Rahal Brings Honda Home for Third in Texas
Texas Motor SpeedwayGraham Rahal leads Honda effort in second race of NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, finishing third. Saturday race winner Scott Dixon maintains championship lead with fourth-place result. St. Petersburg winner Colton Herta runs fifth.
Honda’s Graham Rahal capitalized on his opportunities this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, combining a third-place finish in today’s XPEL 375 with a fifth-place result in Saturday night’s Genesys 300 to vault to fifth in the early-season points standings.
Rahal and Saturday night’s Honda-powered race winner, Scott Dixon, ran at the front for the majority of the first 180 laps 248-lap event. But the Rahal-Dixon battle enabled Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden to run in the draft of the leaders, then build an advantage when the Rahal and Dixon pitted, as O’Ward went on to score his career first INDYCAR win.
Dixon’s fourth-place finish keeps him in the Drivers’ Championship lead with 153 points to 131 for O’Ward; while three wins from four races has Honda leading Chevrolet in the Manufacturers’ Championship battle 332-318. Colton Herta, winner of last weekend’s St. Petersburg race, finished fifth today in his Andretti Autosport Honda; while Alex Palou, winner of the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, took the checkers in seventh.
Fast Facts
・With three wins from four races to start the 2021 season, Honda continues to hold an early-season lead in the INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship with an unofficial total of 332 points to 318 for rival Chevrolet. Honda is seeking the company’s fourth consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in 2021.
・Seven wins in 2020 brought Honda the company’s ninth INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, and third consecutive title, with Honda driver Scott Dixon prevailing to win his sixth Drivers’ Championship, highest among all active drivers in the series.
Next
After opening the season with four races over a three-week period NTT INDYCAR SERIES now takes a week off before resuming May 14-15 with the AMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis, on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After the last round of pit stops, I tried to attack [the leaders] but the car was just too loose. But all-in-all, a great weekend for team – a fifth and a third, we’ll take those results. Honda did another great job, and the Fleet Cost and Care machine was super-competitive all race long. It was fun racing with Dixie [Scott Dixon], but obviously [Josef] Newgarden and [Pato] O’Ward had excellent final [pit] stops, so great jobs by both of them. Bring on Indy.
It was kind of a quiet race for us for the most part. My strategists did an excellent job calling the pit stops. Our car was fast tonight, but we were never quite in a position to challenge for the win. Good job, as always, by the Gainbridge crew and Honda.
It was disappointing not to win today, after controlling much of the contest and leading well over half the total race distance. But Honda already has three wins this year, and the top-five results for Graham [Rahal], Scott [Dixon] and Colton [Herta] keep both Dixon and Honda at the top of the championship standings. It’s been a busy start to the season, with four races in three weeks, so it will be good to have a week off to recharge, then we all head to Indianapolis and, of course, the ‘500’.
