Tag: Texas Motor Speedway

Texas Fast Facts

thepitwindow

From Indycar:

PPG 375 Fast Facts  
 Race weekend: Saturday, April 1-Sunday, April 2

Track: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval

Race distance: 250 laps/375 miles

Firestone tire allotment: Eleven sets primary to be used during practice, qualifying and the race. An extra set will be available to cars participating in the high-line practice session.

Twitter: @TXMotorSpeedway @INDYCAR, #PPG375, #INDYCAR Instagram: @TXMotorSpeedway, @INDYCAR, #PPG375, #INDYCAR Facebook: @TexasMotorSpeedway, @INDYCAR, #INDYCAR TikTok: @txmotorspeedway, @INDYCAR, #INDYCAR YouTube: @INDYCAR Event website: www.TexasMotorSpeedway.com
INDYCAR website: www.indycar.com
2022 race winner: Josef Newgarden (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet) 2022 NTT P1 Award winner: Felix Rosenqvist (No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet), 46.8906 seconds, 221.110 mph

Qualifying record (based on track distance of 1.44 miles) One lap: Charlie Kimball, 23.2730, 222.747 mph, June 9, 2017
Two laps: Charlie Kimball, 46.5861, 222.556 mph, June 9, 2017

NBC Sports race telecast: Noon (ET) Sunday, April 2, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider and Dave Burns are the pit reporters.

Peacock Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions, qualifying and races will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.

INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Nick Yeoman is the turn announcer. Jake Query, Michael Young and Georgia Henneberry are the pit reporters. The PPG 375 race and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 160 and SiriusXM NBC Sports Audio 85 (Race only), racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.

At-track schedule (All times local/Central Time):

Saturday, April 1
8-8:10 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES two-stage pit speed limiter practice

8:10-9 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, Peacock

11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Single car, Two laps), Peacock

12:45-1:15 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES high-line session (two groups/15 minutes), Peacock

1:30-2:30 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice (all cars), Peacock

Sunday, April 2

11 a.m. NBC on air

11:10 a.m. “Drivers, start your engines”

11:15 a.m. PPG 375 (250 laps / 375 miles), NBC (Live)

“4 THINGS TO LOOK FOR” AT TEXAS:
1. Round and Round We Go: The PPG 375 will be the first of five oval races on the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule as well as the 36th INDYCAR SERIES race on the 1.5-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway. Only Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted more INDYCAR SERIES races among current oval tracks. The 28 drivers entered is the most for a race at Texas since 30 drivers were entered for the Firestone Twin 275s in June 2011. And predicting who will wear the cowboy hat and celebrate in Victory Lane is anyone’s guess. Underscoring the competitiveness of the series, there have been 23 different drivers to win the 35 races. With a wide-open field of competitive drivers and teams, will another new winner find his way to take the checkered flag in the race?
2. Dixon Has Been Dominating: Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) is the winningest NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver at Texas Motor Speedway, with five victories, and he has won three of the past six and four of the past nine races there. Dixon has led five of the last six race races, 678 of 1,404 laps in all (48.2 percent). That accounts for him being INDYCAR’s all-time leader in laps led at this oval with 1,043 laps, more than double the number of the active driver in second place. His average finish in all races at TMS is 6.7. But Dixon is not the only active NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver to succeed at TMS. Six other drivers in this field have won at Texas, including Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves (No. 06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda), who won on four occasions with Team Penske. Team Penske teammates Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) and Josef Newgarden (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet) each have earned two of Roger Penske’s organization’s record 11 victories at the track. Power won in 2011 and 2017, Newgarden in 2019 and 2022. Ed Carpenter (No. 33 Bitnile.com Chevrolet) won in 2014, Graham Rahal (No. 15 Fleet Cost & Care Honda) won in 2016, and Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) won the second race of the 2021 doubleheader. The seven previous winners have combined to win 16 of the 35 previous races at TMS.
3. Texas ties: Though reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Will Power is from Toowoomba, Australia, the two-time series champion and two-time Texas winner considers TMS to be a home race because his wife, Elizabeth, is from nearby Plano. Power, who claimed his first INDYCAR SERIES oval win at Texas in 2011, is one of several NTT INDYCAR SERIES personalities with ties to the Lone Star State. Others include: Pato O’Ward won his first INDYCAR SERIES race at Texas in 2021, but the PPG 375 will also be the only race for the Mexican driver in his adopted home state. O’Ward’s family moved to San Antonio when he was 11, and he attended high school there. Santino Ferrucci drives the famed No. 14 car for Lone Star legend A.J. Foyt and aims to deliver Foyt his first oval win since 2002. Can the Sunnyvale resident take the racing legend’s team – run by TCU graduate Larry Foyt – to victory lane in its home state?
4. Ready, Set, Go To $1 Million Bonus: The PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge returns for a second season, and the PPG 375 will be a chance for Marcus Ericsson (No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) to solidify his chances for the prize. The challenge offered by the industrial staffing giant is a bonus of $1 million to be awarded to the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver who can win on all three unique style of tracks – street circuits, road courses and ovals – this season. With last month’s victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, Ericsson has checked the street circuit box, and the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner figures to be strong at Texas after finishing third in last year’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES event. One INDYCAR SERIES driver has won on each type of track in seven of the past eight seasons, 2021 being the exception. In 2022, Josef Newgarden earned the reward, which offers $500,000 shared between the driver and his team and $500,000 presented to their chosen charity. PeopleReady is offering an additional $10,000 to the winner of every race this season, also to be split with their selected charity.

