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Firestone 600 Preview

Will Power and Simon Pagenaud lead the field into Turn 1 during the early stages of the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. [Photo by: Chris Owens]

Will Power and Simon Pagenaud lead the field into Turn 1 during the early stages of the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. [Photo by: Chris Owens]

The Verizon Indy Car Series moves from the tight Belle Isle street circuit in Detroit, to the ultra-fast, ultra-competitive 1.455-mile high banks of the Texas Motor Speedway for the 28th running of the Firestone 600 on Saturday evening, June 11.

Indy cars have raced in Texas at various times since 1947 when they first ran in Arlington on a one-mile dirt track. The circuit moved to the 2-mile Texas World Speedway in 1973, but seems to have found a permanent home in Fort Worth at TMS.

Scott Dixon won here in 2015 in a race he dominated, leading 97 laps as he defeated Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Tony Kanaan by almost eight seconds.

Dixon’s race-winning speed of 191.940 mph was a track record, aided by just one caution period for debris. Penske’s Will Power had the fastest in-race lap, 216.676 mph, short of the record 222.501 turned by Buddy Rice in 2002.

This is the third oval track raced by Indy Car this season (Phoenix and Indianapolis the others), with Iowa and Pocono to follow. Dixon led a Chevrolet sweep of the podium in Arizona, while Honda won at the 100th Indy 500 with the surprising duo of Alexander Rossi and Carlos Munoz running 1-2 for Andretti Autosport.

Chevrolet and Honda shared top-10 finishes at Texas last year with Chevy placing 1-4th and 7th.

Bow-tie drivers hold the top-four spots in the series’ points chase with three-time season winner Simon Pagenaud leading with 357 followed by Dixon (-80), Helio Castroneves (-86) and Josef Newgarden (-98). Indy-winner Rossi (-115) moves into fifth-place for Honda.

The Texas track is unique on the Indy Car schedule, but oval-track results here and elsewhere tend to equalize any engine advantage between the two manufacturers; giving neither much of an advantage here.

Overall, in the first eight races of 2016, six different drivers have won, with only Pagenaud winning multiple times.
Honda has only won once this season, but winning the 500 can equal the seven wins for Chevrolet in some owners’ minds.

Honda has shown signs at times of being Chevrolet’s equal; something Indy Car covets as they seek a more even playing field than in 201

We’ll call Saturday’s race a toss-up as any driver can find the winner’s circle depending on track and pit situations that might develop over the long 360.84-mile/248-lap run. Honda/Chevy? Pagenaud/Rossi? Penske/Andretti? We’ll see.

NOTES:

• Twenty-two drivers are entered, with Ed Carpenter back in his oval-track-only ride, while we lose rookie Spencer Pigot after five races at Rahal Letterman Lanigan.
• Rookies Max Chilton, Conor Daly and Alexander Rossi will try Texas Motor Speedway for the first time in an Indy car Saturday.
• Qualifying at Texas is single-car/ cumulative time of two laps.
• Five entered drivers have won previously at Texas: Castroneves (4 times), Dixon (2), Power, Tony Kanaan and Carpenter (1 each).
• The Firestone 600 is really 600 kilometers, not 600 miles.
• TV: NBCSports Network, Friday, June 10, Practice, 6:00p.m. ET/ Qualifying 8:00p.m. ET. Saturday, June 11, Race, 8:00p.m. ET.

QUOTES:

• Will Power/Penske Chevrolet: “We’ll have the same boost settings as Indianapolis which will be a lot of fun (at Texas). The Verizon Chevy has qualified very well there and getting that early track position is important. The win in Detroit (last weekend) has given the team a lot of confidence. After starting (the season) in a bit of a hole, we’re climbing back into the championship race.”
• Graham Rahal/ Mi-Jack/RLL Honda: “Last year (at Texas) we underestimated the amount of downforce that we needed in the race and we’ve learned from that now. The Honda oval aero-package at Indy looked good, but Texas is a very different animal. Having tested there helps. We’ve learned more aerodynamically since then and anticipate being better since then.”
• Gabby Chaves/ Boy Scouts of America /Dale Coyne Honda: “Texas Motor Speedway demands a lot of commitment as a driver, a lot of trust in your car, your guys, your pit crew, engineer. Everyone has to be working as a unit. Last year I had a top-10 finish as a rookie…go back there and get a top-five this year, (or) go for the win and see what happens.”
• Juan Pablo Montoya/ Verizon/Penske Chevy: “The roller-coaster continues. It’s getting a little frustrating, but we have to keep an even keel. We had front wing damage (at Detroit) and I was pushing too hard to catch back up and we ended up in a crash. We need to start building positive momentum and get off this up-and-down thing we’ve been doing.”

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