The NTT IndyCar Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the opening oval race of the season. The XPEL 375 will see a number of firsts with super Speedway rookies, Jimmie Johnson and Romain Grosjean set to make their debuts at the famous oval.
Devlin DeFrancesco will make his oval race debut in the No.29 PowerTap Honda for Andretti Autosport while fellow rookies David Malukas, Callum Ilott, Christian Lundgaard, and Kyle Kirkwood will all make their IndyCar Series oval race debuts this weekend.
The other unknown is how will the two-lane groove at Texas Motor Speedway work with 28 cars on track over the course of the weekend? Helio Castroneves of Meyer Shank Racing returns to the Speedway for the first time since 2017 and is aiming to tie Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon’s win tally at TMS.
It is going to be extremely interesting to see what the weather does this weekend with high temperatures which are likely to have a major impact on how the Firestone Tires perform. Meyer Shank Racing has added an extra car this season with experienced drivers, Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves piloting the cars for the team led by Mike Shank.
AJ Foyt Racing has also an extra car with J.R Hildebrand competing in all oval events for the team in the No.11 ROKiT Chevrolet. It will be great to see team owner Ed Carpenter back behind the wheel this weekend as he joins his drivers, Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly in the field for the race.