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EDDIE KALEGI - STAFF WRITER Alex Palou celebrates his third win of 2026, and his first career victory at Long Beach. (Photo Credit: Penske Entertainment, April 19, 2026) Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach had no shortage of drama, particularly on pit road and hours after the race. An underrated driver from an underrated team dominated qualifying and much of the proceedings, but INDYCAR’s star remained inevitable. Here are four takeaways from what we saw in round 5 of the

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou put on a dominant performance around Barber Motorsports Park for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix , leading 79 laps en route to his second win of the season on Sunday. His perfect day was cemented by a significant gain in the point standings, as his 21st victory vaulted Palou two points behind championship leader Kyle Kirkwood. "I'm glad the 13th pole didn't affect the result. T

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Redemption. After getting spun from the lead by Max Taylor in the first race of INDY NXT’s doubleheader at Barber Motorsports Park, Alessandro de Tullio gets his redemption, leading 30 laps for his first INDY NXT victory on Sunday. Max Taylor and Nikita Johnson rounded out the podium. “It's a great feeling to finally get it done here. We had some racing stuff happen in Arlington, starting on pole. S

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou sweeps Saturday sessions with his second consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole position at Barber Motorsports Park on March 28. He cemented a dominant day for Honda, with all five of its teams represented in the Fast Six. " Very happy, obviously. I was very happy with the car this morning in practice two compared to yesterday," Palou said. "Feel like yesterday we were missing a little bit o

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Nikita Johnson was three seconds back from the lead with nine laps to go. All it took was lap traffic to change the complexion of the race, as Max Taylor utilized the traffic to catch and pass leader Alessandro de Tullio, but an advantageous move by both drivers in turn 16 gave Johnson the victory. "It's great to win again. I can't thank the team enough for everything they've done,” Johnson said. “

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) A session filled with spins and destroyed racecars overshadowed a resurgence to the top of the timing sheets for Alex Palou in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES second practice session at Barber Motorsports Park. Palou leads championship foe Kyle Kirkwood, who remained in the runner-up position after both practice sessions. With temperatures about 40 degrees colder than Friday’s practice session, lap times on

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Record-breaking. While many drivers displayed record-breaking lap times around Barber Motorsports Park, it was rookie Alessandro de Tukkio who topped the leaderboard, taking pole for both races for his third consecutive pole position. Through the 10-minute qualifying session, Alessandro de Tukkio, driver of the A.J. Foyt Racing No.14, and Nikita Johnson, driver of the Cape Motorsports No.21, traded

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Championship favorites couldn’t top the board. After Team Penske’s difficult weekend in Arlington, the trio of Scott McLaughlin, David Malukas and Josef Newgarden dominated NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ first practice session at Barber Motorsports Park. The Chevrolet-powered team showed the most consistency between the two tire compounds, but were scattered through the top-10 once the field put on the altern

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributo r Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today 2025) Once Kyle Kirkwood passed Alex Palou with 16 laps to go, he didn’t look back, holding the four-time champion for the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington Grand Prix victory. Kirkwood capped off a dominant weekend by Andretti Global, as the team led 47 laps with all cars finishing inside the top four. "I passed Palou, which is a very rare thing to say, in a race” Kirkwood said. “It was

On March 1st, the NTT IndyCar Series began the 2026 Campaign on the Streets of St. Petersburg in Florida. Here are some of the best photos taken throughout the weekend. Thank you to our photographer, Marvin Hernandez Jr. You can check out more of his work @shotzbyjr on Instagram!

EDDIE KALEGI - STAFF WRITER Josef Newgarden celebrating his win at Nashville Superspeedway last season. (Photo Credit: Casey Shepherd, Motorsports Today, August 2025) Just like INDYCAR’s most recent trip to the desert in 2018, Saturday afternoon’s Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway ended in a Josef Newgarden win, a much-needed victory to set the tone for a resurgent season for Team Penske. Newgarden’s teammate David Malukas started from the pole for the first time in his NT

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou remained untouchable on the Streets of St. Petersburg, leading 59 laps en route to his 20th career victory. After taking the lead by overcutting the field during the first set of green-flag pit stops, the Spaniard pulled out a 12.4-second lead on the rest of the field, the largest winning margin in Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg history. "I was sad last year that the season

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernendez Jr (Motorsports Today, 2026) Nikita Johnson ends Max Taylor’s perfect weekend, passing him on the opening restart of the INDY NXT by Firestone GP of St. Petersburg, leading 42 laps for his maiden INDY NXT SERIES victory on Sunday, March 1. "I knew I just wanted to get to the front," Johnson said. "That's the biggest thing. Just wanted to control the race. I know that I'm pretty good at that, so I knew that I was going to d

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) Scott McLaughlin took pole in Fast Six qualifying on the Streets of St. Petersburg ahead of Marcus Ericsson and rookie Dennis Hauger. Not only was it the 12th pole of the New Zealander’s career, but it was also his back-to-back poles for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. “Just really proud of the execution, because I felt like we nearly actually missed the [advancing past the first q

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) After crashing in practice in his last time around the Streets of St. Petersburg. Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No.3 Team Penske Chevrolet , topped first practice four-tenths ahead of Hondas of Felix Rosenqvist, driver of the Meyer Shank Racing No.60 and Kyle Kirkwood, driver of the Andretti Global No.27. McLaughlin ran the fastest time of the weekend with a 1:01.102s lap. His speed in pract

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) The INDY NXT SERIES wrapped both its practice sessions ahead of the series’ qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. Max Taylor led an Andretti Global 1-2-3 in the first practice session on Friday, Feb.27, and carried that momentum into the second session, topping the session as it timed out. After the last season’s INDY NXT champion Dennis Hauger swept every session at St. Petersburg last se

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) For many fans, the Streets of St. Petersburg have welcomed a refreshing change, with many drivers in new seats, the start of a three-race stretch, weather troubles and the addition of a new series on track. All the on-track action began on Friday, Feb. 27. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race on a street course for the first time. It also marks NASCAR's first attempt at racing at the st

EDDIE KALEGI - STAFF WRITER NTT INDYCAR Series driver Graham Rahal (Photo Credit: Tim Allen, Rides&Drives, 2021) Throughout Tuesday's proceedings at the NTT INDYCAR Series' annual "Content Days" in Indianapolis, there was little discussion about a bombshell report involving a race in the nation's capital that was sweeping the racing world in recent days. Some drivers, like two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden, explained that they didn't have much information abo

Courtesy of a 10-win rookie campaign, Connor Zilisch wins the TIMMY Award for "Best Driver." As Max Verstappen took the checkered flag first at Yas Marina earlier this month, while Lando Norris crossed the start/finish line third to crown his maiden Formula One World Driver's Championship, it marked the end of the 2025 major motorsports season. After a year marked by record-setting performances, unexpected moments, and thrilling action, let's take a look back at the best of t

JEFFREY HRUNKA - INDYCAR CONTRIBUTOR Team Penske's Josef Newgarden leads the field at World Wide Technology Raceway. (Photo Credit: Riley Ogle, Motorsports Today, June 2025) The NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone announced Thursday that they will pivot to an independent officiating system for the 2026 season on Dec. 11. The new organization, INDYCAR Officiating Inc., has been established as a third-party Independent Officiating Board (IOB) separate from Penske Enter