Honda PR

Honda Racing message points for INDYCAR at Texas Motor Speedway

Posted on by Patrick Stephan

Genesys 300 & EXPEL 375
Texas Motor Speedway
7 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 1 & 5 p.m. EDT Sunday, May 2
NBCSN and NBC Peacock
IndyCar Radio Network and SiriusXM

MANUFACTURER COMPETITION

  • This weekend’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES event at Texas Motor Speedway will be the first doubleheader race weekend of the 2021 season, and the first oval races. The weekend will include the Genesys 300 on Saturday evening, and the EXPEL 375 on Sunday.
  • Honda continues to hold the early-season lead in the 2021 INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship with Colton Herta’s win last Sunday at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg; and Alex Palou’s victory earlier this month at the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. 
  • As a result, Honda holds a 30-point lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship, with 178 points to 148 for rival Chevrolet.  The company is seeking its fourth consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in 2021.
  • Alex Palou continues to lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings after two races, with 67 points.  Defending series champion Scott Dixon, and Team Penske’s Will Power are tied for second with 65 points each.  St. Petersburg winner Colton Herta is fourth with 62 points.
  • Seven wins in 2020 brought Honda the company’s ninth INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, and third consecutive title, with Honda driver Dixon prevailing to win his sixth Drivers’ Championship, highest among all active drivers in the series.
  • Honda will present an impressive lineup in Texas for the first oval races of 2021, all utilizing the Honda HI21TT twin-turbo V6 engine and Dallara chassis. It begins with six-time, defending series champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 victor Dixon, and includes two-time and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato; 2012 series and 2014 Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay; 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi; multi-race winners Colton Herta, Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe. 
  • Run in August due to the COVID pandemic, Sato’s victory at the 2020 Indianapolis 500 was the 250th for Honda in Indy car competition since 1994, and the 13th win by the manufacturer at the “500” – a record unmatched by any other OEM in the same period.

HONDA IN TEXAS

  • Honda-powered drivers have won 12 times at Texas in IndyCar Series competition, starting in 2004 with a 1-2 finish for Andretti Green Racing [now Andretti Autosport] teammates Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti.
  • Last year, Dixon dominated for his fourth career victory at TMS, leading a race-high 157 laps at the 1.5-mile oval.  Dixon went on to win his sixth IndyCar Series Drivers’ Championship, leading Honda to the 2020 Manufacturers’ Championship.
  • Other Honda-powered winners at TMS include Helio Castroneves (2006, 2009), Sam Hornish, Jr. (2007), Ryan Briscoe (2010), Dario Franchitti (2011, Race 1) and Will Power (2011, Race 2). The late Justin Wilson scored his final Indy car victory here in 2012, while Graham Rahal claimed victory in 2016’s weather-delayed event.

WHERE TO WATCH

  • Television coverage Saturday’s 212-lap opening race, the Genesys 300, starts at 7 p.m. EDT on the NBC Sports Network.  Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network, also carried by SiriusXM satellite radio.
  • Sunday’s 248-lap XPEL 375 starts at 5 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage again on NBCSN.  Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network, simulcast on SiriusXM.