Tag: Texas

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Moto3: Alonso Annihilation In Austin!

Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X

Total dominance from the Colombian teenage sensation David Alonso (CFMOTO Aspar Team) this weekend in Austin, Texas. Quickest in practice, pole position and an easy race with Alonso leading every lap of it.

Alonso would have been unaware of the chaos and drama behind him, especially the terrific fight for the remaining podium places. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing) finished the Grand Prix with a photo finish. Holgado finished 2nd and Piqueras just a bike wheel behind in 3rd. 

Holgado continued his great run of form and hasn’t finished outside of the top 3 so far this season. The championship lead cut down to just 2 points to Alonso as we head to Jerez in two week’s time.

Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X
Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X

AS IT HAPPENED

Unfortunately due to illness, Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was unable to compete in today’s race despite the excellent qualifying session yesterday. This promoted everyone up the grid one slot and Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) up onto the front row.

After the antics in yesterday’s sessions, most of the field had a long lap penalty and some a triple long lap penalty to take during the Grand Prix.

A great start from pole position from Alonso and Filippo Farioli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) went down on the first corner with several riders taking evasive action to avoid any collision. Farioli far too late on the brakes went into the back of Veijer and Veijer lucky to stay on the bike past turn 1.

Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) collided with Holgado into turn 8, luckily both riders stayed on their bikes. Alonso with the chaos behind him gained a half a second lead at the front on the opening lap.

Holgado into turn 12 went up the inside of Veijer and back up into 3rd. Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) and Stefano Nepa ( LEVELUP – MTA) crashed out with Ortola too keen to get by. Ortola confused in the melee almost re-joined the race on the wrong bike. Holgado after the incident with Kelso got by Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team) and back up to 2nd place as we headed into lap 2.

 

Into lap 2 and Alonso pulled away at the front with Piqueras, Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) and Veijer all getting by and swapping places with Holgado.

With all of the field fighting behind, Alonso started lap 3 over 2 seconds clear at the front. Piqueras lead the chasing pack with Holgado 3rd and Furusato in 4th.

Yellow flags waved in sector 1 as Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) crashed out with 11 laps to go. Lunetta able to re-join but would end up finishing in last place. Alonso now had a 3.5 seconds lead at the front. The chasing pack of 6 riders lead by Holgado but Holgado was unable to break away from Piqueras and co. behind.

Holgado, Piqueras, Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) and Veijer all in a fantastic fight for the 2nd and 3rd podium places here in Austin. At the half way point of the race, it was Alonso’s to lose with a huge advantage of 4 seconds at the front. Kelso caught up to the chasing pack and now a group of 5 emerged to fight it out for the podium places.

5 laps to go and Holgado set the fastest lap of the race, reducing the gap to 3 seconds to Alonso ahead in the lead. Kelso crashed out at turn 1 to remount and was still in the top 10 as Kelso re-joined in 8th place.

Alonso’s gap shrunk by over a couple of seconds as Veijer went down in sector 1 through the fast twisty section with Yamanaka and Holgado narrowly missing Veijer and his bike. The crash handed breathing room for Piqueras and was on target for his first ever podium for Leopard Racing.

3 laps to go, Alonso lead with Piqueras 2nd and Yamanaka in 3rd. Holgado and  Yamanaka fought it out through the twisty section for 3rd place. Veijer retired on lap 12 after a more than eventful Grand Prix for the young dutchman. Hit multiple times from other rider’s before a high speed crash himself. Through turn 12 and up the inside of Yamanaka, Holgado moved back up into 3rd place.

2 laps to go and Holgado moved ahead of Piqueras into 2nd place late on the brakes up the hill into turn 1. Yamanaka and Piqueras both fighting for their first ever podiums in Moto3. Piqueras up the inside of Yamanaka and started the last lap of the race in 3rd place hunting down Holgado.

Onto the last lap and Piqueras was on the back wheel of Holgado and looked to take 2nd place away from the Red Bull GasGas rider. Down the long straight, Piqueras went up the inside of Holgado into 2nd. Holgado though patiently waited to attack and into turn 19 Holgado made his move. Up the inside of Piqueras and we had a photo finish on the line between the pair of them.  Holgado took 2nd place by just a bike wheel ahead of Piqueras who finished in 3rd.

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP

With all of the carnage behind him, David Alonso kept his cool and cruised to victory in Austin. Alonso capped off a fantastic weekend today and was dominant in every session.

