The Indy Richmond 300 (formally known as the ''SunTrust Indy Challenge'') is an

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 held at

Richmond Raceway Richmond Raceway (RR) is a , ''D''-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Known as ...

near

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from 2001 to 2009,. From 2001–2007, the race was scheduled for 250 laps (187.5 miles); from 2008 to 2009, the race distance was extended to 300 laps. The event debuted as a Saturday night race in 2001. The event became one of the more popular races on the schedule, and was arguably the most successful IndyCar race held in traditional "

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 ...

Country". The race hearkened back to the classic short track "bull ring" style of racing known for during the AAA and USAC eras of

Indy car racing Indy may refer to: Computing and technology * Indy (software), used for Internet access to music * Internet Direct, or "Indy", a software library *SGI Indy, a computer workstation Periodicals *''The Indy'', shorthand for newspapers that include ...

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traditionally paired the race with other open-wheeled racing. The

Whelen Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...

once accompanied the race, but in later years USAC open-wheel short track racing had been on the

undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

. AAA held two National Championship sprint car races at the track when it was still a half-mile dirt track under the name Strawberry Hill Speedway. Later,

sanctioned two Championship Car events at nearby

Martinsville Speedway Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in ...

in 1952 and 1953. On July 30, 2009, RIR track President Doug Fritz announced that the SunTrust Indy Challenge would not be on the 2010 IndyCar Series schedule. The costs to put on the event and possible loss of sponsorship was cited as the reason for the IRL and RIR to not come to an agreement on the event. On August 28, 2019, it was announced that the IndyCar Series would be returning to Richmond in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, replacing the

ABC Supply 500 The ABC Supply 500 was an IndyCar Series race held at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, located in the Pocono Mountains. The first Indy car race at Pocono was held in 1971. It was the first major event held at the track, shortly after ...

Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an AR ...

. However, due to schedule changes brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic and "local restrictions", IndyCar announced on May 21 that the race had been canceled.

Past winners

*2003: Race shortened due to rain.

Support race winners

References

External links

IndyCar.com race page
{{IndyCar Series races SunTrust Indy Challenge Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2009 Recurring sporting events established in 2020