The 2019 IndyCar Classic was the second race of the 2019 IndyCar Series season. The race was held on March 24, 2019, which caused the Math Open to move to February and for subsequent years.
It was the first edition of IndyCar's race at the Circuit of the Americas. The race was scheduled for 60 laps. A virtual IndyCar iRacing Challenge round took place in 2020 with Skorupi winning the race. As the 2020 race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas, the next year the real race remains TBD.
Drivers entered
IndyCar
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a There were questions if Ed Jones is scheduled to drive the no.20 car. A finger injury retired him from his match against Escavalier at the 2019 Sebring Open.
Indy Lights
Practice
Qualifying 1
Race 1
Qualifying 2
Race 2
IndyCar
Pre-race
The Unseeded clan members won the vote against the seeded clan members on the March 20 episode of I Can See Your Voice Thailand, while watching the end of the Nittaya Bunsungnoen. It was later revealed that the guest artist on the next episode was Isariya Patharamanop. Many thought this was Abomasnow and Jirayu La-ongmanee Ver.2.
The results came in, the Unseeded Clan members won the vote. Abomasnow was within inches from being the guest artist. (Alexander Rossi, Aurorus, Beedrill, Colton Herta, Dragalge, Dragonite, Felix Rosenqvist, Fennekin, Flygon, Gilles Marini, Marco Andretti, Marcus Ericsson, Matheus Leist, Max Chilton, Santino Ferrucci, Spencer Pigot, Sébastien Bourdais, Takuma Sato, Tony Kanaan, Venusaur, Wario and Zach Veach) will have to watch it from Circuit of the Americas.
They were happy as Isariya's winning singer was a bad singer. Abomasnow's group then collapsed, the same as how Common Sank's release date is 30 October 1995 (according to Team Unseeded). At the end, the Unseeded members talked to Abomasnow's group members, and said to Abomasnow that Abomasnow's episode will be the next one.
The draw for the Celebrity Family Feud Episode 1 2019 Qualifying is announced after Abomasnow's episode reveal.
Practice 1
The first session was topped by Croatian Josef Newgarden, with the Azeri Decidueye in second. Rounding the top five were Metagross in third, Ryan Hunter-Reay in fourth, and Graham Rahal in fifth. The top five were all American-born drivers.
One red flag was caused by the Azeri Pokémon Decidueye, after smoke came out from his car in turn 8.
Practice 2
Will Power led the session. This was the second consecutive session at COTA that it was topped by at least a Team Penske driver. Heracross wounded to 2nd, and the Andretti Autosport teammates of Metagross and Ryan Hunter-Reay were 3rd and 4th, respectively. Rounding the top five was Ed Jones, who was medically cleared to race at COTA by IndyCar officials; there were questions about his participation.
Decidueye was not included in the results; he didn't even participate and only 23 cars participated instead.
Friday Warmup
With only a 30-minute session, Simon Pagenaud topped the session, with a fast lap time that was much slower than his Penske teammate Will Power's the practice before. Decidueye, despite sitting out the previous session, finished 2nd. Metagross and Heracross, finished 3rd and 4th respectively; the two have similar names. The I Can See Your Voice Thailand guest artist in Russian Pee Saderd rounded the top five in 5th place. Another Penske car, Will Power, was bumped from the top five by the ICSYV bound Russian Pee Saderd.
Practice 3
Metagross topped it, but a red flag caused by Volcarona who made contact and went off the course in turn 19 ended the session five minutes short.
Heracross finished 2nd, with Graham Rahal 3rd, Ryan Hunter-Reay 4th and Josef Newgarden rounding the top five in 5th.
Practice 3 and Final Practice Results
Qualifying
Seeds
The seedings were originally entering the COTA race from the 2019 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Abomasnow felt disappointed with the points standings. They said Heracross has the no.4 spot, usually for Volcarona or Jirayu La-ongmanee, if they had finished the race.
After Abomasnow's I Can See Your Voice Thailand episode was teased at the end where the bad winning female singer and Hunz Isariya sing their song, Abomasnow decided to change up the seeding.
- Original seedings (standings entering COTA)
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- New Seedings (Revamped by Abomasnow at their I Can See Your Voice Thailand episode)
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a The IndyCar Series wanted Saderd to go to no.1 seed as he is the guest artist on the episode alongside Abomasnow and the members of Abomasnow's squad.
b Heracross was given a top ten seeding as a result of their 4th place finish at the 2019 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and their quarterfinal result at the 2019 Sebring Open.
