• New Zealander claims fifth victory, first to go back-to-back at No Limits, Texas
• Fellow New Zealander Scott McLaughlin second in oval debut

FORT WORTH, Texas (May 1, 2021) – There was a time Scott Dixon wasn’t a big fan of racing at Texas Motor Speedway but you would never know it now as the six-time and reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion earned his second consecutive and fifth overall victory at No Limits, Texas by taking the checkered flag in the Genesys 300.

The New Zealander’s No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda crossed the finish line 0.2646-of-a-second ahead of fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin, the three-time Australian Supercars champion and NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie who was making his oval track debut in the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet. San Antonio resident Patricio “Pato” O’Ward finished third in his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.

“It was a bit of a crazy night for us,” Dixon said. “Definitely very tense there at the end. It was kind of cool to be racing a countryman for the last few laps. Fifth win at Texas, baby! That was awesome.

“It feels amazing to be in this position. You just never want it to end. We want to go back-to-back and try to tie Mario tomorrow. I’m sure that’s not exactly what he wants to see. We’ll keep our heads down. It’s extremely tough. This season has been one of the toughest starts, I think, for a lot of us just with how tight the competition is.”

The victory is Dixon’s 51st, putting him just behind Mario Andretti (52) and A.J. Foyt (67) all-time in the series. His fifth Texas Motor Speedway victory breaks a tie with Helio Castroneves for most wins as well as being the first repeat winner in the series’ 33-race history at The Great American Speedway. Dixon’s other three wins came in 2018, 2015 and 2008. The Genesys 300 victory also made it 19 seasons Dixon has earned at least one NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory, breaking a tie with Foyt.

The balance of the top 10 finishers were Alex Palou (No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet), Graham Rahal (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda), Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet), Jack Harvey (No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda), Alexander Rossi (No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda), Takumo Sato (No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda), and Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Team Penske Chevrolet).

Damp conditions throughout the morning and early afternoon cancelled qualifying, setting the starting grid based on the entrant point standings. That put Palou on the point, the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet of Will Power to his right and Ganassi teammate Dixon directly behind, with the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda of Colton Herta on the outside of Row 2.

Palou, who came to Texas with the point lead after two races, led the first two laps before Dixon grabbed the top spot. Dixon maintained a 0.4-of-a-second lead over his teammate after 15 laps and slightly less than that by the time green-flag pit stops began on Lap 53.

The day’s first caution waved just four laps later when Sebastien Bourdais made hard contact with the outside retaining wall after a tap from behind by Newgarden. Newgarden was able to continue but INDYCAR officials deemed the incident to be avoidable and penalized him with a restart at the back of the field.

Dixon continued his run out front before relinquishing the lead back to Palou on Lap 125 during another round of green-flag pit stops. But the No. 9 Honda returned to where it was most comfortable just four laps later.

The evening’s second and final caution slowed the field on Lap 160 when the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist and the No. 29 Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda of James Hinchcliffe made contact in Turn 2, forcing Hinchcliffe hard into the outside wall. It was nearly a mirror image from last year when the two tangled, sending Rosenqvist into the wall and out of the race.

The field returned to green on Lap 175 of 212. McLaughlin lined up directly behind Dixon, with O’Ward and Palou in tow. As the laps counted down, McLaughlin hung tight to the leader but was not able to make a final charge before the checkered flag wave.

There were three lead changes among two drivers and two cautions for 29 laps.

NOTES
NTT INDYCAR SERIES point standings (after three races): Dixon 118, Palou 100, Power 81, O’Ward 80, Harvey 77, McLaughlin 75, Newgarden 75, Pagenaud 74, Rahal 71, Herta 70

Dixon again celebrated the victory in traditional Texas Motor Speedway fashion, wearing a cowboy hat and firing a pair of Smith & Wesson 629 Deluxe six-shooters while accepting the Genesys 300 Foyt Rutherford Trophy produced by Jostens.

Next up on the Texas Motor Speedway schedule is the second race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader weekend, Sunday’s XPEL 375. Live coverage begins May 2 at 4 p.m. CT on NBCSN, The INDYCAR Radio Network and 95.9 The Ranch.

TICKETS:
Tickets for Texas Motor Speedway’s 2021 major event season, including the June 13 NASCAR All-Star Race, are on sale now at http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com.

