, you might think Kyle Larson dominated Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  You’d be wrong.  Yes, Larson led 181 of 267 laps at the 1.5-mile track. Kyle Busch led the second-most—18. And, yes, Larson swept the first two stages and took the checkered flag to secure his third victory at Las Vegas, tying Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski for most among full-time active Cup drivers.  The truth is thatRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — Chandler Smith won the battle. John Hunter Nemechek won the war.  The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates spent most of Saturday afternoon racing each other for the top spot in The LiUNA!, a 300-mile NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was Nemechek who proved superior in the long run.  After Smith won the first two stages of the race—the second with a deft last-lap pass of Nemechek’s No. 20 Toyota—Nemechek asserted his dominance.  By the time Nemechek crossedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — For the second NASCAR Cup Series race this young season, Joey Logano will start on the pole. Speeding around windswept Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 29.291 seconds (184.357 mph) in the final round of Saturday’s time trials, Logano will occupy the top spot in the grid for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). A three-time winner at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway—tied with Brad Keselowski for most among full-time active drivers—Logano beat Hendrick Motorsports driverRead More