IndyCar: Honda, Chevrolet seeking upper hand heading into Texas

By Asher Fair | Jun 7, 2019

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 06: Ryan Hunter-Reay of the United States, driver of the #28 DHL Honda, drives during practice for the NTT IndyCar Series DXC - Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 06, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /

IndyCar engine manufacturers Honda and Chevrolet are tied in wins heading into the race at Texas Motor Speedway for the second consecutive season.

For the second consecutive season, IndyCar engine manufacturers Honda and Chevrolet are tied in victories heading into the ninth race of the season, the DXC Technology 600, at Texas Motor Speedway, and they are both seeking the upper hand heading into this race.

After Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden won the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida in his #2 Chevrolet, Honda responded with three consecutive victories and appeared to be poised to pull away, as Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon appeared to be well on his way to winning the season’s fifth race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his #9 Honda.

But Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud put on a clinic in the rain to win that race after taking the lead with two laps remaining. In the Indianapolis 500 at the track’s oval, it was déjà vu for the 35-year-old Frenchman, as he passed a Honda driver, Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, with two laps remaining before delivering Team Penske and Chevrolet their third victory of the season.

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For the first time since the 2015 season, Honda and Chevrolet split the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader at the Raceway on Belle Isle, with Newgarden winning the first race and Dixon winning the season.

As a result, both engine manufacturers have earned four victories heading into the pivotal halfway point-marking 248-lap race around the four-turn, 1.44-mile (2.317-kilometer) high-banked Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas, just like they did last season.

Which engine manufacturer will prevail and get the second half of the season start off on a high note?

Last season, it was Honda doing so, as Dixon dominated this race. Honda ended up winning 11 races, including nine of the last 11, while Chevrolet ended up winning only six, their lowest win total since reentering the series in the 2012 season.

Given the strength that Honda showed in the first practice session for tomorrow night’s race both with a tow and without a tow, it would appear that they are the favorites to get the job done once again and take a 5-4 lead over their rivals heading into the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin two weekends from now.

Plus, you can never, ever, ever count out Dixon, especially at a track such as Texas Motor Speedway, where he is the reigning winner, the winner of two of the last four races and a three-time winner.

That said, look no further than the race at the track in the 2017 season to illustrated just how unpredictable “No Limits, Texas” can be. Honda drivers swept the first four rows of the starting grid for this race, the first time they did that since Chevrolet reentered IndyCar five years prior, yet Chevrolet drivers combined to lead 186 of its 248 laps.

Team Penske’s Will Power won the race in his #12 Chevrolet, and Chevrolet drivers took two of the top three, third of the top five and four of the top seven positions.

Saturday night’s race under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway will truly be anybody’s race.

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Which engine manufacturer will break the tie with their fifth victory of the 2019 IndyCar season by winning the race that marks the season’s halfway point, the DXC Technology 600, at Texas Motor Speedway, and which team and driver will be the team and driver to deliver them their fifth victory? Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 8:00 p.m. ET tomorrow evening for the live broadcast of the race to find out.