http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor SpeedwayIndyCar SeriesIndianapolis 500Dario FranchittiChip GanassiTony KanaanEd CarpenterSimon PagenaudTakuma SatoRoger PenskeHelio CastronevesTexas Motor SpeedwayFirestone 550Ryan Hunter-ReayJames HinchcliffeFeatured HeadlinesFriday Night DragsSCIONDragsNews ReleasesNewsMarco AndrettiHunter-ReayCaptain CJ GillaspieAnna “Sam” CanadayJennifer SimondsIZOD IndyCar SeriesPlaza Towers Elementary SchoolNASCAR Camping World Truck SeriesWinStar World Casino 400Jeb BurtonWill PowerE.J. VisoSimona de SilvestroJames JakesJohnny SauterTimothy PetersGraham RahalJames BuescherRyan BlaneyMatt CraftonSpeedway Children’s CharitiesThe Michael Andretti FoundationMimosas and MotorsportsAnnouncementsQualifyingHelmetstrucksINDYCARIndy 500HinchcliffeAndrettiMichael AndrettiCarlos MunozAndretti AutosportHighland ParkCampisi'sFranchittiCharitiesFoytSatoMother's DayPetty david@elementcode.com lmora@texasmotorspeedway.com anatoliy@elementcode.com rscearce@texasmotorspeedway.comurn:uuid:7bba0bfc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comIndyCar SeriesIndianapolis 500Dario FranchittiChip GanassiTony KanaanEd CarpenterSimon PagenaudTakuma SatoRoger PenskeHelio CastronevesTexas Motor SpeedwayFirestone 550Ryan Hunter-ReayJames HinchcliffeFeatured HeadlinesTue, 18 Jun 2013 20:12:30 Z<p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/20130617-01.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="20130617-01" /> </p> <p>Correctly picking the winner of an IndyCar Series race this year gives you the same probability of rolling snake eyes on the first toss of the dice, it&rsquo;s not very likely. &nbsp;Of the 35 different drivers on the circuit this year, only two have a pair of victories to their credit, James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay. &nbsp;In all, there have been seven different winners in the first nine races &ndash; including three first-time winners.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s the longest stretch of different winners since 2010.&nbsp; &ldquo;Yeah, it&rsquo;s been amazing,&rdquo; said Hunter-Reay after a second place finish in the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.&nbsp; &ldquo;Any weekend it could be any driver in this series. Especially the top, I would say 15 to 20 drivers, any weekend could be theirs, which could be a great thing.&rdquo;&nbsp; </p> <p>This newfound competitiveness in 2013 kept Team Penske away from Victory Lane until Helio Castroneves won at Texas on June 8 leaving owner Roger Penske to admit that it pretty much takes perfection to win this year.&nbsp; "Helio drove a flawless race and a key victory in our season based on where we were in the standings," said Penske. "It probably was the best execution we've had in a long time.</p> <p>As the season has reached the halfway mark, six different teams have notched victories this year with the majority being the smaller, less funded outfits.&nbsp; After Andretti drivers won two of the first three races, Takuma Sato drove the only car for AJ Foyt Racing to the victory at Long Beach.&nbsp; Mike Conway put Dale Coyne Racing into Victory Lane on day one of the Belle Isle Park duels on Saturday.&nbsp; Simon Pagenaud followed that up on Sunday by giving Sam Schmidt his first IndyCar win as an owner.&nbsp; Of course the &ldquo;little guys&rdquo; have the swagger of not only winning the pole at the Indianapolis 500 with Ed Carpenter driving the car he owns, but also winning the race as KV Racing&rsquo;s Tony Kanaan walked away from The Brickyard as the only driver with a milk moustache.&nbsp; </p> <p>Kanaan believes the variety of winners in the first half is not a fluke but more of a trend which can be expected for the second half of the season.&nbsp; &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ll see anybody dominating,&rdquo; said Kanaan.&nbsp; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s absolutely crazy that anyone can win these races now.&nbsp; Consistency is going to be the key.&nbsp; I think right now for us, we need to try to maximize winning; but if you don&rsquo;t, you&rsquo;ve got to finish in the top five because of what is going to play down at the end.&rdquo;</p> <p>With ten races to go, the three drivers that cash big paychecks from Chip Ganassi Racing have yet to taste victory.&nbsp; Scott Dixon is Ganassi&rsquo;s highest ranked driver in 5^th place.&nbsp; Dario Franchitti is in 10^th and hasn&rsquo;t won in 21 straight races dating back to the 2011 Indianapolis 500 and Charlie Kimball is behind him in 13^th.&nbsp; </p> <p>This variety and unpredictability, along with an exciting Indianapolis 500 that featured a record 68 lead changes, helped the IndyCar Series build some serious positive momentum.&nbsp; Everything was set for the league to shine during its first ever race televised on an over-the-air network in prime-time on ABC, until the league decided to shun suggestions from the drivers after practice on Friday to give them more downforce for Saturday&rsquo;s race. &nbsp;Without it the drivers were cautious about going all out which has been the custom at Texas.&nbsp; </p> <p>&ldquo;Just a total lack of predictability, &ldquo;said Hunter-Reay about the way his car was handling during the race.&nbsp; &ldquo;The car gives you a feeling and then does something different. When you don&rsquo;t have the downforce or the tires it does not want to get into the corner at all and when you leave the banking, the car does not want to come up out of the bank.&nbsp; Once it does, the rear just snaps loose and I had some major corrections; I&rsquo;m sure everybody did tonight.&rdquo;</p> <p>So instead of 68 lead changes, there were only four.&nbsp; Castroneves led the final 132 laps and beat Hunter-Reay by a whopping 4.7seconds, the largest margin of victory on the circuit this year and a far cry from the usual gap between the top two cars that are normally hundredths of a second apart at this track. </p> <p>Afterwards, the new president of competition and operation for the IndyCar Series Derrick Walker told Robin Miller from the SPEED network, he should have listened to the drivers. </p> &ldquo;They were telling us it was going to make a difficult night and, let&rsquo;s be honest, it didn&rsquo;t make for good racing,&rdquo; said Walker. &ldquo;Like last year nobody thought it was going to be easy but there were different opinions on whether to change the aero configurations and if it would make a big enough difference. But, in the end, I decided to stick with what we had and I think based on the outcome I was wrong. I want to apologize to the fans, teams and drivers for making the wrong choice but we&rsquo;ll learn from it and get it right.&rdquo;Correctly picking the winner of an IndyCar Series race this year gives you the same probability of rolling snake eyes on the first toss of the dice, it’s not very likely. Of the 35 different drivers...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:b9860bfc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632clmora@texasmotorspeedway.comFriday Night DragsSCIONDragsNews ReleasesFeatured HeadlinesNewsSat, 15 Jun 2013 00:56:24 Z<p><strong>FORT Worth, Texas (June 14, 2013) &ndash;</strong> Texas high schools are used to competing with one another, but most of the time it&rsquo;s on the football field, the basketball court, or the baseball diamond. On Friday evening, eight local high school administrators took to the track for a different kind of competition at Texas Motor Speedway. The administrators competed with one another in a drag racing tournament to kick off the fifth season of Friday Night Drags presented by SCION. </p> <p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/drags.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="drags" width="300" height="227" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 8px;" />Northwest High School Principal Jason Childress, Denton High School Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Kevin Atkinson, Steele Accelerated High School Principal Robin Ellis, Carroll Senior High School Principal Shawn Duhon, Byron Nelson High School Principal Linda Parker, Ponder High School Principal Shawn Simmons, Central High School Assistant Principal Eric Persyn and Central High School Principal David Hinson put it all on the line when they dragged down Texas Motor Speedway&rsquo;s pit road for their school&rsquo;s bragging rights. </p> <p>When all was said and done, it was Ponder High School Principal Shawn Simmons that won his third race in a row driving the 2014 SCION FR-S and tC models. Simmons defeated Denton High School Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Kevin Atkinson in the final round. </p> <p>&ldquo;It was a lot of fun,&rdquo; Simmons said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never had the opportunity to do something like this before in a set up like this where you don&rsquo;t have to worry about safety issues or anything like that. A lot of fun and I really appreciate the invitation!&rdquo;</p> <p>Beginning in 2009, Friday Night Drags presented by SCION was developed to curtail illegal street racing in North Texas. After just four seasons, Texas Motor Speedway has seen over 1,000 different drivers participate in the safe racing environment. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 20. An average of 135 people die in the United States annually in street racing-related accidents and 58% of these fatalities are people between ages 15 and 20.</p> <p>For the participating high school administrators, bringing attention of Friday Night Drags presented by SCION to their students is a goal they all share.</p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to give them an alternative to street racing,&rdquo; runner-up Atkinson said. &ldquo;A lot of times there are some drugs and alcohol involved there. You can come out here and have a drug-free and alcohol-free place where the kids can get together and it&rsquo;s supervised and everything is done in an orderly manner. Your life is the most important thing. If you guys continue to provide this, it&rsquo;s going to save lives and in the end, that&rsquo;s what the most important thing is.&rdquo;</p> <p>Friday Night Drags presented by SCION runs over six Fridays in June and July (June 14, 21, 28 and July 12,19,26). Competitors will compete in six different divisions (Tuner, Street Bandit, Sportsman, Super Cars, Street Outlaw, Black Smoke Warrior) based on their car&rsquo;s style and set-up. Champions will be crowned after the season finale on July 26.&nbsp;</p>FORT Worth, Texas (June 14, 2013) – Texas high schools are used to competing with one another, but most of the time it’s on the football field, the basketball court, or the baseball diamond. On...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:00eb0afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comMarco AndrettiTony KanaanHunter-ReayFirestone 550Texas Motor SpeedwayHelio CastronevesFeatured HeadlinesSun, 09 Jun 2013 03:47:13 Z<p><img title="Helio Castroneves Wins Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway" alt="Helio Castroneves Wins Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway" src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/helio_720.jpg?sfvrsn=2" /></p> <p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas ( June 8, 2013)</strong> - Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves became the first four-time IZOD IndyCar Series winner at Texas Motor Speedway with a dominating performance in Saturday night's Firestone 550. </p> <p> </p> <p>Castroneves (No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet) led the final 132 laps of the 228-lap event and cruised to a 4.692-second margin of victory over runner-up and reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 1 DHL Chevrolet) of Andretti Autosport. Reigning Indy 500 champion Tony Kanaan (No. 11 Sunoco/Turbo Chevrolet) finished third for KV Racing Technology.</p> <p> </p> <p>The win for Castroneves was his fourth at Texas Motor Speedway, breaking a tie for most career victories with Sam Hornish Jr. His other victories came in the fall of 2004 as well as this annual June event in '06 and '09. </p> <p> </p> <p>The victory was the first of the season for Castroneves as well as Team Penske and, more importantly, gave him sole possession of the IZOD IndyCar Series championship lead. Castroneves, who entered the Firestone 550 tied with Marco Andretti (No. 25 RC Cola Chevrolet), now owns a 22-point advantage over Andretti, who finished fifth.</p> <p> </p> <p>In the early going, it seemed that Andretti Autosport was going to find its way to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway for the first time since 2004, but long fuel runs with less Firestone tire wear than his fellow competitors gave Castroneves a distinctive edge. </p> <p> </p> <p>Andretti and Hunter-Reay led 92 of the first 96 laps, with Andretti pacing the way from the outset with 57 laps led. Castroneves' teammate Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) led the other four laps before Castroneves took complete control. He continually was able to stay out longer than the rest of the field and did not falter on older tires. </p> <p> Castroneves, who gave team owner Roger Penske his record eighth win at Texas Motor Speedway, paced a dominant display by Chevrolet as the engine manufacturer swept the top five finishing positions and eight of the top 10. It was the first win by Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway since Tomas Scheckter in 2005.</p>Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves became the first four-time IZOD IndyCar Series winner at Texas Motor Speedway with a dominating performance in Saturday night's Firestone 550.<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:7ae60afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comCaptain CJ GillaspieAnna “Sam” CanadayJennifer SimondsIZOD IndyCar SeriesFirestone 550Texas Motor SpeedwayPlaza Towers Elementary SchoolFeatured HeadlinesSun, 09 Jun 2013 00:21:22 Z<p><img title="Plaza Towers Elementary School teachers Jennifer Simonds and Anna Sam Canaday" alt="Plaza Towers Elementary School teachers Jennifer Simonds and Anna Sam Canaday" src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/170188374-(1)_720.jpg?sfvrsn=2" /> </p> <p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 8, 2013) &ndash;</strong> In a tribute to heroes, Plaza Towers Elementary School teachers Jennifer Simonds and Anna &ldquo;Sam&rdquo; Canaday will serve as co-Grand Marshals and West, Texas Volunteer Fire Department Captain CJ Gillaspie as the Honorary Starter for tonight&rsquo;s Firestone 550 IZOD IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.</p> <p>Simonds and Canaday risked their lives to protect their students when a tornado ravaged Moore on May 20 and completely demolished their school. The two teachers shielded eight to 10 kindergarten students with their bodies as the school collapsed around them and a car was among the wreckage that was on top of them. Twenty three in all were killed, including seven students at the Plaza Towers Elementary School that was in the direct path of the EF5 tornado.