Race Classification 

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP

Championship Standings

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP
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Moto3: First Pole for Alonso in Austin

Feature Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X

After a brief break with the Argentinian race cancelled, everyone was raring to go here in Austin, Texas this weekend.

Championship leader and winner last time out in Portimão, Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) continued his great run of form rounding off the front row of the grid qualifying in 3rd.

Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was close, had a lap cancelled and then had pole snatched away from him in Q2 this afternoon. Teenage Colombian wonderkid David Alonso (CFMOTO Aspar Team) took his first pole position in Moto3 and has looked unstoppable this weekend so far. 

With a front row of the top 3 title protagonists for 2024, it’s all set up to be a great battle in Texas tomorrow.

Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X
Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X

AS IT HAPPENED

Qualifying 1

Being in the leading group in the opening races of the season, we would certainly not of expected to see Riccardo Rossi (CIP Green Power) in this Q1 session.

David Almansa (Rivacold Snipers Team) went over the handle bars at turn 20, hopefully Almansa is ok after that as the first batch of flying lap times filtered through with just 8mins left of the session.

Leopard Racing’s Adrian Fernandez sat at the top of the timings after the first batch of flying laps were posted. The top 4 heading through to Q2 with 4mins of the session remaining were Fernandez, Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), Joel Esteban (CFMOTO Aspar Team) and Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse).

Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets MSI) had a lap cancelled and only 2mins remained in Q1. Only one more attempt to salvage something from the session and progress to Q2 with a final flying lap.

The lap is 5.5km’s in distance and with a 15mins qualifying session and over 2mins per lap time, nobody in Moto3 can afford to make a mistake.

Yamanaka pulled up on the long straight as Roulstone lit up the sectors red at the half way point of the last flying lap. Both Rossi and Yamanaka had a day to forget not getting into the top 4 to progress to Q2,

The fastest and through to Q2 were Fernandez, Roulstone, Esteban and Lunetta

Qualifying 2

Could anyone stop the charging David Alonso in this Q2 session? Alonso has been flying this weekend and was on course in practice to set a new all time lap record but instead opted to cruise into the pits.

With long out laps completed, it was Rueda who got us started with flying laps with 12mins left of the session.

Rueda set the bench mark of a 2:15.063 and as the rest of the field filtered through Alonso moved back to the top a tenth of a second quicker than Rueda with a 2:14.907. Alonso on provisional pole after most of the field completed their first runs.

Holgado moved up to 5th with 8mins left of the session and teammate Roulstone went into 2nd. Superb from the young Australian rider.

Alonso on his next flying lap went quicker setting a new provisional pole lap time of 2:14.661. Roulstone and Rueda filled the rest of the front row with 4mins left of the session.

Rueda out of the pits and to the top of the timings with a new lap record but dipped his wheels into the green coming out of the last corner. Rueda would later have this lap cancelled with just 1 min left of the session.

Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) with the last sector of his career jumped onto pole as the chequered flagged waved. Rueda, Alonso and David Munoz (BOE Motorsports) though all on final flying laps lighting up the sectors red.

Rueda crossed the line but only had pole position for a few seconds as Alonso snatched it away to take pole position here in COTA.

Holgado managed to fight onto the front row just ahead of Veijer in 4th.

A first pole position for David Alonso in Moto3 and well deserved. Alonso will be hard to stop in tomorrow’s race.

Starting Grid

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP
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Enea reigns supreme in Texas

Qualifying:

Round Four saw the Moto GP riders in Austin, Texas at the Circuit of the Americas. But, did anyone see the Ducati lockout at the front of the grid?

Jorge Martin (Ducati) took pole, with a new all-time lap record (2:02.039) from Jack Miller (Ducati) in second and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) in third. Fourth and fifth went to Ducati riders Johann Zarco and Enea Bastianini.

Race:

With 3.426 miles for just one lap at COTA, the laps are long and the wind was strong. With such an unpredictable season so far, who would come out victorious?

Martin and Miller had a great start but it was Miller who took the lead into the first lap, from Martin, Bagnaia and Bastianini. It was a disastrous start though for Marc Marquez (Honda), who had returned from injuries after missing last race. He seemed to have issues with his launch control and stumbled from his grid position, falling to last place.

COTA. Courtesy of Moto GP website.

Bastianini claimed third place fairly quickly from Bagnaia, Whilst Martin overtook Miller into turn 20 but Miller was in the mood to fight and took the position back immediately.