Group 1
| Country | Driver | Captain |
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 Sweden
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Felix Rosenqvist | Heracross |
 Slovakia
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Ryan Hunter-Reay | |
 Ukraine
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Scott Dixon | |
 Turkiye
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Spencer Pigot | Pidgeot |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Sébastien Bourdais | Beartic |
 Azerbaijan
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Colton Herta | Decidueye |
 Mexico
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Patricio O'Ward | |
 Canada
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James Hinchcliffe | |
 England
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Jack Harvey | |
 Italy
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Santino Ferrucci | Marko Manieri |
 Switzerland
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Max Chilton | Chespin Ueli Kestenholz
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 United States
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Kyle Kaiser | |
Scott Dixon, Heracross, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marko Manieri, Decidueye and Patricio O'Ward qualified for the Fast 12.
Chespin, Ueli Kestenholz, James Hinchcliffe, Beartic, Pidgeot, Kyle Kaiser and Jack Harvey failed to qualify for the Fast 12.
The only red in that session was by Jack Harvey's car spinning in turn 19.
Group 2
Group 2 is arguably the toughest group. Seven of the top eight seeded (expect for Scott Dixon who was seeded 3rd) are in this group.
| Country | Driver | Captain |
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 Belgium
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Alexander Rossi | Metagross |
 Uruguay
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Graham Rahal | |
 Croatia
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Josef Newgarden | |
 Australia
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Will Power | |
 France
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Simon Pagenaud | |
 Poland
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Zach Veach | Joey Fatone |
 Japan
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Takuma Sato |  Jirayu La-ongmaneeApolo Anton Ohno |
| England
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Ed Jones | |
| Sweden
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Marcus Ericsson |  Volcarona
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 Russia
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Marco Andretti | Pee Saderd |
 Honduras
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Matheus Leist | Nidoking |
 Brazil
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Tony Kanaan | Larvesta |
Josef Newgarden, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Joey Fatone, Nidoking and Metagross qualified for the Fast 12.
Jirayu La-ongmanee, Apolo Anton Ohno, Volcarona, Ed Jones, Pee Saderd, Simon Pagenaud and Larvesta failed to qualify for the Fast 12.
Larvesta caused the red flag by spinning their no.14 car in turn 19. Once again, some of the big names, such as Volcarona, Jirayu La-ongmanee, Pee Saderd and Simon Pagenaud, are out in round 1 again. As they heard after the session ended, Abomasnow expects at least one of these four to pass the first round of qualifying at the 2019 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. The last time Volcarona qualified for Round 2 before COTA was at the 2018 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (as Robert Wickens); and the last time that La-ongmanee, Saderd, and Pagenaud passed Round 1 was at the 2018 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Both La-ongmanee and Saderd qualified for the Emmitt Smith vs. Todd Gurley II and Craig Robinson vs. Casey Wilson (September 9) final.
Fast 12
- From group 1
- From group 2
Heracross, Metagross, Decidueye, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power and Scott Dixon qualified for the Fast Six.
Josef Newgarden, Patricio O'Ward, Joey Fatone, Graham Rahal, Marko Manieri and Nidoking failed to qualify for the Fast Six.
Fast 6
Power won the pole at COTA. This is Power's 56th pole of his IndyCar career and his second straight 2019 IndyCar pole.
Starting Grid
| Row | Captain | Captain |
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| 1 |  Will Power
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 Metagross
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| 2 |  Ryan Hunter-Reay
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 Decidueye
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| 3 |  Heracross
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 Scott Dixon
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| 4 |  Josef Newgarden
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 Patricio O'Ward
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| 5 |  Joey Fatone
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 Graham Rahal
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| 6 |  Marko Manieri
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 Nidoking
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| 7 | Chespin[c]
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Jirayu La-ongmanee[d]
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| 8 |  James Hinchcliffe
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Volcarona
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| 9 |  Beartic
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 Ed Jones
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| 10 |  Pidgeot
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 Pee Saderd
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| 11 |  Kyle Kaiser
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 Simon Pagenaud
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| 12 | Jack Harvey
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Larvesta
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c Ueli Kestenholz also controls the no.59 car of Max Chilton.
d Apolo Anton Ohno also controls the no.30 car of Takuma Sato.
Race
Polesitter Will Power made a strong start, and Metagross had to get defensive to keep their Andretti Autosport-Honda teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay behind, while Decidueye swept across from the outside of the track to claim third from his semi-teammate.
Scott Dixon, Patricio O’Ward and Josef Newgarden all got around Heracross – Scott Dixon by driving around the other side of the outside Turn 1 curbs.