</p> <p>The duo, which will give the command to start the engines together, will be symbolic of all those who performed heroic duties and those who perished not only in Moore, but during other deadly tornadoes recently including Granbury, Texas, and the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas.</p> <p>Gillaspie was part of the team of first responders that risked their lives during the April 17 fertilizer plant explosion caused by ammonium nitrate that killed 15, injured more than 200 and damaged more than 150 nearby homes and buildings in the small town 18 miles north of Waco. Of those killed, nine were firefighters from five departments, including five volunteers from West.</p> <p>Gillaspie, who will wave the green flag to start the race, will honor the courage of first responders and those that were killed from the West, Dallas, Bruceville-Eddy, Abbott and Mertens fire departments as well as his fellow West residents that were affected by the tragedy.</p> <p>The trio received a rousing round of applause the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers&rsquo; meeting and were presented checkered flags signed by the entire field from Texas Motor Speedway. Racing legend Mario Andretti visited with the group prior to the drivers&rsquo; meeting and reigning Indy 500 champion Tony Kanaan is scheduled to visit with them on the grid during pre-race ceremonies.</p> Simonds, Canaday and Gillaspie will be honored in front of one of the largest crowds of the IZOD IndyCar Series season as well as a national primetime television audience on ABC-TV. Simonds and Canaday will give the command at 7:40 p.m. CT and Gillaspie will wave the green flag from the starter&rsquo;s stand at 7:45 p.m. to begin the 228-lap, 342-mile Firestone 550. Event coverage on ABC-TV begins at 7:30 p.m.In a tribute to heroes, Plaza Towers Elementary School teachers Jennifer Simonds and Anna “Sam” Canaday will serve as co-Grand Marshals and West, Texas Volunteer Fire Department Captain CJ Gillaspie...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:69d60afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comNASCAR Camping World Truck SeriesWinStar World Casino 400Texas Motor SpeedwayJeb BurtonFeatured HeadlinesSat, 08 Jun 2013 04:21:01 Z<p><img title="jeb-burton_720" alt="Jeb Burton" src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/jeb-burton_720.jpg?sfvrsn=2" />&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 7, 2013)</strong> -- Rookie Jeb Burton, son of 2002 Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton, held off a hard-charging Ty Dillon in the closing laps to capture his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in Friday evening's WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.</p> <p>Burton, driving the No. 4 Arrowhead Chevrolet for Turner-Scott Motorsports, held off Dillon (No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) by .139 of a second to secure his first victory in his 12th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start dating to last year. </p> <p>Despite it being his first career start on Texas Motor Speedway's tricky and ultra-fast 1.5-mile oval, Burton looked like a veteran late in the 147-lap race. After rookie Ross Chastain's brush with the Turn 3 wall brought out the third and final caution on Lap 140, all the leaders led by&nbsp; Dillon pitted for fuel and fresh tires.</p> <p>Dillon came out of the pits first and was followed by Burton, Matt Crafton (No. 88 Goof Off/Menards Toyota) and Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 South Point Chevrolet), respectively. Burton, however, grabbed the lead from Dillon on the restart on Lap 144 and took Crafton along with him.</p> <p>Dillon climbed back into second as he passed Crafton with 18 to go and continued to stalk Burton as he stayed within .5 of a second the entire way before making a dramatic charge on the final lap. Burton was one turn away from his first win when Dillon got a strong run off Turn 4 and nearly pulled off the come-from-behind win at the line.</p> <p>Rookie German Quiroga (No. 77 Net 10 Toyota) finished a career-best third, topping his previous best of eighth at Talladega last season. Crafton and Gaughan rounded out the top five, respectively.</p> <p>In the early going, it appeared that the winner was going to come from the Richard Childress Racing stable as Dillon and his teammate Gaughan looked very strong.&nbsp; Dillon, with a race-high 76 laps led,&nbsp; and Gaughan, withh 44, combined to lead five times for 120 laps. </p> <p>Dillon was chasing his second career NCWTS win while Gaughan was pursuing his fifth series win at TMS -- which was 11 years to the day of his first Texas win in 2002 -- but they fell short despite solid runs.</p> <p>Burton's win allowed him to shave seven points off Crafton's NCWTS championship lead, which stands at 23 points.&nbsp; Gaughan is third in the championship standings, 35 back off Crafton.</p>Rookie Jeb Burton, son of 2002 Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton, held off a hard-charging Ty Dillon in the closing laps to capture his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in Friday...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:94d30afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comFirestone 550Texas Motor SpeedwayTony KanaanFeatured HeadlinesSat, 08 Jun 2013 01:22:03 Z<p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/kanaan-practice_720.jpg?sfvrsn=2" alt="Tony Kanaan" title="Tony Kanaan of KV Racing Technology recorded the fastest lap in Friday's final IZDD IndyCar Series practice for the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway" /></p> <p>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 7, 2013) &ndash; Reigning Indy 500 champion Tony Kanaan of KV Racing Technology recorded the fastest lap in Friday&rsquo;s final IZDD IndyCar Series practice for the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.</p> <p>Kanaan (No. 11 Sunoco/Turbo KV Racing Technology Chevrolet), who qualified a disappointing 15th in the 24-car field, found some off that missing speed in the final 30-minute session with a leading lap of 218.551 miles per hour (23.967 seconds).</p> <p>Chevrolet claimed the three fastest laps as James Hinchcliffe (No. 27 GoDaddy Chevrolet) of Andretti Autosport was second at 217.575 mph and Firestone 550 pole winner Will Power of Team Penske third at 217.134 mph.&nbsp; </p> <p>Rounding out the top five were a pair of Hondas with Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) of Target Chip Ganassi at 216.710 mph and James Jakes (No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Honda) of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at 216.572 mph, respectively.</p> <p>The Firestone 550 IZOZ IndyCar Series race begins at 7:30 p.m. CT Saturday and will be broadcast live on ABC-TV (WFAA-Channel 8 locally) and IMS Radio Network (KRLD 105.5 FM &ndash; The Fan locally).</p> <p>Frontstretch tickets for Saturday evening&rsquo;s Firestone 550, which begin as low as $35 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under, are available by calling the speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting the race tickets tab on <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>.</p>Reigning Indy 500 champion Tony Kanaan of KV Racing Technology recorded the fastest lap in Friday’s final IZDD IndyCar Series practice for the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:f8cf0afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comWill PowerFirestone 550Helio CastronevesDario FranchittiRyan Hunter-ReayIZOD IndyCar SeriesTexas Motor SpeedwayE.J. VisoFeatured HeadlinesFri, 07 Jun 2013 22:13:33 Z<p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/will-power-pole_720.jpg?sfvrsn=2" alt="Will Power" title="Will Power Wins Pole at Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone 550" /></p> <p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 7, 2013) &ndash;</strong> &nbsp;Team Penske driver Will Power posted a pair of blistering laps that averaged nearly two miles per hour faster than his nearest competitor to easily capture the pole position during Friday&rsquo;s qualifying for the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.</p> <p>Power recorded a two-lap average qualifying speed of 219.182 mph (47.796 seconds) in his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to easily outpace Andretti Autosport&rsquo;s Marco Andretti (No. 25 RC Cola Chevrolet), who qualified second at 217.553 mph. The margin between the two front-row starters was 1.629 mph and 0.357 of a second.</p> <p>The pole was Power&rsquo;s second of the season &ndash; the other came in the season opener at St. Petersburg &ndash; and 31^st of his Indy-car career. It also moved him into a tie with Sebastian Bourdais and Dario Franchitti for seventh place all-time for pole positions. The pole also marks his best qualifying effort at Texas Motor Speedway, easily topping his previous best of third on three occasions.</p> <p>For Andretti, the outside front row starting position is his best qualifying performance of the season. It bested his qualifying effort of third at Indianapolis.</p> <p>Reigning series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 1 DHL Chevrolet), Andretti&rsquo;s teammate, gave Chevrolet a sweep of the top three qualifying positions with a lap of 217.524 mph.</p> <p>Four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Belkin Honda) allowed Honda to avoid a sweep of the top six qualifying positions by Chevrolet as he qualified fourth at 217.504 mph. He was followed by Andretti Autosport&rsquo;s E.J. Viso (No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA Citgo Chevrolet) at 217.244 mph and three-time Texas Motor Speedway winner Helio Castroneves (No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet) at 217.100 mph.</p> <p>The IZOD IndyCar Series will return to the track at 6:45 p.m. CT tonight for a final 30-minute practice session.</p> <p>The Firestone 550 IZOZ IndyCar Series race begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and will be broadcast live on ABC-TV (WFAA-Channel 8 locally) and IMS Radio Network (KRLD 105.5 FM &ndash; The Fan).</p> <p>Frontstretch tickets for Saturday evening&rsquo;s Firestone 550, which begin as low as $35 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under, are available by calling the speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting the race tickets tab on <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>. </p>Team Penske driver Will Power posted a pair of blistering laps that averaged nearly two miles per hour faster than his nearest competitor to easily capture the pole position during Friday’s...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:cdc90afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comWill PowerDario FranchittiSimona de SilvestroJames JakesTony KanaanTexas Motor SpeedwayFirestone 550IZOD IndyCar SeriesMarco AndrettiFeatured HeadlinesFri, 07 Jun 2013 19:18:31 Z<p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/marco-andretti-practice_720.jpg?sfvrsn=2" alt="Marco Andretti" title="Marco-Andretti-Practice_720" /> </p> <p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 7, 2013) &ndash;</strong> Andretti Autosport driver Marco Andretti posted the fastest lap as Chevrolet owned four of the top five laps during Friday&rsquo;s IZOD IndyCar Series opening practice for the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.</p> <p>Andretti ran a fast lap of 217.950 miles per hour (24.0330 seconds) in the No. 25 RC Cola Chevrolet to pace the 24-car field in the opening 75-minute practice session. </p> <p>Chevy swept the top three laps as reigning Indy 500 champion Tony Kanaan (No. 11 Sunoco/Turbo KV Racing Technology Chevrolet) was second quickest at 217.577 mph and Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) third at 216.938 mph. </p> <p>Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing&rsquo;s James Jakes (No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Honda) was the top Honda as he was fourth fastest at 216.825 mph. Simona De Silvestro (No. 78 Nuclear Energy Areva KVRT Chevrolet), Kanaan&rsquo;s teammate, closed out the top five with a lap of 216.758 mph.</p> <p>Other notables were four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti in eighth, Ryan Hunter-Reay in 13^th and three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves in 15^th. </p> <p>The IZOD IndyCar Series competitors return to the track at 3:30 p.m. CT for Firestone 550 pole qualifying. </p> <p>Frontstretch tickets for Saturday evening&rsquo;s Firestone 550, which begin as low as $35 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under, are available by calling the speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting the race tickets tab on <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>. </p>Andretti Autosport driver Marco Andretti posted the fastest lap as Chevrolet owned four of the top five laps during Friday’s IZOD IndyCar Series opening practice for the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:96b70afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comWinStar World Casino 400Johnny SauterTexas Motor SpeedwayFeatured HeadlinesFri, 07 Jun 2013 00:18:47 Z<p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/170144416jh00125_winstar_wo_720.jpg?sfvrsn=2" alt="Johnny Sauter" title="170144416JH00125_WinStar_Wo_720" /></p> <p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 6, 2013) &ndash;</strong> Defending race champion Johnny Sauter earned his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole of the season during Thursday&rsquo;s qualifying for the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.</p> <p>Sauter (No. 98 Carolina Nut Co./Curb Records Toyota) posted a lap of 180.222 miles per hour (29.963 seconds) for the fifth pole of his NCWTS career and second at Texas Motor Speedway. His other pole at Texas came in this annual June event in 2009. His previous-best start on the season was second at Charlotte and this marks his sixth top-six start in seven races.</p> <p>Sauter, who swept both truck events at Texas Motor Speedway last year, will be looking to become the first NCWTS driver to win from the pole at Texas since Todd Bodine accomplished the feat at the Sam&rsquo;s Town 400 in June of 2007.</p> <p>Ty Dillon (No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) will start on the outside of Sauter after a lap of 179.784 mph, pacing Chevrolet to the next four starting positions. Rookie Jeb Burton (No. 4 Arrowhead Chevrolet), son of 2002 Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton, qualified third at 179.647 mph, four-time TMS truck series winner Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 South Point Chevrolet) was fourth at 179.515 mph, and Miguel Paludo (No. 32 Duroline Chevrolet) fifth at 179.378 mph. </p> <p>NCWTS championship leader Matt Crafton (No. 88 Goof Off/Menards Chevrolet) qualified eighth (179.110 mph) and reigning series champion and Plano, Texas, native James Buescher (No. 31 Ruud Chevrolet) was 18^th (178.036 mph) in the 32-truck field. </p> Frontstretch tickets for Friday evening&rsquo;s WinStar World Casino 400, which begin as low as $25 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under, are available by calling the speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting the race tickets tab on <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>.Defending race champion Johnny Sauter earned his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole of the season during Thursday’s qualifying for the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:d4b30afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632canatoliy@elementcode.comWinStar World Casino 400NASCAR Camping World Truck SeriesTexas Motor SpeedwayTimothy PetersJeb BurtonFeatured HeadlinesThu, 06 Jun 2013 20:25:04 Z<p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 6, 2013) &ndash;</strong> NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie Jeb Burton posted the fastest lap during Thursday&rsquo;s opening practice for the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.