After a few weeks away from the track, the NTT IndyCar Series returns to action this weekend on the high banks of Texas Motor Speedway. There are 27 drivers entered in the event, with a host of former winners looking for their next win. After a morning practice session, starting positions were determined with single-car qualifying. Felix Rosenqvist earned pole position for tomorrow’s race with a blistering average speed of 219.865 mph.
Unfortunately, starting on pole is not necessarily a recipe for success at Texas. Only six of the 34 races have been won by the pole sitter. Ryan Briscoe was the last driver to accomplish that feat, back in 2010. Joining Rosenqvist on the front row will be St Petersburg race winner Scott McLaughlin.
This is the second career pole for Rosenqvist, and his first on an oval. Takuma Sato led the way for Honda, and will start 3rd tomorrow alongside Will Power. The two most successful veterans here will start from Row 3 tomorrow in Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves.
Dixon should be considered the favorite on Sunday, as he has won three of the last five races here. In fact, the six-time series champion has led 678 of 1,156 (59 percent) of the laps here over the last five races. “This race is much earlier in the schedule, which is interesting for weather as it will be much cooler,” Dixon said of the 248-lap race. “The goal is to shoot those guns off in Victory Lane and win another cowboy hat.”
Josef Newgarden will start 7th, putting a bow on a fantastic qualifying effort by Team Penske. Rinus VeeKay led the way for the three-car team at Ed Carpenter Racing. Colton Herta, who is still searching for his first win on an oval, starts 9th tomorrow alongside his friend and rival Pato O’Ward.
Just missing out on the top ten during qualifying were Alex Palou, Alexander Rossi, and Romain Grosjean. Marcus Ericsson and Simon Pagenaud round out the top 15 starting spots for tomorrow. Pagenaud was fastest during the morning practice…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Crash RSS Feed…