Texas Motor Speedway has been on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule since its first full season in 1997, when Arie Luyendyk grabbed the checkered flag in the inaugural race. In 30 races on this track, 20 different drivers have visited Victory Lane. Six racers have multiple wins, led by Helio Castroneves with four.
Scott Dixon enters the weekend as the active driver with the most wins at three - a distinction he cannot lose Saturday night. With two wins to his credit, the best Will Power can do is tie Dixon at the top. Dixon’s latest win came last year; Power’s most recent was in 2017, so that will be one of the key battles to watch this weekend.
Here are some other storylines to keep an eye on:
- Alexander Rossi will go for a fourth consecutive top-five after finishing second in the Indy 500, second in the first Belle Isle race and fifth in Race 2.
- Simon Pagenaud has gotten progressively better in his last three Texas starts with a fourth in 2016, a third in 2017 and a runner-up finish last year. If the progression continues, Pagenaud will get his third win of the year and sweep the first two oval races of 2019.
- Scott Dixon has won two of the last four races at Texas, including last year’s DXC Technology 600. In 30 races, no one has posted back-to-back wins there. Notably, both of those aforementioned wins for Dixon came after starting seventh.
- Can Sebastien Bourdais right his course? Since scoring back to back top-five finishes at COTA and Barber, he has only one top-10 (a ninth last week in Belle Isle’s second race) and an average finish of 13.9.
- Lately, qualifying has not been particularly important at Texas. Over the last seven races (2012-2018), all the winners have started from Row 3 or further back; the deepest win in this span came from the late Justin Wilson in 2012 after starting 17th. In contrast, the previous 11 races (Oct. 2003-2011) were all won from the first two rows.