Texas Motorspeedway Speed Reads

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SPEED READS

 

The Real Deal: Dickies 4-Pack a Bargain for November Triple-Header

 

History Points Toward Another Texas Showdown When The

IRL IndyCar Series Returns June 11 For The Bombardier Learjet 500k

 

FORT WORTH-DALLAS, Texas (April 27, 2005) – The anticipation for the inaugural Dickies 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway November 6 is already approaching a fever pitch. A tripleheader NASCAR weekend including NEXTEL Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series events will provide fans with an action-packed slate of racing – and all can be had for one great price.

Race fans can guarantee themselves the same frontstretch seat for the Dickies 500 NEXTEL Cup Series race, the O’Reilly Challenge Busch Series event, the Silverado 350k Craftsman Truck Series run and Albertsons Qualifying Days by purchasing the Dickies 500 4-Pack, now on sale at the speedway, by calling (817) 215-8500 or at www.texasmotorspeedway.com.

The Dickies 500 4-Pack package ranges from $137 to $265 per seat, depending on location. In addition to the same ticket for all of the NASCAR action from Thursday through Sunday of Dickies 500 race week, purchasing a 4-Pack allows fans to buy race weekend pit passes.

“The Dickies 500 4-Pack is the perfect way for a NASCAR fan to guarantee themselves great frontstretch seats for the inaugural weekend,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said. “The Dickies 500 4-Pack also allows fans to get the best seats available for the weekend now before individual race tickets go on sale.”

 

WAIT A SECOND…..OR LESS

The Indy Racing League IndyCar Series’ visit to Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night, June 11 for the Bombardier Learjet 500k is expected to continue the legacy of tight wheel-to-wheel, 210-mph IndyCar competition that “America’s Original Nighttime IndyCar Race” is known for.

Texas Motor Speedway has been the showcase for side-by-side IndyCar Series action, and the opening IndyCar Series race at Texas on June 7, 1997 set the tone for the highly competitive nature of the series.

The race involved several IndyCar Series firsts – the inaugural IndyCar race run under the lights, the first time the open-wheel cars raced on banking as high as Texas’ 24 degrees in addition to being the IRL debut at Texas.

The race’s finish and post-race celebration garnered national attention but the true harbinger of the future came during a four-lap segment when Tony Stewart and Buddy Lazier raced side-by-side for the lead around the entire 1.5-mile superspeedway, something experts claimed couldn’t be done. Many open-wheel observers called it the most thrilling racing in their memory.

Since then competition has been the IRL byword at Texas. Consider:

The margin of victory in 10 of the 15 IRL races staged at Texas has

been less than one second.

Three of the five closest 1-2-3 finishes in IRL history have come in

front of Texas fans.

Texas claims 10 of the 47 IRL races won by less than one second.

 

2-2-2-2

 

Defending Bombardier Learjet 500k race winner and IRL IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan will lead the talented field into the June 11 Bombardier Learjet 500k showdown.

 

TO IMPOUND OR NOT TO IMPOUND, EARNHARDT JR. GIVES HIS VIEW

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. offered his views this week on the current issue of impounding cars at specified NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races, advocating the elimination of testing and maintaining extra practice sessions during race weekends. The procedure for the November 6 Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will follow the same non-impound format used during the April Samsung/RadioShack 500 for the NEXTEL Cup Series including the traditional “Happy Hour” practice on Saturday, November 5.

“Eliminate testing and eliminate the impound, and allow us to have (practice) because basically we are spending about the same time at the race track,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Still spending the same amount of time at the track, and I do like getting that extra practice in while there’s rubber on the track and the track is closer to what it will be like at race time. I do like getting that extra practice in to try to dial our stuff in.”

 

DICKIES 500 WEEKEND INDIVIDUAL RACE TICKETS GO ON SALE FRIDAY, MAY 6

The inaugural Dickies 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race on Sunday, Nov. 6 is still six months away but many fans will be winners Friday, May 6 when individual weekend race tickets go on sale for the four days of action. Tickets will be available at 9 a.m. CT on May 6 at the speedway ticket office, by calling the ticket hotline at (817) 215-8500, online at www.texasmotorspeedway.com and at Ticketmaster locations.

The Dickies 500 will be the first fall NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race in Texas Motor Speedway history and will be the eighth of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup that will determine the NEXTEL Cup Series champion. The Dickies 500 green flag will fall at 2:20 p.m. CT and the final stages of the event should come under the lights at “The Great American Speedway.”

Tickets will go on sale for the following events: Thursday, November 3 – Albertsons Qualifying Day, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series; Friday, November 4 – Albertsons Qualifying Day, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series, Silverado 350k, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series; Saturday, November 5 – O’Reilly Challenge, NASCAR Busch Series; Sunday, November 6 – Dickies 500, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.

 

CRAVEN FINDS HOME IN NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES

Former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver Ricky Craven has come upon instant success in his initial NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series campaign, currently occupying second place in the point standings. And Craven is expected to be one of the favorites when the Craftsman Truck Series comes to Texas Motor Speedway Friday night, June 10 for the Chex 400k. He has three top-five finishes in the season’s first four races in the #99 Superchips Ford of Roush Racing.

“It’s been a good start and I want to give that credit where it belongs – Roush Racing,” Craven said. “The organization is everything that I expected perhaps even exceeded my expectations. They deserve the credit.

“Our concern during the off-season as we looked forward to a new season and a new series and a new opportunity was probably the first five races. I wasn’t unfamiliar with the tracks, but it was certainly a big learning curve for all of us. The opportunity to race with Mike Beam has helped because I have a crew chief that I’ve raced with, had success with, and been to Victory Lane with in the Nextel Cup Series.”

Craven will be joined by several other former NASCAR Cup Series drivers in the Chex 400k including defending Craftsman Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton, Ted Musgrave, Ron Hornaday, Jimmy Spencer, Todd Bodine, Johnny Benson, Jack Sprague, Steve Park, Robert Pressley and Mike Skinner.

 

LAST LAP: Ryan Newman, the 2003 Samsung/RadioShack 500 NASCAR Cup Series race winner, announced earlier this week he will participate in a limited 2005 NASCAR Busch Series schedule, which will include the November 5 O’Reilly Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway… Reserved camping spaces for the Dickies 500 weekend will go on sale Monday, May 16…The only weekly short track asphalt racing program in the Fort Worth-Dallas area continues at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night at Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway with Legends Cars, Bandoleros and Thunder Roadsters. Last Saturday night’s winners included Michael Dabney (Legends Pro), Don Bernard (Legends Master), James Buescher (Legends Semi-Pro), Jeff Coseo (Legends Charger) and Jordan Webb (Bandolero)…The Pate Swap Meet, one of the nation’s largest automotive parts gatherings, will be staged at Texas Motor Speedway Thursday through Sunday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.

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