Firestone 600

• Race 9 of 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season. It is the 27th race on the 1.455-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval dating to the track’s opening in 1997.

• What to watch, according to front-row starter Simon Pagenaud: "I think INDYCAR is really well-balanced with the level of downforce. It's really in our hands to drive the car, slide around a little bit in the corners. The tires are being used up quite a bit because of the lack of downforce. It's giving us the opportunity to really drive hard. There's a bit of a drop-off I think you'll see similar to last year where we're going to start pretty fast, in the 215 (mph) area, and then we're going to drop off in the 205 miles per hour average at the end of a stint. It's going to be interesting strategy, a lot of passing. That's what it's all about here in Texas. Pretty excited about it actually."

• Qualifications: Will Power earned the Verizon P1 Award for the pole position for the third consecutive year at Texas Motor Speedway with a two-lap average speed of 218.519 mph in the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. It is Power's fourth pole of the season, and he's started on the front row in eight of the nine races.

• Qualifying results

• Final practice: Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet and Graham Rahal, driving the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, recorded identical lap times (24.3626 seconds; 215.002 mph) in the 30-minute final practice to lead the 23 drivers. Rookie Gabby Chaves was third (214.796 mph) in the No. 98 Bowers & Wilkins/Curb Honda for Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian. Pole sitter Will Power was 11th (213.207 mph). Practice 2 results

• For spectators: A pre-race concert free for ticket-holders features Reckless Kelly and a post-race concert in the field highlights Bleu Edmonson. ... Charles Haley, a 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee who won a record five Super Bowl titles with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, will serve as the honorary starter.

• Twitter: @TXMotorSpeedway, #Firestone600; @IndyCar, #IndyCar

• TV: NBCSN telecasts the race live (8 p.m. ET June 6). Brian Till is the lead announcer alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Pit reporters are Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast and Robin Miller.

• Web: Live coverage with real-time Timing & Scoring and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts is available on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.

• INDYCAR 15 app: Verizon Wireless puts fans in the driver's seat with its INDYCAR 15 app, which has been enhanced with features such as an interactive 3D live view with real-time leaderboard and car telemetry to see where a fan's favorite driver is positioned, in-car camera video streaming from cameras that move 360 degrees and driver to pit crew conversation. Download it today.

Race laps: 248 (360.840 miles) in counterclockwise direction
Pit box dimensions: 39 x 14 feet
Fuel: 95 U.S. gallons of Sunoco E85
Tires: 11 sets of Firestone Firehawks for the weekend

Points: Driver, entrant and engine manufacturer receive points corresponding to their finish in the race (manufacturer points are awarded to the top three Chevrolet and Honda finishers). Bonus points for driver/entrant also are awarded for Verizon P1 Award (1 point), leading the most laps (2 points) and leading a lap (1 point). Engine manufacturer bonus points are awarded for Verizon P1 Award (1 point) and leading the most laps (2 points).

2014 race: Ed Carpenter started fifth (his best in 13 starts at Texas) and took the lead from Team Penske’s Will Power on Lap 182 of the 248-lap event. He began to pull away from the field before a caution on Lap 241 packed up the field. On the Lap 246 restart, Carpenter was able to maintain the lead and won by 0.5247 of a second over Power, the pole sitter.