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| Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden nips teammate and NTT P1 Pole Award winner Scott McLaughlin at the Start/Finish Line by 0.0669 after 277 Laps on a last corner pass in the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022) |
It's early in the season where we have had the season-opener on the street
course in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida and this
weekend's high-speed banked oval at Texas Motor Speedway near Ft, Worth,
Texas.
To those who have been paying attention to the opening races in North American
professional motorsports at the highest levels, Team Penske has been on quite
a roll. If one were to add machinery and drivers who were formally directly
associated with Team Penske, the start of the 2022 season for the "House Of
Penske" is quite astounding.
To review, the first race of the IMSA DPi season - the Rolex 24 Hours at
Daytona - was won by an ACURA that was first introduced to this class of
sportscar racing and sold to Meyer Shank Racing driven by two past driving
members of Team Penske, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud.
The first non-points paying race of the NASCAR Cup Series season - BUSCH Light
Clash at the Coliseum - was won by Team Penske's Joey Logano. Further, the
first points paying race of the 2022 season - the Daytona 500 - was won on the
85th birthday of his car owner, Roger Penske, by 23-year-old NASCAR Cup Series
rookie Austin Cindric. Cindric beat Bubba Wallace to the finish line by .036
seconds in overtime to win Sunday’s 64th running of the Daytona 500.
The first race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season - Firestone Grand Prix of St.
Petersburg - was won by Team Penske second year driver, New Zealander Scott
McLaughlin who won his first race for this INDYCAR team.
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| Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden celebrates by pulling the triggers on the six shooter pistols, one in each hand, in victory lane after winning the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL 375 race at Texas Motor Speedway. Said Newgarden, of the win performed on the last corner before the Start/Finish Line, "I just went for it. He [teammate Scott McLaughlin] didn't do anything wrong, up on traffic, getting loose. I was a little stronger than him at the end for sure. It would be unwise, it actually shows his wisdom. It would have been very unwise for him to take a flyer and go high side without knowing what's going to happen. He won the first race, leading the championship. That would have been silly for him to do that decision. For me it was a risk but I think it was somewhat calculated. I saw people going up there toward the beginning and middle of the race. I took a calculated risk and it worked out." Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022) |
The second race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season - XPEL 375 - was expected to
be very hotly contested, and this race did not disappoint.
Much of the early buzz surrounded the fact that NASCAR standout veteran and
second year driver for Chip Ganassi Racing Jimmie Johnson was finally going to
be in his element. During his NASCAR career, Johnson won seven of his
thirty-five starts in each 500 mile race performed at Texas Motor Speedway.
This race was only going to be a contested length of 248 circuits/375 miles -
only 3/4ths of the length of a NASCAR event.
J.R. Hildebrand had just signed on with A.J. Foyt Racing (AJFR) to be the oval
race specialist in the car normally driven by Rookie driver,
Colombian Tatiana Calderón. He competed in 11 straight INDY 500 races and
was brought on to lend some valuable experience in coaching two rookie drivers
(the other Rookie being Indy Lights Champion , Floridian Kyle Kirkwood) and
assist with second year AJFR driver, Canadian Dalton Kellett, as well as run
all of the ovals on the 2022 schedule.
A 27 car count field had fans excited about the prospect of this race. In
recent years, having 19, 20 , 21, or 22 cars seemed about the norm for most
INDYCAR competitors taking to the track - not being a race held at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the INDY 500. This has been growing through
the refinements and maturity of the DW12 racing platform and aero-dynamics,
with this racing season becoming the most robust car count racing seasons in
years.
This excerpted and edited from Racer -
PRUETT: IndyCar had empty stands at Texas - Here’s why it's worth the
investment
By: Marshall Pruett - March 20, 2022 10:53pm ET
The best thing to come from Sunday’s IndyCar race is the fact that, after
a fun race with more passing than we’ve seen in years, IndyCar has
something to fight for at Texas Motor Speedway.
If the XPEL 375 turned out to be another single-lane stinker where we
were stuck with 248 laps of follow-the-leader, I’d be singing the old
country song, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over…they say that all
good things must end” and rooting for IndyCar to uproot its act from
Dallas/Fort Worth and find another oval worthy of its affection.
Thankfully, the constant action near the front, the rising and falling
drivers everywhere else and the thriller of a finish — one teammate
ripping the heart out of another — made a big and positive impression that
wasn’t entirely expected. If only there were more people in the
grandstands to have seen Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus
Ericsson, Jimmie Johnson, Santino Ferrucci and the rest of the 27 crazies
put on a heck of a show.
----
The extra 150 pounds of downforce IndyCar added to its Texas aero
specifications and the revised Firestone tires helped drivers to charge
harder into and out of the corners, and while the second lane never
materialized as anything other than an infrequent option, the competition
was fierce. The series has some valuable takeaways to consider; Newgarden
thought the extra session run late on Saturday to try and bring the second
lane to life served a purpose.
----
A highly skilled IndyCar promoter who was in attendance thought the tiny
crowd was likely a result of making a big mistake on setting the start
time around 11:30 a.m. Most churches don’t let out before noon in the
Bible Belt — and if it’s a good sermon it might be 12:30 or 1:00 p.m.
before the doors are opened. IndyCar and TMS might have asked a lot of
fans to choose between the Good Word and good racing. If that’s true, the
grandstands provided the answer on who won that divine contest.
----
What I do know is: After the race IndyCar produced, Texas needs to stay
on the schedule. But not if it looks like they forgot to open the gates to
the damn event.
