IndyCar 4-year deal to keep racing at Texas through 2022
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Texas Motor Speedway and IndyCar have agreed on a four-year sanction agreement to keep the open-wheel series racing at the track through at least 2022.
The deal was announced Thursday. Scott Dixon won at Texas in June in the last race under the previous agreement.
IndyCar has been part of the Texas schedule each year since the track's inaugural season in 1997. The DXC Technology 600 race next June 8 will mark the 23rd consecutive year with an IndyCar race on the 1 1/2-mile oval. The track has hosted 30 series races so far, including the season finales from 1999-2004.
"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," Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage said. "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."
Three of the top-10 closest finishes in IndyCar Series history have come at Texas. That includes the track-record of eight-thousandths of a second (.008) when Graham Rahal beat James Hichcliffe for the victory in 2016.
The agreement with IndyCar solidifies the 2019 calendar for Texas. There are NASCAR weekends at the track in March 29-31 and Nov. 2-3, 2019, the latter involving playoff races in the Cup Series and Xfinity Series.