</p> <p>Burton (No. 4 Arrowhead Chevrolet), son of 2002 Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton, posted a lap of 180.971 miles per hour (29.839 seconds) among the 59 he ran during the 2&frac12;-hour opening practice.</p> <p>Intermittent showers in the morning led to a 30-minute delay for the start of practice and NASCAR officials opted to run one continuous practice rather than two 75-minute sessions with a 30-minute break in between.</p> <p>Burton was followed by a trio of Toyotas, with defending WinStar World Casino 400 champion Johnny Sauter (No. 98 Carolina Nut Co./Curb Records Toyota) second fastest with a lap of 180.656 mph.&nbsp; </p> <p>Timothy Peters (No. 17 Parts Plus Toyota) was third at 179.402 mph and Chad Hackenbracht (No. 51 Tastee Apple Toyota), making his first career NCWTS start with Kyle Busch Motorsports, was fourth at 179.384 mph. NCWTS championship leader Matt Crafton (No. 88 Goof Off/Menards Chevrolet) rounded out the top five with a lap of 179.336 mph.</p> <p>Reigning NCWTS champion and Plano, Texas, native James Buescher (No. 31 Ruud Chevrolet) was 14^th at 178.141 mph.</p> <p>The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to the track at 6 p.m. CT for WinStar World Casino 400 pole qualifying. </p> <p>Frontstretch tickets for Friday evening&rsquo;s WinStar World Casino 400, which begin as low as $25 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under,&nbsp; are available by calling the speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting the race tickets tab on <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>.&nbsp;</p>NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie Jeb Burton posted the fastest lap during Thursday’s opening practice for the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:1c980afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comTexas Motor SpeedwayFirestone 550Featured HeadlinesThu, 06 Jun 2013 00:04:54 Z<ul> <li><strong>Plaza Towers Elementary School Teachers Jennifer Simonds, Anna Canaday To Serve As Co-Grand Marshals And Give Command To IZOD IndyCar Series Field</strong></li> <li><strong>West Volunteer Fire Department Captain CJ Gillaspie To Serve As Honorary Starter And Wave Green Flag To Commence Firestone 550</strong></li> </ul> <p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 5, 2013) &ndash;</strong> Texas Motor Speedway, in conjunction with title sponsor Firestone, will utilize its honorary positions for Saturday evening&rsquo;s Firestone 550 IZOD IndyCar Series race to pay tribute to individuals who exhibited tremendous heroism and to those who have been lost in the major tragedies recently in Moore, Okla. and West, Texas.</p> <p>Plaza Towers Elementary School teachers Jennifer Simonds and Anna &ldquo;Sam&rdquo; Canaday risked their lives to protect their students when a tornado ravaged Moore on May 20 and completely demolished their school. The two teachers shielded eight to 10 kindergarten students with their bodies as the school collapsed around them and a car was among the wreckage that was on top of them. Twenty three in all were killed, including seven students at the Plaza Towers Elementary School that was in the direct path of the EF5 tornado.</p> <p>Simonds and Canaday will be honored as co-Grand Marshals of the Firestone 550 and together will give the command to the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers to start their engines. The duo will be symbolic of all those who performed heroic duties and those who perished not only in Moore, but during other deadly tornadoes recently including Granbury, Texas, and the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas.</p> <p>&nbsp;&ldquo;I am so honored to be invited to Texas Motor Speedway to be the co-Grand Marshal,&rdquo; Simonds said. &ldquo;I have never been to a race before and I am so excited to come be a part of the Firestone 550. I know it will be a great race and a great way to honor all the heroes at Plaza Towers and the victims of the tornado. It's an honor to be chosen for this, but the honor goes to all the children, families and teachers of that day. I'm so grateful to be a part of this opportunity to shed light on them.&rdquo; </p> <p>Canaday had more misfortune strike as last week&rsquo;s tornadoes in Oklahoma completely destroyed her family&rsquo;s home and vehicles. Despite being consumed with their personal recovery efforts, Canaday, her two daughters and her parents will make the visit at the behest of her husband, who will stay back to care for their pets and other related issues.</p> <p>&ldquo;I really want to thank Texas Motor Speedway and everyone for doing this because it will give us a break from all the bad stuff,&rdquo; Canaday said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very excited just to be even part of this, but I wish it could be for different circumstances. There are just so many people displaced right now.&rdquo;</p> <p>CJ Gillaspie is the captain of the West Volunteer Fire Department that was part of the team of first responders that risked their lives during the April 17 fertilizer plant explosion caused by ammonium nitrate that killed 15, injured more than 200 and damaged more than 150 nearby homes and buildings in the small town 18 miles north of Waco. Of those killed, nine were firefighters from five departments, including five volunteers from West.</p> <p>Gillaspie will serve as the Honorary Starter and wave the green flag for the start of the Firestone 550. He will honor the courage of first responders and those that were killed from the West, Dallas, Bruceville-Eddy, Abbott and Mertens fire departments as well as his fellow West residents that were affected by the tragedy.</p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve watched racing ever since I was little and now being asked to be a part of a race of this magnitude is a great honor,&rdquo; Gillaspie said. &ldquo;This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of. Getting out of West and enjoying the day with my wife, stress free, is a day I've been waiting for since the tragedy on April 17th. This is incredibly awesome.&rdquo;</p> <p>Texas Motor Speedway and Firestone plan to make special presentations to the trio and the Gaylord Texan Resort &amp; Convention Center in Grapevine, a Preferred Hotel of Texas Motor Speedway, has graciously donated the group&rsquo;s rooms in appreciation of their heroism.</p> <p>&ldquo;On behalf of Firestone and Texas Motor Speedway, we wanted to honor Jennifer, Anna and CJ for their acts of heroism while also paying tribute to those lost in the tragedies in Moore, Oklahoma, and West, Texas,&rdquo; Texas Motor Speedway Vice President of Media Relations Mike Zizzo said. &ldquo;These are everyday people who exhibited a tremendous amount of courage to save lives while risking their own, and probably would never consider themselves heroes for their selfless deeds. But they definitely are in many, if not all, of our eyes.&rdquo;</p> <p>&nbsp;&ldquo;On a larger scale, honoring Jennifer, Anna and CJ also gives all of us an opportunity to pay tribute to the heroes and those we lost in other recent deadly tornadoes in our region as well as express our gratitude for all first responders and the courage they continually display. </p> <p>Simonds, Canaday and Gillaspie will be honored in front of one of the largest crowds of the IZOD IndyCar Series season as well as a national primetime television audience on ABC-TV. Simonds and Canaday will give the command at 7:40 p.m. CT and Gillaspie will wave the green flag from the starter&rsquo;s stand at 7:45 p.m. to begin the 228-lap, 342-mile Firestone 550. Event coverage on ABC-TV begins at 7:30 p.m.</p> <p>Tickets for the Firestone 550, beginning as low as $35 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under, are available by calling the speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>.</p> <p><strong>MEDIA NOTE: The Firestone 550 Honorary Starter CJ Gillaspie and co-Grand Marshals Anna Canaday and Jennifer Simonds will be available to the media at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the deadline room of the Texas Motor Speedway infield media center.</strong></p> <p><strong>For more information, contact TMS Media Relations at (817) 215-8520 or </strong><a href="mailto:pr@texasmotorspeedway.com"><strong>pr@texasmotorspeedway.com</strong></a>. </p>Texas Motor Speedway, in conjunction with title sponsor Firestone, will utilize its honorary positions for Saturday evening’s Firestone 550 IZOD IndyCar Series race to pay tribute to individuals who...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:23550afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comFirestone 550Graham RahalIndyCar SeriesFeatured HeadlinesWed, 05 Jun 2013 10:00:44 Z<p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/main-story_20130602.jpg?sfvrsn=2" alt="Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal " title="main-story_20130602" /></p> <p> </p> <ul> <li><strong>Wilson Returns To Site Of Historic Win For Him, Dale Coyne Racing</strong></li> <li><strong>Andretti&rsquo;s Off-Season Visit To Driving Coach Paying Off</strong></li> <li><strong>Sato May Have A.J. Foyt Racing Poised To Win At Home-State Track</strong></li> </ul> Nearly 365 days have passed since last year&rsquo;s Firestone 550 IZOD IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, but for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal it seems just like yesterday. <p>For Rahal, last year&rsquo;s Firestone 550 remains the race that got away. Poised to capture his second career IZOD IndyCar Series victory as he was in the lead with two laps remaining, Rahal brushed the wall in Turn 4 and spoiled his shot at a win. The memory of having a victory slip through his grasp is still not lost by Rahal. </p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s still a little bit of a blur,&rdquo; Rahal said of last year&rsquo;s race where the bobble gave the win to Justin Wilson and a runner-up finish for himself. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say that I&rsquo;ve gone and watched it.&rdquo;</p> <p>This weekend&rsquo;s Firestone 550 &ndash; set to broadcast live in primetime on ABC-TV beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT &ndash; offers Rahal the chance at vindication and an opportunity to snap a winless streak that stretches 83, which dates back to 2008 at St. Petersburg when he became the youngest winner in open-wheel history. </p> <p>Last year&rsquo;s agonizing finish may continue to run through his head, but it is certainly far from haunting Rahal. Instead, it is serving as motivation as he helps his new team &ndash; co-owned by his father and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal &ndash; pursue its first victory of the season.&nbsp; </p> <p>"It always will be one that got away from me until I win my next one," Rahal said. "Then I won't think about it. There are a lot of cases where I look back and it's frustrating that you didn't get to see it through. This is certainly one of them. </p> <p>&ldquo;It would have been nice to win and get rid of all the questions of when I'll win again, and all that sort of thing. But I think it adds fuel to the fire to come back here and do a good job this year. I&rsquo;m extremely excited with the Rahal Letterman Lanigan boys. I think we are going to put a great car on the track and we&rsquo;ll have a good chance to win.&rdquo;</p> <p>This season has provided a fresh start for Rahal and the chance to partner with his father for an entire season for the first time in his six-year INDYCAR career. Rahal, after spending the two previous seasons with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing, agreed to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing during the offseason. The team features co-owners Bobby Rahal, CBS Late Night Show host David Letterman and businessman Mike Lanigan. </p> <p>The move to create the father/son team comes after what has been a roller coaster ride during Rahal&rsquo;s five previous seasons. He spent his first two seasons in the IZOD IndyCar Series with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing before a 2010 season that saw him drive for four different teams &ndash; Sarah Fisher Racing, Dreyer &amp; Reinbold Racing, Rahal Letterman Racing and Newman Haas Racing &ndash; during a 12-race span. </p> <p>Finding stability with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has him confident that a return trip to Victory Lane is not far off. </p> <p>&ldquo;When we first sat down and discussed this as a possibility, it just made the most sense for us to work together to get Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing back to where the team was in their glory days and there is no doubt that we can get there,&rdquo; Rahal said. &ldquo;This is probably the most excited I have been to join any team because I see the potential behind what my dad and the rest of the team have been able to accomplish over the last year with (previous RLL Racing driver) Takuma (Sato).&rdquo; </p> Tickets for the Firestone 550 are still available and start as low as $35 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. To purchase tickets, call the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or visit <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>.Nearly 365 days have passed since last year’s Firestone 550 IZOD IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, but for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal it seems just like yesterday.<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:03700afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comWinStar World Casino 400James BuescherJohnny SauterRyan BlaneyJeb BurtonTexas Motor SpeedwayMatt CraftonNASCAR Camping World Truck SeriesFeatured HeadlinesTue, 04 Jun 2013 23:38:47 Z<ul> <li><strong>Rookies Burton, Blaney Off To Hot Starts As They Prepare For Texas</strong></li> <li><strong>Sauter Looks To Continue Winning Ways At Texas Motor Speedway</strong></li> </ul> <p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 4, 2013) &ndash;</strong> A veteran on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series circuit, Matt Crafton is in the midst of the best start in his 13-year career. Six races into the season, Crafton is the only driver to have finished among the top 10 in every race, which includes four top-five finishes, and the consistency has resulted in him owning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship lead. He has a 30-point lead over rookie Jeb Burton heading into the WinStar World Casino 400.