The race last ran as XPEL 375 is an
NTT IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
event held at
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24 ...
near
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...
since 1997. The races have had a variety of different entitlement sponsors and distances over the years and therefore has had many different names.
History
The first Championship/Indy car races in the Dallas/Fort Worth area took place at Arlington Downs Raceway in nearby
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region ...
.
AAA sanctioned five races from 1947 to 1950.
USAC sanctioned ten Championship car events at
Texas World Speedway
Texas World Speedway (TWS) was a motorsport venue located in College Station, Texas.The track was one of only eight superspeedways of or greater in the United States used for racing, the others being Indianapolis, Daytona, Pocono, Talladega ...
in
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East-Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin. ...
. The race was discontinued when the track closed in 1981.
In 1997, the IndyCar Series debuted at
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24 ...
. The event was traditionally a single race held on a Saturday night in early June. Twice, in 2011 and 2021, the series has held twin races at the track. From
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
until
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
, it served as the first race after the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. It resumed this place in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
and in
2011. In 2020, it served as the first race of the season due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. In 2021 the event moved to the first weekend in May, and in 2022 the event was moved to a March date.
Second race
From 1998 to 2004, a second 500 km
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
race was held at the track in the fall. It served as the IndyCar Series' season finale for each of its runnings.
In 2003,
Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
was leading on lap 187 when
Kenny Bräck
Kenny Bräck (born 21 March 1966) is a Swedish former race car driver. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the CART, Indy Racing League and the IROC series. He won the 1998 Indy Racing League championship and the 1999 Indianapolis ...
crashed on the backstretch. The massive accident seriously injured Bräck, and he raced only limitedly afterwards. With the race winding down under caution, and with cleanup still ongoing, officials stopped the race after 195 laps when it was clear they would not have time to go back to green. de Ferran was declared the winner in what was his final race in IndyCar (he had announced his retirement during the season).
Race length
When the track opened, the one-lap distance was measured as . IndyCar Series races were originally 208 laps (312 mi/500 km) long. In 2001, timing and scoring officials revised the measurement as , and the races were changed to an even 200 laps (291 mi/468.319 km). In 2007, the race was lengthened to 228 laps in an effort to create a longer product for time value purposes. Using the traditional measurement, the race became 342 miles (550.4 km). However, official IndyCar timing and scoring maintained the measurement, and the race was officially 331.74 miles (533.88 km). In 2014, the race was extended to 600 kilometers. After revamping the oval track in 2016, the new one lap measurement is 1.44 miles for lap speed calculations.
In addition, the start time was moved to 9:00 p.m.
CDT (10:00 p.m.
EDT) so the event would take place almost entirely under the lights, rather than in the mid-summer
twilight
Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this i ...
.
The race was slightly shortened to 300 miles and 200 laps in 2020, due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
protocols that used same-day practice and qualifying for the event. The
2020 Genesys 300
The 2020 Genesys 300 was an IndyCar Series event that was held on June 6, 2020 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It was the opening event of the 2020 IndyCar Series, due to race cancellations and postponements tied to the COVID-19 pand ...
was the first IndyCar event since a hiatus due to the pandemic. The 300-mile distance will also be used for 2021.
Twin races
For 2011, a special Twin race format was adopted, a throwback to the USAC-style twin races of the 1970s and early 1980s. The race would consist of two 275-km (114 laps) races, with each race declaring a separate winner, and each race awarding half points towards the season championship. The starting lineup for the first race was determined during standard time trials. After the completion of the first race, a "halftime" was observed, and the starting lineup for the second race was determined by a random draw.
A mild controversy resulted from the halftime draw for the second race's lineup. It differed from previous "twin" races where the finishing positions for the first race determined the lineup, or the finishing positions were inverted. It was considered unfair by some, and it was magnified when points contenders
Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
and
Dario Franchitti drew 3rd and 28th starting positions, respectively. For 2012, the twin-race format was scrapped.
In 2021 Texas hosted a twin-race weekend with two separate points-paying events, named Genesys 300 and XPEL 375 and held on May 1 and 2 respectively. Qualifying for both rounds was canceled due to rain, with the starting grid decided by the championship standings entering each race.
Álex Palou
Álex Palou Montalbo (; born 1 April 1997) is a Spanish racing driver who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series, where he won the 2021 series championship. He is the first Spanish racing driver to win a National Championship in ...
, competing for
Chip Ganassi Racing, was awarded pole position for the Genesys 300 as he was the points leader following the previous round at
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
Scott Dixon
Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has won the IndyCar championship six times: in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 202 ...
, who started ninth, won the first race and took his only victory of the season. Dixon advanced to take the lead in the points standings, and consequently started the XPEL 375 on pole the following day. The second race was won by Arrow McLaren SP's
Pato O'Ward
Patricio "Pato" O'Ward Junco (born 6 May 1999) is a Mexican professional auto racing driver who competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP. He is the 2018 Indy Lights champion.
