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( Photo Source: Twitter.com/TKNews8 ) It wasn't that long ago that we knew the #48 Chevrolet team and Victory Lane as synonymous. The Fox and NBC telecasts had talented announcers shouting the name of Jimmie Johnson at the end of their broadcasts on a regular basis. Among Johnson's history in the Cup Series, one of his greatest feats were his 83 wins, including 10 in the 2007 season. In the first 908 starts, the #48 had only won 3 races, two with James Hylton and one with Bill Norton in 1951. Since then, #48 has won 84 times with Jimmie Johnson and now Alex Bowman. The storied legacy of the 48 did start prior to Jimmie's on track success, though. Johnson's era started only 26 days after September 11th attacks on October 7th of 2001. 9/11 was dramatically and emotionally documented by every news, sports, and entertainment outlet 24 hours a day. Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouses, Chevrolet, and Hendrick Motorsports created 'The Power of Pride' campaign to help promote patriotism across the sport, and Jimmie got to drive the car. The nation was somber. President George W. Bush referred to the incident as being attacked by '..a faceless coward.' Lowe's had been on the hood of Richard Childress Racing's #31 Chevrolet with driver Mike Skinner for 4 seasons and already had intentions of switching their marketing strategy with young Jimmie Johnson. The #48 team ran as a part-time entry in the fall of 2001 at Charlotte, Homestead, and Atlanta. Lowe's finished the year with Robby Gordon behind the wheel of their #31 Chevrolet team, where he would win the last race of the 2001 season at New Hampshire. The New Hampshire race had been cancelled earlier in the fall in response to the attacks. Hendrick Motorsports worked relentlessly to develop a new shop and team in the off-season of 2001/02, led by former mechanic and tire changer Chad Knaus. Knaus spent the 2001 season as crew chief of Stacy Compton's #14 Pontiac. The pairing of crew chief Chad Knaus and driver Jimmie Johnson were a magnetic connection. They claimed the pole for the Great-American race, the 2002 Daytona 500 in their first start. A brotherly connection was made between Knaus and Johnson. They won their first race together in only their 10th attempt at Auto Club speedway. This became the start of a legacy of winning. With Johnson's articulate ability to drive tracks of every shape and size, Knaus' exceptional understanding of the NASCAR rulebook, and an engine program from Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet, they became the greatest tag-team in the history of American Motorsports. They won a Daytona 500, multiple World 600 events, and Brickyard 400 races, in addition to winning the All-Star and a record tying 7 Cup Series Championships. Their era is one that we may never see again. When it was announced that Johnson would retire from full-time competition at the end of the 2020 season, many felt that the #48 team would suffer or perish. Johnson was moving along to a new career in open-wheeled racing. and Knaus had been promoted to an executive position within Hendrick Motorsports. It was well documented that Johnson had a hand in picking who would take over the #48, and the driver that was selected had experience replacing a previous NASCAR legend in Dale Earnhardt Jr. Arizona's Alex Bowman was transitioned from the #88 team to the #48 ALLY team in the 2020/21 off-season. With the new ride, the historic #48 showed speed from day one. The keys to the car were now handed to Bowman, who along with crew chief Greg Ives repeated history. In February at Daytona 500 Pole Qualifying, they set the fast lap and put the #48 Chevrolet on pole for The Great-American Race. Living up to their expectations, they did one better than Johnson/Knaus...winning in only their 9th start as a team at Richmond in April of 2021. It wouldn't be realistic for us to predict a career for Bowman that matches the many records of his successor in the #48, but his youth and talent will prove that he can create his own legacy while honoring the historic past of his car number. The torch has been handed off for now, and we can expect many more wins for #48 in NASCAR's most elite series.

