DXC Technology 600 Race Preview

“Texas is always an exciting race under the lights. The conditions this weekend will be very hot, so it will be interesting to see how that affects the racing. We have a few top-10s at Texas Motor Speedway, but it’s a track we haven’t been able to add to a win list yet. Coming off a strong weekend in Detroit for the DHL team, we’re hoping to keep the momentum rolling.”

Track: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval

Race distance: 248 laps / 357.12 miles

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.