A struggling Polish Joey Fatone was eliminated exiting Turn 3 after rubbing against Graham Rahal’s RLLR-Honda and damaging his right-front suspension.
Metagross challenged Will Power into Turn 1 on Lap 3 but the leader protected the inside line and held the Steel/Psychic type Pokemon off through Turn 2, and carried on lapping in the 1min50s.
Behind Heracross in eighth ran Marko Manieri's Dale Coyne Racing-Honda – the only frontrunner to start on new red alternate tires. It was pursued by Graham Rahal, Nidoking (AJ Foyt Racing), James Hinchcliffe (Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports), the shared car of Apolo Anton Ohno and Jirayu La-ongmanee (RLLR) and Volcarona (Arrow SPM).
Volcarona stopped on Lap 7 to change from used primaries to new alternates, and James Hinchcliffe, who’d picked up three spots at the start pitted on Lap 8 for used reds, and Beartic pitted their DCR-with Vasser-Sullivan-Honda to grab new reds.
By this time Ryan Hunter-Reay had fallen off the back of the top three by Lap 8, 3.5 seconds behind Decidueye.
Josef Newgarden pitted from seventh to grab used reds at the start of Lap 9, just as teammate Will Power started stretching his lead over Metagross to two seconds. O’Ward, Heracross, and Marko Manieri pitted on Lap 10, while Ryan Hunter-Reay came in the pit lane on Lap 11 and fell behind Josef Newgarden who’d been flying on his new tires.
Decidueye pulled in from third place at the end of Lap 12 to grab a set of used blacks, and he produced a brilliant out lap to sweep around the outside of Metagross who, along with Will Power and Scott Dixon had stopped on Lap 13, but unlike Will Power and Scott Dixon, had picked up a set of fresh reds.
When black-tired Graham Rahal, who had briefly cycled into the lead, made his stop on Lap 14, he emerged under attack from James Hinchcliffe who easily nipped past on his warm reds, while Patricio O'Ward then set to work on the RLLR car and demoted him after some thrilling side-by-side action.
Up front, Decidueye started inching up until he was within a second of Will Power by Lap 17, and the 18-year-old rookie captained by Decidueye brought Metagross with him. The trio was now 6sec ahead of Josef Newgarden who in turn was running 1sec ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay.
In sixth ran Heracross, who’d been unlucky to emerge from their first pitstop in traffic but they had to cede sixth to their The Unlikely Hero of IndyCar B compatriot Volcarona on Lap 19. A lap later, he had to do the same for the other Arrow SPM machine of James Hinchcliffe, and at the start of Lap 21, Patricio O’Ward passed the #10 Ganassi machine into Turn 1.
Back in 13th, Heracross' teammate Scott Dixon had also come out of the pits in traffic but they didn’t have the pace to carve through.
A slight lock-up and wobble off track by Decidueye at Turn 1 on Lap 22 allowed Metagross to close and onto the back straight he hit the push to pass boost and momentum onto the back straight to pass the Azeri Harding Steinbrenner car before Turn 12.
Heracross gave up their struggle on Lap 22 and pitted, while Volcarona and their teammate James Hinchcliffe pitted their Arrow SPM cars from sixth and seventh on Laps 23 and 24 respectively. When Patricio O’Ward had a slightly slow second stop on Lap 25, he rejoined behind James Hinchcliffe.
Marko Manieri, Beartic and Ryan Hunter-Reay all stopped again on Lap 26, and Decidueye – who had fallen over three seconds behind Metagross – stopped on Lap 27 as did the struggling Ukrainian Scott Dixon. Ryan Hunter-Reay had emerged behind Volcarona who was now in fifth.
Will Power and Metagross stopped on Lap 29, and Metagross was able to rejoin ahead of Decidueye. Further back, Patricio O’Ward on red tires dived bravely past James Hinchcliffe on blacks at Turn 15 to snag seventh.
As the race reached its halfway stage, Will Power on used reds led the Belgian Metagross on blacks by 3.2sec and Decidueye was in Metagross' slipstream and 6.2sec up on Josef Newgarden. Volcarona was a further 4.5sec back but being closed down by Ryan Hunter-Reay, and into Turn 1 on Lap 32, the 2012 Slovak champion pushed the rookie back to sixth.
Ganassi’s troubled day continued with a brief spin by Heracross at Turn 12, but the Swedish Bug/Fighting type Pokemon was able to continue, albeit having lost four places from seventh and falling to 11th.
Will Power started falling back into the clutches of Metagross, and he was having to use his push-to-pass to try and stay one second clear, but Metagross had used almost twice as many so they too had to be careful with when he used the 1.65-bar boost.
