{"id":42393,"date":"2023-04-02T23:48:26","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T04:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=42393"},"modified":"2023-04-02T23:48:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T04:48:26","slug":"texas-motor-speedway-provides-thrilling-momentous-ppg-375-indycar-series-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/02\/texas-motor-speedway-provides-thrilling-momentous-ppg-375-indycar-series-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Motor Speedway provides thrilling, momentous PPG 375 IndyCar Series race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Josef Newgarden – PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway – By: Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Michael Haag<\/span><\/p>\n

FORT WORTH, Texas \u2014 It may have taken a few years for it to come to fruition, but Sunday\u2019s PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway will probably go down as one of the best NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in that venue in recent memory. <\/span><\/p>\n

From the drivers perspective, Sunday\u2019s race was described as \u201cbeautiful chaos,\u201d by fourth-place finisher David Malukasor, and as Pato O\u2019Ward \u2014 who finished in second place \u2014 put it: \u201cIt was freaking awesome.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Josef Newgarden took his No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet past O\u2019Ward\u2019s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet for the lead on Lap 249 of 250 shortly before the race ended under a yellow. Newgarden couldn\u2019t have passed O\u2019Ward at a better time, as Romain Grosjean crashed in Turn 2, causing the final caution period of the race, thus ending it under the caution.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Josef Newgarden – PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway – By: Chris Owens<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite what might be considered an anticlimactic finish, Sunday\u2019s race at TMS\u2019 1.5-mile oval was nothing short of electric. Both O\u2019Ward and third-place finisher Alex Palou thought part of what made the race so spectacular was a mix between the NTT INDYCAR SERIES bringing in a different aero package and the track having more grip than normal. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis year you could run (in) the second lane,\u201d Palou said. \u201cLast year it was like 1 \u00bd (lanes).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a legit second lane, for sure,\u201d O\u2019Ward followed up with. \u201cIt was a proper second lane.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with the true second lane that the drivers felt they could capitalize on, there were several instances where the field went three-wide on the turns at TMS, which sparked more aggresiveness. <\/span><\/p>\n

Eight of the 28 total drivers in the field led for at least one lap on Sunday, with Newgarden leading the most at 123. O\u2019Ward followed with 91, as the two of them went toe-to-toe for most of the afternoon. <\/span><\/p>\n

Newgarden credited the three-wide racing to what he called the \u201cJimmie Johnson effect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward – PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway – By: Chris Jones<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe were here last year (and) people were like, \u2018This Jimmie guy, look at him, he can do it,\u2019\u201d Newgarden said. \u201cI think Jimmie Johnson basically gave everybody confidence this weekend.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the Johnson effect, Newgarden pointed to increased downforce and the fact that the track just had more grip to pass. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a lot more load on the cars,\u201d Newgarden said. \u201cThe entire last stint, I was flat the whole time, flat for the first half of the stint. It’s a big jump from last year. That’s definitely factor number one \u2026 . But the track was better. It was less dark in the area where the PJ1 had been applied. It didn’t seem as low-grip initially as times when we’ve been here in the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven when everyone tried the high line running, it wasn’t like you ventured up there just to start out and it’s really low grip. Pretty much immediately when we went up there, it was (decent) grip. I think that was much more inviting for people to have more downforce. We were able to more successfully apply rubber to it from our cars. I think all of that contributed and led to the type of racing that we had today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Josef Newgarden – PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway – By: Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n

If there\u2019s one thing Newgarden, who <\/span>averaged 169.917 mph for his 26th career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory on Sunday,<\/span> said he could fix, it\u2019s that he believed there was a little bit too much downforce applied that bunched the cars up. But he thought it \u201cwas a good mix\u201d in terms of how the NTT INDYCAR SERIES wants to create an exciting race along with letting there be a skill gap among the field. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t like it super packed up,\u201d Newgarden said. \u201cBut I think today was a very good mix between the two worlds, of not having a packed race, but also having a difference maker where there’s tire degradation and you have to work as a team to figure that puzzle out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

All in all, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES guys put on a show. <\/span>After the restart on Lap 193 following Felix Rosenqvist\u2019s crash, there were 14 lead changes among five different drivers.<\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019Ward and Newgarden swapped the lead five different times in the last eight laps ahead of Grosjean\u2019s race-ending incident.<\/span><\/p>\n

Newgarden jumped in front on Lap 242, while O\u2019Ward reclaimed the lead spot just a lap later. Then it was right back to Newgarden, as he took the point of attack one trip later on Lap 244. In fitting fashion, though, O\u2019Ward nosed back ahead on Lap 247.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Pato O’Ward – PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway – By: Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n

Then, Newgarden finally got in front for the penultimate Lap 249, which ended up being all he needed for the win, as the yellow flag flew for the last time. In total, Sunday\u2019s race amassed 26 lead changes among eight different drivers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHats off to everybody,\u201d O\u2019Ward said. \u201cIt’s pretty insane, I have to say. I don’t know how it looks. It must look cool, I’m assuming. It looks insane. But inside of the car, you’re going in, you see two guys there, then you’re just like keep it in. It’s commitment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

NTT INDYCAR SERIES fans will have to wait another year for these fellas to come back, but reserve your ticket, now. You won\u2019t want to miss out on a show like Sunday\u2019s if you couldn\u2019t make it out this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun, I have to say,\u201d O\u2019Ward said. \u201cLike, it’s got to be the best Texas race in the last four, five years. It was freaking awesome.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is the next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, which is slated for 2 p.m. CT on Sunday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. The green flag will wave on April 16 in Long Beach, Calif. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Michael Haag FORT WORTH, Texas \u2014 It may have taken a few years for it to come to fruition, but Sunday\u2019s PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway will probably go down as one of the best NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in that venue in recent memory.  From the drivers perspective, Sunday\u2019s race was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":677,"featured_media":42413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,13],"tags":[824,239,896,716,28,63,286,672,823,895,827,710,21],"class_list":["post-42393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","category-texas-motor-speedway","tag-alex-palou","tag-chevrolet","tag-david-malukasor","tag-felix-rosenqvist","tag-fort-worth","tag-jimmie-johnson","tag-josef-newgarden","tag-ntt-indycar-series","tag-pato-oward","tag-ppg-375","tag-romain-grosjean","tag-team-penske","tag-texas-motor-speedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Alex-Palou-and-Pato-O_Ward-PPG-375-at-Texas-Motor-Speedway-By_-Joe-Skibinski_LargeImageWithoutWatermark_m75812-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-b1L","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42393"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42430,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42393\/revisions\/42430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}