Marquez was on a mission and already on lap 2 had made up 5 places, claiming 17th place. Miller also knew he had to try and create a gap between himself and second, trying to do this he put in the fastest lap.

By lap 4 of 20 it was another Ducati’s turn to claim fastest lap, this time it went to Zarco, in 5th place.

Having won so many times at this race track, Marquez knew exactly what he had to do, with 17 laps to go he was up to 14th position. Was the win just a dream this time round?

Zarco and Bagnaia tussled for 4th place, Marquez took another step towards the front and Alex Rins (Suzuki) passed Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) for 6th.

Mini battles in the field. Courtesy of Moto GP website.

For the first time in the race the top five Ducati’s were suddenly split by the Suzuki of Rins who took 5th place on lap 6  and in doing so claimed fastest lap. Unfortunately for Alex Marquez (Honda) on the same lap, he crashed out cutting his race short, in sector 2.

Having looked good for some time, Rins took 4th place from Zarco, but Zarco wasn’t going down without a fight. Meanwhile the two factory Hondas switched places and Marquez was now up to 10th position.

With only 12 laps until the end Miller set another fastest lap and Rins and Zarco continued their battle for 4th.

Half-way through – Miller led Martin, Bastianini and Rins. Turn 11 though – Rins passed Bastianini, but Enea fought back for the spot.

Battling for 9th place, Marquez soon claimed it from Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) – last weeks winner.

The Suzuki and Ducati clash continued between Rins and Bastianini with Bastianini coming out the stronger of the two and even taking 2nd place from Martin. Marquez also put in fastest lap – was a podium within reach?

Lap 12 of 20 and Miller continued to lead from the front, from Bastianini, Rins and Martin. While Mir passed Zarco once again for 6th.

Miller leads Bastianini. Courtesy of Moto GP website.

Marquez continued to push even harder, this time beating his own record and taking the best race lap ever (2:03.553). This did not last long as Bastianini, soon after, did an even better lap record of 2:03.521.

The overtakes just kept on coming: lap 14 of 20 – Quartararo finally passed Zarco this time managing to make it stick. Mir passed Martin and Bagnaia took full advantage doing the same. Meanwhile Marquez passed Quartararo for 7th.

Back at the front and Bastianini looked menacing behind Miller. Could Miller make his tyres last for just 6 more laps?

Two laps later and Bastianini made his move on Miller, taking the lead on turn 12, he straight away pushed hard to create a gap between the pair.

Martin continued to go backwards in Austin and found himself being passed by Marquez for 7th place, only to then have Quartararo seize the opportunity to also pass and force Martin into 8th, however, Martin fought back and and re-took 7th from Fabio.

Marquez hunts Martin. Courtesy of Moto GP website.

With only 3 laps until the chequered flag Bastianini created a gap of 1.031 seconds ahead of Miller. While Quartararo and Marquez went back-and-forth for 6th position.

Last lap and the Ducati’s of Bastianini and Miller led Rins in 3rd.

The continued battle for 6th raged on while Rins and Miller decided to battle it out. Miller went defensive but in the end it was Rins who claimed 2nd spot on the podium from Miller.

It was an absolutely heroic race from Marquez, who showed with enough determination, will and grit, he could still fight through the pack to claim a valiant 6th place.

Having now taken a second win this year – Bastianini rode the Ducati to claim victory, securing Ducati’s first ever win at COTA.

Bastianini takes the flag at COTA. Courtesy of Moto GP website.

Top Ten Finishers:

1st

E. Bastianini

2nd

A. Rins

3rd

J. Miller

4th

J. Mir

5th

F. Bagnaia

6th

M. Marquez

7th

F. Quartararo

8th

J. Martin

9th

J. Zarco

10th

M. Vinales

This season is so unpredictable, we now have another new championship leader:

Championship:

1st

E. Bastianini

61 points

2nd

A. Rins

56 points

3rd

A. Espargaro

50 points

4th

J. Mir

46 points

Rins claiming second on the podium, equaled Suzuki’s 500th podium finish in GP history across all classes.

Are we seeing a new championship contender in Enea Bastianini? Who would have predicted such a Ducati dominance? Can they continue in this fashion? We will have to see in round 5.

 

 

(Featured image: Courtesy of Moto GP website).

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Watermelons were smashed: Ross Chastain’s week as a first-time NASCAR Cup winner

Watermelon farmer turned NASCAR Cup racer Ross Chastain smashed out his first career win at Circuit of the Americas in final lap brawl.