MORE INFO:
Keep track of all of Texas Motor Speedway’s events by following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Keep up with all the latest news and information on the speedway website and TMS mobile app.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
GENESYS 300 AND XPEL 375 – DOUBLEHEADER WEEKEND
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
RACE RECAP
MAY 1, 2021

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, PATO O’WARD PUT CHEVY ON PODIUM
Young stars continue to make major gains early in the season

FORT WORTH, Texas (May 1, 2021) – Chevrolet drivers recorded second- and third-place finishes in the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway – the first race of an NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader on the fast 1.455 oval.

Eleven Team Chevy drivers will line up May 2 for the XPEL 375.

Scott McLaughlin made his Series debut on an oval memorable with a runner-up finish in the No. 3 PP Team Penske Chevrolet after starting 15th in the 24-car field based on championship entrant points after weather delays forced cancellation of NTT P1 Award qualifications.

The first-year NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver, making his third start overall, had a 90-minute practice session earlier in the day and a March 31 test on the asymmetrical racetrack. Powered by the 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V6 Chevrolet engine, McLaughlin finished .2646 of a second behind winner Scott Dixon.

Pato O’Ward, who started 11th in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, recorded his second top-five finish in three races with third place as he approaches his 22nd birthday May 6.

Josef Newgarden, a two-time winner at Texas Motor Speedway, was in contention for the victory until he received a penalty for unavoidable contact on Lap 70 that sent the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet to the rear of the field on the restart of the race. Still, Newgarden rallied to a sixth-place finish.

Teammate Simon Pagenaud completed the Team Chevy top 10 with 10th place in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet.

NBCSN will telecast the XPEL 375 live at 5 p.m. ET. The race will also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.

TEAM CHEVY RACE 1 FINISHERS:

2. Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske
3. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP
4. Josef Newgarden, No. 2 XPEL Team Penske
5. Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske
6. Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP
7. Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske
8. Ed Carpenter, No. 20 U.S. Air Force
9. Dalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators/AJ Foyt Racing
10. Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek
11. Conor Daly, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin
12. Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt Racing

DRIVER QUOTES:
SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PPG TEAM PENSKE – FINISHED 2ND
HOW PROUD OF SECOND PLACE ARE YOU TODAY?
“I’ve never been this bloody happy with second. I’m really stoked. Everyone at PPG and Chevy, thank you. I just didn’t have enough for Scott (Dixon) at the end. It was bloody cool battling with one of my all-time heroes. Two Kiwis 1 and 2, fantastic.”

DID YOU HAVE TO SNAP OUT OF IT WHEN YOU WERE CHASING THE OTHER SCOTT?
“I’m just so proud. I’ve worked really hard behind the scenes to make it feel good, and we got some good strategy there from my team. They put me in a position; I’m just happy to bring it home for them.”

COUPLE OF THINGS IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND YOU MIGHT HAVE TRIED DIFFERENTLY AGAINST DIXON?
“I was trying really hard but it’s so hard in dirty air. I was hoping there would be some traffic toward the end and I could have a run. I was really good through (Turns) 3 and 4, but I just couldn’t get through 1 and 2. P2 is good and we’ll get a win one day.

“So many thanks! That guy in front of me, Scott Dixon, is a legend in this sport and a fellow countryman. It was very special for me and for New Zealand. Very proud of everyone at Team Penske, PPG and Chevy for giving me a very good engine. I couldn’t quite get there at the end but I’ve never been this happy with a second place. The testing really paid off. Just getting familiar and getting a feeling for everything. My engineers got me to the point where I am comfortable. I’m really proud of everyone on this PPG Chevy. We had a really great strategy. I can hardly wait until tomorrow!”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP – FINISHED 3RD
YOUR STRATEGIST MADE THE CALL TO SHORT-PIT EARLY ON. IS THAT WHAT GOT YOU ON THE PODIUM?
“That was the call. I knew we had such a fast car, especially by ourselves. And I knew if we could get in clean air we could really make up some track position. In the beginning, we were just really stuck in a train. It’s very tough to pass. But what a great race car. We’re ready for tomorrow. I want to thank Arrow Electronics, Vuse, Team Chevy and the Arrow McLaren SP No. 5 guys. This is a very good step in the right direction. There are a couple more positions we want to get, but this should really put us tomorrow in a better starting position than what we started today.”

