Genesys 300 and XPEL 375 Fast Facts

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All you need to know about Texas this weekend. Copy the entry list links to see the entry lists.

Race weekend: Saturday, May 1 and Sunday, May 2
Track: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval
Media links: Genesys 300 Entry List (PDF) | XPEL 375 Entry List (PDF) | Trackside Media Guide (Interactive PDF) | Driver Video Quotes
Race distances: Genesys 300: 212 laps / 318 miles | XPEL 375: 248 laps/372 miles
Firestone tire allotment: Thirteen sets primary to be used during practice, qualifying and the doubleheader races.
Twitter: @TXMotorSpeedway @INDYCAR, #Genesys300, #XPEL375, #INDYCAR Event website: www.TexasMotorSpeedway.com
INDYCAR website: www.indycar.com
2020 race winner: Scott Dixon, 1:38:37.7648, 175.201 mph (200 laps/300 miles) 2020 NTT P1 Award winner: Josef Newgarden, 48.0578 seconds, 215.740 mph (two laps)
Qualifying record (based on track distance of 1.44 miles)One lap: Charlie Kimball, 23.2730, 222.747 mph, June 9, 2017
NBC Sports race telecasts: Qualifying, 4 p.m. ET Saturday, NBCSN (live); Genesys 300, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, NBCSN (live). XPEL 375, 5 p.m. ET Sunday, NBCSN (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Peacock Premium Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock Premium, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton and Nick Yeoman. Jake Query is the turn announcer. The Genesys 300 and XPEL 375 races air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 205, indycar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying are available on SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
At-track schedule (All times local/Central Time):  Saturday, May 1 11:30-11:40 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES pit speed limiter practice (two groups/five minutes each) 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, Peacock Premium 3 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Single car, two laps (Lap 1/Genesys 300; Lap 2/XPEL 375), Peacock Premium (Live) 6 p.m. – NBCSN on air 6:40 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines” 6:45 p.m. – Genesys 300 (212 laps / 318 miles), NBCSN (Live) Sunday, May 2 3:30 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES install laps 4 p.m. – NBCSN on air 4:10 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines” 4:15 p.m. – XPEL 375 (248 laps / 372 miles), NBCSN (Live)
Race Notes: The Genesys 300 and XPEL 375 will be the first doubleheader held at Texas since 2011 and the 33rd and 34th races overall, dating to Arie Luyendyk winning the inaugural event in 1997. The Texas INDYCAR SERIES race will be held in May for the first time. The previous 32 races have been run in June since 1997.
No driver has competed in every Texas race, but Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan have started 21 races. Both are entered in the Genesys 300 and XPEL 375. Helio Castroneves and Dixon have won four times at Texas Motor Speedway, tied for the most wins by an INDYCAR SERIES driver at the track. Castroneves won in 2004 Race 2, 2006, 2009 and 2013, while Dixon won in 2008, 2015, 2018 and 2020.
Six past TMS winners are entered in this year’s race: Kanaan (2004 Race 1), Dixon, Will Power (2011 Race 2 and 2017), Ed Carpenter (2014), Graham Rahal (2016) and Josef Newgarden (2019).
Power has won the pole for three of the past eight Texas Motor Speedway races (2013, 2014 and 2015). Other past pole winners entered this year are Dixon (2008), Newgarden (2018 and 2020) and Takuma Sato (2019). Kanaan won a draw to start first for the second of the 2011 doubleheader races but has never won the pole at Texas.
Six drivers have won the Texas race from the pole: Sam Hornish Jr. (2001 Race 2), Gil de Ferran (2003 Race 2), Castroneves (2004 Race 2), Tomas Scheckter (2005), Dixon (2008) and Ryan Briscoe (2010).
Drivers who have won at Texas have gone on to win the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship nine times, including the last three seasons with Scott Dixon in 2018 and 2020 and Josef Newgarden in 2019.
Dixon also won at Texas and the title in 2008 and 2015. Others are: Sam Hornish Jr. (2001 Race 2 and 2002 Race 2), Tony Kanaan (2004 Race 1) and Dario Franchitti (2011 Race 1).
Twenty-one drivers entered this weekend have competed in past NTT INDYCAR SERIES events at Texas Motor Speedway.
Twelve drivers have led laps at the track: Dixon 674, Power 432, Kanaan 372, James Hinchcliffe 196, Newgarden 162, Ryan Hunter-Reay 136, Carpenter 92, Simon Pagenaud 85, Sato 60, , Rahal 36, Alexander Rossi 10 and Marcus Ericsson 2.
One rookie – Scott McLaughlin – is entered. He will make his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start on an oval this weekend at Texas. Carpenter, Kanaan and Pietro Fittipaldi will make their 2021 season debut this weekend. There have been two winners in two races in 2020 – Alex Palou (Barber) and Colton Herta (St. Petersburg). Since 2012, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES has averaged just under nine different race winners per season, including a record-tying 11 winners in 2014. There were seven different winners in the 14 races of 2020 with an equally tight competition projected for this season.

