After staging a race on a permanent road course and another on a temporary street circuit, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is ready to ramp up the speed with its first oval event of the season this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Call it a Texas two-step as the Genesys 300 opens the show at 7 p.m. (ET) Saturday followed by the XPEL 375 at 5 p.m. (ET) Sunday. The first race is 212 laps, the second 248 on the 1.5-mile oval. Both races will air live on NBCSN and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon won last year’s event, leading 157 of the 200 laps in the first of three consecutive victories to open his title-winning season. It was the third consecutive year that the Texas winner went on to capture the championship. But Dixon figures to have plenty of challengers in the first doubleheader at Texas since 2011. These two races also help set the stage for a busy Month of May – two races each at TMS and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, plus NTT P1 Award qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. It’s possible, though unlikely in this competitive sport, that a driver could collect a staggering 274 points this month alone! Given the two-day format at Texas, there is only one practice, a 75-minute session at 12:45 p.m. (ET) Saturday (live on Peacock Premium, NBC’s streaming service). Qualifying is at 4 p.m. (ET) Saturday (live on Peacock and NBCSN), with the starting grid for both races set in the session. Sign up for Peacock Premium at www.peacocktv.com for $4.99 per month to get all the INDYCAR action, Indy Lights races and shoulder programming. Here are five things to look for this weekend in Fort Worth: |
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Title Hopefuls Need Help |
And then there are those especially eager to climb in the standings. Newgarden (10th place with 47 points), O’Ward (11th with 45), Rahal (13th with 41) and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi (16th with 31) are ones to watch in this race. Newgarden and Rahal have combined for three wins, with Newgarden third last year and Rahal second in 2012 and 2019. Rossi has had strong cars at Texas – he finished third in 2018 and was second in 2019 – and is desperate for a good points day after finishing ninth at Barber Motorsports Park and 21st in St. Petersburg, the latter due to his car suffering a flat right front tire in Turn 4 contact with Rahal. A slow start to last season cost Rossi a chance at the championship, and he had vowed to begin better this year. So far it hasn’t happened, but Texas could be his turnaround. |
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