</p> <p>Crafton&rsquo;s early success hasn&rsquo;t changed the mindset of the California native. He is staying grounded and adamantly states that it&rsquo;s too early to start racing for points. For Crafton and his No. 88 Menard&rsquo;s racing team, it&rsquo;s all about sticking to the basics and repeating both preparation and performance each week. &nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to keep doing what we&rsquo;ve been doing,&rdquo; Crafton said. &ldquo;The reason why we&rsquo;re where we are in points is because we&rsquo;ve been working our butts off and I&rsquo;ve been driving my butt off. You&rsquo;re not going to do anything stupid.&rdquo;</p> <p>Heading into Texas, the 36-year-old Crafton leaves little doubt that his hot start should continue in Friday evening&rsquo;s WinStar World Casino 400. Crafton has competed at two other 1.5-mile tracks &ndash; Kansas and Charlotte &ndash; and has enjoyed success at both. Kansas is his lone win this season and despite starting 14^th and falling a lap down on two occasions in Charlotte, Crafton swiftly moved through the field and secured a fourth-place finish. </p> <p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to keep fine tuning on the stuff that&rsquo;s worked well for us at Kansas and at Charlotte,&rdquo; Crafton said. &ldquo;We throw a lot at our trucks in practice and sometimes it doesn&rsquo;t all work. But in those races we&rsquo;ve been really good when it mattered, and that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re shooting for at Texas. I think we really have a good balance on our mile-and-a-half stuff right now.&rdquo;</p> <p>Even more telling than his early success at 1.5-mile speedways this year, Texas Motor Speedway has been Crafton&rsquo;s most successful NCWTS track throughout his entire career with more top-10 (13) and top-five finishes (6) than any other venue. </p> <p>The only thing that&rsquo;s been missing for Crafton at &ldquo;The Great American Speedway!&rdquo; is that one elusive victory. Three times in Crafton&rsquo;s 24 starts at Texas, he has finished in the runner-up position.</p> <p>&ldquo;Texas has been one of my favorite race tracks,&rdquo; Crafton said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s become a place I really, really love going to. We&rsquo;ve had some really good runs there and have just come up a little bit short of getting to Victory Lane there, so hopefully we can do that this weekend and get the (Victory Lane) guns blazing at the end!&rdquo;</p> <p>Friday night&rsquo;s WinStar World Casino 400 will mark a NASCAR Camping World Series-record 301 consecutive starts for Crafton. The record was first set in April at Rockingham Speedway when Crafton notched his 297^th consecutive start and each week thereafter, his record run continues. </p> <p>With his 37^th birthday coming up next Tuesday, Crafton would welcome an early present from his 25^th start at Texas.</p> <p>&ldquo;It would be awesome, just plain awesome to win that race at Texas because it&rsquo;s just a cool place, and a cool area,&rdquo; Crafton said. &ldquo;Everything&rsquo;s big in Texas, you know they say that, and it&rsquo;s especially true at that race track.&rdquo;</p> <p>The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series opens at Texas Motor Speedway on Thursday with practice from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. CT. The final practice will be from 1:15 p.m. &ndash; 2:30 p.m. and will be followed by NCWTS Qualifying Night beginning at 6 p.m. The WinStar World Casino 400 (167 laps/250.5 miles) begins at 8 p.m. and will broadcast live on SPEED as well as on radio with MRN (national) and The Fan 105.3 KRLD (local). </p> <ul> <li><strong>Young Guns</strong></li> </ul> <p>Jeb Burton and Ryan Blaney came into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season competing for Rookie-of-the-Year honors, but after six races also find themselves competing for the series championship.&nbsp; </p> <p>Burton, son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton and nephew of current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Burton, actually had planned to chase the rookie honors in 2012 while driving for Hillman Racing. After competing in five of the first six races, Burton was forced to skip the remaining races due to lack of sponsorship and his season came to a halt.</p> <p>Turner Scott Motorsports then signed the 20-year-old to a fulltime ride for 2013 and Burton hasn&rsquo;t looked back. Through six races, Burton is second in the series championship, just 30 points behind leader Matt Crafton. His season has been buoyed by four top-10 finishes, including two among the top five, to go along with three poles.</p> <p>Burton&rsquo;s start in Friday night&rsquo;s WinStar World Casino 400 will marks the first time the next generation of the Burton racing family tackles the 1.5-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway. </p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to heading to Texas, if for no other reason than the momentum it gives us,&rdquo; Burton said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good anytime we can race back-to-back weekends because it keeps you in a groove. We&rsquo;ve been good at intermediate tracks and we&rsquo;re bringing a good truck, so I&rsquo;m hoping to get myself one of those cowboy hats in Victory Lane.&rdquo;</p> <p>With Burton having no experience at Texas Motor Speedway, his No. 4 Arrowhead team will utilize the same chassis Burton and his team used to capture the pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway en route to a top-15 finish. </p> <p>Blaney, the 19-year-old son of current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dave Blaney, will be making his third NASCAR start at Texas Motor Speedway and second in the Camping World Truck Series. Blaney&rsquo;s only other visit racing in the truck series was this past November in the WinStar World Casino 350 when his race was cut short after just 31 laps when he blew a tire and wrecked, ultimately ending his day. </p> <p>However, Blaney&rsquo;s other start at &ldquo;The Great American Speedway!&rdquo; came one night later in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and had a much different result. Competing for Penske Racing, he notched a surprising second-place finish behind Kevin Harvick. </p> <p>Blaney currently sits fifth in the championship standings&nbsp; -- 44 points behind Crafton &ndash; on the strength of four top-10 efforts, including a pair among the top five. He is coming off a third-place finish last week at Dover.</p> <p>&ldquo;Texas is one of the tracks I feel like and a place the team feels like we need to get better at,&rdquo; Blaney said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to go back there, it&rsquo;s a great facility.&rdquo;</p> <ul> <li><strong>Sauter&rsquo;s Success</strong></li> </ul> <p>Johnny Sauter, after repeated near misses at Texas Motor Speedway, not only found his way to Victory Lane at the venue during the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series but added himself to the record books.</p> <p>Sauter swept both NCWTS races last year &ndash; June&rsquo;s WinStar World Casino 400 and November&rsquo;s WinStar World Casino 350 &ndash; and joined Brendan Gaughan (2002, &rsquo;03) and Ron Hornaday Jr. (2008) as the only other drivers to accomplish the feat.</p> <p>Aside from his impressive wins last year, Sauter always has performed very well at Texas Motor Speedway with seven top-10 finishes, including four among the top five, in nine career starts.</p> <p>Currently fourth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship (43 points behind Crafton), Texas couldn&rsquo;t come at a better time for him. Sauter, a 35-year-old Necedah, Wis. Native, began the year just about as perfect as he could imagine with wins at Daytona and Martinsville, and a top-five finish at Rockingham. </p> <p>Then came Kansas, where Sauter he finished fifth but was docked 25 points for fuel cell violations that knocked him out of the points lead and led to the four-race suspension of crew chief Joel Shear by NASCAR. The misfortune continued at the next race &ndash; in Charlotte &ndash; when he finished 28^th following a wreck with just 19 laps remaining. </p> <p>Sauter rebounded last week with a seventh-place finish at Dover and the WinStar World Casino 400 could prove to be a great opportunity for Sauter to get back to his winning ways.</p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a realistic person,&rdquo; Sauter said. &ldquo;No one&rsquo;s going to win every race, but when you get off to the start we did, when you win the first two and you get top fives in the first four, you do think about more. But you have to manage expectations. If you have a top-four or top-five truck, you need to get a top four or a top five.&rdquo;</p> <p>With all of his success at Texas, surely Sauter&rsquo;s expectations are a bit elevated coming into this race weekend.</p> <p>&ldquo;No doubt, a positive attitude and positive thoughts help,&rdquo; Sauter said. &ldquo;But no matter what happens, you have to manage expectations.&rdquo;</p> <p><strong>Last Lap</strong></p> <p>James Buescher, the reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion and native of Plano, Texas, will travel to tornado-ravaged Moore, Okla., on Wednesday. Accompanying Buescher will be his wife Krishtian as the two will assist with clean-up and rebuilding efforts throughout the community that was hit by devastating tornados on May 20. In addition to the Bueschers, Turner Scott Motorsports co-owner Steve Turner is supporting the efforts by sending heavy machinery and operators to assist with clearing heavy debris&hellip;Chad Hackenbracht will make his NASCAR debut at the WinStar World Casino 400 racing the No. 51 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Texas Motor Speedway is the first of four scheduled appearances for the 21-year-old...Todd Bodine, the winningest NASCAR driver at Texas Motor Speedway with six career victories, is scheduled to make his 18^th career start at Texas&hellip;The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has produced the most number of green-white-checkered finishes at Texas Motor Speedway with eight over the last seven seasons. </p>A veteran on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series circuit, Matt Crafton is in the midst of the best start in his 13-year career. Six races into the season, Crafton is the only driver to have...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:48610afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comE.J. VisoJames HinchcliffeMarco AndrettiRyan Hunter-ReaySpeedway Children’s CharitiesThe Michael Andretti FoundationMimosas and MotorsportsAnnouncementsTue, 04 Jun 2013 13:36:06 Z<p>Texas Motor Speedway race fans can kick off the Firestone 550 race day with Mimosas and Motorsports presented by The Michael Andretti Foundation and Speedway Children&rsquo;s Charities on Saturday, June 8, from 10:30 a.m. &ndash; 1 p.m. Andretti Autosports drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and E.J. Viso will join fans for a special meet &amp; greet and brunch in the Grand Ballroom of The Speedway Club. </p> <p>Participants will be treated to brunch with the drivers and an exclusive tour of the Andretti Autosport garage prior to the Firestone 550. </p> <p>Tickets for Mimosas and Motorsports presented by The Michael Andretti Foundation and Speedway Children&rsquo;s Charities are $175 and are available by visiting www.scctexas.org or calling (817) 215-8421. </p>Texas Motor Speedway race fans can kick off the Firestone 550 race day with Mimosas and Motorsports presented by The Michael Andretti Foundation and Speedway Children’s Charities on Saturday, June 8,...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:c03e0afc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632crscearce@texasmotorspeedway.comTexas Motor SpeedwayQualifyingHelmetstrucksINDYCARWinStar World Casino 400Firestone 550Featured HeadlinesNews ReleasesNewsMon, 03 Jun 2013 16:33:04 Z<p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 3, 2013) &ndash;</strong> Renowned sports artist David Arrigo has designed the Texas Motor Speedway Pole Award Helmets that will be presented to the pole winners of this week&rsquo;s IZOD IndyCar Series Firestone 550 and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino 400. </p> <p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/helmets.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="helmets" width="320" height="187" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 8px;" />Both Simpson racing helmets, designed to showcase Texas Motor Speedway&rsquo;s &ldquo;No Limits Wild Asphalt Circus&rdquo; theme, feature a female fire breather blowing a flame that creates an Indy car and truck on the respective series helmet, clown silhouettes on unicycles and the &ldquo;No Limits Wild Asphalt Circus&rdquo; and event logos. The helmet also carries a portion of a red, white and blue traditional racing stripe down the middle for a contrast to the circus art and tie to the speedway&rsquo;s corporate logo colors.</p> <p>&ldquo;I wanted a design that truly embodied the &lsquo;Wild Asphalt Circus&rsquo; because the speedway&rsquo;s theme is unique and it also opens up a lot of intriguing ideas for an artist,&rdquo; Arrigo said. &ldquo;I think I achieved that in many respects and I&rsquo;m hopeful that the helmet becomes a distinctive piece for the pole sitter&rsquo;s trophy room.&rdquo;</p> <p>Arrigo, of Toronto, has produced a variety of work for such major sporting events as the Olympics, Super Bowl, Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, tennis&rsquo; U.S. Open, Major League Baseball All-Star Game and National Hockey League All-Star Game as well as for major athletes such as Wayne Gretzky, Jimmie Johnson, Sidney Crosby, Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach. </p> <p>Arrigo also has done some previous work at Texas Motor Speedway. He painted a live mural on the speedway&rsquo;s giant marquee replicating Danica Patrick on the Sports Illustrated cover in 2005 and the following year he produced a special helmet and book cover that commemorated the speedway&rsquo;s 10-year anniversary. </p> <p>Pole qualifying for the WinStar World Casino 400 will be held Thursday, beginning at 6 p.m. CT, and followed by Firestone 550 qualifying on Friday, beginning at 3:30 p.m.</p> <p>Tickets for qualifying as well as Friday evening&rsquo;s WinStar World Casino 400 (8 p.m. CT) and Saturday night&rsquo;s Firestone 550 (7:30 p.m. CT) are available through the speedway&rsquo;s ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>.&nbsp;</p>FORT WORTH, Texas (June 3, 2013) – Renowned sports artist David Arrigo has designed the Texas Motor Speedway Pole Award Helmets that will be presented to the pole winners of this week’s IZOD IndyCar...