On the hottest day of the year just outside of Austin, Texas, the NASCAR race at COTA came down to an overtime finish between Ross Chastain, road-course ringer AJ Allmendinger and Hendrick’s Alex Bowman.

On the final restart, it was Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick who led the field to green with Ross Chastain right beside him in second, but Chastain used the chrome horn and power moved by Reddick in the S’s to retake the lead.

Reddick would fall back to sixth while Chastain would take the white flag and would lead the break away with AJ Allmendinger and Alex Bowman in tandem.

Ross Chastain racing witth AJ Allmendinger right behind him (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

Allmendinger closed up to Chastain in the turn 12 heavy braking zone and would continue to fill his mirrors up in turns 13 and 14 before sticking his Camaro up the inside of Chastain in turn 15, consequently pushing Chastain wide after he tried to cover him off.

Chastain would get passed by Bowman too after he dived past him on the inside of 18 while Chastain returned the favour to Allmendinger going into the penultimate corner, using him as a braking block. Allmendinger’s car stepped out on him and flew into Bowman who was alongside him. Allmendinger ended up backwards in the sand while Bowman had to take evasive action to avoid him. Chastain went on to take the checkered flag.

The highly anticipated ritual-like smashing of the watermelon was performed by Chastain on the straightaway from on top of his ONX Homes/iFly Camaro. Chastain was so thrilled he ate the juicy fruit while being interviewed, saying to FOX, “it’s never tasted sweeter.”

Ross Chastain, celebrates further by eating the smashed watermelon (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

It was also Trackhouse Racing’s first Cup win and was quite the birthday present for co-team owner Justin Marks.

Celebrations continued throughout the first half of the week with Chastain’s own Melon Man Brand, a grassroots lifestyle organisation uniting all watermelon lovers, putting up pre-orders for a most appropriate T-shirt on Tuesday to mark the iconic moment.

Co-team owner Mr. Worldwide also put out a congratulatory post to his driver and team.

It was not the end of Ross’s ‘victory lap’ either. On FOX’s own NASCAR Race Hub, Chastain taught Jimmie Johnson’s former crew chief Chad Knaus the arts of watermelon smashing.

Back at the race shop on Tuesday, Team Trackhouse were all bought a celebratory breakfast. Watermelon may or may not have been present.

Back to Sunday’s race, other drivers had found to be fast throughout the race, most notably Team Trackhouse teammate Daniel Suárez, who after starting second would take the lead away from polesitter Ryan Blaney on the opening lap. Suárez would go onto win the first stage of the race. He had a not so fun experience on the restart however, finding himself spinning around while in a five-wide mess in turn one. Denny Hamlin, in desperate need of points, would sacrifice track position and stay out to win stage two.

Daniel Suárez spinning out in turn one (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

Ford drivers Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric would also be at the front throughout much of the race but not when Cindric brought out the first non-scheduled caution of the day for spinning coming out of the turn 10 kink, with Christopher Bell narrowly avoiding him by a whisker. The race would go to overtime when Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano came together in the turn one sandpit.

Bowman, Bell, Elliott, and Reddick made up the top five finishing order.

Featured Image: Ross Chastain, celebrates after winning at COTA (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

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Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist takes pole at Texas

Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist took his second IndyCar career pole and first oval pole at Texas Motor Speedway for tomorrow’s XPEL 375 below a hot midday sun. The fight for pole proved to be incredibly tight as the top five were separated by less than one tenth of a second. Rosenqvist managed a two-lap average of 221.110 mph and was one of the first drivers to take to the track in what was single car qualifying. The debate was whether the increasing temperatures would offset the building rubber on the race track as the session went on.

Points leader Scott McLaughlin nearly stole the pole away from Rosenqvist as the final car after his first lap was in range but fell just short with a 221.096mph two-lap average placing him second. Halfway through the session, Dale Coyne Racing’s Takuma Sato had a very impressive run with a 221.094mph run, claiming third. Pole master Will Power earned a fourth place with five-time Texas winner Scott Dixon claiming fifth.

Scott Dixon (Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar Media)

Last year’s winner and Arrow McLaren teammate Pato O’Ward managed a solid 10th place with a run of 220.579mph while reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou came just behind him with a run of 220.571mph. Oval newcomer Romain Grosjean managed a very respectable 13th with a run of 220.412mph, with it only being his second IndyCar oval race weekend and his first with Andretti Autosport. Simon Pagenaud, who had been fastest in practice one, was only 15th fastest with a run of 220.768mph while teammate Hélio Castroneves qualified sixth a two-lap average of 220.768mph.

