IndyCar
Scott Dixon Wins Genesys 300 At Texas Motor Speedway
FORT WORTH, TX (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon is back in Victory Lane after winning Saturday night’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES season-opening Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Dixon’s No. 9 Honda powered away from Team Penske teammates Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden and on a restart on lap 197 of the 200-lap event, which ended under caution as the five-time series Champion was coming to the checkered flag.
The victory was Dixon’s 47th career INDYCAR win, which is just five wins short of tying Mario Andretti for second on the all-time victory list. A.J. Foyt is No. 1 with 67 victories. Dixon averaged 175.201 mph and led 157-laps for the victory.
“I can’t thank the team enough, everybody at PNC,” said Dixon in victory lane. “It was such a team effort. Honda, they were huge with the power out there. It was just so fast. Any situation we were in, we could just go for it. Huge thanks to everybody involved. Bummed that the fans aren’t here. We wish everybody was here to celebrate.”
Newgarden started on the pole position and Dixon started on the outside of the front row. Newgarden took the early lead after the drop of the green flag with Dixon tucking in behind the defending series Champion.
Dixon took the lead on lap 32 when he passed Newgarden on the backstretch. He quickly built a 2-second lead when Newgarden hit pit road for a fresh set of Firestone tires. Dixon led 157 of the next 168 laps. He took the lead for good on Lap 91.
The only hiccup on the day for Dixon and his “Wolfpack” crew was a lug nut that fell off a wheel during a pit stop. Dixon came out of the pits third but on the restart he passed teammate Felix Rosenqvist on the outside going into turn one and set his sights on Newgarden, who he passed a couple of laps later.
“We had a couple mistakes at the start and throughout the race, but we recovered,” said Dixon. “We had to make some big, bold moves around the outside into Turn 1, especially on Felix (Rosenqvist) and on Josef (Newgarden), which was definitely a nice repay and a nice way to get back to the lead.”
“We weren’t good enough throughout a tire stint to challenge Scott,” said Newgarden. “He was just so, so good all night.”
“It was just an intense night,” said Pagenaud. “We had balance changes – some stints we went really loose, one stint we had understeer.”
It looked liked Dixon’s chief competition would come from his teammate Rosenqvist who was running Dixon down in the closing laps of the race, but disaster struck on lap 190 for the 2019 INDYCAR rookie of the year.
Rosenqvist was running second when he came up on the car of James Hinchcliffe, who was two laps down. Rosenqvist went to the outside to begin the pass when Marco Andretti passed both cars heading into turn one. The loss of downforce from the turbulent air caused Hinchcliffe to get loose, forcing Rosenqvist up out of the racing groove and into the marbles where he lost grip, sending the No. 10 NTT Data Services Honda into the turn 2 wall.
“I went for the outside, and I probably shouldn’t have done it,” said Rosenqvist. “It’s one of those things where you sit there and you’re going like 40 mph slower than you want to go behind another car. It’s kind of tempting to just move up one lane, but it was just so slippery. I just feel really sorry for my guys. Our NTT DATA car was just unbelievable tonight.”
“I was just super loose, and I was trying to save the car, and he went on the outside,” said Hinchcliffe. “I tried to stay out of it. I feel bad for him. It’s a tough break when you’re running that well.”
Andretti Autosports Zach Veach finished fourth in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda followed by Ed Carpenter who rounded out the top 5.
The race on the 1.5-mile oval was the season opener for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of racing for nearly three months. This event took place without fans as a health-and-safety precaution.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday, July 4 on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of an INDYCAR NASCAR doubleheader weekend. Those races will also be run without fans as a precaution.
IndyCar
Racing Notebook: IndyCar unveils DC race layout; announces single-car Fast Six qualifying in Texas and more
The NTT IndyCar Series is changing their Fast Six qualifying for the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington plus the Series unveils the race course for the Freedom 250 in Washington D.C. Blue Envelopes with Indianapolis 500 tickets were mailed on Wednesday to fans around the Country. Conor Daly joins Dreyer and Reinbold Racing for Indy 500.
IndyCar unveils Washington D.C. layout
- The NTT IndyCar Series unveiled the course layout for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. the Freedom 250 Grand Prix street circuit will feature a sweeping .4-mile frontstretch along Pennsylvania Avenue, framed by the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol. The pit lane area of the track will be adjacent to the track, on Pennsylvania Avenue, between Turns 1 and 2 on the circuit design. The IndyCar field will also race by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art and the National Archives.
Single car Fast Six qualifying in Arlington
- IndyCar also announced plans for single-car Firestone Fast Six qualifying at the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington. The “knockout” format of Segments 1 and 2 will remain unchanged, the Firestone Fast Six segment will be adjusted to single-car, single-lap qualifying beginning with the sixth-fastest qualifier from Segment 2 and working toward the fastest from the previous round. With the update for the Streets of Arlington event, FOX Sports has agreed to expand its coverage of qualifying to a robust, two-hour window.
Indianapolis 500 tickets mailed
- Race Day tickets for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 were mailed Wednesday, March 11 from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office. 33,000 Blue Envelopes were mailed to all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and 32 countries around the world. Tickets for the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 24, the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 9 and all other Month of May events are available at IMS.com/Tickets or via the IMS Ticket Office at 317-492-6700.
