Sunday’s IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway saw a thrilling photo finish between winner Josef Newgarden and his Penske team mate Scott McLaughlin.
Ganassi driver Marcus Ericsson finishing behind them in third. All three drivers praised the quality of the race at the Texan track at a time when its future on the calendar is not certain.
Multiple factors contributed to the improvement in racing. To mitigate the effect of turbulent air, IndyCar allowed teams to run optional barge boards like the ones offered for last year’s Indianapolis 500, which added downforce as needed, and contributed to a much livelier race than the previous year’s 500.
But Texas’ biggest pain point for IndyCar was the lingering impact of applying PJ1 traction compound to the corners in 2019. It was a change made to benefit NASCAR racing, but had a detrimental effect upon IndyCar. It rendered most of the outside grooves useless due to the total lack of grip, and turning recent races into single-file…