Saturday, June 06, 2020

NEWGARDEN TAKES QUALIFYING POLE FOR GENESYS 300 INDYCAR SERIES RACE AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Reigning champion picks up where he left off last year at No Limits, Texas

FORT WORTH, TEXAS (June 6, 2020) - Reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion and defending Texas Motor Speedway winner Josef Newgarden (shown left) picked up exactly where he left off last year at No Limits, Texas by taking the pole position for tonight's Genesys 300.

 
Despite the temperature nearing triple digits, the driver of the No. 1 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet lapped the 1.5-mile high-banked tri-oval for a two-lap average of 24.0289 seconds at a speed of 215.740 mph.
 
For his efforts, the Hendersonville, Tenn., native was presented with the traditional pole winner award at Texas Motor Speedway, a Henry Texas Tribute edition rifle.
 
"I don't want to say I was surprised," Newgarden said. "It felt like the car was quick. I didn't know if we had enough to beat [Scott] Dixon; he looked really good in his qual trim. I felt the XPEL car was great. I just tried to do the best I could to stay flat. That's just all I had to do was keep it pinned around the track. The car was perfect."
 
Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Honda) was second with a two-lap average of 24.0403 at 215.638 and Newgarden's Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 DXC Technology Chevrolet) was third at 24.0596 at 215.464.
 
Last year's No. 1 qualifier, Takuma Sato, crashed in Turn 1 on his warmup lap. Sato was seen and released from the Wise Health System infield media center despite extensive damage to the No. 30 Abeam Consulting Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.
 
The Genesys 300 will be broadcast live on NBC tonight beginning at 7 p.m. CT, with the green flag to wave at 7:10 p.m.

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