Race Notes:
2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson kicked off the 2023 season in style, claiming the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 5 on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. The 32-year-old Swede took advantage of a late-race plenum event for Pato O’Ward and held off the Mexican and teammate Scott Dixon to take his fourth career win.

The PPG 375 will be the 36th INDYCAR SERIES race at Texas Motor Speedway, dating to Arie Luyendyk winning the INDYCAR SERIES event in 1997.
No driver has competed in every INDYCAR SERIES race at TMS, but Scott Dixon has started 24 events.

Will Power has won the pole for three of the past 11 Texas Motor Speedway races (2013, 2014 and 2015). Other past pole winners entered this year are Scott Dixon (2008), Josef Newgarden (2018 and 2020),Takuma Sato (2019) and Felix Rosenqvist (2022). Dixon and Alex Palou were awarded the pole based on entrant points after qualifying was rained out in 2021.

Six drivers have won the Texas race from the pole: Sam Hornish Jr. (2001 Race 2), Gil de Ferran (2003 Race 2), Helio Castroneves (2004 Race 2), Tomas Scheckter (2005), Scott 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 in three of the last five seasons. Champions who won at Texas are Sam Hornish Jr. (2001 Race 2 and 2002 Race 2), Tony Kanaan (2004 Race 1), Scott Dixon (2008, 2015, 2018 and 2020), Dario Franchitti (2011 Race 1) and Josef Newgarden (2019).

Twenty-five drivers entered this weekend have competed in past NTT INDYCAR SERIES events at Texas Motor Speedway.

Seventeen drivers have led laps at the track: Scott Dixon 1,043, Helio Castroneves 507, Will Power 453, Josef Newgarden 190, Scott McLaughlin 186, Ed Carpenter 97, Simon Pagenaud 85, Takuma Sato 77, Graham Rahal 49, Pato O’Ward 25, Marcus Ericsson 12, Alexander Rossi 10, Rinus VeeKay, Alex Palou 9, Callum Ilott 5, Kyle Kirkwood 5 and David Malukas 3.

Three rookies – Agustin Canapino, Benjamin Pedersen and Sting Ray Robb – are entered. All three will attempt to make their first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start on an oval this weekend at Texas. 

Ed Carpenter and Takuma Sato are scheduled to make their 2023 season debut this weekend. Milestones: 

Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 370th INDYCAR SERIES start, which would pass A.J. Foyt for fourth on the all-time list … Dixon will attempt to make his 307th consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history.

Quick Thoughts- Expel 375

thepitwindow

After a processional beginning the race came alive on lap 148 after the last caution period. Staring on lap 150 the lead changed hands four times in 15 laps.

