NBC Sports Network will broadcast Race 2 of the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers at 1 p.m. (ET) Oct. 6. Leigh Diffey handles the call.
Race 2 starting lineup
Radio broadcast: IMS Radio Network affiliates, Sirius and XM 211, American Forces Network, INDYCAR 13 app, www.indycar.com. Mike King is the chief announcer.
Timing & Scoring: INDYCAR 13 app, Race Control on www.indycar.com
Twitter: @IndyCar (#IndyCar), @GPHOU (#GPHOU)
Track layout: 1.634-mile, 10-turn course carved out of parking lots at Reliant Park
Length: 90 laps with 10 overtake assist pushes for 15 seconds each
Start: Standing start for the third race this season
Restarts: Single file
What to watch: Qualifications were rained out, with the starting grid set by entrant points. Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon -- the top two contenders for the series championship -- will be on Row 1.
The penultimate race of the season has big championship implications. Front-runner Castroneves, who started a season-low 21st in Race 1, had his 49-point margin over Dixon clipped to eight. Dixon won the race and Castroneves finished 18th. The season finale is Oct. 19 at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Twenty-three drivers tested at the venue in September.
The temporary circuit is short, tight and bumpy -- factors that will heat up the brakes and rattle the bones of drivers, if not their nerves.
Did you know: The Honda-powered Nos. 10 (Dario Franchitti), 15 (Graham Rahal), 16 (James Jakes) and 18 (Mike Conway) cannot score manufacturer points because they're on their sixth engine or more of the season. ... Castroneves entered Race 1 as the only driver to complete all 2,003 laps. That ended when he developed a shifter issue early in the race. ... E.J. Viso will mark his 100th Indy car start, while Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay will make his 150th Indy car start. Four-time Indianapolis 500 champion and Houston native A.J. Foyt is the grand marshal. He'll present the A.J. Foyt Trophy -- an autographed resin cowboy boot on a marble base -- to the winner. ... Foyt scored his first midget car victory on the Playland Park dirt oval (which was on the site of Reliant Park). ... This is the third and final doubleheader race weekend of the season. ... Country star Clay Walker will sing the national anthem.