Early life and care ...
, who claimed his first IndyCar Series victory.
Champ Car race
The CART
Champ Car
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...
series scheduled a race at the track for April 29, 2001. Following practice and qualifying, however, the race was cancelled "due to irresolvable concerns over the physical demands placed on the drivers at race speeds." All but four drivers reported they had experienced
vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
-like symptoms due to lateral
g-forces from driving in excess of on the steep 24 degree banks.
The Dayton Indy Lights race was completed with two cautions.
PJ1 Usage
Starting in 2019 Texas Motor Speedway began to apply
PJ1 TrackBite
PJ1 TrackBite (formerly known as VHT TrackBite or simply VHT) is a custom formulated synthetic resin, typically black in color, used in drag racing to either increase the traction of a car's tires or as a sealer for newly ground and/or resurfaced ...
on the high portion of the banking on the track. This was done for
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
, who runs multiple events at the speedway and whose cars benefit from the addition of the substance on the track. For IndyCars however the application of PJ1 has created numerous problems. IndyCar's harder tire compounds struggle to grab onto to the PJ1, which combined with the lower downforce levels of IndyCar's current aerodynamic package has led many drivers to compare driving on the substance to driving on ice. Because the drivers avoid the PJ1 coated sections of the banking so called "marbles" from the worn tires are thrown by the cars onto the PJ1 coated surface, exacerbating the problem of low grip on those banks of the track. This in turn makes Texas Motor Speedway a one groove racetrack for the IndyCars and has resulted several accidents in the races run at the speedway since the PJ1 was first applied. IndyCar drivers have become very critical of the track at Texas in recent years and have complained that the PJ1 results in racing that is both uninteresting and unsafe at the same time.
For
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
IndyCar and
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created ...
unveiled
bargeboards
Bargeboard (probably from Medieval Latin ''bargus'', or ''barcus'', a scaffold, and not from the now obsolete synonym "vergeboard") or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to ...
for use at Texas in attempt to open up the portions of the track coated with PJ1 to the drivers. The bargeboards are expected to add an additional 200 pounds of downforce on top of the UAK18 superspeedway aero kit and will be optional for teams to use during both qualifying and the race.
Past winners
AAA Championship car history (Arlington)
USAC Championship car history (College Station)
''See
Texas World Speedway
Texas World Speedway (TWS) was a motorsport venue located in College Station, Texas.The track was one of only eight superspeedways of or greater in the United States used for racing, the others being Indianapolis, Daytona, Pocono, Talladega ...
''
IndyCar Series history (Fort Worth)
*1997:
Billy Boat
William Leonard Boat (born February 2, 1966) is an American former open-wheel driver who raced in the Indy Racing League.
Racing career
Boat began his career in USAC where he won 11 straight Western Series races on his way to the 1995 champion ...
took the checkered flag as the winner due to scoring error; Luyendyk declared official winner the following day.
*2000: Postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to rain.
*2016: Postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to rain, then suspended until August 27 due to rain and logistical issues.
Indy Lights
*2001:
Damien Faulkner
Damien Faulkner (born 15 February 1977) is an Irish race car driver from Moville County Donegal. Beginning his professional career in Formula Vauxhall Junior in 1995, he competed in the Formula Ford Festival in 1996 and finished 11th. He f ...
*2002:
A. J. Foyt IV
*2003:
Thiago Medeiros
Thiago Medeiros (born July 24, 1982 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian racing driver.
After racing in Formula Three Sudamericana from 1999 to 2002, finishing 3rd in 2001 and 4th in 2002, he came to the United States in 2003 to race in the Infiniti P ...
*2004:
Thiago Medeiros
Thiago Medeiros (born July 24, 1982 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian racing driver.
After racing in Formula Three Sudamericana from 1999 to 2002, finishing 3rd in 2001 and 4th in 2002, he came to the United States in 2003 to race in the Infiniti P ...
*2005:
Travis Gregg
Travis Gregg (born March 28, 1978) is an American racing driver from Camden, Ohio.
After karting, Gregg began in cars in amateur SCCA Formula Atlantic in 1998 and 1999 while attending Miami University. He graduated in 2000 and ventured into spr ...
Notes
External links
IndyCar.comIndyCar Results Page
{{IndyCar Series races
Genesys 600
The race last ran as XPEL 375 is an NTT IndyCar Series event held at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth, Texas since 1997. The races have had a variety of different entitlement sponsors and distances over the years and therefore has had many di ...
1947 establishments in Texas
Recurring sporting events established in 1947
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1950
1973 establishments in Texas
Recurring sporting events established in 1973
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1973
1976 establishments in Texas
Recurring sporting events established in 1976
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1979
1997 establishments in Texas
Recurring sporting events established in 1997
IndyCar Series races