By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter
Today, the Verizon IndyCar Series will complete the final 177 laps of the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.
About the race
The Firestone 600 was originally slated to go green on June 10, but torrential rain and weepers delayed the start until the next afternoon. The race ran green for 41 laps with Carlos Munoz leading the majority of the laps until a massive accident including Conor Daly and Josef Newgarden brought out the yellow flag on lap 41 in the middle of green flag pitstops as James Hinchcliffe picked up the lead. The race ran under caution for 30 laps while the track was cleaned up before a Texas-sized storm once again drenched the 1.45-mile oval. The race was then rescheduled for August 27th.
Click here for running order at the time of the red flag.
Two 10 minute practice sessions will be held starting at 4:30 pm CST, before the race restarts at 8:15 pm. Conor Daly and Josef Newgaren have been deemed ineligible to restart the race being that their cars were too damaged to continue.
About the track
Texas Motor Speedway is a high-banked 1.45 mile oval located in Fort Worth, Texas and bears a resemblance to Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. The track features short straightaways and long corners which are banked at a steep 24°. The track opened in 1997 and hosted its first Verizon IndyCar Series race the same year, with Arie Luyendyk taking the win.
The track is located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex- the 6th most populated metropolitan statistical area in the country with over 6.4 million residents.
The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc. which owns eight tracks across the country.
Race History
The first Verizon IndyCar Series race was held on June 7, 1997 and the win was originally awarded to AJ Foyt Racing driver Billy Boat, but Arie Luyendyk stormed into victory lane, insisting that he had won the race. That resulted in an infamous slap by team owner AJ Foyt. A day later, race officials determined that Luyendyk was indeed the winner of the race.
The CART World Series attemped to race at the speedway in 2001, but the high speeds generated by the 900-horsepower cars resulted in high G-Forces which caused many drivers to suffer from blackouts and the race was canceled.
The race has been a staple on the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule, hosting races since 1997, including two from 1998-2004.
Helio Castroneves is the winningest active driver, with three wins.