Conor Daly joins DRR for Indy 500
- Conor Daly is joining Dreyer and Reinbold racing for the 110th Indianapolis 500. DRR and Daly made the announcement in partnership with Kingspan, a worldwide leader in high-performance building materials. Daly has 5 Top 10’s in twelve starts in the 500.
AVONDALE, AZ (March 7, 2026) – Josef Newgarden is reminding everyone that he and the No. 2 Chevrolet are the team to beat on short ovals in the NTT IndyCar Series after winning Saturday’s Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway.
Newgarden only led 8-laps but charged to victory after taking fresh tires following a late caution when the leaders elected to stay on the track.
“We took tires, and the thing was like a rocket ship when it needed to be, right at the end of the race,” said an elated Newgarden in Victory Lane. “Hats off to the whole crew. I’m pumped.”
Newgarden’s charge was set-up when Andretti Global’s Will Power and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen were battling for the lead on lap 207. The front wing of Rasmussen’s No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet’s made contact with the right rear tire of Power’s No. 26 TWG Ai Honda, cutting Power’s tire and triggering the final caution.
Rasmussen and second place Kyle Kirkwood elected to keep track position and stayed on the track along with pole sitter David Malukas, Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and others.
Newgarden and crew elected to go for new tires, along with several others racing around him, as the speed difference between new and old tires were significant.
Rasmussen, who was one of the best cars in the field all day, led the restart on lap 218 but his car was damaged in the incident with Power and clearly was not as strong.
Kirkwood passed Rasmussen for the lead on lap 242 as Newgarden and his fresh tires were busy picking off Dixon, Armstrong and Malukas on their older tires.
“In the middle of the race, I don’t know that I was fully believing that we had the capability to win,” explained Newgarden. “We just kept working through it, and I’m like, ‘Look, if we get another opportunity, we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to be on the offense.’
Newgarden certainly was on offense passing Kirkwood for the lead for good on lap 244 en route to his 33rd career win and first of 2026.
Kirkwood hung on for second and said they considered taking tires.
“We thought about it, but we were talking about it, and the pits opened,” said Kirkwood. “(Staying out) was the right thing to do at the time.”
Newgarden’s victory vaulted him to the top of the Championship standings, thanks in part to Alex Palou crashing out of the event early.
Palou, the defending and four-time series Champion, didn’t know Rinus Veekay had his nose beside the No. 10 DHL Honda and as Palou slid out towards the wall the pair made contact, turning the No. 10 into the wall. Palou finished 24th, his worst finish since he placed 25th last June in Detroit after contact eliminated him from that race. VeeKay suffered damage but was able to continue after losing a few laps in the pits for repairs.
Rasmussen faded to 14th in the end after leading 69-laps.
“We were the class of the field today – best car out there,” said Rasmussen. “It’s so frustrating because we should have won the race today.”
New up for the NTT IndyCar Series is the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington on Sunday, March 15 in Arlington, Texas. The temporary street circuit travels around AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers.
AVONDALE, AZ (March 6, 2026) – David Malukas is on the pole position for Saturday’s NTT IndyCar Series Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway.
Malukas’ two-lap qualifying average of 175.383 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet was just .1963-seconds quicker than teammate Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Xpel Chevrolet as Team Penske locked out the front row.
“I think the track got in our favor a little bit,” explained Malukas. “It seemed like it (track conditions) was getting a bit worse. It feels so good. What a way to start our Phoenix race day tomorrow.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is off to a great start after locking out Row 2 with Graham Rahal posting the third fastest average at 173.993 in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda.
Rahal’s RLL teammate rookie Mick Schumacher – competing in his first-ever oval race – surprised everyone by qualifying fourth at 173.667 in the No. 47 Honda.
“We knew what we had to do, and we managed to put a good couple of laps together,” said Schumacher, who’s first IndyCar race ended early after being the innocent victim of a Lap 1 crash.
“I’m excited to run the race,” said Schumacher. “It’s going to be a whole different situation in the race with traffic and everything, so it’s going to be tough.”
A disappointing qualifying effort for Chip Ganassi Racing as defending series Champion Alex Palou lines up 10th on the grid in the No. 10 DHL Honda with Scott Dixon five spots behind at 15th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Their teammate Kyffin Simpson starts 19th. Surprising for a team that tested at Phoenix.
Andretti Global’s Will Power crashed on his qualifying attempt continuing his early season struggles with his new team.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist did not make a qualifying attempt after crashing his SiriusXM Honda during the first practice.
Saturday’s Good Ranchers 250 will be televised by Fox and can be heard on the IndyCar Radio network starting at 3 p.m. ET
Ryan Blaney rallies for Phoenix victory, completes Penske weekend sweep
Racing Notebook: IndyCar unveils DC race layout; announces single-car Fast Six qualifying in Texas and more
Dietz Doubles at Lincoln
Allgaier outduels Love late at Phoenix, takes championship lead
Josef Newgarden wins IndyCar Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix
Last-lap pass makes a Daytona 500 winner of Tyler Reddick
Hamilton, Stickler, Gorham, and Clouser get wins on last night of the World Series
Honda and Chevrolet to continue as IndyCar engine suppliers
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