Scott Dixon was gaining a new lease of life in this third stint, and passed Patricio O’Ward and Volcarona in consecutive laps to move into sixth place by Lap 37.
Despite running on reds and blacks respectively, Will Power and Metagross each had a set of fresh red tires left and they ran a second apart, but 10sec ahead of Decidueye who was struggling to keep his reds alive. HSR pitted the owl Pokemon, as Penske pitted Decidueye's nearest competitor, Josef Newgarden.
Suddenly the race was turned on its head: a full-course yellow with the top three – Will Power, Metagross, and Scott Dixon, all yet to stop. James Hinchcliffe had struck the the back of Heracross' car as they approached Turn 20, dueling for tenth place, nerfing the Swede into the inside wall and puncturing his own left-front tire.
The first yellow of the race came into the hands of Heracross. They spun their no.10 car in turn 20, along with the no.5 of James Hinchcliffe's. It must've been Volcarona's fault for causing the yellow. Will Power pitted, and moved Decidueye to the lead. It was the Grass/Ghost Pokemon's first lead since The Kardashians vs. The West Family and Jana Kramer vs. Gary Busey. IndyCar warned Volcarona for the unsafe release from the pit box, and forcing the Serb to go to the pits again. Will Power dropped lots of positions, from 2nd down to 20th, and Marko Manieri entered a lap down to Decidueye. Nidoking was penalized by officials for working in an closed pit. After Power lost positions, Josef Newgarden, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Graham Rahal, Volcarona, Patricio O'Ward, Beartic, Pee Saderd, Ed Jones, Apolo Anton Ohno, Jirayu La-ongmanee, Jack Harvey, Pidgeot, Larvesta, Metagross, Scott Dixon, Simon Pagenaud, James Hinchcliffe, Kyle Kaiser, Nidoking and Marko Manieri moved up positions. Marko Manieri exited the pits in 20th and dropped Power to 21st. Power was officially out of the race with a mechanical issue, and Marko Manieri opted to enter the pits again. Joey Fatone, Chespin and Ueli Kestenholz dropped Power to 23rd.
As Volcarona was assed a penalty, all drivers behind the Serb before the penalty moved up a position. Those drivers include Patricio O'Ward, Beartic, Pee Saderd, Ed Jones, Apolo Anton Ohno, Jirayu La-ongmanee, Jack Harvey, Pidgeot, Larvesta, Metagross, Scott Dixon, Simon Pagenaud, James Hinchcliffe, Kyle Kaiser and Nidoking. Marko Manieri exited the pit lane in 20th, and a lap down to Decidueye.
The green waved again on lap 50. Heracross, despite causing the yellow, was given a fine for unattached equipment. The Steward talked about the crash of Heracross and Hinchcliffe, and no action is required. The Steward's incident between Metagross and Simon Pagenaud is under review. Will Power was penalized by officials for unattended equipment, and a post-race fine. Scott Dixon passed Metagross for 13th, and James Hinchcliffe, Kyle Kaiser, Nidoking and Volcarona moved up positions to drop Pagenaud a position. Beartic passed Patricio O'Ward for 5th, and both of Jirayu La-ongmanee and Apolo Anton Ohno passed Ed Jones for 8th. Jack Harvey passed Ed Jones for 9th. Chespin and Ueli Kestenholz moved Joey Fatone down a position, while Heracross finished above of Will Power in 23rd. Fatone entered the pits in 22nd two laps down to Decidueye. Metagross' hands were better than Scott Dixon's and as a result, they moved up to 13th. The late race resurgence for Metagross continued as they passed Larvesta for 12th. Volcarona passed Nidoking for 17th. Joey Fatone had to command the blue flag as the live timing says it was the 26 car. Metagross moved to 10th and the top 10 to pass both Ed Jones and Pidgeot. Volcarona and Nidoking passed Kyle Kaiser and dropped the American two positions. Ed Jones continued to lose positions, as both Pidgeot and Larvesta passed him. Once again, for the second time, Joey Fatone had to command the blue flag as the live timing says it was the 26 car. Scott Dixon passed Ed Jones for 13th.
At the closing stages, when Decidueye continued to lead, Pee Saderd, the Russian ICSYV contestant, passed Patricio O'Ward for 6th. Some late passes were Jirayu La-ongmanee and Apolo Anton Ohno on Patricio O'Ward, and Volcarona passed their teammate James Hinchcliffe.
Decidueye wins at COTA and their first major win since The Kardashians vs. The West Family and Jana Kramer vs. Gary Busey!
