Last Updated on January 17, 2023 by C-CAR
Scott Dixon had a dominating run at Texas Motor Speedway, winning by 7.8 seconds over teammate Tony Kanaan on Saturday night in the fastest IndyCar Series race ever at the track.
Dixon led 97 of the 248 laps in a race that had only two cautions. His second win of the season came with an average speed of 191.940 mph
After anxiety about how the cars would handle on the high-speed, high-banked Texas track with the new aero kits, especially after three Chevrolets went airborne during practice for the Indianapolis 500, there were no accidents.
Driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, Dixon got his 37th career win. The New Zealander also won in 2008 at Texas, which has now hosted 27 IndyCar races.
Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya finished third and fourth, respectively. Fifth-place Marco Andretti was the highest-finishing Honda.
After the start of the race was waved off because the field was not properly aligned, the first lap was counted as a caution before taking the green flag the next time at the line.
The only other caution came on lap 84 for debris on the frontstretch.
After the airborne cars at Indianapolis, IndyCar this week mandated the use of closure panels on the rear wheel guards. Those are designed to eliminate lift when an Indy car is traveling backward at a high rate of speed during an accident, and will also be required at California and Pocono.
Ryan Hunter-Reay had the only crash all weekend in Texas, in the first practice Friday when his No. 28 Honda spun and headed backward toward the outside wall. His left rear slammed hard before sliding down the track, but the car never went airborne.
Hunter-Reay finished 18th, seven laps behind Dixon.
Will Power started from the pole at Texas for the third year in a row, but finished 13th, four laps off the pace. His only win in Texas came in the second race of a doubleheader in 2011 when he started third.
Defending race champion Ed Carpenter was done after only 147 laps because of mechanical issues. He had already fallen a couple of laps off the pace in his No. 20 Honda when it parked it and finished 22nd in the 23-car field.
Formula One
Lewis Hamilton has earned the pole for the Canadian Grand Prix.
It’s the fourth time that the reigning Formula One champion will start at the pole on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Hamilton posted the fastest qualifying lap of 1:14.393 over the 2.71-mile course on Montreal’s Ile Notre-Dame. Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg was second in qualifying, about one-third of a second behind.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third. Valtteri Bottas of Williams was fourth, with Romain Grosjean of Lotus fifth.
It’s the 44th pole of Hamilton’s career. He leads the championship standings by 10 points over Rosberg.
NHRA
Antron Brown raced to his third consecutive No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel in the Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey.
Brown pushed his dragster to the No. 1 spot with a 3.725-second run at 317.57 mph. The 2012 series champion has two victories this season.
Cruz Pedregon topped the Funny Car field, Greg Anderson was the fastest in Pro Stock, and Chip Ellis led the Pro Stock Motorcycle field. Pedregon had a 3.967 at 306.53 in a Toyota Camry, Anderson finished in 6.479 at 214.76 in a Chevrolet Camaro, and Ellis had a 6.801 at 197.16 on a Buell.
