GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300
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| Venue | Homestead-Miami Speedway |
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| Corporate sponsor | GAINSCO Auto Insurance |
| First race | 1985 |
| First IndyCar race | 2001 |
| Distance | 300 miles |
| Number of laps | 200 |
| Previous names | CART Champ Car race Beatrice Indy Challenge (1985) Miami Indy Challenge (1986) Nissan Indy Challenge (1987-1988) Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota (1995-2000) Grand Prix Americas (2002) Grand Prix Americas presented by sportsbook.com (2003) IRL race 20th Anniversary Miami Grand Prix (2002) Toyota Indy 300 Presented by XM Satellite Radio (2006) XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 (2007) |
The GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 is an Indy Racing League Series race held at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.
The first championship car race that took place in the Miami area was on February 22, 1926 at the Fulford-Miami Speedway in nearby Fulford. A 300-mile race sanctioned by AAA took place only once at the 1.25-mile wooden board track. Peter DePaolo was the winner.
Modern American open wheel racing in the Miami-area dates back to 1985. In that year, the CART Champ Car series began racing on a temporary street circuit in Tamiami Park, a small outdoor sports facility in the nearby suburb of Tamiami.
- Further information: Streets of Miami
In 1995, race promoter Ralph Sanchez brought open wheel racing back to Miami. For 1995 only, CART held a race on the Bicentennial Park circuirt, on Biscayne Bay, formerly used by IMSA from 1983-1993. In 1996, CART debuted at the Homestead oval with a 200-mile CART Champ Car event. In 1997, the race was lengthened to 225 miles. In 2001, the event switched to an Indycar Series event and was again lengthened, to 300 miles.
After several years as the Toyota Indy 300, Toyota decided not to renew the contract for the Indy races thus giving the opportunity for other presentors such as Honda and XM Satellite Radio to be the presenting sponsor. Homestead-Miami Speedway gave an opportunity for Honda Racing to be the presenting sponsor since Toyota was not going to compete in the sport, but XM Satellite Radio came to terms with HMS and provided the appropriate funding to be the presenting sponsor of the Sunday event. In 2006, the event was named theToyota Indy 300 Presented by XM Satellite Radio as the last year of Toyota's involvement in the Indy sport.
For the 2007 Season Opening of XM Satellite Radio's debut as presenting sponsor, Homestead-Miami Speedway combined Saturday's Linder Industrial Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami part of the Rolex Sports Car Series & Sunday's Indy 300 into one large Saturday event called the XM Satellite Radio Speed Jam. A new logo for the weekend and the IndyCar race was created by Homestead-Miami Speedway's in-house creative designer, Angel A. Acevedo, along with some collaborations from XM Satellite Radio's creative team. The event proved to be successful in the predominantly Latino city of Miami & Homestead and steps are being made to make the opening of the 2008 season an even bigger event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 2008 event will have yet another primary sponsor as GAINSCO Auto Insurance has purchased the naming rights to the race. The Speed Jam concept will be retained and the event will take place on March 29.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Past winners
- Further information: Streets of Miami
[edit] Rolex Sports Car history (Homestead)
- 2007
Bill Auberlen/ Matthew Alhadeff - 2008 Scott Pruett/
Memo Rojas
[edit] References
- ^ Lewandowski, Dave. GAINSCO Auto Insurance to sponsor race, IndyCar.com, January 26, 2008
[edit] External links
- Google Maps satellite image of former Bicentennial Park race course
- eTracks map of Tamiami Park circuit
- Google Maps satellite image of former Tamiami Park race course
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