The 2020 IndyCar race season starts on Saturday June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway when the Genesys 300 waves the green flag without any fans in the stands at 8:45 PM ET. IndyCar teams must go through health screenings on Saturday morning prior to heading to the speedway and must wear face masks. The race will be the first in nearly eight months following the offseason and three months delay because of the COVID19 outbreak The Genesys 300 is the first of 14 races in the abbreviated season, as six have been cancelled due to the COVID19 outbreak.
The IndyCar drivers will have practice and qualifying in the afternoon prior to Saturday evening’s 300-mile race that follows and consists of 24 drivers of which three are rookies.The Aaron McLaren SP team debuts and will have rookie Oliver Askew, who was the Indy Lights champion last year, in the cockpit and Pato O’Ward, who returned from racing in Europe last year. Alex Palou debuts for the Dale Coyne racing team and the third rookie of the group is Rinus VeeKay.
Last year Josef Newgarden was the winner here at Texas and each of the last six winners at the 1.5-mile oval will be racing on Saturday. Newgarden is a two-time champion of the event and is favored to win Saturday night’s race. Newgarden has won the drivers standings title in two of the last three seasons. Alex Rossi was third in the driver standings last season and must not be overlooked for this race either, while Will power is amongst the favorites to take the checkered flag as well on Saturday night. Power is a former IndyCar season champion but that was back in 2014.
Betting Odds to Win Indycar - Genesys 300
- Josef Newgarden +450
- Alexander Rossi +500
- Scott Dixon +600
- Will Power +700
- Simon Pagenaud +800
- Colton Herta +1200
- James Hinchcliffe +1600
- Ryan Hunter-Reay +1600
- Graham Rahal +2000
- Ed Carpenter +2500
Josef Newgarden will kick off the 2020 IndyCar season with a victory Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway in the Genesys 300. Newgarden has won this event twice including last season and was the drivers standings winner last season. Due to a long layoff of almost five months for the off-season and another three months from the covid-19 outbreak, drivers and racing teams will not be at 100% and Newgarden will take advantage of that thanks to his vast experience at this race track. Final Pick and Prediction, Josef Newgarden 9-2