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:4a9509fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632crscearce@texasmotorspeedway.comINDYCARFirestone 550Tony KanaanIndy 500News ReleasesFeatured HeadlinesNewsTue, 28 May 2013 23:43:30 Z<p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (May 28, 2013)</strong> &ndash; Still basking in the glory of his triumph in Sunday&rsquo;s 97^th running of the Indianapolis 500 race that is steeped in history, it was only fitting that IZOD IndyCar Series driver Tony Kanaan began his whirlwind victory tour on Tuesday afternoon at a venue that is rich in history and tradition in Fort Worth, Texas.</p> <p>Kanaan, with the Borg-Warner winner&rsquo;s wreath in tow, was greeted and serenaded by 12 members of the North Side High School Mariachi Silver Spurs Band as he arrived at the historic Joe T. Garcia&rsquo;s Mexican Restaurant that was established in 1935 for a special luncheon with Texas Motor Speedway season-ticket holders, Speedway Club members, sponsors and media. </p> <p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/kanaan-champion-visit.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Kanaan champion visit" width="320" height="205" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 5px;" />&ldquo;The last 48 hours I&rsquo;ve seen more cameras and microphones than I&rsquo;ve ever seen in my life,&rdquo; Kanaan said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve slept eight hours of the last 48 and I&rsquo;m enjoying every moment of it.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s a good problem to have but I&rsquo;m waiting, it&rsquo;s going to hit me eventually.&nbsp;Now I&rsquo;m still in the adrenaline rush so I&rsquo;m still up but I&rsquo;m afraid when I relax that I&rsquo;m going to get sick and be in bed for a few days, which I can afford that right now, but I&rsquo;m enjoying every moment of it.&rdquo;</p> <p>A resounding welcome was just part of what the newly crowned champion received during his visit to Fort Worth. Fort Worth Councilman Dennis Shingleton welcomed the champion and presented him with a special silver Fort Worth platter emblazoned with the city&rsquo;s distinguished longhorn steer &ldquo;molly&rdquo; logo. </p> <p>The luncheon fittingly concluded with a special toast with the Indy 500 champion&rsquo;s beverage of choice &ndash; milk &ndash; that is given to the winner of that race in Victory Circle. Kanaan raised his champagne glass of milk and the nearly 200 in attendance responded with a return milk toast in his honor. </p> <p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think this (narrow champagne) glass is going to work with my nose &ndash; I can&rsquo;t get to the</p> <p>milk,&rdquo; Kanaan quipped before chugging down the beverage. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve kind of started liking milk.&rdquo; </p> <p>It seemed as if Kanaan would never get a chance to even taste the milk as misfortune always seemed to dash his Indy 500 hopes at the most inopportune times. During his previous 11 attempts at winning open-wheel&rsquo;s most prestigious race, he had led 221 laps, more than any other non-winner beside Michael Andretti and Rex Mays. </p> <p>However, misfortune never reared its ugly head on Sunday for Kanaan. His pass for the lead on the final restart with three laps remaining proved to be the difference. He was able to finally catch a break as a few seconds later after the restart a crash involving three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti froze the field and handed the once-elusive win to Kanaan. </p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been very fortunate in my career to achieve a lot of things,&rdquo; said Kanaan, who owns 16 career IndyCar Series wins and a series championship in 2004. &ldquo;As a race-car driver, you ask a guy what does he want to win, it&rsquo;s a (series) championship and an Indy 500, and I&rsquo;ve done both.&rdquo;</p> <p>Kanaan attributes his change in luck to two special lucky charms he received before Sunday&rsquo;s race. Former Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) driver and close friend Alex Zanardi, who lost his legs during a 2001 CART race in Germany, had Kanaan rub his gold medal he won at the 2012 Paralympic Games for cycling on his No. 11 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet Dallara. </p> <p>Along with the luck from Zanardi&rsquo;s gold medal, Kanaan drove with a special charm beneath his firesuit that he had given to a young girl nine years ago just before she was about to undergo brain surgery. The woman, now 24, mailed the necklace to him that arrived in the mail four days before the Indy 500 and was accompanied by a note that read: &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s your good luck charm back. Now you take it and win the Indianapolis 500.&rdquo; </p> <p>&ldquo;I mean obviously over the years I don&rsquo;t know if people felt sorry for me or if they really wanted me to win,&rdquo; Kanaan said with a smile. &ldquo;If I had to bring every good luck charm that I had ever been given, I would need a semi-truck behind my Indy car to bring all of them.</p> <p>&ldquo;She thought it was time, the past nine years were such a great thing for her and she wanted me to have it back because she wanted me to win the 500. So I have it back, I have it with me. It&rsquo;s such a great story because you never do things expecting anything back. This one, definitely if I write a book one day, this would be in it.&rdquo;</p> <p>Kanaan hopes to use his victory in Sunday&rsquo;s Indy 500 as momentum toward the series&rsquo; second oval race of the season &ndash; the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 8, that will be held during primetime on network television with ABC-TV. </p> <p>He has enjoyed great success at Texas Motor Speedway as he owns the second-best career</p> <p>finishing average at 5.92. He has a victory (June of 2004) and 10 top-10 finishes in 13 career starts and always seems to be in contention at Texas Motor Speedway. However, the Indy 500-Firestone 550 double has been a difficult feat as only Arie Luyendyk (1997) and Scott Dixon (2008) have won both races in the same season. </p> <p>&ldquo;I only have great memories of it (Texas Motor Speedway),&rdquo; said Kanaan, who also celebrated his 2004 series championship at Texas Motor Speedway when the venue also hosted the season finale. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s awesome. It&rsquo;s an awesome race to be in. I love this place and I have a great relationship with this place. If it could be my second win of the year on the ovals that would be really sweet.&rdquo;</p> <p>Kanaan and the IZOD IndyCar Series return to Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone 550 on Saturday, June 8. Tickets are still available by calling (817) 215-8500 or by visiting <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>. </p> <p><strong>Firestone 550 Notes:</strong> All 500 Firestone 550 tickets that were available through the promotion based off IZOD IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe&rsquo;s finish at Sunday&rsquo;s Indianapolis 500 have been sold after going on sale at 9 a.m. CT Tuesday. Hinchcliffe finished 21^st and the promotion offered a $21 ticket that had a 70-percent savings off the original price. Texas Motor Speedway still is offering the Firestone 550 &ldquo;4 for $99&rdquo; promotion, which is four frontstretch tickets, four hot dogs and four Cokes for $99.</p> <p>&nbsp;<strong style="line-height: 1.5;">For more information, contact TMS Media Relations at (817) 215-8520 or </strong><a href="mailto:pr@texasmotorspeedway.com" style="line-height: 1.5;"><strong>pr@texasmotorspeedway.com</strong></a><span style="line-height: 1.5;">.&nbsp;</span></p>FORT WORTH, Texas (May 28, 2013) – Still basking in the glory of his triumph in Sunday’s 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 race that is steeped in history, it was only fitting that IZOD IndyCar...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:dfd108fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632crscearce@texasmotorspeedway.comINDYCARFirestone 550HinchcliffeNews ReleasesFeatured HeadlinesNewsWed, 22 May 2013 14:09:13 Z<p><strong></strong></p> FORT WORTH, Texas (May 26, 2013) - IZOD IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe's 21st-place finish in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 will reward fans with a deeply reduced ticket price for the upcoming Firestone 500.&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Texas Motor Speedway will offer a frontstretch ticket for the Firestone 550 on Saturday, June 8, for $21 as result of Hinchcliffe's 21st-place finish in the Indianapolis 500. The $21 ticket promotion offers fans a savings of more than 70 percent off the original price.&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> An allotment of 500 tickets will be available to fans for purchase beginning Tuesday at 9 a.m. CT, with a maximum purchase of four tickets per person. The ticket promotion only is available by calling the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500.&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;<br /> The Firestone 550 will be broadcast in primetime live on ABC-TV, beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Firestone 550 is part of a doubleheader weekend that includes the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino 400, which will be held the evening of Friday, June 7. Tickets for all race-week events are available by calling (817) 215-8500 or by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com.FORT WORTH, Texas (May 26, 2013) - IZOD IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe's 21st-place finish in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 will reward fans with a deeply reduced ticket price for the upcoming...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:29ca08fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632crscearce@texasmotorspeedway.comFirestone 550AndrettiIndy 500Featured HeadlinesNews ReleasesNewsTue, 21 May 2013 23:14:33 Z<p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (May 21, 2013) &ndash;</strong> Winning is nothing new to the Andretti family, but for 26-year-old Marco, it hasn&rsquo;t been all that familiar over his seven full seasons in the IZOD IndyCar Series. With just two wins since he began in 2006 at 19 years of age, the youngest of the third-generation racing family is looking to change all that. </p> <p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/andretti-speedread.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="andretti speedread" width="300" height="394" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 5px;" />Currently in the midst of the best start of his career, Andretti is second in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship, just 13 points behind leader Takuma Sato. Despite still looking for his first win since 2011, Andretti is exuding confidence with top-10 finishes in all four road/street events that opened the season. Among those performances was a pair of podiums as he finished third in the season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla., and most recently in Sao Paulo, Brazil.</p> <p>Admitting that the road/street courses have been a weakness of his, he credits his success to taking time this past offseason to try something different and seek advice from a coach.</p> <p>&ldquo;I was always dedicated, but I really focused on the details of where I was getting beat and fixed it,&rdquo; Andretti said. &ldquo;I went to a driver coach. I went all the way to London. You can&rsquo;t be too proud. You&rsquo;re always going to learn even at this stage and at this level in this sport.&rdquo;</p> <p>Not allowed to discuss who the coach was, Andretti did say that he came highly recommended from Formula One star Lewis Hamilton and other successful drivers in Europe.</p> <p>Trusting in what he learned in London, Andretti believes his new calculated and finesse approach will prove even more beneficial as the schedule opens up to the oval circuits beginning with Sunday&rsquo;s Indy 500. After an impressive week of practice that concluded by qualifying third, Andretti is feeling more confident than ever that he will be the one showered with milk on Sunday evening in Victory Lane.</p> <p>&ldquo;I think this is going to be one of my best shots at it,&rdquo; Marco said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my eighth go at it and we&rsquo;ve had a chance to win this race numerous times. I never in all those years felt what I feel in this year&rsquo;s race car so far. I think we improved last year&rsquo;s car 10 fold. Last year&rsquo;s car wasn&rsquo;t great and we led the most laps so we just need to lead the right lap. I don&rsquo;t care if I lead a half a turn; I just want to lead that lap.&rdquo;</p> <p>The Indy 500 is important for everyone involved, but Andretti understands the added pressure that comes with his name. Despite the immense success of his grandfather Mario and father Michael in the sport, the Andrettis can only lay claim to one Indy 500 crown. That one came in 1969 courtesy of Mario, and Marco is intent on ending a four-decade drought for the family.</p> <p>&ldquo;The race is the biggest race in the world,&rdquo; Marco said. &ldquo;My family and I live our lives around the sport and that race in particular. I&rsquo;d feel more complete (to win) for sure. It&rsquo;s been 20 years since an Andretti has been on the front row, so I guess that&rsquo;s a good start. Five hundred miles is a long way, there are going to be a lot of elements that could take us out of it, but I think if we execute we win because I think it&rsquo;s our race to lose.&rdquo;</p> <p>Andretti&rsquo;s starting position of third marks the first time since 1993 that an Andretti will start the Indy 500 on the front row (Mario qualified second to Arie Luyendyk that year), but it isn&rsquo;t his best-ever Indy 500 qualifying effort in eight career starts that has him pumped.</p> <p>&ldquo;Personally, I think we&rsquo;re stronger in race trim than qualifying,&rdquo; said Andretti, whose previous-best start was fourth last year. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been quick every day; we&rsquo;ve been in the top three almost every practice. Having the speed obviously helps, but you need a good, balanced race car for 500 miles and I think we have that. We&rsquo;ve been really focusing on that more than qualifying.&rdquo;</p> <p>For Marco, a huge confidence boost from winning the Indy 500 would serve him well at one of his favorite tracks where he has had success but also is searching for his first victory. Just two short weeks after the Indy 500, Andretti will return to Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone 550 on Saturday, June 8.</p> <p>Like Indianapolis, Texas is a large oval with high speeds. With three top-10 finishes at &ldquo;The Great American Speedway!&rdquo; already, Andretti is looking to take advantage of his new coaching and hone in on victory. Admitting that the new car has changed the racing a bit at Texas, Andretti feels it plays even more into his team&rsquo;s favor.