Quick Thoughts- Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

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Photo: Chris Owens, Indycar

I am officially old. I saw Bryan Herta win races as an adult and have now seen his son win races.

Colton Herta put on a master driving clinic today., He led all but three laps and pulled away from Josef Newgarden on two late restarts.

Herta has tied his father Bryan on the career victory list with his fourth win today. He will pass his dad later this season.

The tire choices to start the 4ace made for some interesting tactic. The field was split evenly between primary and alternates. Hearts said after the race he didn’t notice much difference.

Still waiting for Alexander Rossi to have a decent weekend. Rossi expected to fight for the title but is mired in 16th place after two frustrating weekends.

While their finishes at Barber may hurt their championship chances a bit, both Herta and Newgarden did what they needed to do to get back in the hunt.

Pato O’Ward struggled in the morning warmup and was never a factor in the race. Fortunately, it is still early in the season, but he needs good results at Texas next weekend.

Will Power and Scott Dixon have shown early season consistency. Dixon is the only driver with two Top 5s. Power is one of three drivers with two Top 10s. Dixon and Power are tied for second, two points behind Palou. Palou’s lead is two because he led two laps today.

Sebastien Bourdais has brought the Foyt car home in the top 10 the past three races, going back to the 2020 season finale. It was a bit of a tough day, but if they can have a decent showing on the ovals, atop 10 points finish is possible.

Despite Herta being way out front most of the day, there was some great action back in the pack, Takuma Sato moved up nine spots from where hje started, and Power improved 12 positions.

Turn one was a festival of cars banging together. Only a few times did the collisions affect someone’s race. James Hinchcliffe was hit hard by Sato and fell back.

Chip Ganassi Racing is more than Dixon in 2021. Last Week Alex Palou won the race. Today Marcus Ericsson came from 16th to finish seventh. Paired with Dixon’s fifth place finish, Ganasssi ahs put two cars in the top 10 in both races.

While the youngsters have had fun these past two weekends, the ovals is where the veterans take over. Ovals are a veterans’ game.

Notes

The crowd seemed bigger than the 20,000 limit.

The social distance seating plan was not adhered to. In Grandstand 10,several rows were completely filled an consecutive rows had fans in them. None of the stand attendants monitored the situation. I hope IMS will have stricter policies about the grandstands in May.

It was nice to be back at the St. Pete Grand Prix. This the first event I have been to since 2019 that had more of a normal feel to it.

Thanks to everyone who followed along this weekend.

Race Day

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Photo: Chris Owens Indycar

Good morning and welcome to Race Day at St Petersburg. I think this will be a very competitive race. The top three starters, Colton Herta, Jack Harvey, and Josef Newgarden are the favorites I would not count out Sebastien Bourdais or Pato O’Ward either.

Look for a two stop race if there aren’t too many yellows.

i hope to provide an update after the warmup at 9:05.

Driver introductions begin at noon. Green flag is scheduled for 12:42. Coverage is on NBC.

From last night:

Herta Grabs Pole as Team Penske Falters

https://thefirstfiftyracesarethehardest.wordpress.com/2021/04/24/herta-grabs-pole-as-team-penske-falters-some-thoughts/

Qualifying results:

Quick Thoughts- Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

thepitwindow

Photo: Chris Owens, Indycar

I am officially old. I saw Bryan Jetta win races as an adult and have now seen his son win races.

Colton Herta put on a master driving clinic today., He led all but three laps and pulled away from Josef Newgarden on two late restarts.

Herta has tied his father Bryan on the career victory list with his fourth win today. He will pass his dad later this season.

