INDYCAR: Fast Facts for Saturday night’s DXC Technology 600 at Texas

By Jun 5, 2018, 7:58 PM EDT
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Here’s what you need to know about Saturday night’s DXC Technology 600 Verizon IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway (courtesy INDYCAR Media Relations):

DXC Technology 600 Fast Facts

Race weekend: Friday, June 8 – Saturday, June 9

Track: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval

Race distance: 248 laps / 357.12 miles

Entry List:  DXC Technology 600 (PDF)

Firestone tire allotment: Thirteen sets for use through the weekend

Twitter: @TXMotorSpeedway @IndyCar, #DXC600, #IndyCar

Event website: www.TexasMotorSpeedway.com

INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com

2017 race winner: Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet)

2017 Verizon P1 Award winner: Charlie Kimball (No. 83 Tresiba Honda), 46.5861 seconds, 222.556 mph (two laps)

Qualifying records (based on track distance of 1.44 miles)

One lap: Charlie Kimball, 23.2730, 222.747 mph, June 9, 2017

Two laps: Charlie Kimball, 46.5861 seconds, 222.556 mph, June 9, 2017

NBCSN television telecasts: Qualifying, 4 p.m. ET Friday, June 8 (live); Race, 8 p.m. ET Saturday, June 9 (live). Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer for the NBCSN telecasts this weekend alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Pit reporters are Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Katie Hargitt and Robin Miller.

Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Anders Krohn. Jake Query is the turn announcer with Nick Yeoman, Dillon Welch and Michael Young reporting from pit road. All Verizon IndyCar Series races are broadcast live on network affiliates, Sirius 214, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app. All Verizon IndyCar Series practice and qualifying sessions are available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app.

Video streaming: All practice sessions for the DXC Technology 600 will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/indycar).

At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, June 8

11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #1, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)

3 p.m. – Qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award (single car/cumulative time of two laps), NBCSN (3 p.m.)

6:15 – 7:15 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #2, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)

Saturday, June 10

7:01 p.m. – Driver introductions

7:40 p.m. – Command to start engines

7:45 p.m. – DXC Technology 600 (248 laps/357.12 miles), NBCSN (Live)

Race notes:

* There have been six different winners in eight Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2018: Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (ISM Raceway and Barber Motorsports Park), Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach), Will Power (INDYCAR Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500), Scott Dixon (Raceway at Belle Isle-1) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Raceway at Belle Isle-2). Dixon’s win on June 2 was his 42nd win, tying him with Michael Andretti for third on the all-time list.

* The DXC Technology 600 will be the 30th Indy car event conducted at Texas Motor Speedway since the track opened in 1997. TMS hosted two races a year from 1998-2004 and featured a doubleheader event in 2011.

* The DXC Technology 600 is the third of six oval races on the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. Team Penske has won both oval races thus far with Josef Newgarden at ISM Raceway on April 7 and Will Power winning the Indianapolis 500 on May 27.

* Helio Castroneves has won four times at Texas Motor Speedway (2004 Race 2, 2006, 2009 and 2013), the most wins by an Indy car driver at the track. Five past TMS winners are entered in this year’s race: Tony Kanaan (2004 Race 1), Scott Dixon (2008 and 2015), Will Power (2011 Race 2 and 2017), Ed Carpenter (2014) and Graham Rahal (2016).

* Will Power has won the pole for three of the past five Texas Motor Speedway races (2013, 2014 and 2015). Other past pole winners entered this year are Scott Dixon (2008) and Charlie Kimball (2017). Tony Kanaan won a draw to start first for the second of the 2011 doubleheader races but has never won the pole at Texas.

* Six drivers have won the Texas race from the pole: Sam Hornish Jr. (2001 Race 2), Gil de Ferran (2003 Race 2), Helio Castroneves (2004 Race 2), Tomas Scheckter (2005), Scott Dixon (2008) and Ryan Briscoe (2010).

* Drivers who have won at Texas have gone on to win the Verizon IndyCar Series championship six times: Sam Hornish Jr. (2001 Race 2 and 2002 Race 2), Tony Kanaan (2004 Race 1), Scott Dixon (2008 and 2015) and Dario Franchitti (2011 Race 1).

* Seventeen drivers entered this weekend have competed in past Verizon IndyCar Series events at Texas Motor Speedway. Twelve of those drivers have led laps at the track: Will Power 432, Tony Kanaan 372, Scott Dixon 365, James Hinchcliffe 196, Ed Carpenter 92, Marco Andretti 84, Simon Pagenaud 59, Ryan Hunter-Reay 46, Graham Rahal 28, Charlie Kimball 27, Max Chilton 8 and Josef Newgarden 8.

* Veteran Spencer Pigot and rookies Zachary Claman De Melo, Matheus Leist, Zach Veach and Robert Wickens will race a Verizon IndyCar Series car at Texas Motor Speedway for the first time this weekend.

* Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 292nd consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Scott Dixon has made 232 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing. Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti has made 208 consecutive starts, which is the fourth-longest streak in Indy car racing.

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).