</p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as much of a pack race anymore; it&rsquo;s more of an emphasis on the driver and the car set-up,&rdquo; Andretti said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we prefer as a team because with Andretti Autosport, things are jiving quite well last year and especially this year. The ideal situation is that we&rsquo;re leading the points coming in to Texas.&rdquo;</p> <p>A victory in Indianapolis would set up Andretti to make a run at an accomplishment that the IZOD IndyCar Series has only seen twice in its history. Luyendyk (1997) and Scott Dixon (2008) are the only two drivers to win both of the series&rsquo; marquee events in the same season.</p> <p>Of course, all of this would require Andretti to get back in Victory Lane for the first time in 27 races dating back to 2011 at Iowa Speedway. Like any competitor, wins are important, but the championship is the bigger picture. </p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not where I want to be, but I&rsquo;m in contention now and I think if we keep driving the way we are, the wins are going to come,&rdquo; Andretti said. &ldquo;If we keep getting the results we&rsquo;ve been getting, we can win the championship.&rdquo;</p> <p>Great seats are still available for the IZOD IndyCar Series Firestone 550 &ndash; &ldquo;America&rsquo;s Original Nighttime IndyCar Race&rdquo; &ndash; on Saturday, June 8. Tickets are available by calling the ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>.&nbsp;</p>FORT WORTH, Texas (May 21, 2013) – Winning is nothing new to the Andretti family, but for 26-year-old Marco, it hasn’t been all that familiar over his seven full seasons in the IZOD IndyCar Series....<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:b4c808fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comFirestone 550Ryan Hunter-ReayEd CarpenterTexas Motor SpeedwayE.J. VisoMichael AndrettiMarco AndrettiCarlos MunozIndy 500Andretti AutosportTakuma SatoFeatured HeadlinesTue, 21 May 2013 21:04:33 Z<p><img title="169050556" src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/169050556.jpg?sfvrsn=0" />&nbsp;</p> <p>IZOD IndyCar Series driver Marco Andretti found himself getting dominated by high school tennis players on Monday in Dallas, but come Sunday in Indianapolis he could be doing the same to 32 adults in his chosen sport.</p> <p>Andretti, in town to promote the upcoming June 8 Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway, is a novice tennis player so part of his visit included a stop at Dallas&rsquo; Highland Park High School to play tennis against the Class 4A juggernaut and reigning state champion boys and girls players. While the 26-year-old Andretti admittedly &ldquo;was getting my butted kicked&rdquo; by the Scots, he needs to be excused if his focus and mindset was drifting toward doing the same to his racing colleagues in Sunday&rsquo;s 97^th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.</p> <p>Andretti, preparing for his eighth career start in the Indy 500, will be making his first-ever start on the front row as he qualified third for the race. But the starting position is not his reason for the most optimism he has had entering the series&rsquo; marquee event.</p> <p>&ldquo;Personally, I think we&rsquo;re stronger in race trim than qualifying,&rdquo; said Andretti, whose previous-best start was fourth last year. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been quick every day; we&rsquo;ve been in the top three almost every practice. Having the speed obviously helps, but you need a good, balanced race car for 500 miles and I think we have that. We&rsquo;ve been really focusing on that more than qualifying.&rdquo;</p> <p>Andretti, whose best finish in the Indy 500 was second during his 2006 rookie campaign, is pursuing just his family&rsquo;s second victory in this race. The lone win came in 1969 courtesy of his grandfather &ndash; the legendary Mario Andretti &ndash; and Marco is looking to end a four-decade drought for the third-generation racing family that also includes his father, Michael.</p> <p>&ldquo;I think this is going to be one of my best shots at it,&rdquo; Marco said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my eighth go at it and we&rsquo;ve had a chance to win this race numerous times. I never in all those years felt what I feel in this year&rsquo;s race car so far. I think we improved last year&rsquo;s car 10 fold. Last year&rsquo;s car wasn&rsquo;t great and we led the most laps so we just need to lead the right lap. I don&rsquo;t care if I lead a half a turn; I just want to lead that lap.</p> <p>&ldquo;My family and I live our lives around the sport and that race in particular. I&rsquo;d feel more complete (to win) for sure. It&rsquo;s been twenty years since an Andretti has been on the front row, so I guess that&rsquo;s a good start. Five hundred miles is a long way, there are going to be a lot of elements that could take us out of it, but I think if we execute we win because I think it&rsquo;s our race to lose.&rdquo;</p> <p>Team owner Michael Andretti has an excellent shot of putting Marco or one of his four other drivers in Victory Circle and sipping the milk. Andretti Autosport, powered by Chevrolet engines, was the class of the field in qualifying with all five starting among the top nine in the 33-car field. Joining polesitter Ed Carpenter on the front row will be Andretti Autosport rookie Carlos Munoz starting second and Andretti third. Andretti Autosport&rsquo;s E.J. Viso will start fourth, reigning series champ Ryan Hunter-Reay seventh and James Hinchcliffe ninth.</p> <p>&ldquo;I think as for Chevy, we&rsquo;re happy to represent the bowtie this year especially because Chevys dominate the top 10 right now,&rdquo; said Andretti, who along with his teammates ran the Honda power plants in 2012. &ldquo;If that&rsquo;s not a statement, I don&rsquo;t know what is.&rdquo; </p> Andretti also will be riding the momentum of the best start of his eight-year IZOD IndyCar Series career. After four races into the season, he is second in the series championship, just 13 points back of leader Takuma Sato entering the Indianapolis 500. Andretti has finished in the top 10 in all four races, including twice on the podium with third-place performances at St. Petersburg (Fla.) and Sao Paulo (Brazil).IZOD IndyCar Series driver Marco Andretti found himself getting dominated by high school tennis players on Monday in Dallas, but come Sunday in Indianapolis he could be doing the same to 32 adults in...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:74a508fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632crscearce@texasmotorspeedway.comHighland ParkCampisi'sINDYCARFirestone 550AndrettiFeatured HeadlinesNews ReleasesNewsTue, 21 May 2013 00:44:22 Z<p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (May 20, 2013) </strong>&ndash; IZOD IndyCar Series driver Marco Andretti showcased his &ldquo;serve-and-volley&rdquo; skills in vastly different styles while in Dallas on Monday to promote the June 8 Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.</p> <p>Andretti had his best serve of the day during his visit to Campisi&rsquo;s Restaurant, the original on Mockingbird Lane that produced Dallas&rsquo; first pizza pies in 1946, when he created and served pizzas to the local media to highlight his Italian heritage. He then exhibited his volleying skills when he visited at nearby Highland Park High School to congratulate the boys and girls tennis teams on their most recent Class 4A state championships and then proceeded to play eight games of doubles competition with the squad.</p> <p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/andretti-campisis.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Andretti Campisis" width="325" height="218" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;" />At Campisi&rsquo;s, Andretti was presented a black restaurant chef&rsquo;s coat by restaurant proprietor David Campisi and the two headed to the kitchen to create Campisi&rsquo;s famous &ldquo;All The Way&rdquo; pizza pie. Andretti received a lesson in pizza making from the area&rsquo;s best, starting with kneading and flattening the dough; spreading the sauce and smoked provolone cheese; and then topping the signature pizza with its savory ingredients of Italian sausage, mushrooms, salami, green onions, green peppers and oregano. After sliding the pizzas in the oven, they came out to perfection shortly after and then Andretti learned how to cut Campisi&rsquo;s unique rectangular pizzas and art of sliding it onto the serving plates for the presentation.</p> <p>Pizza was just part of the fun for Andretti as he joined a distinguished group of special guests who have visited Campisi&rsquo;s. He presented Campisi with a personally autographed photo of him from Texas Motor Speedway and the two added it to the restaurant&rsquo;s prestigious Wall of Fame that has hundreds of celebrities and athletes from throughout the years.</p> <p>&ldquo;Campisi&rsquo;s is such a cool place,&rdquo; Andretti said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard a lot about it. I&rsquo;m just kind of in awe, taking in all the pictures on the wall and all the people that have been here. They were making me look good in the kitchen. I&rsquo;m a little rusty, but the pizza came out amazing so that&rsquo;s a good thing.&rdquo;</p> <p>Andretti burned off his calories from a few slices of the &ldquo;All the Way&rdquo; pizza he created with a stop at Highland Park High School to take on the Scots tennis team, winners of 15 4A state tennis championships. Andretti discussed with the team members about having to have the passion to achieve your dreams and then showcased his athletic skills as he took on members of the 2013 state championship team. </p> <p>Andretti, a novice tennis player who enjoys the sport and has a court at his home in Nazareth, Pa., partnered with state singles champion Elizabeth Porter to take on the other team members in a doubles event. The Andretti/Porter tandem competed in two games each against the teams of Connor LaFavre (mixed doubles state champion) and Hunter Holman (boys doubles state champion); Nan Porter (girls doubles state champion) and Elizabeth Burgos (girls doubles state runner-up); Sarah Cannon (mixed doubles state runner-up) and Avery Schober (mixed doubles state runner-up); and Maddie Gordon (girls doubles state runner-up) and Burgos.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>Andretti celebrate the team&rsquo;s recent accomplishment of winning titles in girls singles, girls doubles, boys doubles and mixed doubles by providing them with a pizza party compliments of Campisi&rsquo;s after the match. </p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not fun; I&rsquo;m getting my butt kicked,&rdquo; Andretti said, laughing. &ldquo;I actually enjoyed myself; those kids are unbelievable, especially for their age. But, I haven&rsquo;t seen tennis played like that in person ever, so that was pretty fun for me. Those kids are impressive, so I&rsquo;m not surprised they are as successful as they are.&rdquo;</p> <p>Andretti will return to Fort Worth for the Firestone 550 on Saturday, June 8. Tickets for the Firestone 550 are available by calling the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting <a href="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/">www.texasmotorspeedway.com</a>.&nbsp;</p>FORT WORTH, Texas (May 20, 2013) – IZOD IndyCar Series driver Marco Andretti showcased his “serve-and-volley” skills in vastly different styles while in Dallas on Monday to promote the June 8...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:ef0b08fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632crscearce@texasmotorspeedway.comFirestone 550FranchittiINDYCARNews ReleasesNewsFeatured HeadlinesWed, 15 May 2013 21:04:27 Z<p><strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (May 15, 2013)</strong> &ndash; Dario Franchitti enters the Indianapolis 500 looking to join prestigious company as he attempts to become just the fourth driver&nbsp; with four career victories in open-wheel racing&rsquo;s most prestigious race &ndash; joining A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser. </p> <p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/dariofranchittiweb.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="DarioFranchittiWeb" width="300" height="200" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 15px;" />Not only would an impressive fourth career victory in the Indianapolis 500 place him in elite company, a victory would put him in the familiar role of championship contender, something that Franchitti has not looked like to start the 2013 season. </p> <p>Franchitti, a four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion (2007, &rsquo;09, &rsquo;10, &rsquo;11), limps into the Indianapolis 500 sitting 15th in the points standings, 66 points back of leader Takuma Sato. He started the season with a pair of 25th-place finishes but has regrouped with consecutive top 10 finishes at Long Beach (Calif.) and Sao Paulo (Brazil). </p> <p>The change in momentum could come at the ideal time for Franchitti as the IZOD IndyCar Series enters a stretch of the schedule that features five oval races during the next six stops, including a visit to Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone 550 on Saturday, June 8. He has grown to excel at oval racing through the course of his career and since 2009 he has tallied 11 wins and 25 top five finishes in 39 oval appearances. </p> <p>He knows a return to the top of the points standings is possible, but understands the challenges that the competition provides as drivers now excel on both ovals and road/street courses. </p> <p>&ldquo;Unfortunately there is a good few of them that can do them both,&rdquo; Franchitti said. &ldquo;There is a list of drivers. (Tony) Kanaan, you name it. Obviously (Ryan) Hunter-Reay winning the championship last year. There are no specialists any more. There is no one guy you think, &lsquo;Yeah, he is really good on a road course.&rsquo; It&rsquo;s tough competition. Each week you show up at a track you&rsquo;ve got to be in a position to win and you cannot be the weak spot as a driver. The team has got to give you the car. The engine has to be right. All those different things.&rdquo;</p> <p>Success at Texas Motor Speedway has not eluded Franchitti during his 10 career starts at the 1.5-mile speedway. He secured his first victory in the first of the two duel races during the Firestone Twin 275s in 2011, one of seven top 10 finishes he has tallied at Texas Motor Speedway. </p> <p>With the change to IZOD IndyCar Series chassis last year, drivers experienced a new style of racing at Texas Motor Speedway. The changes eliminated the &ldquo;pack&rdquo; racing and put the onus back in the driver&rsquo;s hands. </p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a completely different race than we&rsquo;ve ever done there before,&rdquo; Franchitti said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to be an enjoyable race to drive. With this new package there is a lot of driving, you&rsquo;ve got to use all the controls. Before you if you lifted you were finished. It was more like what NASCAR terms a restrictor plate race. You were driving the hell out of it but you were flat. Now you are using every control you&rsquo;ve got. It&rsquo;s going to be fun.