INDYCAR, Texas Motor Speedway Announce Four-year Contract Extension
INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018) – INDYCAR and Texas Motor Speedway announced a four-year extension agreement today for the Verizon IndyCar Series to continue racing at the 1.5-mile superspeedway through 2022.
The 2019 Verizon IndyCar Series race at the oval in Fort Worth, Texas, is scheduled to be run under the lights once again, on Saturday, June 8. In conjunction with the sanctioning agreement announcement, Texas Motor Speedway announced that DXC Technology, the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company, will return as the race sponsor of what will again be titled the DXC Technology 600.
“INDYCAR is pleased to continue its long relationship with Texas Motor Speedway, a partnership that stretches to 1997,” said Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Company, which owns INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “This oval track annually produces some of the most exciting racing of the season, contributes to the diversity of the schedule and helps us continue the oval heritage of Indy car racing. It’s good to know that Texas will remain a mainstay of the Verizon IndyCar Series for years to come.”
Texas Motor Speedway has been a staple of the INDYCAR schedule since the track opened in 1997. It has hosted 30 Indy car races in that time, the most recent won by Scott Dixon in June. TMS hosted two series races a year from 1998-2004, a doubleheader on the same night in 2011 and a single race in all other years since 1997.
“Texas Motor Speedway is the second home of Indy car racing, and we are thrilled to extend our partnership with the Verizon IndyCar Series and with DXC Technology,” said Eddie Gossage, president of Texas Motor Speedway. “We are pleased to have negotiated a sanction agreement that allows Texas Motor Speedway to move forward with INDYCAR. Our company has invested significant dollars into the sport and a tremendous amount of effort growing the sport through the years.”
Texas Motor Speedway has earned the reputation for producing tight, exciting racing, with three of the nine closest finishes in Indy car history occurring at the track. When Graham Rahal won the 2016 Texas race by 0.008 of a second over James Hinchcliffe, it was the narrowest margin of victory at TMS and the fifth closest on any Indy car track throughout history.
Among tracks on the anticipated 2019 INDYCAR schedule, only the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval (102 races), the street course in Long Beach, California (35), and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (34) have held more Indy car races than Texas Motor Speedway. The new agreement will extend TMS’ relationship with INDYCAR to more than a quarter of a century.
“So many great moments in this sport have occurred at Texas Motor Speedway,” Gossage said. “This is and always will be ‘America’s original nighttime Indy car race.’ Photo finishes and victory lane drama have been the standard over the years.
“No other track has seen as many Verizon IndyCar Series races over the last two-plus decades. Texas Motor Speedway has been good for Indy car racing and Indy car racing has been good for Texas Motor Speedway.”
The entire 2019 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule is expected to be announced in September.
About INDYCAR
INDYCAR is the governing body of the Verizon IndyCar Series, the premier open-wheel racing series in North America; the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires development ladder, which includes Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda; and the Battery Tender Global MX-5 Cup presented by BF Goodrich Tires. INDYCAR events are available to a worldwide audience through a variety of multimedia platforms, highlighted by long-term and broad-reaching partnerships with NBC Sports Group. INDYCAR is continually at the forefront of motorsports innovation with drivers, teams and tracks benefiting from safety and technological improvements such as the SAFER Barrier, SWEMS wheel and chassis component tethers, chassis enhancements, advanced aerodynamic bodywork kits, high-definition in-car cameras and E85 ethanol fuel.
Sources: Curt Cavin/Verizon IndyCar Series PR