NTT IndyCar Series at Texas Motor Speedway April 2

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.

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Event website: http://www.TexasMotorSpeedway.com

INDYCAR website: http://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.

Photo Courtesy of INDYCAR

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?

  1. 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.

  1. 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?

  1. 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.

INDYCAR
http://www.indycar.com/
Photos Courtesy of INDYCAR

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