The tire choices to start the 4ace made for some interesting tactic. The field was split evenly between primary and alternates. Hearts said after the race he didn’t notice much difference.

Still waiting for Alexander Rossi to have a decent weekend. Rossi expected to fight for the title but is mired in 16th place after two frustrating weekends.

While their finishes at Barber may hurt their championship chances a bit, both Herta and Newgarden did what they needed to do to get back in the hunt.

Pato O’Ward struggled in the morning warmup and was never a factor in the race. Fortunately, it is still early in the season, but he needs good results at Texas next weekend.

Will Power and Scott Dixon have shown early season consistency. Dixon is the only driver with two Top 5s. Power is one of three drivers with two Top 10s. Dixon and Power are tied for second, two points behind Palou. Palou’s lead is two because he led two laps today.

Sebastien Bourdais has brought the Foyt car home in the top 10 the past three races, going back to the 2020 season finale. It was a bit of a tough day, but if they can have a decent showing on the ovals, atop 10 points finish is possible.

Despite Herta being way out front most of the day, there was some great action back in the pack, Takuma Sato moved up nine spots from where hje started, and Power improved 12 positions.

Turn one was a festival of cars banging together. Only a few times did the collisions affect someone’s race. James Hinchcliffe was hit hard by Sato and fell back.

Chip Ganassi Racing is more than Dixon in 2021. Last Week Alex Palou won the race. Today Marcus Ericsson came from 16th to finish seventh. Paired with Dixon’s fifth place finish, Ganasssi ahs put two cars in the top 10 in both races.

While the youngsters have had fun these past two weekends, the ovals is where the veterans take over. Ovals are a veterans’ game.

Notes

The crowd seemed bigger than the 20,000 limit.

The social distance seating plan was not adhered to. In Grandstand 10,several rows were completely filled an consecutive rows had fans in them. None of the stand attendants monitored the situation. I hope IMS will have stricter policies about the grandstands in May.

It was nice to be back at the St. Pete Grand Prix. This the first event I have been to since 2019 that had more of a normal feel to it.

Thanks to everyone who followed along this weekend.

Newgarden Halfway to Weekend Sweep

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Josef Newgarden led this morning ‘s practice session in the run up to qualifying later this afternoon. Newgarsen edged Alexander Rossi by 0.11 seconds with a lap of 1:00.0622. It is possible the pole speed could under 60 seconds.

After the practice session Newgarden affixed his name to the winner’s monument for the second time in 6 months. There is a good chance his name will completely fill the bottom row of the monolith.

Michael Andretti then announced that Oliver and Sebastian Wheldon will join the Andretti Autosport group as karting drivers. The sons of the late Dan Sheldon both hope to drive in Indycar someday.

Oliver (left) and Sebastian Sheldon with Michael Andretti

Qualifying Groups:

Newgarden Fastest in Friday Practice

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Photo: Joe Skibinski, Indycar

Things are back to normal at St. Pete. Josef newgarden and team Penske teammate Will Power ended the lone Friday practice 1-2 on the speed chart. Newgarden’s time of 1:00.8029 was 0.083 seconds faster than Power. Colton Herta was third quick. The top five were within 0.0963 seconds of Newgarden.

The session was red flagged with just a couple minutes to go when Sebastien Bourdais spun. Cars returned to the track with just seconds left, but no one had time to get another completed lap.

Discussing today’s track conditions and the closeness of the times, Newgarden said that the track was “really high grip today.” He believed that the high grip contributed to the close speeds among the top five.

The Day

The crowd got bigger as the day went on. I’m not sure that it reached the 20,000 capacity, but a decent number of people were there. Mask wearing, which was good at first, diminished as more people came.

I didn’t care for waiting until 4:15 for the first appearance by Indycar today. I understand why a practice needed to be cut from the schedule, but an earlier time for your featured series would be better.

Two liveries I really liked- Simon Pagenaud’s Australian Gold.

Indycar photo by Chris Owens

And Alec Palou’s NTT Data. I love the number in a circle.

Indyvar photo by Chris Owens

Notes- Dalton Keller seemed to be having an engine issue. His car sounded very rough entering turn 1.

It was interesting watching Romain Grosjean try different lines through the first turn.

Tomorrow Indycar has practice at 9:45 a6 qualifying at 1:45. Both sessions are live on Peacock. The qualifying will re air on NBCSN at 10 pm Eastern.