Chevrolet Takes Aim at Triumph on Re-profiled Texas Oval
· Team Chevy drivers head to Texas Motor Speedway with high expectations
ᴏ Chevrolet has won three of the past four races on the 1.5-mile oval
· Chevrolet drivers tested on the re-profiled and repaved track in April
ᴏ Ed Carpenter helped unveil the completed capital improvement project
· Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves is a four-time winner at the racetrack
ᴏ Teammate Will Power is three-time pole winner and race winner
· Harding Racing with driver Gabby Chaves bolsters Team Chevy lineup
DETROIT (June 7, 2017) – Performance breeds confidence, and AJ Foyt Racing’s Carlos Munoz has high expectations for success in the Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 248-lap race Saturday under the lights on the newly re-profiled and repaved 1.5-mile racetrack is the third oval on the Verizon IndyCar Series calendar, and Munoz has displayed speed and finesse in the No. 14 ABC Supply Chevrolet. At the 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway and the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the 25-year-old driver has advanced a combined 13 positions relative to his starting spot and scored a pair of 10th-place finishes.
He earned the pole at TMS last June, and has recorded top-10 finishes the past two years. The two-time Indianapolis 500 runner-up participated in testing April 12 on the track.
“We made a lot of improvement from where we started the test, but we still need to make a few more,” he said. “It’s a really quick weekend but I’m looking forward to it. Last year I won the pole and led the first half of the race so it’s a really special track for me. It was my first IndyCar pole position. We’ll see what we have this year. It would be good to keep our recent momentum going and get another top-10 finish with the ABC Supply Chevrolet.”
The re-profiling of the superspeedway reduced the banking by 4 degrees in Turns 1 and 2, which expanded the width of the racing surface in that section from 60 to 80 feet. The result is a more challenging layout, according to Verizon IndyCar Series team owner/driver Ed Carpenter, than the previous symmetrical layout of 24 degrees and width of 60 feet in all four turns.
“I think the biggest unknown is what the cars are going to do over the stint in a race situation,” said Carpenter, who drove the track’s official Chevrolet Camaro SS pace car for the ceremonial first lap during the project’s unveiling in March. “Tire degradation was the biggest factor, and it did make for good racing but it was a different type of racing. It’s what Texas became known for early on. I expect it tighten up from what we saw at the test. I think the pace and the tempo will be higher from green to checkered.”
Team Chevy drivers have won three of the past four races on the oval. Helio Castroneves, who will drive the No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet, has a field-high four victories at the racetrack that has hosted Indy car racing since it opened in 1997.
Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet, and Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, also are former winners. Power, who has won the pole for three of the past four races at TMS, holds the track qualifying two-lap record of 219.182 mph (47.7960 seconds), set in 2013.
Castroneves is second in the Verizon IndyCar Series standings, with teammates Simon Pagenaud, No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet, in fourth place and Josef Newgarden, No. 2 hum by Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, in fifth. Pagenaud, the reigning series champion, won at Phoenix International Raceway in April for his first career oval victory.
Team Chevy’s lineup at Texas Motor Speedway will be bolstered by the No. 88 Harding Racing entry with driver Gabby Chaves. The 2014 Indy Lights champion and 2015 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year posted a ninth-place finish in the 101st Indy 500 on May 28 in Harding Racing’s inaugural Verizon IndyCar Series race. Chaves, who turns 24 on July 7, advanced 10 spots from his starting position to record a 10th-place finish in his lone start at Texas Motor Speedway in ’15.
A white Chevrolet Corvette Z51 will be the pace car for the event.
The Chevy IndyCar Racing Tour display at the track will be open from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday and noon-7 p.m. Saturday for fans to see an impressive array of Chevrolet production vehicles, including the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox, 2018 Traverse, Silverado 2500, Corvette Z51 Stingray convertible, Cruze hatchback, and Silverado 1500 High Desert.
There will also be race simulators for fans to test their skills and a Chevrolet Verizon IndyCar Series show car plus the Chevrolet V6 twin turbo direct fuel-injected Verizon IndyCar Series engine on a stand.