IndyCar officials on Thursday morning announced a new four-year agreement with Texas Motor Speedway to continue racing at the 1.5-mile superspeedway through 2022.
“IndyCar is pleased to continue its long relationship with Texas Motor Speedway, a partnership that stretches to 1997,” Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Company, which owns IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said in a statement. “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.”
The first race of the new agreement – the DXC Technology 600 – will be a Saturday night event on June 8, 2019.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
TMS has played host to 30 Indy car events since 1997, including two races per year from 1998 to 2004 and a same-day doubleheader in 2011.
Only the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (102 races), the street course in Long Beach, California (35 races) and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (34 races) have held more IndyCar races than TMS.
“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.”
Scott Dixon won the most recent race there this past June.
IndyCar is expected to announce the full 2019 schedule in September.