It’s time for the first ever “Desert Duel” featuring a weekend of IndyCar and NASCAR all at Phoenix Raceway. D.J. is especially excited just because it’s his home race and he’ll be there all weekend! We break down the race, what IndyCar needs to do to capitalize on this event despite being “second fiddle” to NASCAR, and some strange issues in the world of F1 on this week’s Insider.
Desert Duel at Phoenix, F1 Team Troubles | F-R Racing’s Garage Talk
On this week’s episode of F-R Racing’s Garage Talk, we are excited to announce our new promo code with Apex Sim Racing. Save 5% on all your favorite sim racing brands like Sim Magic, Extreme Sim Racing, Moza, DBox, and more using promo code frracingonline at checkout! We’re now two weeks into the iRacing Indy Racing World Series and just gave the IndyCar hybrid a run at Homestead Miami Speedway with varying levels of success. Is it great for passing, for defending, or something else all together?
This weekend is the “Desert Duel” at Phoenix Raceway and D.J. will be in attendance for both. Be sure to come say hi if you see him and his family! D.J. also wants to shout out Sarah Offenbach for helping introduce D.J.’s girls to the amazing women in the motorsports community and to show his kids that motorsports isn’t just for boys.
Finally, we recap the week in NASCAR and finish off discussing FP1 of Round 1 of the 2026 Formula World Championship.
Episode Chapters
- 00:00:00 Cold Open
- 00:00:40 New Apex Sim Racing Partnership
- 00:02:10 IndyCar Season Start & Hybrid Racing Talk
- 00:08:20 Phoenix Doubleheader Weekend Preview
- 00:13:45 Encouraging the Next Generation in Motorsports
- 00:19:50 Sebring 12 Hour Prep & League Racing Updates
- 00:25:10 IndyCar vs NASCAR Phoenix Debate
- 00:35:30 F1 Season Start & Aston Martin Issues
- 00:41:00 NASCAR COTA Recap & Tyler Reddick’s Three-Peat
- 00:52:30 Bottom Split Racing, Future Tracks & Wrap Up
Desert Duel at Phoenix, F1 Team Troubles – F-R Racing's Garage Talk
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Race: The Valley 75 from Phoenix Raceway (Replay)
Winner: Dawson Buchanan
Next Race: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez – March 17th, 2026 at 10 pm ET, only on Stadium Scene TV
Race: Hurricane 150 from Homestead Miami Speedway (Replay)
Winner: Jacob Barker (First IRWS win!)
Next Race: March 16, 2026 at Dover Motor Speedway only on Stadium Scene TV
Season Notes: Want to race IndyCars on Tuesday night? Come join us for Indy and get locked in for next season: register here.
Bottom Split Racing Series
Race: Round 2 – Talladega Superspeedway (Replay)
Winner: Scott Rolls
Next Race: Round 3 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway, March 9th, only on Stadium Scene TV
F-R Racing’s GT Sprint Series
We run a monthly race from 11 pm-12 am ET on Fridays throughout the year in preparation for the official iRacing endurance events. It’s free to join, no standings kept, open config, and no iRating limits. Learn more here.
Ready to join us? Drop into our Discord and let us you’re here for the Friday night GT race!
Last Race: Daytona Sprint (Replay)
Next Race: March 13th from Sebring – 11pm ET only on Stadium Scene TV
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