&rdquo;</p> <p>The IZOD IndyCar Series returns for the Firestone 550 - "America's Original Nighttime IndyCar Race" - on Saturday, June 8. Tickets are available by calling the ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00117gteNk5PoTk_0VVKxH2-Vdd1Ew1crmwOypRrHMkBFqhbhueONarHhSlr3wYbJPCpp-951F8gadP-zKWdRbx2iJPneqM8YUonCmAkZj1GWL6bJYoReD9XjDT5r0JEgdp" target="_blank">www.texasmotorspeedway.com.</a>&nbsp;</p>FORT WORTH, Texas (May 15, 2013) – Dario Franchitti enters the Indianapolis 500 looking to join prestigious company as he attempts to become just the fourth driver with four career victories in...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:cf4207fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comAnnouncementsWed, 08 May 2013 01:14:06 Z<p>Silver Dollar at the Ranch began in 2008 as a philanthropic event to help raise funds for cancer research and programs on both local and national spectrums. This year, Silver Dollar at the Ranch will benefit Speedway Children&rsquo;s Charities of Texas and raise much needed funds to help support the pediatric cancer research initiatives of Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center in Dallas. </p> <p>Centered in north Texas, the outdoor &ldquo;Party with a Purpose&rdquo; has raised over $1 million dollars in five years and there is little chance of it slowing down. Ranch owners, Mardi and Chip Ferrier, generously donate and host Silver Dollar at the Ranch year after year on their beautiful XO Ranch in Aubrey, Texas. This party in the pasture includes annual partnerships with Eddie Deen&rsquo;s catering company, Dallas&rsquo; own III Forks restaurant, entertainers like Tracy Lawrence, Tracy Byrd, Neal McCoy, Joe Diffie and Jack Ingram; appearances by local and national celebrities who generously join us to help make a difference; live and silent auctions that include one of a kind items that cannot be found anywhere else; midway games that give the State Fair of Texas a run for their money, and so much more. </p> <p>Country music artist Chris Cagle will headline the 6th annual Silver Dollar at the Ranch event presented by Prime Lending, a PlainsCapital Company, on Saturday, May 18. Cagle&rsquo;s professional accomplishments include two gold albums, two No. 1 albums and 12 charted songs. His sixth full-length album <em>Back in the Saddle</em> (2012) pays tribute to his wife and his life as a family man with three young daughters.</p> <p>Texas natives Brendan Higgins and LeeAnne Locken will emcee the event. Brendan co-anchors <em>CBS 11 News This Morning</em> with Adrienne Bankert weekdays, and this will be his third time as emcee to Silver Dollar at the Ranch. Joining us for the first time as emcee, LeeAnne is a host for <em>Beautiful You</em> on TXA21, an anchor of <em>Reality Times TV</em>, and host of the <em>Plano News</em> and <em>Eye on Plano</em>.</p> <p>Two-time Dallas Cowboy Super Bowl champion and Pro-Bowler Tony Casillas serves as the official event Honorary Chairman &ndash; we call &lsquo;em the Trail Boss &ndash; for Silver Dollar at the Ranch.</p> <p>Mark off May 18th in your calendar, and start shopping for a new pair of boots! Individual tickets for Silver Dollar at the Ranch cost $150 and tables (includes 10 tickets) cost $1500. For more information, underwriting opportunities, and ticket and table sales, call Jennifer Henshaw at (817) 215-8564 or visit us online at silverdollarattheranch.com.</p>Silver Dollar at the Ranch began in 2008 as a philanthropic event to help raise funds for cancer research and programs on both local and national spectrums. This year, Silver Dollar at the Ranch will...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:bb4007fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632crscearce@texasmotorspeedway.comCharitiesAndrettiFoytSatoINDYCARNews ReleasesFeatured HeadlinesNewsTue, 07 May 2013 22:01:31 Z<strong>&bull; Offseason Lessons Key Early Success For Andretti&nbsp;</strong> <div><strong><br /> &bull; Speedway Children&rsquo;s Charities Offers Its Unique Version Of &ldquo;Fast&rdquo; Food During Chefs in the Fast Lane Event</strong> <p><strong><br /> FORT WORTH, Texas (May 7, 2013) &ndash;</strong> The start of the IZOD IndyCar Series season has proven to be unpredictable. Championship contenders Dario Franchitti and Will Power find themselves 15th and 20th, respectively, in the points standings heading into the Indianapolis 500. Two first-time IZOD IndyCar Series winners have stood atop the podium during the first four races with Andretti Autosport&rsquo;s James Hinchcliffe winning twice this season &ndash; at St. Petersburg (Fla.) and Sao Paulo (Brazil) &ndash; and A.J. Foyt Racing&rsquo;s Takuma Sato taking Long Beach (Calif.).&nbsp;</p> <p>The most surprising statistic of the early portion of the season is Sato&rsquo;s impressive run for the single-car team of legendary driver and Texas native A.J. Foyt. Sato, who joined A.J. Foyt Racing this offseason, owns a pair of podium finishes that has propelled him into the lead for the IZOD IndyCar Series championship.</p> <p>"(I'm) really happy with the performance," Sato said. "I think (there's) consistency now, (we are) getting really good rhythm. So hopefully now (we can) carry really good momentum."&nbsp;</p> <p>Sato snapped A.J. Foyt Racing&rsquo;s long winless drought as he earned the organization&rsquo;s first IZOD IndyCar Series victory since 2002 when Airton Dare was victorious at Kansas Speedway. His first victory in his 52nd career start also elevated him to rock-star status in his native Japan as he became the first Japanese driver to win an Indy-car race.&nbsp;</p> <p>The team&rsquo;s momentum heading into the Indianapolis 500, the first oval of the season, has put them in prime position to continue the positive trend. &nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;The team is really doing a fantastic job,&rdquo; A.J. Foyt Racing Team Director Larry Foyt said. &ldquo;Takuma is driving just amazingly. It&rsquo;s been good, so going into the month of May, obviously this is a long month and anything can happen, but it&rsquo;s always a positive to have good momentum going into Indy.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>The series enters the portion of the schedule packed with oval races. Five of the next six events will come on ovals, including a visit to Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone 550 on Saturday, June 8. The race will be broadcast in primetime live on ABC-TV, beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT.</p> <p>Sato was one of eight IZOD IndyCar Series drivers to take part in a special test session at Texas Motor Speedway in March. The opportunity to work with his new team on an oval helped prepare him for the upcoming stretch run.&nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;That really showed us positive signs,&rdquo; Sato said of the test at Texas Motor Speedway. &ldquo;The engineers wanted to try a couple of things last year that they couldn&rsquo;t make work. We&rsquo;ll see how we build up for the month of May. I have great confidence of the team doing a great job at the (Indy) 500.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>The IZOD IndyCar Series returns for the Firestone 550 &ndash; "America's Original Nighttime IndyCar Race" &ndash; on Saturday, June 8. The race will be paired with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino 400, which will be held the evening of Friday, June 7. Tickets are available by calling the ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>&bull; Street Smarts&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Marco Andretti is off to the best start of his career as the eight-year IZOD IndyCar Series veteran finds himself second in the series championship, just 13 points behind leader Takuma Sato. Andretti has run off an impressive streak of four consecutive top-10 finishes to start off the season, all of which have come on street or road circuits. The strong start includes podium finishes of third at St. Petersburg (Fla.) and Sao Paulo (Brazil).&nbsp;</p> <p>Andretti&rsquo;s performance comes on the heels of a tumultuous 2012 season where he finished 15th in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship, the worst finish of his career. He tallied just three top-10 finishes last season, with only one of which came on a street/road course (Mid-Ohio), and already has surpassed that total.</p> <p>&ldquo;I think right now we&rsquo;re on par for a great season,&rdquo; Andretti said. &ldquo;This is what used to be the tough part of the season for me. We&rsquo;ve been getting some decent results where I used to struggle, so I&rsquo;m pleased with that.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>It&rsquo;s just the second time Andretti has been as high as second in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship, the other coming in 2008 when he finished second in season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.&nbsp;</p> <p>Andretti entered the offseason with a renewed sense of focus in an attempt to improve for 2013. With the help of Andretti Autosport teammate and defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, he was able to transform his on-track approach.&nbsp;<br /> &ldquo;I used to overdrive the car,&rdquo; Andretti said. &ldquo;I was too aggressive with my style. It used to work against me. So I really in the offseason focused on what I was doing wrong, and compared to Ryan (Hunter-Reay), who won the championship, I had the luxury of looking up against his data. (I) really just focused on driving the tire, getting the most that the car is going to give me.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>Andretti will make a stop in Dallas/Fort Worth for a special media event on Monday, May 20, just a day after qualifying for the 97th Indianapolis 500. A media alert with details of the event will be sent out soon.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>&bull; Dine In The Fast Lane</strong></p> <p>Speedway Children&rsquo;s Charities-Texas Chapter will give new meaning to &ldquo;fast&rdquo; food as it again plays host to Chefs in the Fast Lane presented by the Unique Dining Capital of Texas on Thursday, June 6, at 6 p.m. CT at Texas Motor Speedway.&nbsp;</p> <p>Fans will enjoy an evening of fine fare featuring the restaurants of nearby Roanoke and tour some of the most luxurious settings in motorsports as participants will visit the Lone Star Tower condominiums overlooking Turn 2 of Texas Motor Speedway. Each condo will feature a new dining experience with cuisines from some of Dallas/Fort Worth&rsquo;s most popular eateries that include Suze, Sevy&rsquo;s, The Classic Caf&eacute;, INZO Italian Kitchen and Levy Restaurants, among others.&nbsp;</p> <p>Guests will help crown a winner of the Chefs in the Fast Lane presented by the Unique Dining Capital of Texas as they will submit their vote for their favorite stop at the conclusion of the event. The top restaurant will take home the Chefs in the Fast Lane trophy to proudly display.</p> <p>The evening will kick off with a cocktail and dessert reception at the condo clubhouse that includes items from Hard Eight BBQ, Hey Sugar Candy Store and Susie&rsquo;s Sweet Boutique. Individual tickets are $150, and $275 for couples. To purchase tickets for Chefs in the Fast Lane presented by the Unique Dining Capital of Texas, call Speedway Children&rsquo;s Charities at (817) 215-8421.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Last Laps</strong></p> <p>The media credential deadline for the Firestone 550/WinStar World Casino 400 weekend is Friday, May 24. To apply for credentials, visit www.smicredentials.com. Those not yet registered for the website will first need to apply for access through the site. Once a registration confirmation e-mail is received, the credential request can then be submitted. No credentials will be issued following the deadline. &hellip; Time is running out to give mom the chance to ride next to an IZOD IndyCar Series star during driver introductions for the Firestone 550. Through Sunday&rsquo;s Mother&rsquo;s Day, Texas Motor Speedway is offering fans that purchase tickets for the Firestone 550 a chance to send mom on a pre-race parade lap with Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe, Marco Andretti or Graham Rahal. Season ticketholders as well as anyone who purchased tickets prior to the promotion also are eligible. To purchase tickets to the Firestone 550, visit www.texasmotorspeedway.com or call (817) 215-8500.&nbsp;<br /> <div><br /> </div> </p> </div>FORT WORTH, Texas (May 7, 2013) – The start of the IZOD IndyCar Series season has proven to be unpredictable. Championship contenders Dario Franchitti and Will Power find themselves 15th and 20th,...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:4d3507fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632cdavid@elementcode.comFeatured HeadlinesTue, 07 May 2013 14:43:42 Z<p><img src="http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/images/default-source/news-images/hinch---sao-paulo.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="hinch---sao-paulo" /></p> <p>The streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, were taken over by &ldquo;The Mayor of Hinchtown&rdquo; this past weekend when James Hinchcliffe earned his second victory of the IZOD IndyCar Series season at the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle. In what was arguably one of the most exciting street race finishes in recent series history, the 26-year-old Canadian driver for Andretti Autosport overtook the emerging Takuma Sato in the final turn of the final lap to win by .3463 of a second. </p> <p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no cooler way to win a race, in the last corner of the last lap,&rdquo; Hinchcliffe said. &ldquo;Takuma (Sato) was making that race car really wide and he was defending the inside pretty well, almost too well a couple of times. He just out-braked himself just a little bit and I was able to do a high-low (pass) and got the win.&rdquo;</p> <p>Sato, in the midst of a surprising season for A.J. Foyt Racing and coming off his first career victory two weeks ago in Long Beach, Calif., did everything he could to stave off the charge by various competitors over the last couple of laps. Armed only with one more push-to-pass opportunity and aware drivers behind him may have had more, Sato was successful in holding off multiple charges from Hinchcliffe and American Josef Newgarden over the final six laps. </p> <p>After 10 turns, it was the 11^th and final one that Sato&rsquo;s worn rear tires couldn&rsquo;t hold his line and allowed Hinchcliffe the slight daylight he needed to cut inside with 300 yards to go and deny Sato&rsquo;s bid for a second consecutive victory. </p> <p>&ldquo;I think I tried everything I could to defend,&rdquo; Sato said. &ldquo;I was really struggling on the grip the last laps. It&rsquo;s a real pity that I lost it on the final lap of the race on the final corner.&rdquo; </p> <p>Sato&rsquo;s maneuvers over the last few laps were upsetting to some and even caught the eye of INDYCAR Race Control.