A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN TERMS OF OVALS OR OVERALL?
“In terms of ovals and overall. We bounced back after a pretty tough weekend in St. Pete, so we want to come back tomorrow and try to do better and roll into the Month of May for the Indy road course and the crown jewel of the schedule.”
WHAT WILL YOU THINK ABOUT FOR TOMORROW? WERE THE VIBRATIONS A CONVERN FOR YOU AT ALL?
“It was at the end. I didn’t quite have anything for McLaughlin and Dixon. They were very quick. I didn’t want to risk anything. I started getting a little wiggly and were getting some temperature issues for I just said let’s take this and we’ll come back tomorrow and see what we got.

“This Arrow McLaren SP group made my life so much easier with that off strategy call. It really paid off for us. The car changed quite a bit during the race. Towards the end we had some issues with temps so we didn’t have quite enough for both Scotts there at the end. These guys did a great job of getting us up there. Chevy worked hard. We should have a way better starting place tomorrow which will be good. We have a fast car.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH: “Tough night here in Texas for Race one. We recovered to finish in sixth place. Kind of a scrappy day. We started 10th. Made our way back up to finish sixth at the end of the day. . Had a minor altercation with a couple of cars running one-two. Big check-up. Unfortunately right now here at Texas to move out of that bottom lane. It is really a one lane race track right now. When there is a big checkup like that, I didn’t have time to react and ended up tapping Bourdais and spinning him. Got a penalty for that and went all the back-I think 21st. It was unfortunate to lose all that track position, I was going to restart fifth. We did every thing we could do to claw back to sixth. Pretty happy for that for XPEL and Chevy. We learned from our teammates. Great job for Scotty finishing second. We will look at what they have on their car and come back tomorrow and try to win it.”

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH: “P10 tonight here in Texas. Considering the day, I think P10 is reasonable. We had a very fast car with our Chevy Menards car tonight. We had excessive vibration on tires which didn’t allow us to do long stints. We had an issue with a brake that we will have to investigate tonight. We have a fast car so we should expect to be back in form tomorrow.:

SEBASTIEN BOURDAID, NO. 14 ROKIT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, RETIRED FROM RACE ON LAP 55 AFTER BEING INVOLVED IN A SINGLE CAR INCIDENT, FINISHED 24TH:
“I am just disappointed I guess. We struggled like hell here at testing, and this afternoon really wasn’t any better. We just threw everything we had at it and it was working! We had a pretty decent car and the ROKIT No. 14 Chevrolet was in the mix. We were fast and I passed. I think that was the first time I passed. I was pretty happy. A lot of guys were starting to run out of tires, we were too. I don’t know why Colton (Herta) decided to go so slow out of two, but we ended up on top of one another. I was slowing down with him. I got hit in the back and it took me out. It’s a real shame because I think we had something to play with them today. I’m okay. Just a really bad break for our ROKIT No. 14 Chevrolet. It is such a shame. A missed opportunity. There was chain reaction and we got the short end of it.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 75 countries with nearly 4 million cars and trucks sold in 2019. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found www.chevrolet.com.

FORT WORTH, Texas (Saturday, May 1, 2021) – Scott Dixon schooled the rest of the Genesys 300 field in an oval-racing clinic Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway, leading a race-record 206 of 212 laps for his first victory of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

Dixon drove the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to victory by .2646 of a second over fellow New Zealand native Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, who was racing on an oval for the first time. Pato O’Ward finished third in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.

“It was a bit of a crazy night for us,” Dixon said. “Definitely very tense there at the end. It was kind of cool to be racing a countryman for the last few laps. Fifth win at Texas, baby! That was awesome.”

This was the 51st victory of the legendary career of six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Dixon, just one behind tying Mario Andretti for No. 2 on the all-time win list. A.J. Foyt leads with 67 wins.

“It feels amazing to be in this position,” Dixon said. “You just never want it to end. We want to go back-to-back and try to tie Mario tomorrow. I’m sure that’s not exactly what he wants to see. We’ll keep our heads down. It’s extremely tough. This season has been one of the toughest starts, I think, for a lot of us just with how tight the competition is.”