Seventeenth place was the first of the rookies, Devlin DeFrancesco, with a run of 219.888mph. Close behind was IndyCar oval rookie Jimmie Johnson, managing a highly impressive 18th place with a two-lap average of 219.866mph. While he is a seven-time Texas Motor Speedway winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, this is his very first oval IndyCar race weekend. Johnson has continued to make progress after being 22nd in practice one. RLL did not have a good day, with 2016 Texas winner Graham Rahal having downforce issues, coming in last with a run of 218.410mph with teammates Jack Harvey and Christian Lundgaard qualifying 24th and 25th.

Full qualifying order: Felix Rosenqvist (1st), Scott McLaughlin (2nd), Takuma Sato (3rd), Will Power (4th), Scott Dixon (5th), Hélio Castroneves (6th), Josef Newgarden (7th), Rinus Veekay (8th), Colton Herta (9th), Pato O’Ward (10th), Álex Palou (11th), Alexander Rossi (12th), Romain Grosjean (13th), Marcus Ericsson (14th), Simon Pagenaud (15th), Conor Daly (16th), Devlin DeFrancesco (17th), Jimmie Johnson (18th), David Malukas (19th), Callum Ilott (20th), Ed Carpenter (21st), Dalton Kellett (22nd), Kyle Kirkwood (23rd), Jack Harvey (24th), Christian Lundgaard (25th), JR Hildebrand (26th), and Graham Rahal (27th).

The green flag for the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway flies at 11:45am CT (16:45pm GMT) today.

Featured Image: Felix Rosenqvist (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

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IndyCar Race Preview: Texas Motor Speedway

This weekend, the NTT IndyCar series take on the high banks of Texas Motor Speedway in the XPEL 375. The series has observed a long three week break after the season opener at St. Pete, only adding to the anticipation of three wide racing at over 200mph around the 1.5-mile oval. The drivers will complete 248 laps, making it a 372 mile long race, to be exact. This will be the 35th IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway, in the speedway’s 25 year history, with Scott Dixon and Pato O’Ward winning the 2021 races.

Texas has proven to be a very significant race as in three of the last four seasons, the winner has gone on to win the championship; five-time Texas winner Scott Dixon in 2018 and 2020, who is the all-time winner at the track, and Josef Newgarden in 2019.

Pato O’Ward celebrating 2021 Texas win (Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar Media)

Despite its wide turns, this track has little room for error. The 20 degree banked turns one and two are unforgiving as drivers who wash up the race track, coming off the racing line, often spin around upon entering the slippery grey tarmac and smack into the outside wall. Going two wide into the 24 degree banked turn three is only for the bold. Getting tight off turn four on the outside often results in slamming into the outside wall. Three wide along the back straightaway is not unusual to see. We may even see four wide in spectacular fashion like we did at the end of the 2016 race when Graham Rahal came out on top in a photo finish.

Battling in the closing laps in 2016 with Rahal in 3rd (Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar Media)

Two new optional aerodynamic pieces, the barge board and trimmed sidewall, will be available for the first time this season. It is the hope that these aerodynamic pieces will allow for cars to more closely follow and draft each other, and experience less aero wash from the dirty air made by the car ahead.

One of the most exciting additions to the driver line-up this weekend is that Jimmie Johnson will partake in his first oval IndyCar race. Last year, the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion only did non-oval races but late in the year the itch to race in an Indy 500 overtook any safety concerns and Johnson decided to make the transition to full-time IndyCar racing for this year and will attempt to make the 2022 Indy 500. Johnson has had immense success at Texas Motor Speedway, winning seven NASCAR Cup races in his career, making him no stranger to getting it done at Texas, but has had to relearn how to race successfully round here in an IndyCar.

Also racing is AJ Foyt Enterprises’s JR Hildebrand on a part-time schedule. The American IndyCar veteran is racing in place of rookie Tatiana Calderón who is not partaking in the oval races this season. The beloved Illinois veteran Ed Carpenter also makes his usual appearance at Texas Motor Speedway competing for his own now three-car Ed Carpenter Racing team for the weekend.

