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Hard work to improve the IndyCar racing spectacle paid off at Texas as Josef Newgarden fought Pato O’Ward for victory in a frenetic affair.
It was the first oval race of the season, one month after St Petersburg had opened the campaign, and it’s the latest opportunity to evaluate some of the season’s early storylines.
Whether it’s the race’s reputation itself, a driver lamenting IndyCar officials for a penalty, one feeling dizzy but scoring a good result, or a team in the doldrums after two races, there were plenty of good stories from Texas.
Winners
Josef Newgarden
A second Texas win in a row boosts Newgarden to fourth in the points standings after an engine fire ruined St Petersburg for him.
Despite a mid-race set-up direction going awry, when it came to crunch time Newgarden was as strong as race-long rival O’Ward and was ahead when the final caution decided the outcome.
It’s his new engineer Luke Mason’s first win and takes his average finish at Texas over the last five years to 2.3.
Juncos Hollinger Racing
Despite adding a second car for only its second full season in IndyCar, Juncos Hollinger Racing has both of its cars in the top 12 in points when Callum Ilott only finished 20th last year.
Ilott had two top 10s in 2022 alone and has started this year with a fifth and a ninth, while total single-seater rookie Agustin Canapino is 12th after finishing in that position in both races at the start of this season.
It knew its race car would be better than in qualifying and Ilott proved that again, following his 22nd-to-fifth drive in St Pete with a 17th-to-ninth in what was still only his fifth oval event.
Canapino struggled with dizziness late on but still delivered a great race in a field of 28 cars.
The team is on a roll to kick off the year.
Helio Castroneves
His result might have been more down to the attrition of others than a spectacular rise through the field, but the kind of 10th he scored in Texas might be crucial for Castroneves.
There’s already questions about whether the team will keep him full-time in 2024 as the 47-year-old was 18th in points last year and needs to improve on that ideally.
He’ll no doubt get more chances at a fifth Indy 500 win, but this kind of result in Texas, taking a top 10 when others around him faltered, will be key for stacking up points and giving Meyer Shank Racing a finishing position it can’t help but keep him full-time with.
“We didn’t have the fastest car if I’m being honest, but we stayed out of trouble and we did what we needed to do,” Castroneves said, praising the strategy calls of the team, one weakness it needed to improve on for 2023.
David Malukas
Malukas is in fine form to start 2023 and it’s a wonder more people aren’t talking about him. He certainly has his admirers with team bosses in the paddock.
He qualified in the top 10 and was there all day until a team error meant he stayed out under caution when he needed to pit. Luckily, another caution followed – sadly for a second crash in as many races for Coyne rookie Sting Ray Robb – which allowed Malukas to pit and not lose as many positions after the mistake.
He was fighting in the lead pack before Romain Grosjean’s crash ended the race early. There’s every chance Malukas could have moved forward from his fourth-place spot.
He’s sixth in the points after two races, almost uncharted territory for a Coyne car as the team’s usually capable of big one-off results but not consistency at that level. Malukas is proving that doesn’t have to be the case.
Alex Palou
Put simply, this was Palou’s best oval race since the 2021 Indy 500, which was his best in his opinion.
Even on older tyres he was fighting for the lead at the end.
Ovals haven’t always come naturally to Palou (although the 500 is a different story), but he seems to have the hang of Texas and a podium – even if it could have been better without Grosjean’s late crash – was welcome.
He was on older tyres than his rivals but still every bit as competitive.
The venue itself
While bringing big crowds back may take time, the first element of a successful race is getting the on-track product right. What a performance the drivers were able to put on in Texas.
More aero options, a special practice to rubber-in the track, having supporting races to lay even more rubber down, and relatively cool conditions made for spectacular two- and three-wide racing not seen in often processional Texas races for some time.
Last year’s race included a great around-the-outside pass by Josef Newgarden for the win, but this year the whole race delivered the perfect level of close racing without it feeling too much like a cycling peloton with easy and constant lead changes.
A spectacular return to form desperately needed for a wonderful venue.
Losers
O’Ward’s team-mates
O’Ward can be classed as a winner for taking the points lead and a loser for missing the chance to win a race for reasons out of his control for a second race in a row.
But there’s no doubting his McLaren team-mates were losers.
Alexander Rossi’s recent plague of bad luck at Texas continued, as he qualified third but speared Kyle Kirkwood in the pits. Rossi was already out of his pitbox as Kirkwood turned in to stop, but IndyCar’s rules meant Kirkwood had the right of way and Rossi received a penalty after damage had put him six laps down anyway.
“It got taken away from us in the first stop to no fault of our own,” said Rossi. “It was an inconsistent ruling from IndyCar and very disappointing from Kyle.”
That’s about as flat-out as you’re likely to see a quote in a team press release, criticising the series and his fellow competitor.
Things were no better for Felix Rosenqvist either.
Having scooped pole a day earlier, for a second year in a row, the race unravelled for Rosenqvist as he crashed at Turn 4 – while O’Ward was leading, too.
Takuma Sato
Having felt dizzy after first practice, it was clear Texas would be an important race for Takuma Sato to get back into the swing of things as he is only part-time with Chip Ganassi Racing this year.
His schedule includes Texas and the Indy 500 and is unconfirmed after that, so his track time is at a premium. The fact his race lasted just 46 laps then was far from ideal.
It may not have been totally his fault as he looked to avoid a sinking Will Power, but it was still a big loss for a driver who won’t race again until the Indy 500 in May.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan
A shake-up in personnel over the off-season was supposed to yield big improvements for Rahal Letterman Lanigan but Texas was a second tricky weekend in a row for the team.
Graham Rahal crashed out trying to avoid the out of control Devlin DeFrancesco, while Jack Harvey and Christian Lundgaard were 18th and 19th respectively and three laps down.
Its cars were understeering in practice and qualifying and weren’t a lot better in the race either.
Andretti Aurosport
Colton Herta is the exception here as his car came alive in the closing stages, having been in the top 10 for almost the whole race. He was promoted a place by Grosjean’s crash but still had a first strong oval finish in a while in seventh.
Grosjean was rapid throughout and had no trouble making third his own in the middle stint of the race. In the closing stages he was caught out by dirty air from Palou’s slowing car and clipped Malukas before spinning from fifth, causing the caution that ended the race.
He’s lucky the crash happened so late as he was still classified 14th, ahead of a host of cars that actually finished the race.
Kirkwood was lucky to avoid a penalty for the Rossi incident and then a rear upright issue put him out of the race, while DeFrancesco crashed trying to avoid another car.
Having drivers 11th, 15th, 19th and 28th in the points is not reflective of the speed Andretti has had.
Simon Pagenaud
Pagenaud had been on a run of eight top-10 finishes at Texas, with three podiums and a full record of10 top 10s from12 starts.
But Meyer Shank struggled with its car this time, and Pagenaud could only finish 17th. Like Ganassi’s Marcus Ericsson in qualifying, Pagenaud seemed to be lacking speed on the straights as opposed to any handling issue.
Pagenaud’s Texas record
2012: 6th
2013: 13th
2014: 4th
2015: 11th
2016: 4th
2017: 3rd
2018: 2nd
2019: 6th
2020: 2nd
2021: 10th
2021: 6th
2022: 8th
2023: 17th
“We started the race really well, but then what we found in qualifying continued into the race – the car was very slow,” he said. “Fortunately the handling was OK and the entire team did a great job extracting the best out of the car.”
He’s 24th in the points after being taken out on lap one in St Pete. That represents a really disappointing start to the season for someone who should be contending for a title.