After a thrilling opening round of the NTT Indy Car Series at Barber Motorsports Park last Sunday, which saw Chip Ganassi driver Alex Palou take his first career IndyCar win. The series heads to the tight confines of the Streets of St. Petersburg for the first street course race of the 2021 season. Event History: While there has been racing in St. Petersburg, Florida since 1985, the series had been racing on the current layout of the Grand Prix course since 2003, back before the CART/IndyCar merger in 2008. The first win was taken by Forsythe Racing and Paul Tracy. After a hiatus in 2004, the series returned in 2005, and the event was won by Dan Wheldon. There are five current drivers in the series who have won at St. Petersburg. Joesf Newgarden has won the last two times here in 2019 and 2020. Joining him are the likes of Will Power, Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliff, and Sebastian Bourdais. Track Facts: The Streets of St. Petersburg is a 1.8 mile, 14 turn road course that has 5 right turns and 9 left-hand turns that incorporates some downtown roads of St. Petersburg and a runway of the nearby Albert Whitted Airfield. That section of the runway is the widest part of the racetrack that also holds the pits and paddock area for teams to use. This track has three main passing opportunities. A heavy braking zone into turn one, where a driver can start a pass and complete it as they exit the turns one and two right-left switchbacks. Coming out of two, there is a kink that is listed as turn three, but the next main opportunity to pass is the heavy braking zone of turn four, a sharp 90-degree right-hand corner which leads into the more technical and tight turns five through nine. Coming out of turn nine leads you on to the longest section of the course, which leads to the third hard-braking zone of turn ten. After that, the course leads on to Dan Wheldon Way (Turns 11,12, and 13), which leads into a carousel of turns thirteen and fourteen, which completes a lap at St. Petersburg. 2020 Event : The 2020 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which was originally intended to be the inaugural race of the season, was postponed until the last race of the season, which saw Josef Newgarden take his second straight win at the track and his fourth win for the 2020 season. As this being the championship race of the season, the championship came down to a battle between Newgarden and Scott Dixon. Even though Newgarden won the race that gave out double points, the third-place finish of Dixon secured his sixth IndyCar Series Championship. Race Prediction: For this weekend of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, I think you would have to start with Josef Newgarden. As previously mentioned, Newgarden has won the past two times the series comes to town and in impressive fashion last year by having a margin of victory of 4.5 seconds over second-place Pato O'Ward. Which leaves me to the young Mexican driver. O'Ward has shown speed last year at this race and was the fastest car last week at Barber, but once caught in traffic it seemed he just couldn't find passing opportunities. But also look out for the veteran Will Power, who finished second last week, but is the fastest car in the Penske stable right now. But my prediction may not come out of left field to you, it's not even a surprise. I think Josef Newgarden makes it three in a row this weekend in St. Petersburg. Weekend Schedule: On-track activity in preparation for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg begins on Friday afternoon for the first practice session. Moving to Saturday, we will see the final full practice session and qualifying as well as Indy Lights Race 1. On Sunday, we will have IndyCar warmup as the last chance to adjust the car. Then moving on to Indy Lights Race 2. Then at Noon Est, Coverage will begin for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on NBC. You can catch Indy Lights, practice, and qualifying on NBC's streaming service Peacock.

According to a press release from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 will have fans in a limited capacity. Which will be around 135,000 spectators that will be on hand for the Memorial Day event. “The city and state have worked with us to identify the appropriate health and safety precautions so that we can successfully host a limited but very enthusiastic crowd. The health and safety of everyone coming to IMS, along with Central Indiana and the Hoosier State, have been paramount throughout this process.” “The number-one thing fans can do to ensure a great race day is get vaccinated as quickly as possible,” Penske Entertainment president & CEO Mark Miles added. “We continue to offer vaccinations at IMS and will be extending our mass vaccination clinic throughout the Month of May. This is all part of the effort to continue getting Indiana back on track.” In addition to the limited attendance for the Indy 500, further health and safety measures will be in place such as masks required for entry and for the event itself. Spectator viewing mounds in the infield will be closed throughout the Month of May. No race day General Admission tickets will be sold. IMS will also be holding vaccination days on April 24-30th. With select dates from May 1st to the 27th. Fans who do not have tickets who are still interested in attending can still apply online at IMS.com. Tickets for all on-track events for preparations leading up to the Indianapolis 500 are still available. Because no concerts will be held, the concerts on Carb Day, Legends Day, and Race Day have all been cancelled. More details about Indy 500 procedures or news or spectators can be found on IMS.com/planahead. For more IndyCar news throughout the 2021 season, stay tuned to RacingRefresh.com

(Photo Source : Twitter.com/NASCAR)