The weekend schedule for the XPEL 375 is as follows. An opening one hour practice session will take place on Saturday at 10am Central Time, followed by single car qualifying at 1pm CT. A special 30-minute practice session for seven drivers will take place at 4pm CT for them to further establish a high groove around the track. A final one hour practice session will take place later in the day starting at 4:45pm CT . The green flag for the XPEL 375 is on Sunday at 11:45am CT.

Featured Image: 2021 Texas IndyCar race (Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar Media)

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IndyCar Texas Preview

IndyCar’s race at Texas Motor Speedway will conclude the run of four races in three weekends in the most intense part of the season. Texas marks the second oval of the season and it is usually one of the more eventful weekends of the year, as well as being one of the most picturesque races as it is held under the floodlights.

The IndyCar paddock comes straight from the Dual in Detroit doubleheader where Josef Newgarden took the win in Race 1 before crashing out of Race 2. Scott Dixon was victorious in Race 2, having crashed in Race 1… they were certainly two of the more eventful races we’ve had so far this season!

The main takeaway from Detroit is that Dixon has finally got his first win of the season, something that he took until Texas to do last year. Another key point to note is that Newgarden heads into this round with a 15-point lead over Alexander Rossi, which is one of the smaller championship leads that he has enjoyed so far this season, thanks to his low score in Race 2 at Detroit.

Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

Races at Texas Motor Speedway tend to be highly attritional with large multi-car wrecks a common feature under the lights. Last year, Dixon took his first win of the season here while Simon Pagenaud scored his first podium of 2018 – that shows how different the Frenchman’s situation is this year. Only nine cars finished on the lead lap with extreme tyre blistering playing a key factor in the race, as well as contributing to one or two of the crashes.

Texas is notoriously difficult for rookies with four newbies taking on the course this year. Felix Rosenqvist is in need of a good result, or just a finish, as any more bad results could start to put his future at Chip Ganassi Racing in jeopardy because Chip not a fan of crashers, to put it lightly!

Marcus Ericsson will be hoping to not end in the wall as his predecessor Robert Wickens did here last year, though that was one of Wickens’ more minor scrapes last year. The same goes for Santino Ferrucci and Colton Herta, with all four rookies just wanting to keep it out of the wall, though that is easier said than done!

A return to the ovals means a return to the normal oval qualifying format, which is notably different from that used at the Indy 500. Each driver will get a single run of two laps to set their qualifying time with them running in reverse championship order, meaning returner Charlie Kimball will go first while Newgarden will go last, and theoretically get the best of the track conditions.

There have been three driver changes since the last round and one of them, in particular, was pretty big news. Max Chilton, driver of the #59 Carlin, has made the decision not to compete in any of the four remaining ovals of the season with no precise reason stated in the press release, though the general speculation has been around safety worries due to the way the car was handling at Indianapolis.

Whatever the reason, it was Chilton’s personal decision and is one to be respected, with all the drivers knowing the danger that ovals, in particular, present. After his top ten finish at the 500, Conor Daly will be replacing Chilton at Texas, but it is yet to be announced who will drive the #59 at the remaining ovals of Iowa, Pocono and Gateway.

Conor Daly on the opening day of the Texas weekend. Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

The other changes are more minor with Kimball in the #23 Carlin in place of Patricio O’Ward’s #31, though funding concerns for the young Mexican mean it’s not certain that we’ll see him back for Road America. Finally, Ed Carpenter is replacing Ed Jones in the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing entry in their usual switch-around for ovals.

The first practice session took place overnight with Dixon continuing his Detroit form by topping the timing sheet, followed by the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing duo of Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal with Kimball in a surprising fourth. The rest of the timings for this weekend are as follows, with the race in the early hours of Sunday morning for UK viewers.

June 7

Practice 2 – 1:30pm (CDT) / 7:30pm (BST)
Qualifying – 5:45pm / 11:45pm

June 8/9

Race – 7:30pm / 1:30am

Entry List:

# Driver Team
2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske
4 Matheus Leist AJ Foyt Racing
5 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
7 Marcus Ericsson (R) Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Felix Rosenqvist (R) Chip Ganassi Racing
12 Will Power Team Penske
14 Tony Kanaan AJ Foyt Racing
15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing
19 Santino Ferrucci (R) Dale Coyne Racing
20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing
21 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing
22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske
23 Charlie Kimball Carlin
26 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport
27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport
28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport
30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan
59 Conor Daly Carlin
88 Colton Herta (R) Harding Steinbrenner
98 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport

Featured Image Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

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