Dale Coyne Racing carrying momentum into Texas
Plainfield, IL (June 8, 2016) – The Dale Coyne Racing team is carrying plenty of momentum into the Texas Motor Speedway Firestone 600 this weekend, following strong performances last week at The Raceway on Belle Isle.
The setting will be much different, however, to the twists and turns of the temporary street course as Texas Motor Speedway presents a completely different challenge with its 1.455-mile oval and 24 degree banking in its turns.
Gabby Chaves and Conor Daly are welcoming the challenge with open arms. Chaves earned his second top 10 finish of the season last year in his first appearance at Texas Motor Speedway and the Columbian is hoping to do even better this time around aboard the #19 Boy Scouts of America machine.
The event will mark the first time that Rookie Conor Daly takes to the Dallas/Fort Worth area track. Coming off his career best Verizon IndyCar Series weekend, where he scored a second and sixth place finish at the Detroit doubleheader, the American is also very much looking forward to turning his first laps aboard his #18 Jonathan Byrd’s Hospitality car on the superspeedway that has fascinated him for years.
Dale Coyne Racing has a good history at Texas Motor Speedway with the late great Justin Wilson scoring the team’s second IndyCar victory at the oval in 2012.
Chaves and Daly will be on track starting Friday, June 10 for the first practice session, which will air live on NBCSN starting at Noon ET. Qualifying for the Firestone 600 will be broadcast on tape delay at 6pm ET that same day.
Round 9 of the Verizon IndyCar Series will go green on Saturday, June 11 at 8:50pm ET and will be broadcast live on NBCSN starting at 8:00pm ET.
Live timing and scoring will also be available at racecontrol.indycar.com.
What they have to say:
Conor Daly – #18 Jonathan Byrd’s Hospitality & Restaurant Group
“I’ve never raced at Texas Motor Speedway yet but I’ve been there many times to watch. I’ve always wanted to race there. The place just fascinates me, under the lights, it’s such a cool track, with such great racing for so many years. I want to get me some guns and shoot them in victory lane! Seriously, I can’t wait to get there. We also need to rebound from our previous oval experience at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I think we had a great car there but we weren’t able to finish it out and we want to make up for that this weekend.”
Gabby Chaves – #19 Boy Scouts of America
“Texas Motor Speedway demands a lot of commitment as a driver, a lot of trust in your car, in your guys, your pit crew, engineer, everyone has to be working as one unit. It’s definitely a daunting track with its high banking. It’s a high speed track with a lot of passing opportunities and it’s one of the more fun tracks to race at. Last year, I had a top 10 finish there as a rookie and I’m very much looking forward to go back there and to try to get a top five this year, go for the win and see what we can do.”
Texas Motor Speedway Firestone 600 Schedule
(All times local)
Friday, June 10
11am – 12:15pm: Practice #1, NBCSN (Live)
3:15pm: Qualifying (single car/cumulative time of two laps), NBCSN (6 p.m. ET)
5:15pm – 6pm: Autograph Session
6:45pm – 7:15pm: Practice #2, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
Saturday, June 11
7:50pm: Firestone 600 (248 laps/360.84 miles), NBCSN (Live)