1. Yes, Scott Dixon should end up as the first driver to win consecutive races at Texas Motor Speedway. Yes, that victory should be the one to make Dixon the first driver to win a race in 19 seasons. Yes, it should be his 51st victory, putting him one behind Mario Andretti for second all-time and yes, it should give Dixon the championship lead through three races.
I am not going to act like Dixon had to overcome a great obstacle to win this race. This was another frustratingly tame Texas race and we will touch upon it later, but Dixon didn't put a wheel wrong. He led 206 of 212 laps. In brilliant fashion, he conserved the tires and carved up lapped traffic. That ability gave him a comfortable lead throughout this race. Everyone else was stuck. Dixon's lead could shrink to a half-second and then balloon to eight seconds just because he cleared one lapped car.
We can talk about the conditions and the single-lane that exists, but other drivers could have gotten around lapped traffic just as quick and kept the pressure on Dixon. No one did and when no one can at least shadow Dixon it is going to look easy when Dixon wins the race.
It is another strong start to a season and becoming the first driver to win consecutive Texas races could be the first highlight of what Dixon hopes to be the first time he wins consecutive championship.
2. You would think Dixon's 51st victory would give him the honor of "Kiwi of the Evening," but Scott McLaughlin was runner-up on his oval debut and in only his fourth IndyCar start. McLaughlin was smart all race and kept it on the edge of the top ten at the start. When Sébastien Bourdais was spun and hit the wall, McLaughlin had yet to stop and it put him into the top ten.
In that second stint, he kept the car in the top ten and stopped early. That clear racetrack allowed him to jump from back half of the top ten into third. A fast pit stop under the final caution got him second.
It seems like McLaughlin is comfortable each time he is in the car. I know iRacing isn't gospel, but last year when McLaughlin was competing and was competitive at Michigan, Motegi and Indianapolis I thought maybe oval racing is something he is more suited for than we think. It is a crazy thought since he had never raced a proper oval before, but even in the simulated world it didn't come off as foreign to him. From his first test, it sounded like he was ready. There was never any trepidation expressed and in his first true outing, McLaughlin looked like he had been doing this his entire career.
He will get a chance to be the top Kiwi on the road tomorrow evening and after night one on an oval, I wouldn't be surprised if he did it.
3. Patricio O'Ward was one of the earliest stoppers in that second stint and it took him from outside the top ten into the top five. A quick final stop got him third. This was trending in the wrong direction at the start. It was looking like another race where O'Ward was going to struggle with tires and fade.
The crew made a great strategy call and cautions fell O'Ward's way. He pulled out the result and that matters most.
4. I cannot say Álex Palou did anything spectacular today to finish fourth. Palou started on pole position after qualifying was rained out. With that track position all Palou had to do was not make a mistake or run too long on a stint and he wasn't going to fall far. That diminishes his result, but in fairness to him, he drove smart. He did nothing foolish. The car was suited for him and he got fourth. He did what he was supposed to do.
5. Graham Rahal was the first car to make a pit stop tonight and when Bourdais spun, Rahal was trapped a lap down. He quickly got the wave around, but he went from just outside the top ten to 20th. With how this track is it is hard to expect someone to make up much ground, and yet Rahal finished fifth.
The team made the right strategy calls after that first caution and Rahal was able to make a power move on Josef Newgarden to get into the top five. He lost a top five at St. Petersburg after being caught on the wrong side of Alexander Rossi when Rossi had a puncture. Tonight, Rahal had one fall his way. Call it even.
6. Josef Newgarden ran into the back of Sébastien Bourdais as both battled on wearing tires at the end of that final stint. Newgarden was sent to the rear of the field and he spent that entire second stint outside the top fifteen. Like some other drivers, Newgarden stopped early on that second stint and went up to 11th. He kept himself on the end of the top ten and then made up some spots on pit lane. This is what championship teams do, take a horrendous night and turn it into something respectable.
7. Jack Harvey got another seventh-place finish on an oval, and he might have gotten away with a block on Rahal. Rahal made the pass, but Harvey drove him to the apron entering turn three. If you watch the footage, Harvey is committed to driving to the white line on the inside. It is not a reactionary move, but on an oval you cannot drive like that. You can't keep going to the inside, especially when someone dives to your inside. He also had a close call with Alexander Rossi.
Harvey is not a dirty driver, and he has already admitted fault, but he got lucky tonight. It could have been worse. It could have been an accident or a penalty. Neither happened but next time he does he cannot expect to have the same fate. I think he will learn.
8. Alexander Rossi has been in this rut in the back of the top ten. He was eighth today and that was after another questionable pit call. I can't knock the team for going long on the second stint. We saw what happened after Bourdais' accident. It makes sense to run long, but Rossi lost a lot of time and he went from competing for a top five ahead of McLaughlin to eighth and five spots behind McLaughlin.