Alex Palou jumps in jubilation after his first-career victory (Chris Owens/IndyCar). After a long off-season, IndyCar is back. A big crash, a first time winner, and strategy all played out on a Sunday afternoon for the NTT IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. What an interesting first race we had as the season opener. About 30 seconds into the race, Josef Newgarden got loose coming up out of turn four and clipped his right rear into the grass, which caused the biggest on-track incident of the day. Five cars were involved in the accident, for Newgarden and Ryan Hunter-Reay, it caused the two championship favorites for 2021 to retire from the event. Which would not be a good start to the season for those two, but early enough in the season where they can recover points as the season progresses. When we finally went back under green on lap 8, Pato O'Ward and Alexander Rossi were easily the contenders early on. O'Ward, who started on pole for Sunday's race, did not like his car on the red alternate tires very early on as Rossi applied the pressure, but could not seem to make the pass on the young Spanish driver. Working lap 10 is when we saw our second and final caution of the day by 2021 NTT IndyCar Series rookie of the year contender, and the former seven-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson. Who spun coming out of turn 13 in a single-car incident that saw him lock the brakes without making contact to the outside wall. Johnson would go on to finish 19th, three laps down. Once back under green, Rossi and O'Ward made pit stops on lap 19. O'Ward won the race of pit road and made some distance on Rossi after that stop. Which means that O'Ward and the Arrow Mclaren SP team have made their bed by taking the undercut and making this race a scheduled three stop race, while some other contenders would be shooting for a two stop race. On lap 19, Alex Palou, the second year driver for Chip Gannasi Racing, took the lead and had a 2.7 second lead over Will Power. Some time has passed as we reach the one third of the scheduled race distance of 90 laps. Palou extended his lead to 6.6 seconds over Will Power. Moving on to the rest of the top 5 at this time we have in thrid place is Scott Dixion, in forth Marcus Erricson, and in fifth place, rookie of the year contender Roman Grosjean. Moving on to lap 37 after a sequence of green flag stops, Sebastian Bordais is now the leader, but we have to go back to the battle for third place as O'Ward passed Palou coming out of turn six. When this happened, Palou was given his fuel number to ensure that he can make it on the two stop strategy that his team played into. Coming to complete this lap, Bordais and second place Rinus Veekay made their second pit stop of that day. Which allowed O'Ward to finally regain the lead on lap 38. But O'Ward didn't keep the lead long as with 48 laps to go, O'Ward made his second pit stop of the day, which gave the lead back to Palou, who again tried to stick to his two stop strategy. Which opened his lead over Power up to 10 seconds. Then just as that was happening, we saw some tempers flare between Bordais and O'Ward as they both made slight contact which dropped O'Ward from 5th to 7th on the track. Unfortantely for O'Ward, even thought there was no visible damage on his car. He would never see clean air again for the rest of the race as he went on to finish 4th. A solid day, but an obvious disappointing day for the young driver for the Arrow Mclaren SP team. We move on with 10 laps to go in the Grand Prix of Alabama. The battle for the win started coming down to the young driver of Alex Palou and the veteran Will Power. Who outnumbered his push to pass reserve over Palou with 104 seconds remaining for Power. 61 seconds remaining for Palou. As the laps tricked down, Power did manage to close the gap with aide from lap traffic and his remaining reserve of push to pass but that was not enough as Alex Palou did manage to hold on and get his first career NTT IndyCar Series win. The margin of victory was .514 seconds over Will Power. For Palou, he joins Michael Andretti and Dan Wheldon as drivers who have won in their debut with Chip Gannssi Racing. It was also his first win in fifteen career starts and the fourteenth different driver to win for CGR. For Chip Gannssi, it was their 114th IndyCar series victory and his first at Barber Motorsports Park. This Sunday, The NTT IndyCar Series heads to the Streets of St. Petersburg for the second race of the year. You can catch all the action Sunday on NBC. Keep up with IndyCar news throughout the week and for the rest of the season on Racing Refresh.com Collin Best @TheCollinBest

(Photo Source : Twitter.com/NASCAR_Trucks)

(Left to Right: Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe, Aric Almirola, Cole Custer) After a record setting season for Kevin Harvick in which he won 9 races in 2020...and a Rookie of the year winner in Cole Custer, it seems that Stewart-Haas Racing may have some work to do in 2021. The 2020 season showed us that oldest driver in the field (45 years of age, Kevin Harvick) is still a championship caliber Cup series driver, but how does the rest of the current SHR stable stack up? Is each driver capable of making the playoffs? Obviously that question will be answered closer to the start of the playoffs come September. The organization as a whole seems to be going through a period commonly referred to in stick and ball sports as a rebuilding period. Perhaps aging veterans Harvick and Almirola are at the end of their prime performance, I believe the focus now shifts to helping SHR's rising stars Cole Custer and Chase Briscoe to become contenders and carry the team to future championships. New tracks on the schedule such as Circuit of the Americas, Road America, The Indianapolis Road Course should play right into the wheelhouse of Kevin Harvick and Chase Briscoe especially given their past road course experience and success as well. The teams have not proven to be a threat to win the championship, but all I can say with 18 races remaining until the playoffs begin is do not count them out. With some good luck and mistake free races anything can happen to be in contention. Written by: Matt Marr