Connect with us

SPORTS

Dixon wins GENSYS 300 race at Texas Motor Speedway

Published

on

A late-race caution only briefly delayed the inevitable victory for Scott Dixon whose dominant performance in the Genesys 300 earned him and the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda team their fourth victory at Texas Motor Speedway, tying a track record held by Helio Castroneves.
Dixon, who qualified second in the heat of the day when temperatures reached near triple digits, took the lead on Lap 32 and went on to lead 157 of the 200-lap, 300-mile race that kicked off the COVID-19-delayed 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.
The New Zealand native beat Simon Pagenaud in the No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet by 4.411 seconds.
Dixon’s previous victories at No Limits, Texas were in 2018, 2015 and 2008.
“Such strange times right now and I just can’t thank the team enough, it’s such a team effort,” said the 39-year-old Dixon. “”It’s just so fast. Any situation we were in, we could just go for it. Huge thanks to everybody involved, and bummed that the fans weren’t here – I wish everyone was here to celebrate.”
Reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and defending Texas Motor Speedway winner Josef Newgarden, who also earned the pole position for the Genesys 300, finished third in the No. 1 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.
The balance of the top-10 finishers were: Zack Veach (No. 26 Gainbridge Andretti Autosport Honda), Ed Carpenter (No. 20 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet), Conor Daly (No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet), Colton Herta (No. 88 Capstone Turbine Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport Honda), Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport Honda), rookie Oliver Askew (No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet), and Tony Kanaan (No. 14 7-Eleven AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet).
Teams had been informed in late May by series tire supplier Firestone of a 35-lap limit on tires as a result of new tire production halted due to COVID-19 work stoppages. Unused alternate right-side tires from last year’s Texas Motor Speedway race and unused left-side tires from last year’s Indianapolis 500 were made available.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott attended the event, visiting with drivers on pit road from a safe distance before the green flag.
“We’re honored to have Governor Abbott make another visit to Texas Motor Speedway because he’s a big race fan,” said Eddie Gossage, President and General Manager of Texas Motor Speedway. “He welcomed the crowd on NBC, which was his opportunity to tell everyone Texas is open more and more everyday as we all deal with COVID-19. He even got to pace the field before the start of the race. He is one of our biggest supporters.”
Three cars had issues leaving pit road after the command to start engines, resulting in each receiving penalties. Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi received drive-through or stop-and-go penalties which put them at the back of the pack when the race went green.
Newgarden led the field to the green flag and stayed at the point for the first 31 laps before pitting on Lap 33 due to a handling issue. Dixon took the top spot from there and was leading when the first caution flag waved on Lap 37 when rookies Rinus VeeKay and Alex Palou got together coming off Turn 2.
Dixon maintained his lead until a second caution, on Lap 77, slowed the field. A slow pit stop by the five-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion, allowed Newgarden and Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Felix Rosenqvist, to take the top two spots for the Lap 87 restart.
Dixon was back to the lead just three laps later and began his domination shortly after the halfway point, leading by more than 10 seconds on Lap 118.
The third caution of the night slowed the field with just 10 laps remaining when Rosenqvist, attempting to pass a slower car, ended up making contact with the outside wall in Turn 2.
Despite there being just four laps remaining when the final green flag resumed competition, Dixon quickly opened up a more than four-second lead by the time the checkered flag concluded the Genesys 300.
There were five lead changes among three drivers and four cautions for 24 laps.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

Continue Reading

SPORTS

Bowie Softball Interview

Published

on

Interview with Bowie softball players Hanna Bell (left) and Sadie Britt following their district win against City View on senior night on April 8, 2025.
Continue Reading

SPORTS

Baseball Roundup

Published

on

RJ Walker pitched four perfect innings for Nocona and got his 100th career strike out. (Courtesy photo)

Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up dominant wins against Chico in their series against the Dragons last week.
The Indians won both games 11-0 by run-rule after five innings to get their first district wins of the season.
Nocona was coming off losing both games against Lindsay the previous week in its first district series and bounced back in a big way.
In the first game at home last week, the Indians scored six runs in the first inning and five in the third inning which proved to be all the offense they needed.
Kutter Cabrera led the team with three RBIs while Miller Jentry was second with two RBIs. The team finished with nine hits and drew eight walks.
On the mound, Walker Murphey pitched a shut out while striking out seven and allowing three hits. Defensively, the team committed one fielding error.
The second game saw Nocona score all of its runs in the first three innings, highlighted by scoring six runs in the second inning.
Murphey hit a three-run home run to lead the team while Brody Langford and Landon Fatheree each had two RBIs.
On the mound RJ Walker had a big day, throwing a perfect four innings which means he did not allow a hit or walk anyone. He also struck out eight batters, which put him over 100 career strikeouts in high school. The defense committed no fielding errors.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost their series against Bryson last week.
The first game was a close 3-0 loss, but the second game was 11-0, done after four and half innings due to run-rule.
The Panthers were coming off close losses to Perrin-Whitt from the previous week. They were hoping they could turn their fortune around playing another 1A program.
Unfortunately in the first game, the Cowboys got off to a good start, scoring three runs in the first inning, with two coming with two outs due to an error and a dropped third strike.
Saint Jo’s pitching and defense tightened up after that to not allow another run in the final six innings. Unfortunately, the Panthers had only two hits and four base runners all game as they lost the close game 3-0.
Charlie Evans and Rylan Forrest had the only two hits for Saint Jo in the game as the team struck out 18 times. Trent Gaston ended the game allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out five batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Unfortunately, things did not go as well several days later in game two. Bryson scored three runs in both the first and second innings before scoring five runs in the third inning. Saint Jo was not able to get a hit and drew two walks in the game.
The Panther defense committed six fielding errors which led to only three of the 11 runs given up were earned by the pitching staff who gave up five hits, walked six and hit four batters.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles played Perrin-Whitt last week in a series.
The Pirates won the first game 11-1 by run-rule and the second game score was not updated on Game Changer.
The Eagles were coming off one-sided losses to Bryson the previous week in their first district series and was hoping to play better.
Bellevue did get out to an early lead in the first inning. River Trail hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0, which proved to be the highlight of the game.
Perrin-Whitt scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second inning, two in the fourth inning and five in the fifth inning to win 11-1.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

Continue Reading

SPORTS

Softball Roundup

Published

on

Reagan Wilson tags a base runner out at home plate as the Lady Panthers came back from double-digits to win. (Photo by Jennifer Gaston)

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers picked up a high-scoring win against Perrin-Whitt on Thursday to get their second straight district win and some revenge.
The Lady Panthers won 35-20 against the Lady Pirates, nearly equaling the total when both programs played on the gridiron during the fall.
Saint Jo was coming off a big win the previous week against Bryson, but had lost the last time it played Perrin-Whitt by 10 runs in another high-scoring game.
The Lady Panthers did not start the game off well, allowing 11 runs in the top of the first inning before they had even gotten a chance to bat yet.
Most teams would crumble, but Saint Jo fought back slowly at first before picking things up.
The Lady Panthers scored three runs in the first inning to cut the lead to 11-3.
Perrin-Whitt added four more runs in the second inning to go up 15-3, which in most games is insurmountable.
Saint Jo answered with eight runs in the bottom of the second inning, cutting the lead to 15-11.
The Lady Pirates scored five runs in the third inning and went up by nine runs 20-11. Then the Lady Panthers had a monster offensive inning that went on for awhile.
Saint Jo scored 18 runs in the third inning, not only getting its first lead, but going up by nearly double-digits 29-20.
The Lady Panthers had the momentum and it showed on defense in the fourth inning, allowing no runs for the first time all game by either team.
Saint Jo then went for the kill, scoring six runs to end the game early due to run-rule with the final score being 35-20.
Mercedes Diaz led the team with seven RBIs as she hit one of the two home runs for the Lady Panthers, with the other going to Lily Cook. Maxey Johnson was right behind with six RBIs and Kamron Skidmore had four.

Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians started the second round of district with a dominant win against Era on Monday.
The Lady Indians won 16-0 after four innings, winning by run-rule against the Lady Hornets.
Nocona went 3-2 in the first round of district, only losing to big dogs Lindsay and Muenster. The first time the Lady Indians had played Era, it had been a close 5-2 win for Nocona so the team knew it had to come to play.
The Lady Indians started off well, scoring five runs in the first inning to take the early lead. Nocona added three runs during the next two innings to go up 8-0 as the Lady Indian defense shut down the Lady Hornets.
Nocona then went for the kill, scoring eight runs in the fourth inning to end the game early, winning 16-0.
Reagan Phipps and Tinley Cable each had home runs. Phipps had a team high three RBIs while Cable, Heidi Atteberry and Gwyndelyn Forsyth each finished with two RBIs.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

Continue Reading
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad

Trending