The IndyCar Series held auto racing events at Texas Motor Speedway, near Fort Worth, Texas, from 1997 until 2023. The races had a variety of different title sponsors and distances over the years, and therefore the Texas round has changed names frequently. The latest event, held in 2023, was called the PPG 375.
History The first Championship/Indy car races in the Dallas/Fort Worth area took place at Arlington Downs Raceway in nearby Arlington, Texas. AAA sanctioned five races from 1947 to 1950. USAC sanctioned ten Championship car events at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas. The race was discontinued when the track closed in 1981.
In 1997, the Indy Racing League debuted at Texas Motor Speedway. The event was traditionally a single race held on a Saturday night in early June. On two occasions, (2011, 2021) the even was held as a twin-race format. From 1997 to 2005, and again in 2010–2011, it served as the first race after the Indianapolis 500. In 2020, it served as the season opener due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 the event moved to the first weekend in May, and in 2022–2023 the event was run in March.
Texas Motor Speedway was removed from the schedule for the 2024 season after the series and track were unable to agree on a date. In September 2024, RACER reported that IndyCar would begin racing on a new street circuit around AT&T Stadium in Arlington starting in 2026. This report would be confirmed the next month, with the race being called the Grand Prix of Arlington.
Second race From 1998 to 2004, a second 500 km race was held at the track in the fall. It served as the Indy Racing League/IndyCar Series season finale for each of its runnings.
In 2003, Gil de Ferran was leading on lap 187 (of 200) when Kenny Bräck crashed on the backstretch. Bräck suffered critical injuries, and he raced only limitedly afterwards. With the race winding down under caution, and with cleanup still ongoing, officials halted the race on lap 195 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 Indy car race (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.
The race was slightly shortened to 300 miles and 200 laps in 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic protocols that used same-day practice and qualifying for the event. The 2020 Genesys 300 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 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 the 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, 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. Palou's teammate Scott Dixon, 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, who claimed his first IndyCar Series victory.
The event returned to a single-race format for 2022 onwards, and its distance was extended to 375 miles.
Planned CART race
CART 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-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 on the high portion of the banking on the track. This was done for NASCAR, 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 IndyCar and Dallara unveiled bargeboards for use at Texas in an 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. Teams opted not to run the bargeboards in 2022. IndyCar mandated the use of the bargeboards in 2023.
Past winners
AAA Championship car history (Arlington) SeasonDateRace NameDriverTeamChassisEngineRace DistanceRace TimeAverage Speed(mph) Laps Miles (km) 1947 November 2 Arlington 100 Ted Horn Ted Horn Enterprises Horn Offy95100.89 (162.366)1:10:2586.001 1948 April 25 Arlington 100 Ted Horn Horn Enterprises Horn Offy 95100.89 (162.366)1:17:0078.644 1949 April 24 Arlington 100 Johnnie Parsons Kurtis Offy 95100.89 (162.366)1:16:4083.15 July 17 Universal Speedways Race of Champions Mel Hansen Lesovsky Offy 5053.1 (85.456) 1950 April 30 MGM Sweepstakes Duane Carter Sprint Car 3031.86 (51.273)0:22:4484.087
USAC Championship car history (College Station)
SeasonDateRace NameDriverTeamChassisEngineRace DistanceRace TimeAverage Speed(mph) Laps Miles (km) 1973 April 7 Texas 200 Al Unser Vels Parnelli Jones Parnelli Offenhauser100200 (321.868)1:18:19153.224 1974-1975 Not held 1976 August 1 Texas 150 A. J. Foyt Gilmore Racing Coyote Foyt75150 (241.401)0:52:04172.885 1977 April 2 Texas Grand Prix Tom Sneva Team Penske McLaren Cosworth100200 (321.868)1:16:05157.711 1978 April 15 Coors 200 Danny Ongais Interscope Racing Parnelli Cosworth100200 (321.868)1:09:08173.594 1979 April 8 Coors 200 A. J. Foyt Gilmore Racing Coyote Foyt100200 (321.868)1:32:37129.574 1980Race cancelled
IndyCar Series history (Fort Worth, summer) SeasonDateDriverTeamChassisEngineRace DistanceRace TimeAverage Speed(mph)Report Laps Miles (km) 1996–97 June 7, 1997 Arie Luyendyk* Treadway Racing G-Force Oldsmobile208312 (502.115)2:19:48133.903 Report 1998 June 6 Billy Boat A. J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara Oldsmobile208312 (502.115)2:08:46145.388Report 1999 June 12 Scott Goodyear Panther Racing G-Force Oldsmobile208312 (502.115)2:00:06150.069Report 2000 June 11* Scott Sharp Kelley Racing Dallara Oldsmobile208312 (502.115)1:47:20169.182Report 2001 June 9 Scott Sharp Kelley Racing Dallara Oldsmobile200300 (482.803)1:55:44150.873Report 2002 June 8 Jeff Ward Chip Ganassi Racing G-Force Chevrolet200300 (482.803)1:45:50164.984Report 2003 June 7 Al Unser Jr. Kelley Racing Dallara Toyota200300 (482.803)1:43:48168.213Report 2004 June 12 Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda200300 (482.803)1:53:24153.965Report 2005 June 11 Tomas Scheckter Panther Racing Dallara Chevrolet200300 (482.803)1:45:47165.047Report 2006 June 10 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara Honda200300 (482.803)1:34:01185.71Report 2007 June 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Team Penske Dallara Honda228342 (550.395)1:52:15177.314Report 2008 June 7 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda228342 (550.395)2:04:36159.74Report 2009 June 6 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara Honda228342 (550.395)1:55:16172.677Report 2010 June 5 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske Dallara Honda228342 (550.395)2:04:47159.508Report2011June 11 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda114171 (275.197)0:54:47181.649Report Will Power Team Penske Dallara Honda114171 (275.197)0:48:09206.693 2012 June 9 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Dallara Honda228342 (550.395)1:59:02167.217Report 2013 June 8 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara Chevrolet228342 (550.395)1:52:17177.257Report 2014 June 7 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara Chevrolet248372 (598.676)2:01:26178.301Report 2015 June 6 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Chevrolet248372 (598.676)1:52:48191.94Report 2016 June 12August 27* Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara Honda248372 (598.676)2:29:25144.901Report 2017 June 10 Will Power Team Penske Dallara Chevrolet248372 (598.676)2:32:31140.491Report 2018 June 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda248372 (598.676)2:00:53177.25Report 2019 June 8 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara Chevrolet248372 (598.676)1:55:09186.084Report 2020 June 6 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda200300 (482.803)1:38:37175.201Report2021May 1 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda212318 (511.771)1:45:51173.036ReportMay 2 Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Dallara Chevrolet248372 (598.676)2:06:31169.36Report 2022 March 20 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara Chevrolet248372 (598.676)2:09:29165.467Report 2023 April 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara Chevrolet250375 (603.504)2:07:07169.917Report
1997: Billy Boat took the checkered flag as the winner due to a scoring error; Luyendyk would be declared the 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.
IndyCar Series history (Fort Worth, fall)