Round 2: XPEL 375, Texas Motor Speedway. March 19-20.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 2: XPEL 375, Texas Motor Speedway. March 19-20.

This weekend's race will be the 25th consecutive year Texas Motor Speedway has been on the IndyCar calendar. On June 7th 1997, the Indy Racing League held the "1997 True Value 500", the 6th round of the fledgling series at Texas Motor Speedway and it was the first night race in the history of AOWR. It was won by Arie Luyendyk, driving a Panoz G-Force-Oldsmobile for Treadway Racing.

From 1998-2004 the track hosted two races per season, with the first race held mid June and the second race held in October. In 2007, the race distance was increased from 500km to 550. In 2011, the 'Firestone Twin 275s' were held, made up of two 275km races, separated by a "halftime", with half points awarded for each race. The grid for the second race was decided by a random draw, which proved so unpopular the twin race format was scrapped the following year. In 2014, the race was further extended to 600km.

In 2001, CART added the "Firestone Firehawk 600" amd it was scheduled for April 29th, at TMS and which would have been Round 4 of a 21 race calendar. However, after practice and qualifying the race was cancelled, as drivers reported vertigo like symptoms and vision problems, after sustaining high lateral forces of 5.5G, while driving in excess of 230 mph or 370 km/h on the 24 degree banking. TMS sued CART, after it emerged CART officials had ignored repeated requests to test their cars before the race. This resulted in a legal settlement, estimated to have been around $5–7 million, which CART paid to TMS. Many pundits have cited the law suit and settlement as a key factor in CART's demise.

For the last two seasons, racing at Texas Motor Speedway has been affected by the corona virus. The start of the 2020 season was postponed and a number of races were cancelled, with the 2020 season eventually getting underway on June 6 at TMS. Last year, rather than having one 600km race, TMS held a double header, the Genysys 300 on Saturday May 1 and the Xpel 375 on Sunday May 2; both race distances were in miles rather than kilometers. This year is no exception, with TMS being moved forward from its usual place in June and hosting the second round of the 2022 season. However, this year will be a single race event.

Some Trivia:
Driver with the most wins: 5.
Scott Dixon: 2008, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021.
Team with the most wins: 10.
Team Penske: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019.

Track Layout:


Length: 1.5 Miles (2.4 km)
Turns: 4

Lap record:
Paul Tracy April 28 2001. 0:22.542, 239.552 mph (385.521 kmh)
Team Green,
Reynard 01i-Honda HR-1 V8t,
CART FedEx Championship Series.



Last Year Race 1,

Genysys 300.
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...i-1-2/6500589/

Pole:
Alex Palou,*
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI21R Indy-V-6
*Qualifying was canceled due to rain. Consequently the starting grid was set on point standings.

Last year's winner:
Scott Dixon,
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI21R Indy-V-6

Laps: 212
Distance: 300 Miles (482.803 Km)
Time: 1:45:51.3417
Average speed: 173.036 Mph (281.958 km/h)
Fastest lap: Marcus Ericsson - Chip Ganassi Racing, 23.6606 sec. Lap 124. 219.098 mph, ( 352.6040517 Km/h)

Cautions: 2
Laps: 56 - 70, 160 -173


Last Year's Race 2,
Xpel 375.
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...texas/6501558/

Pole:
Scott Dixon,*
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI21R Indy-V-6
*Qualifying was canceled due to rain. Consequently the starting grid was set on point standings.

Last year's winner:
Pato O'Ward,
Arrow McLaren SP
Dallara IR18-Chevrolet IndyCar V6

Laps: 248
Distance: 375 Miles (603.5 Km)
Time: 2:06:31.1155
Average speed: 169.36 Mph (272.558 km/h)
Fastest lap: Alex Palou - Chip Ganassi Racing, Lap 22 .23.8507 sec, 217.352 mph (349.794 km/h)

Cautions: 3
Laps: 1 - 18, 117 - 126, 190 - 196.

Broadcast:
NBC: March 20, 12:30pm ET, 5:30pm UTC
Sky Sports F1: 5:30pm GMT