The victory also marks Dixon’s 19th INDYCAR SERIES season with at least one victory. He also took the series points lead with his third victory in the last four seasons at the 1.5-mile oval.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers and teams will race again Sunday evening at Texas in the XPEL 375, a 248-lap race. Live coverage starts at 5 p.m. (ET) on NBCSN and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Dixon, who started second, held a comfortable lead of three to five seconds at various points during the race, which went the distance despite rain in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But McLaughlin applied plenty of pressure over the last stint of the race after the final pit stops for most of the field under caution on Lap 165.

Three-time Australian V8 Supercars champion McLaughlin showed the composure and tactical sense of an oval racing veteran in his first race of only left turns, staying within about half a second of Dixon during the closing laps.

Dixon approached lap traffic with two laps to go, with the turbulent air from those cars slowing his charge toward the checkered. But he held off McLaughlin long enough for victory, averaging 173.036 mph.

“I have this thing on the dash that tells me the gaps to cars,” said Dixon, 40. “I probably need to take it off because it was stressing me out more than anything. I kept looking down, looking in the mirror. He was fast.”

Said McLaughlin, 27: “I’ve never been this bloody happy to finish second in my life. I’m really stoked. I just couldn’t get Scotty (Dixon) there at the end. But I’ll tell you what: It was bloody cool battling with my all-time favorite hero, Scotty Dixon. Two Kiwis, one and two. My Mom and Dad are watching at home (in New Zealand), for sure.”

It was a night of mixed results for the winners of the first two races of the season.

Alex Palou, winner of the season opener April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park, finished fourth in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda after starting from the pole when qualifying for the NTT P1 Award was canceled due to weather delays earlier in the day.

Colton Herta, winner April 25 at St. Petersburg, placed 22nd after a mechanical problem in his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda ended his night after completing 190 laps.

Sebastien Bourdais and James Hinchcliffe were unhurt in separate accidents that triggered the only two caution periods of the race.

Four-time INDYCAR SERIES champion Bourdais hit the SAFER Barrier hard in Turn 2 in the No. 14 ROKiT AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet after he was nudged into a spin by contact from the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet of two-time series champion Josef Newgarden on Lap 56. Newgarden was moved to the back of the lead lap on the restart as a penalty for the contact.

Hinchcliffe made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 after spinning on Lap 160 in the No. 29 Genesys Honda.

Harvey advances to fifth in INDYCAR Championship following Saturday’s result

Fort Worth, Texas (1 May 2021) – Jack Harvey showed impressive pace on Saturday for Race 1 of the INDYCAR weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. A seventh place finish in the Genesys 300 advanced Meyer Shank Racing and the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda to fifth in the championship points standings with three rounds of racing in the books.

Quick weekends at Texas Motor Speedway seem to be the trend since Meyer Shank Racing and Harvey made his debut at the 1.5-mile oval last year. What was supposed to be Practice, Qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday soon turned to just a single practice session ahead of Race 1 due to a potential weather system threatening the area.

Closing out a 90-minute practice session on Saturday afternoon P15, the focus quickly turned to preparing the No. 60 Honda for the Genesys 300. With qualifying cancelled and now determined by championship points, Harvey rolled off of the grid sixth for the start of the race.

At the drop of the green flag, Harvey got a strong jump and made a fast pass for fifth. It only took the first 10 laps for Harvey to start gaining ground on fourth place. As the first pit window started closing in, Harvey was hot on the tails of P4. At a track that is notoriously difficult to pass at, Harvey made the pass for third and ran in podium contention going into the first pit stop on lap 64.

Harvey ran strong as the team opted to stay out longer going into the second pit stop in hopes of gaining additional positions. Unfortunately, the No. 60 fell to eighth following the second stop, but Harvey put his head down and moved back up to seventh just a few laps later.

The final stop saw the MSR crew make a lightning quick stop which put Harvey two positions ahead once returning to track. The final 25 laps were a dash to the finish which, in the end, saw Harvey cross the line seventh. The top ten result puts Harvey fifth in the championship standings which is also where he will start Sunday’s XPEL 375.

