Ryan: IndyCar got its ‘old Texas’ back, but will the series get to keep its breathtaking racing?

FORT WORTH, Texas – Alex Palou received a very prescient IndyCar scouting report on Texas Motor Speedway from Chip Ganassi Racing technical director and engineer Julian Robertson three weeks ago. The details were to the point.

Find the classic and intense nail-biters that once ranked the 1.5-mile track’s races as the circuit’s greatest spectacle outside the Indy 500 … and absorb as many spine-tingling laps as you possibly can.

“Julian said there could be a chance of having some pack racing,” Palou told NBC Sports with a smile after Sunday’s thrilling PPG 375. “So I watched that. But obviously, I didn’t expect to have that as much as we did. Because honestly, it was a lot.”

Said Helio Castroneves, a four-time winner during the glory days of the Fort Worth track in the mid-2000s: “I hope the fans enjoyed it. I hope everyone enjoyed it. Because this is what Texas used to be. Man, it was exciting.”

How good were 250 laps Sunday at Texas?

With the exception of the Indy 500, this easily was the best IndyCar has been on an oval since the June 27, 2015 race in Fontana, California. That day left both fans and drivers gasping for air and questioning the fine line that drivers walk between being daredevils and crash test dummies at 220 mph-plus.

Texas produced the same captivating and scintillating show but with less guilt as drivers generally raced at the limit without stepping over.

Several credited the combination of wise aerodynamic downforce additions by IndyCar and the fading of the regrettable PJ1 traction compound (last applied in 2019).

There were 26 lead changes – third in IndyCar track history and the most since 32 in October 2001 (when the track still held two annual races) – and even that stat seems to undersell the