I can't knock the team that much. It made sense, but it is another case of the team having a sensible call not work in its favor. One of these races the calls have to fall Andretti Autosport's way.
9. Takuma Sato was ninth. Eh. That's all. He made up three spots at the start, ran in ninth the entire first stint, really didn't do much else, and he finished ninth.
10. Simon Pagenaud dropped from fifth on the grid and half the Penske team was off tonight. Newgarden wasn't great, but he probably would have been around fifth or sixth even without the penalty for hitting Bourdais. If anything, tenth might be two or three spots better than Pagenaud actually was. He didn't stand out at all.
11. Tony Kanaan made his 2021 debut and he was 11th. With qualifying being rained out, Kanaan started 23rd despite having the fastest car in practice. There wasn't much he could do on track. He could make up three or four spots on the start, but Texas is not set up for anyone to make an eight-spot jump in the first five or six laps and slowly make up another four spots in that first stint. He made the most of the hand he was dealt.
12. Quickly through the rest of the field: Ed Jones was 12th and that is a step in the right direction, but Jones still wasn't a factor in this one. Felix Rosenqvist was second after his second pit stop because he stopped early. However, Rosenqvist had to go to the grass when Marcus Ericsson left his pit box without his right rear tire. This knocked Rosenqvist from a top five finish to outside the top ten. Will Power was lost tonight. He was 14th and I am not sure he was that good. Pietro Fittipaldi was 15th in his first IndyCar start since September 2018. Fittipaldi spent a good part of the race on the edge of the top ten. It looks like he picked up right where he left off.
13. Andretti Autosport has a race victory and yet it has had three disappointing races. Ryan Hunter-Reay was 16th, but with the grid set via entrant point, he couldn't do much. Hunter-Reay stopped early and the Bourdais caution trapped him two laps down. It took him all race to get back on the lead lap, and he worked his way up to 16th in the final stint, but that's not good enough and he is still stuck at the rear tomorrow.
Colton Herta should have finished in the top five and then his right rear brakes exploded with 22 laps to go. James Hinchcliffe was the final caution when he got into the PJ1 substance in turn two and spun. Three Andretti Autosport cars were outside the top 15. The team had three cars outside the top fifteen at Barber and two cars outside the top fifteen at St. Petersburg. Andretti Autosport has got to clean it up. It needs more than one driver succeeding each weekend.
14. Ed Carpenter was 17th, stuck at the back of the starting grid due to entrant points, but Carpenter was never a threat in practice. Not only did Dalton Kellett match his career best finish of 18th but he got his first lead lap finish as well and he was the top A.J. Foyt Racing driver! Progress. We went over Marcus Ericsson. That botched pit stop cost him a top ten finish. Rinus VeeKay was the only driver to stop before the James Hinchcliffe caution and the Dutchman could have been tenth or 11th and instead he was 20th. Conor Daly had to start 24th as Carlin is bottom of the championship and he didn't make up any ground. It is simple as that.
15. Sébastien Bourdais had to lift on exit of turn two as Colton Herta was struggling on worn tires and Newgarden had nowhere to go. I don't think Bourdais did anything wrong, but I don't think Newgarden was malice. I think it was a racing incident and with the track surface being what it is, everyone is sticking to the bottom, including the drivers on worn tires. There is nowhere for anyone to go. An incident like this one is not a surprise.
16. If there was an upper groove, likely neither accident happens and guys could have made passes. It is frustrating to watch Texas because there is so much asphalt out there. There is plenty of room for side-by-side racing but the surface is not conducive. The tires cannot grip the PJ1 stained surface and Texas isn't going to do anything more to fix it. It tried washing the surface. It tried the tire dragon to lay down some rubber. Neither made a difference.
The track was just reconfigured. Texas isn't going to repave again. Maybe a sealant will negate the issue. The PJ1 is down for NASCAR and I am not sure it makes the NASCAR races any better, but it is there and I am not sure what else IndyCar can do. I don't want IndyCar to try the high downforce package because, while it might allow that second groove to become usable, it could lead to legitimate pack racing where it is 24 cars two abreast for 200-plus laps and four seconds cover the entire field. We don't want that. There is got to be a middle ground between that and what we have seen the last two years.
I thought the tire drop off was great tonight, but the problem is it doesn't matter if everyone is stuck to the bottom and no one car ventures off the white line. We're stuck with it and I not sure anything is going to change.
17. The best news from the night is we got this race in, all 212 laps, and I guess it is a good thing that we only have 248 laps tomorrow. Credit to IndyCar for deciding to set the grid for tomorrow via the entrant points after the first Texas race instead of via the entrant points entering the weekend. Historically, when it comes to doubleheaders, the second race is subject to points as they were entering the weekend. I am glad IndyCar made the change to mix up the grid a little bit, even if it doesn't look like much.