“I thought today went really well, at times we looked really good and at others I think we had some things to work through,” said Harvey. “We had a small issue with the shift lights in the car, so restarts were a bit tricky. The No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda is pretty quick around here. The biggest thing for us is the level of improvement compared to a year ago, it’s just massive. I’m so grateful for Meyer Shank Racing and the effort they put in and now we’ll just try to do better tomorrow.”

Race 2 for the Texas Motor Speedway double-header race weekend is set for 6:00pm ET on Sunday with live coverage on NBCSN. IndyCar Radio coverage will also be on SiriusXM Ch. 205.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
GENESYS 300 AND XPEL 375 – DOUBLEHEADER WEEKEND
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
PODIUM FINISHERS -SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN AND PATO O’WARD
MAY 1, 2021

SCOTT MCLAUGHLN, NO. 3 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR CONTENDER, AND PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, FINISHED SECOND AND THIRD RESPECTIVELY TO GIVE CHEVROLET DOUBLE PODIUM:

DRIVER QUOTES:
SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PPG TEAM PENSKE – FINISHED 2ND
HOW PROUD OF SECOND PLACE ARE YOU TODAY?
“I’ve never been this bloody happy with second. I’m really stoked. Everyone at PPG and Chevy, thank you. I just didn’t have enough for Scott (Dixon) at the end. It was bloody cool battling with one of my all-time heroes. Two Kiwis 1 and 2, fantastic.”

DID YOU HAVE TO SNAP OUT OF IT WHEN YOU WERE CHASING THE OTHER SCOTT?
“I’m just so proud. I’ve worked really hard behind the scenes to make it feel good, and we got some good strategy there from my team. They put me in a position; I’m just happy to bring it home for them.”

COUPLE OF THINGS IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND YOU MIGHT HAVE TRIED DIFFERENTLY AGAINST DIXON?
“I was trying really hard but it’s so hard in dirty air. I was hoping there would be some traffic toward the end and I could have a run. I was really good through (Turns) 3 and 4, but I just couldn’t get through 1 and 2. P2 is good and we’ll get a win one day.

“So many thanks! That guy in front of me, Scott Dixon, is a legend in this sport and a fellow countryman. It was very special for me and for New Zealand. Very proud of everyone at Team Penske, PPG and Chevy for giving me a very good engine. I couldn’t quite get there at the end but I’ve never been this happy with a second place. The testing really paid off. Just getting familiar and getting a feeling for everything. My engineers got me to the point where I am comfortable. I’m really proud of everyone on this PPG Chevy. We had a really great strategy. I can hardly wait until tomorrow!”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP – FINISHED 3RD
YOUR STRATEGIST MADE THE CALL TO SHORT-PIT EARLY ON. IS THAT WHAT GOT YOU ON THE PODIUM?
“That was the call. I knew we had such a fast car, especially by ourselves. And I knew if we could get in clean air we could really make up some track position. In the beginning, we were just really stuck in a train. It’s very tough to pass. But what a great race car. We’re ready for tomorrow. I want to thank Arrow Electronics, Vuse, Team Chevy and the Arrow McLaren SP No. 5 guys. This is a very good step in the right direction. There are a couple more positions we want to get, but this should really put us tomorrow in a better starting position than what we started today.”
A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN TERMS OF OVALS OR OVERALL?
“In terms of ovals and overall. We bounced back after a pretty tough weekend in St. Pete, so we want to come back tomorrow and try to do better and roll into the Month of May for the Indy road course and the crown jewel of the schedule.”
WHAT WILL YOU THINK ABOUT FOR TOMORROW? WERE THE VIBRATIONS A CONVERN FOR YOU AT ALL?
“It was at the end. I didn’t quite have anything for McLaughlin and Dixon. They were very quick. I didn’t want to risk anything. I started getting a little wiggly and were getting some temperature issues for I just said let’s take this and we’ll come back tomorrow and see what we got.

“This Arrow McLaren SP group made my life so much easier with that off strategy call. It really paid off for us. The car changed quite a bit during the race. Towards the end we had some issues with temps so we didn’t have quite enough for both Scotts there at the end. These guys did a great job of getting us up there. Chevy worked hard. We should have a way better starting place tomorrow which will be good. We have a fast car.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 75 countries with nearly 4 million cars and trucks sold in 2019. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found www.chevrolet.com.