Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway was the site of a briefcase full of money, a former INDYCAR champion jumping up and down like a child, a NASCAR stalwart in shock, and this quote:
“There’s not a better race track that you could probably win an INDYCAR race than at Texas.”
From Josef Newgarden’s mouth to your ears. With 13 wins, the 2017 championship, and three trips to Victory Lane already in 2019, Newgarden knows what it’s like to win and to do it in multiple places, and his comment really is an echo of most of the field’s love for “the second home of INDYCAR.”
The quote capped off what was an entertaining weekend of racing at Texas during the IndyCar Series/NASCAR Gander Trucks doubleheader weekend. It wouldn’t be fair to get much farther without mentioning The Biff.
Greg Biffle got into Kyle Busch’s No. 51 truck Friday night hoping not to embarrass the team, and he won the race, pocketing a $50,000 bonus in the process as part of NASCAR’s Triple Truck Challenge.
“I’m almost speechless. I don’t know what to say,” Biffle said in Victory Lane, clearly trying to figure out himself what just happened. The 49-year-old set a TMS record, going 19 years between Truck Series wins at the track, and he held off a hard charging Matt Crafton to do it.
Sure, the race set records for cautions, laps under caution, and race duration, but let’s not act like it wasn’t worth it to see Biffle’s triumphant return to the track.
The next night, the IndyCar Series took center stage, and the open-wheel experts put on a stellar show that culminated with Newgarden outgunning Andretti’s Alexander Rossi in the closing laps.
Ratings were up for both events, and there was a different feel in No Limits, Texas. The crowd let out an audible roar as Biffle got out at the start-finish line to celebrate his win, and Newgarden hopped onto the stage in Victory Lane shouting, “I’ve always wanted to be here!”
The racing was good, the winners were great, and Texas Motor Speedway kicked off the summer with a race weekend to remember.