IndyCar round 1 Texas preview – facts, figures, schedule

 

Photo by: IndyCar

Event date: Saturday, June 6

Track: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval (sometimes quoted as 1.44-mile)

Race distance: 200 laps / 300 miles

Firestone tire allotment: Nine sets primary tires to be used during practice, qualifying and the race. Rookies and first-time Texas participants will get an extra set.

At-track schedule (local/Central Time) and broadcast details

12 noon - 12:10pm Two-stage pit speed limiter practice
12.10 – 12.40pm Practice for rookies/first-time participants NBC Sports Gold (live)
12.40 – 2.00pm Practice for all cars NBC Sports Gold (live)
4.00 – 5.00pm Qualifying (two laps) NBC Sports Gold (live) and NBCSN (live)
6.30pm NBCSN pre-race show begins
7.00pm Command to start engines for Genesys 300 on NBC (live)

Leigh Diffey is the NBC/NBCSN announcer alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy, with Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reporting from the pits.

Pennzoil INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query is the turn announcer with Nick Yeoman reporting from the pits. The Genesys 300 race airs live on network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, indycar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT IndyCar Series practices and qualifying are available on indycar.com, indycarradio.com and the IndyCar Mobile app, with qualifying also airing on Sirius 211 and XM 205.

Race Notes

2019 race winner: Josef Newgarden (Team Penske-Chevrolet) 1hr55m08.8666s, 186.084 mph (248 laps/372 miles)

2019 NTT pole winner: Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda), 47.0738 seconds, 220.250 mph (two laps)

Qualifying record (based on track distance of 1.44 miles): Charlie Kimball, 46.5861 seconds, 222.556 mph, (2017)

This will mark the first time that Texas Motor Speedway has served as the NTT IndyCar Series season-opener, and it will be the 32^nd IndyCar race at the venue since it joined the IRL schedule in 1997.

Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda) and Tony Kanaan (AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet) have started 20 of those races, Dixon winning the event three times, Kanaan once. The most wins by an Indy car driver at the track is four by Helio Castroneves. Of Saturday’s starters, six are previous TMS winners: aside from Dixon and Kanaan, Will Power (Team Penske-Chevrolet) has two wins, while Ed Carpenter, Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden have one.

Power has won the Texas pole three times, with single-time pole winners entered this year including Dixon, Kimball, Newgarden and Sato (2019).

There are three rookies in the field – Oliver Askew (Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet), Alex Palou (Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh) and Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet) – with Palou facing a particularly steep learning curve, since this will be his first ever oval race of any kind. For Askew’s teammate Patricio O’Ward, the 2018 Indy Lights champion, this will be his first race on Texas Motor Speedway.

 

Photo by: IndyCar