As I’ve probably written 50 times in recent years, IndyCar
cannot afford to go to venues where it looks small and unimportant, and
that’s exactly what we had on Sunday.
----
IndyCar needs to intervene and bring its marketing and promotions
capabilities to bear. Penske Entertainment is treating its co-promotion of
the upcoming Hy-Vee IndyCar Weekend at Iowa like it’s the most important
race the world will ever know.
From all the sponsors it has signed to the big music acts Hy-Vee has
brought in, it’s clear that when Penske Entertainment wants to go on the
attack to make sure people buy tickets to an event it’s in charge of, it
will work itself to the point of exhaustion. Unlike Iowa, IndyCar’s annual
visit to TMS isn’t a track rental where its promotional efforts are
directly tied to making a profit. But maybe it should be treated that
way.
----
IndyCar drivers and teams risk too much over those 248 laps to play in
front of an empty house. They deserve better and so do the faithful who
circle this event on the calendar every year and pray for a good race.
Now that they’ve got one that’s worth saving, it’s time for IndyCar to
stop pinning its hopes on TMS to deliver a massive crowd and do its part
by attacking the problem and getting people in those seats themselves.
With the level of success the House Of Penske has had at the many racing
series and tracks in North America this year, maybe it is time to flex some
of their "other" muscles found at the House Of Penske's Penske
Entertainment.
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| Team Penske driver, who's second in the Championship points, Will Power gives a congratulatory hug to Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden on his last turn pass and win in the XPEL 375. Newgarden moves up to P4 in the season points behind Chip Ganassi Racing driver and 2021 season Champion Alex Palou. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022) |
Driver Season Championship Points Here >>>
In summation after looking at the post race 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season
driver points chart - impressions:
Pretty eye-opening given that some drivers are doing better than imagined.
Top of the order in points is House Of Penske with Scott McLaughlin @ P1 and Will Power @ P2 (trailing by only 28 points) - the "down-under" twins - both male and both qualify and win a lot. Josef Newgarden for his part @ P4 (32 points behind), notched his 21st career IndyCar victory. Team Penske earned its 600th win across all racing programs.
Colton Herta is highest points for Andretti Autosport at P7 - Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi has only beaten out two extreme Rookies ... so that makes him literally LAST in points.
Jimmie Johnson finished in sixth place in the XPEL 375 for his best IndyCar finish to date. Johnson is racing the full IndyCar schedule for the first time in 2022 after joining the circuit part-time last year. On the year, Jimmie is a surprising P11 ahead of Rahal at P12 and O'Ward at P13.
Santino Ferrucci with a one-race fill-in for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Jack Harvey, who had an accident during the final practice and due to ACCELEROMETER PROTOCOL was not allowed to take to the track and race, finished the race as the biggest mover - Santino went from dead last @ P27 to P9 in the No. 45 RLL Honda. Due to this performance, Ferrucci has more points @ P20 in the season points stack rankings after two races than ... Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter, Kyle Kirkwood, Jack Harvey, and oval specialist J.R. Hildebrand (who should be the one with the most points of those mentioned before him - yet still has more points than Rossi).
Really a fun 11.7% completion snapshot of an early season before ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach set to run as Race 03 on April 8-10, 2022.
... notes from The EDJE
TAGS: Texas Motor Speedway, INDYCAR, House Of Penske, IMSA, NASCAR, Car Counts, XPEL 375, The EDJE
Pretty eye-opening given that some drivers are doing better than imagined.
Top of the order in points is House Of Penske with Scott McLaughlin @ P1 and Will Power @ P2 (trailing by only 28 points) - the "down-under" twins - both male and both qualify and win a lot. Josef Newgarden for his part @ P4 (32 points behind), notched his 21st career IndyCar victory. Team Penske earned its 600th win across all racing programs.
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| INDY 500 winner during his first year driving in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES has always coveted being a season champion, but has come up short, started this season with an intent that this was going to be the championship breakout year. After only two races in a 17 race season, he finds himself stuck at the starting line. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022) |
Colton Herta is highest points for Andretti Autosport at P7 - Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi has only beaten out two extreme Rookies ... so that makes him literally LAST in points.
Jimmie Johnson finished in sixth place in the XPEL 375 for his best IndyCar finish to date. Johnson is racing the full IndyCar schedule for the first time in 2022 after joining the circuit part-time last year. On the year, Jimmie is a surprising P11 ahead of Rahal at P12 and O'Ward at P13.
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| Pre-Race meeting between one-race fill-in driver Santino Ferrucci and second year driver for Chip Ganassi Racing Jimmie Johnson who was able to register more laps of racing at Texas Motor Speedway than any driver in the field due to his seven championship winning NASCAR Cup Series seasons over 18 full-time year career. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022) |
Santino Ferrucci with a one-race fill-in for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Jack Harvey, who had an accident during the final practice and due to ACCELEROMETER PROTOCOL was not allowed to take to the track and race, finished the race as the biggest mover - Santino went from dead last @ P27 to P9 in the No. 45 RLL Honda. Due to this performance, Ferrucci has more points @ P20 in the season points stack rankings after two races than ... Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter, Kyle Kirkwood, Jack Harvey, and oval specialist J.R. Hildebrand (who should be the one with the most points of those mentioned before him - yet still has more points than Rossi).
Really a fun 11.7% completion snapshot of an early season before ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach set to run as Race 03 on April 8-10, 2022.
... notes from The EDJE
FEATURED ARTICLE >>>
TAGS: Texas Motor Speedway, INDYCAR, House Of Penske, IMSA, NASCAR, Car Counts, XPEL 375, The EDJE
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