A last turn pass for the win always makes a race better. Josef Newgarden said in the post race press conference that he had conceded the win, but saw an opportunity when he got to turn 3 of the final lap.

The start

There was more passing than I expected. Newgarden said the headwind down the front stretch helped and that the special session yesterday did clean up the high line a bit.

Team Penske has come out of the gate strong this season after a lackluster 2021. In the two races this young season, they have two wins and four of the six podium positions.

Scott McLaughlin is setting himself up for a strong championship run. Two front row starts, a win and a second place finish leaves with a 28 point lead over Will Power.

Great Drives

Jimmie Johnson will get the bulk of the praise for his sixth place finish after starting 18th. He steadily and quietly moved up the field.

But my driver of the day is Santino Ferrucci. Ferrucci replaced Jack Harvey this morning when Harvey was not cleared to drive after his crash in practice yesterday afternoon. Indycar allowed him 15 minutes to shake down the car, which was moved to the back of the grid. For Ferrucci to finish ninth under the circumstances is amazing.

Marcus Ericsson finished third from 14th and being in contention near the end. All four Ganassi cars finished in the top 10.

The season is shaping up to be a shootout between Penske and Ganassi drivers.

Andretti Woes Continue

Andretti Autosport had another forgettable day with three cars finishing in the bottom four positions. Alexander Rossi completed just 11 laps before retiring with mechanical issues. Romain Grosjean went out next with a water pressure problem on lap 103.

Devlin DeFrancesco was involved in a three car crash also involving Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves. It appeared that he had a hand in all three yellows. I’m anxious to see the replay.

Colton Herta came home 12th one lap down.

AMSP Title Hopes Fading Fast

Felix Rosenqvist did not lead a lap despite starting on pole. Her eventually retired and finished 21st after a bad pit stop. Pato O’Ward hit a crewman on a stop and finished 15th. O’ward is 13th in points and he needs a really good result at Long Beach to get in contention. He is also going to need some help.

More Oval Training for Indy Lights?

Two accidents today involved Indy Lights rookies. Kyle Kirkwood spun and hit the wall in turn 4. Devlin DeFrancesco was involved in a three car accident in between turns three and four.

Texas was the first high speed oval for the rookies. The question is, should Indy Lights run more ovals, especially high speed tracks? The absence of the Freedom 100 at IMS took away the one fast oval for the junior series.

I understand that budget concerns about equipment damage is a factor in the schedule structure, but are they really helping the drivers who come to Indycar without any experience on a track like Texas?

Three Laps of Texas

thepitwindow

Last night a friend invited me to ride around Texas Motor Speedway as part of a charity event. Groups of cars were led by a pace truck. My understanding is that a speed limit was not set. We lagged behind and probably went faster than we should have.

TMS is a unique track. The banking in the turns is quite steep. It may seem steeper because of the length of the track. I felt I was riding around inside a bowl.

Here is a five minute video of the ride.

https://videopress.com/v/dMOD3TL3?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Race Day at Texas

thepitwindow2 Comments

Today’s Schedule: All times Eastern

10:00 AM Gates Open

12:00 PM Driver Introductions

12:45 PM Green Flag for the Expel 375 NBC coverage begins at 12:30 PM

Post race show on Peacock after NBC coverage ends

Race time temperature should be around 69 degrees and sunny, rising to the mid 70s by the end of the race.

The race should be very competitive. I think any one of the first seven starters could win. Pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist is confident of his chances. Josef Newgarden was very quick in the practice sessions. Many Texas races have come down to a late yellow and cars diving into the pits for new tires. The leader is a sitting duck in this situation.

From yesterday-

https://thepitwindow.blog/2022/03/19/rosenqvist-takes-pole-at-texas/

Nathan Brown of the Indianapolis Star posted a story last night in which he reported that the efforts to reduce the effect of the JP 1 compound have not changed much. We are likely to see a single file race again. That would be a shame. Some of Indycar’s best races have been at Texas Motor Speedway.

Will Power led the effort for a high downforce session to attempt to scrub off the JP1 compound

This is possibly the last Indycar race at TMS for a while. there has been no talk about renewing the relationship this weekend. Attendance yesterday extremely low. I am not anticipating a large turnout today.

