Fort Worth, TX (Saturday, March 19, 2022) – Takuma Sato (#51 Nurtec ODT – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR) put in a spectacular qualifying run at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday placing third on the starting grid for Sunday’s XPEL 375. Rookie David Malukas also put in a solid performance aboard his #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports entry and will be starting 19th for his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval event. See below for more on each driver.

Third Place Start for Takuma Sato at Texas Motor Speedway

Fort Worth, TX (Saturday, March 19, 2022) – Takuma Sato will be starting third in his first oval race for Dale Coyne Racing with RWR after a great qualifying run on Saturday in which he missed out on pole position by just two thousandths of a second.  Starting: 3rd Lap 1: 221.216mph Lap 2: 220.973mph Average speed: 221.094mph This is Takuma Sato’s second-best qualifying result at Texas Motor Speedway after starting on pole position in 2019.Sato was the 18th driver to take to the track in the 27-car field. He immediately placed second on the provisional grid and remained in that position until the final qualifying run of the day moved him to third.The driver of the #51 Nurtec ODT Honda has finished in the top 10 three times in his last five starts at TMS. Takuma Sato #51 Nurtec ODT Honda – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR “It was a great team effort. The 51 boys did everything they could, and it was great. I was comfortable with the #51 Nurtec ODT car. I was able to commit 100%. The car was fast, I was just two thousandths of a second from pole. A third place, for our first ever oval qualifying together is more than what we should be happy with. I look forward to tomorrow and I’m confident we will do a good job for the race.”

David Malukas Has Solid Qualifying Run in Oval Debut

Fort Worth, TX (Saturday, March 20, 2022) – Rookie David Malukas took part in his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval qualifying on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, registering the 19th fastest two-lap average around the 1.5-mile track. Starting: 19th  Lap 1: 219.927mph Lap 2: 219.802mph Average speed: 219.864mph The driver of the #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports put in a solid performance for his first oval qualifying run. Despite being only the second driver to take to the track he put in two consistent lap times that initially placed him ahead of oval veteran Ed Carpenter. Malukas was sitting in 10th with 10 drivers remaining and ended up 19th on the starting grid for the XPEL 375 once all 27 drivers took to the track. David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda “We were the second car out for qualifying and I definitely had a lot or nerves building up, so I was happy to be one of the first cars to go out so I didn’t have too much time to think about it. As soon as I went out, I stayed on top of my tools. Thankfully we had a lot of practice with the rookie test earlier this month and an hour this morning and we did so many qualifying sims that when it came to the real deal it felt like clockwork. It was repetitive and I knew what to do. I stayed flat and gave it the maximum I could. I think it’s the best we could do with the conditions at the time I took to the track. Overall, I’m quite happy with my qualifying performance today. Now let’s see how we do in the race tomorrow.”

Race Info: XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway Race 2 of 17 Track length: 1.5-mile superspeedway Race Distance:  248-laps Schedule (all times local) Sunday, March 20, 2022 Green Flag: 11:45am  Race broadcast: 11:30am – 2pm (NBC & INDYCAR Radio – 12:30pm ET)