Overview on Genesys 300 and XPEL 375 >> OpenWheelWorld.Net

The 1.5 mile oval located in Fort Worth, Texas, however, is a very tricky track that works better for one rider than another, and at Texas Motor Speedway, finding the right setup is also very important. .for a race distance, this weekend is all the more important than in recent years since this year, for the first time since 2011, no less than two races will take place in a weekend at the oval which opened in 1996.

This weekend, Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin will drive the first oval races of his career in the Genesys 300 and XPEL 375, but Texas Motor Speedway isn’t completely strange for McLaughlin as the New Zealander has been cleared to test here last year and last March. on behalf of Roger Penske’s team and can do more than enough laps in both tests, so the three-time Virgin Australia Supercars champion has already gained some experience on the track dubbed The Great American Speedway. It goes without saying that McLaughlin is hoping for a better first race at Texas Motor Speedway than Rinus VeeKay and lex Palou in 2020, the Dutchman and Spaniard crashing together on lap 37 last year after losing driver Ed Carpenter Racing. control of his car after driving too much on the gravel at the second turn. VeeKay and Palou will therefore do their utmost to strike back at Fort Worth this year.

If one has to compare the fast Texas oval with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the only other SuperSpeedway on the calendar this year, the 25-year-old Texas Motor Speedway is still a relatively new track. The track is known as one of the fastest 1.5-mile ovals in the United States, in part because of its steep incline, which climbs to 24 in the final two corners. With that number of bank degrees Texas Motor Speedway is actually a typical NASCAR oval, the Indy Racing League (now IndyCar) has been a regular guest on the track since 1997.

From 1998 to 2004, the series even ran the track structurally twice a year, after which the class decided to leave it with one visit per season starting in 2005, however, an exception was made in 2011, when it There were two races in one outfit one night at Texas Motor Speedway. However, in the first two races that year, only half the usual race distance was covered, so there was only half the points left in both races. Because there have been twice a year at Texas Motor Speedway in the past, more NTT IndyCar Series races have been held to date than the track is old.

In 2021, Texas Motor Speedway will complete more than one IndyCar race on the 1.5-mile oval for the first time in ten years. Unlike 2011, this weekend’s races will cover a full race distance, the first race will last 212 laps, the second race will even cover 248 laps. With the exception of the Indianapolis 500 this weekend’s qualifying will be exactly what we’re used to on the ovals, the only difference from the usual qualifying format, however, is that during the session of the next weekend, the first round will be the starting position for the first. The race and the second lap will determine the starting position for the second race. Normally, when a race is scheduled, the two lap times are added together and the starting lineup is determined accordingly.

History of racing at Texas Motor Speedway
First IndyCar race: 1997
Number of races completed: 32
Number of different winners: 21
Previous race winner on this track: Scott Dixon (Genesys 300, June 7, 2020)
Lap record: Charlie Kimball in 2017, 23.2730
Top performing drivers: Hlio Castroneves (2004, 2006, 2009 and 2013) and Scott Dixon (2008, 2015, 2018 and 2020) both have four victories at Texas Motor Speedway

From 2021 Genesys 300 – Race 1
Race length: 212 laps / 491.30 km.
Green flag: Sunday, May 2, 1:45 a.m. (European time)
Expected race time: +/- 1 hour and 45 minutes

From 2021 XPEL 375 – Race 2
Race length: 248 laps / 574.78 km.
Green flag: Sunday, May 2, 11:15 p.m. (European time)
Expected race time: +/- 2 hours

Important information for both races
Tires: 14 sets of standard Firestone tires per car throughout the weekend
Number of participants: 24

List of participants for the Genesys 300 and XPEL 375
Exactly the same cars are registered for next weekend as the two previous race weekends, but compared to the first two races of this year there are a number of driver changes to admire for the races at the Texas Motor Speedway, as Ed Carpenter will. This year will also drive only the oval races and will therefore take over from Conor Daly in the No.20 car next weekend with his own team. The same Daly will then enter car # 59 with the Carlin team because the regular driver of this car, Max Chilton, will also miss the oval races this season with the exception of the Indianapolis 500.

In addition, Pietro Fittipaldi will succeed Romain Grosjean at Dale Coyne Racing this weekend with Rick Ware Racing, the Frenchman having decided not to participate in the oval races at least this year, the grandson of Emerson Fittipaldi will take over the former Formula 1- driver in the four oval races scheduled for this year. Besides Fittipaldi, another Brazilian will appear at Texas Motor Speedway, just as Grosjean Chip Ganassi Racing driver Jimmie Johnson has also chosen not to participate in the oval races this season. Tony Kanaan will replace the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion in all oval races this year and, like Carpenter and Fittipaldi, will also compete in his first-ever IndyCar races of the year this weekend.

More information on the upcoming race weekend can be viewed separately for Race 1 and Race 2, here you can also see all of the past winners of an NTT IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway and view the timing live.

The race on TV
Of course, the Genesys 300 and the XPEL 375 can be watched live on TV in the Netherlands. The first race at Texas Motor Speedway will start next weekend on the night of Saturday to Sunday at 1:45 am, but can be followed directly from 1:00 am on Ziggo Sport Select, Ziggo Sport Racing and the Ziggo Open Channel (channel 14) .

The second race of the Fort Worth, TX Fast Oval kicks off next Sunday at 11:15 p.m. and can be watched live on Ziggo Sport Docu starting at 11:00 p.m. Additionally, this race can be watched live on Ziggo’s open channel from 12:15 a.m., Ziggo Sport Select will broadcast this race from 12:20 a.m. and the XPEL 375 will also be streamed from 12:30 a.m. on Ziggo Sport Racing (all time in European time indicated).

Free practice and qualifying can only be followed directly via the live timing image this weekend, it can be done from here. IndyCar has yet to announce how Dutch fans of the NTT IndyCar series can follow free practice and qualifying sessions live with footage this year, as soon as something is announced about it we will of course let you know. know.

Posted 29-04-2021, 11:20

Amended 29-04-2021, 16:32

Photo IndyCar / Getty Images