Philip Scott Wins Fantastic Indianapolis Road Course Race

The teams of the Total Nonstop Racing League Grand National Series sponsored by Schue Lawn Service unloaded Monday night at the “world's center of racing” Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the only road course race on the 2023 calendar. While road course races in stock cars traditionally become very spread out with very little on-track action, TNR fans were treated to a barn-burner finish between Philip Scott and Johnny Eckert that saw Scott get to victory lane for the first time this season.

Philip Scott is no stranger to winning on road courses in TNR. In 2022 he won at Sonoma and is always considered a threat when turning right and left. The win was not only Scott's first of the 2023 season, but also his first win in the Grand National Series car in the Total Nonstop Racing League. Philip Scott started the race from the pole position after an unconventional qualifying session. Unlike most TNR races, the Indianapolis Road Course had a ten-minute group qualifying session where drivers could lay down as many laps as they wanted within the qualifying window as opposed to the normal two-lap qualifying session. There was also no stage caution in this race, instead taking stage points at lap 15 but continuing to race under green-flag conditions.

John "The Wild Child" Cannizzaro took the lead from Scott on the opening lap of the race and would go on to lead ten of the 40 laps. Philip Scott and Johnny Eckert would show their speed shortly into that first run when they broke away from Cannizzaro. What ensued was a great battle between two drivers who almost seemed to be on the same playing field. Both were able to stretch their fuel to lap 20 to split the race in half and make it a one-stop race. Philip Scott showed more long run pace in the first fuel run, but that factor seemed to be less of an advantage in the final laps of the race. Eckert did all he could to hold back the 99 car of Scott, but a pass with just three corners to go allowed Philip Scott to capture the race win.

Johnny Eckert led the race high 16 laps, followed closely by Philip Scott with 14 laps at the front of the field. They combined with Cannizzaro's ten laps led to be the only three cars to clock laps in first during the race. The next race for the TNR Grand National Series sponsored by Schue Lawn Service will be a double-header at Daytona. The format for the event has yet to be announced, but it will be two, shorter, points paying races on the Daytona oval in one night. All TNR Grand National Series races are broadcast live on the World Racing Network Monday nights at 8:05 PM (EST). This coming week should create some season highlights in a year that cannot seem to produce a bad race.