Let’s hope for a safe, competitive race.

Newgarden Leads Final Practice; Harvey Crashes

thepitwindow2 Comments

Josef Newgarden led a final practice interrupted by a heavy crash involving Jack Harvey. Following the cleanup Indycar extended the session time to make up for the lost time.

Before the final practice, seven cars ran high downforce setups in an attempt to make the second lane drivable for tomorrow’s race. Firestone measurements indicate that there is more grip in that lane. How that translates to the racing line remains to be seen.

About 20 minutes into the practice Jack Harvey brushed the outside wall at the exit of turn 2. The HyVee machine darted to the inside of the track and made heavy contact with the inside wall, destroying the front of the car and the left rear side. Harvey was able to walk away from the car.

None of the on track sessions today were during the time that the race will take place tomorrow. I do think Newgarden has a very fast car. His seventh starting spot is not an obstacle to his winning the race. Any of the first seven starters has a good chance to win.

Practice results:

Thanks for following along today. Look for my pre race story in the morning and a post about my ride around the track this evening.

l

Rosenqvist Takes Pole at Texas

thepitwindow1 Comment

The pole the Expel 375 came down to two drivers going for their second career pole. Scott Mclaughlin, who won the pole at St. Pete last month, had a target set by Felix Rosenqvist, who is fighting to keep his seat in the AMSP Chevy. Rosenqvist prevailed by 14 thousandths of a second.

Rosenqvist was the eleventh qualifier. He set the mark of 221.110 mph. Several drivers came close. Takuma Sato’s first lap was faster, but he slowed enough on his second circuit to end up second. He stayed there until McLaughlin’s run.

“It couldn’t be a better time to win the pole,” said Rosenqvist, who is rumored to be on the hot seat in the number 7 McLaren entry.

“I’m confident we have a good package for the race,” he added.

Rosenqvist thinks winning the pole is just the beginning of a great weekend for the Arrow McLaren SP crew.

“:I think we’re gonna be even stronger in the race. I mean, I can’t promise that but we have every reason to think that we have a good package overall. And I think this strength in our car air is very, you know, confidence inspiring. It never really feels edgy, and it’s just really good setup. So yeah, we’re happy going into the race.

“I remember the first time I came here, then then it was definitely not fun. I was really scared. First time I was here, and it was actually the first superspeedway I ever did. But yeah, I think from 2020 onwards, it’s been a track where I feel really calm and confident that I kind of know how to attack the race. And how to work with a driving line and how the car needs to be set up and I think it suits me pretty well. Naturally, and yeah, I definitely feel like it’s an unfinished business that motivates us.”

Rosenqvist won his first pole in 2019 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

McLaughlin will start on the front row for the second consecutive race.

Quick Thoughts

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s three cars will start 24th, 25th, and 27th tomorrow. Graham Rahal finished mid pack in the morning practice but had the slowest qualifying time. Jack Harvey was slow in practice as well. Christian Lundgaard was 17th this morning.

If you want to pick a dark horse to win Sunday, go with Takuma Sato. Sato is off to a good start this season with a 10th at St. Pete. He rolls off third tomorrow.

Will Power had another strong qualifying today. He could win from fourth.

Biggest Disappointments

Simon Pagenaud led the morning practice but only qualified 15th. Teammate helio Castroneves will start 6th.

Andretti Autosport- Colton Herta is the only Andretti driver ibn the top ten. Alexander Rossi was 12th, Romain Grosjean was 13th, and Devlin DeFrancesco will be 17th on the grid for the race.

VeeKay Rebound

Rinus VeeKay once again carried the day for Ed Carpenter Racing, qualifying eighth. VeeKay has qualified in the top ten for both of the 2022 races. After his bicycle accident mid -season last year, VeeKay had a significant drop off in results. The first two race weekends of 2022 have seen him regain his form from early 2021.

Results

Next up at 4 PM Central time is the rubber in session, followed at 4:30 by a one hour final practice where the cars will be set up in race trim. We will see what the drivers learn from that session.