&nbsp; The apparent blocks on Hinchcliffe and Newgarden prompted INDYCAR to review the tape during the final laps. Race Control didn&rsquo;t find any wrongdoing on Sato&rsquo;s end, but asked after the race by a television reporter if he was concerned during the waning moments that he may be penalized for blocking, Sato replied, &ldquo;You could say that.&rdquo;</p> <p>Despite the unfortunate finish, not all was lost for Sato. In fact, the Japanese driver saw more positives than negatives, noting that the race showed how &ldquo;competitive&rdquo; his A.J. Foyt Racing team is after four races. Sato also took over the top position in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship, marking the first time an A.J. Foyt Racing driver has done so since 1998 when Kenny Brack won the series title. Sato currently holds a 13-point advantage over Hinchcliffe&rsquo;s teammate Marco Andretti leading into the 97^th Indianapolis 500.</p> <p>&ldquo;You always like to be leading the points regardless of where you&rsquo;re going,&rdquo; Four-time Indianapolis 500 champion and team owner A.J. Foyt said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve just got to come out of there with a bigger lead in points.&rdquo;</p> <p>Sato nearly won the Indianapolis 500 last year, but his aggressive move while running second to Dario Franchitti heading into Turn 1on the final lap resulted in his car spinning into the outside wall. Franchitti went on to secure his third Indy 500 crown. </p> <p>For Hinchcliffe, the win this weekend in Sao Paulo couldn&rsquo;t have come at a better time. Starting off the season perfectly with his first career victory at the opener in St. Petersburg, Fla., he struggled at the next two races &ndash; Birmingham and Long Beach &ndash; where he recorded DNFs at both. </p> <p>&ldquo;The joke is that we&rsquo;ve won every race we&rsquo;ve finished,&rdquo; Hinchcliffe said. &ldquo;If we can keep doing that, we&rsquo;ll be all right.&rdquo;</p> <p>With the victory at Sao Paulo, Hinchcliffe became the first Canadian driver to win in Brazil since the late Greg Moore did it in 1998 in Rio de Janeiro.</p> <p>&ldquo;Obviously, Greg Moore was my hero growing up,&rdquo; Hinchcliffe said. &ldquo;When I got to INDYCAR, the biggest pressure I put on myself was to maintain the reputation that Canada has with their INDYCAR drivers. To be able to do that now, not only make it to this level, but be successful at that level, I&rsquo;m proud.&rdquo;</p> <p>He certainly has a lot to be proud of, or perhaps thankful for, this season. Despite having completed the third fewest number of laps over four races (222 of a possible 355), Hinchcliffe has two wins and sits in fourth place, just 24 points behind Sato heading into the Indianapolis 500.</p> <p>Hinchcliffe and the IZOD IndyCar Series will return to Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone 550 on Saturday, June 8. Hinchcliffe finished fourth in last year&rsquo;s Firestone 550 and fortunately for his GoDaddy.com team he may hold a slight advantage over his competition this season. In March, he got to know the banking between Turns 1 and 2 a little bit more when he participated in a basketball trick-shot competition at Texas Motor Speedway. Hinchcliffe joined NASCAR drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Travis Pastrana and James Buescher to team up with the trick-shot specialists of Dude Perfect. The promotional video that has garnered nearly 450,000 hits can be viewed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-AFo0mjV_E" target="_blank">here</a> on Dude Perfect&rsquo;s YouTube channel. </p> <br />The streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, were taken over by “The Mayor of Hinchtown” this past weekend when James Hinchcliffe earned his second victory of the IZOD IndyCar Series season at the Itaipava Sao...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedwayurn:uuid:65aa06fc-9243-6f1d-ac51-ff000046632crscearce@texasmotorspeedway.comMother's DayPettyINDYCARtrucksNews ReleasesFeatured HeadlinesNewsTue, 30 Apr 2013 22:40:52 Z<p><strong>&bull; Eight Drivers, Including Sprint Cup&rsquo;s Joey Logano, Take Part In Two-Day NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Test At TMS<br /> &bull; Gossage Logging Miles As Part Of Kyle Petty Charity Ride<br /> &bull; TMS Adding Reinforcement To Crossover Gates &nbsp;<br /> </strong><br /> <strong>FORT WORTH, Texas (April 30, 2013) &ndash; </strong>IZOD IndyCar Series driver Simona de Silvestro is reaping the benefits of having a teammate for the first time in her career. De Silvestro, who was without a teammate during her first three seasons with the single-entry HVM Racing organization, has partnered with new teammate Tony Kanaan and KV Racing Technology to form a talented combination that has resulted in one of the series&rsquo; early-season surprises.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> De Silvestro is off to a promising start as she is tied for eighth with Team Penske's Will Power in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings behind some strong early-season efforts. Her resurgence is a stark contrast to where she sat just one year ago - 24th in the point standings - while driving for HVM Racing with the underpowered Lotus engine.<br /> <br /> Already this season she has established a career-best qualifying effort in addition to her best finish since 2011. Both came in the season opener at St. Petersburg, where she started third and finished sixth. The sixth-place finish was her best outing since earning a career-best fourth in the same event two seasons ago. With new equipment and a long-overdue teammate with veteran experience, she is excited to make the most of her newfound opportunity. &nbsp;<br /> <br /> &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to be here and really great to be out there and just racing,&rdquo; de Silvestro said. &ldquo;I think when you are competitive, it makes it so much easier to get over the hurdles you sometimes have.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> The partnership also has made Kanaan, the 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champion who is in his third season driving the No. 11 for KV Racing Technology, further appreciates de Silvestro&rsquo;s &nbsp;skills he used to witness from afar.<br /> <br /> "Even before she was my teammate I expressed how good of a race car driver I thought she was," Kanaan said. "Unfortunately I don't think she was in the proper configuration &ndash; car, team, manufacturer. I'm going to have a lot of work. We went testing at Barber (Motorsports Park) and I can tell how fast she is right away in the same equipment. It pushes me and makes me wake up in the morning and know that I have to step up my game every day."<br /> <br /> Kanaan and de Silvestro head to Brazil for the Streets of Sao Paulo race this Sunday for the fourth race of the IZOD IndyCar Series season. Kanaan will be making his 200th consecutive start in his homeland and chasing his second top-five finish of the season after taking fourth at St. Pete. De Silvestro will be looking for her third top-10 finish in four starts and perhaps her first top-five effort of the season.<br /> <br /> Following Sao Paulo, the series returns to the United States to begin preparations for the first oval race of the season with the crown jewel of open-wheel racing &ndash; the Indianapolis 500. The Indianapolis 500 kicks off a stretch of five oval races in a six-race span that includes a stop at Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone 550 on Saturday, June 8. The race will be broadcast in primetime live on ABC-TV, beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT.<br /> <br /> Performances on ovals were a challenge for de Silvestro in 2012. In five oval races last season, she finished 24th or worse on four occasions, including last three of those times. The Lotus engine package was no challenge for competing manufacturers Chevrolet and Honda and it ultimately led to the demise of the manufacturer&rsquo;s involvement in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2013.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> &ldquo;It was really frustrating, especially on the ovals because there was such a big speed difference,&rdquo; de Silvestro said. &ldquo;Here (Texas Motor Speedway) it was almost over 10 miles per hour. When you are out there and people are coming at you at such a different speed, it was actually pretty sketchy. I didn&rsquo;t enjoy it.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> Now with the backing of 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series manufacturers&rsquo; champion Chevrolet, she is hopeful of showcasing her full potential at ovals like Texas Motor Speedway. &nbsp;<br /> <br /> &ldquo;It was a really long season for us, but on the other side I could really focus on the car,&rdquo; de Silvestro said. &ldquo;Me and my engineer we worked a lot on that side and improved that. Even on the ovals, I had no real pressure on results because we didn&rsquo;t have the speed. It was kind of learning the things I had to learn and try to do better. Being with the Chevy power now, it is hard to express how different it is to what I had last year.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Tickets for the Firestone 550 are available by calling the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>&bull; Texas Truck Stop&nbsp;</strong><br /> <br /> The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series&rsquo; Joey Logano was among eight drivers representing three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams that participated in a two-day test that concluded Tuesday at Texas Motor Speedway.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and Logano of Brad Keselowski Racing were joined by Darrell Wallace Jr. and Joey Coulter of Kyle Busch Motorsports as well as Timothy Peters, John Wes Townley and German Quiroga Jr. of Red Horse Racing for the test in preparation for the WinStar World Casino 400 on Friday, June 7, at Texas Motor Speedway.&nbsp;</p> <p>Logano won&rsquo;t be racing at Texas in June because of a scheduling conflict with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but confirmed that he will be racing the No. 19 Ford F-150 for Brad Keselowski Racing in November during the WinStar World Casino 350. Only racing a small share of NCWTS races this season, Logano understands that opportunities to practice and perform better are scarce.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> &ldquo;I ran the race in Kansas and felt like there were some areas we could make some big improvements and I felt like to make those improvements, I had to be here,&rdquo; Logano said. &ldquo;I want to win a truck race so I felt like I had to come here to help guide the team in the right direction and what I feel like it&rsquo;s going to take to win one of these things.&rdquo;<br /> Peters is coming off the best season of his career &ndash; finishing runner-up to Plano&rsquo;s James Buescher for the Camping World Truck Series championship &ndash; but Texas Motor Speedway is among some tracks he is looking for improvement to enhance his title hopes this season.<br /> <br /> Peters has just two top-10 finishes in 10 career NCWTS starts at Texas, although he did break through with one (10th) this past November in the WinStar World Casino 350. He is looking for a boost after a slow start to the season, where he finds himself in 13th place and 52 points behind series leader Matt Crafton.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> "We're here trying to get a little better on our 1.5-mile program," Peters said. "It seems like this track has eluded us of some good finishes so we want to conquer that when we come back in a month."<br /> &nbsp;<br /> On the other hand, Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Ryan Blaney is coming off a third-place finish in Kansas, marking his third top-10 finish over his first four races this season. He is fourth in the series championship, 21 points behind Crafton.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> "Our season has gone pretty solid, so far," Blaney said. "We struggled a little bit the first few races just trying to get adjusted to these Ford bodies and what they need to go fast. It took us a few races to get used to that, but I was really happy with our run at Kansas and finishing third up there."<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Although a rookie in the Camping World Truck Series, Blaney has competed twice in NASCAR competition at Texas Motor Speedway. He partook in double duty during November&rsquo;s NASCAR tripleheader weekend, competing in the Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino 350 and Nationwide Series O&rsquo;Reilly Auto Parts Challenge. He came away with mixed results as he finished 30th in NCWTS race due to a blown tire, but rebounded the next day with a strong runner-up finish to Kevin Harvick in the NNS race.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> "Texas is one of the tracks I feel like, and a place the team feels like, we need to get better," Blaney said. "It's just such a cool race track. You can run from top to bottom and be fast anywhere. It's always a lot of fun as a driver when you can do that and pick and choose your line."<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Tickets for the WinStar World Casino 400 are available by calling the ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>&bull; Riding For A Cause</strong><br /> <br /> Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage is in the midst of a the seven-day, 2,100 mile cross-country motorcycle trek as part of the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America presented by Manheim. Gossage and more than 175 riders will journey across five states that include Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> The tour began last Saturday in Coeur d&rsquo;Alene, Idaho, and will conclude Friday in Tempe, Ariz. The 19th annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America raises funds and awareness for the Victory Junction Camp, a year-round facility in Randleman, N.C., that was created to help enrich the lives of children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Gossage has been a staunch supporter of the ride for his close friend Kyle Petty, missing just one ride in its 19-year existence. Others taking part this year include former Dallas Cowboys running back and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker and former NASCAR great Harry Gant.<br /> <br /> More than 7,180 riders have logged 10.4 million cumulative motorcycle miles and donated nearly $15 million to Victory Junction and other children&rsquo;s charities since its inception.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>&bull; Bringing In The Reinforcements</strong></p> <p>Texas Motor Speedway will begin work later this week on reinforcing the four crossover gates on the 1.5-mile oval. The speedway will add nine 5/8-inch steel cables with 7/8-inch steel turnbuckles across each crossover gate to further reinforce the current square tubing that is in place. The crossover gates, which are located on the frontstretch, will be operational for the June 6-8 Firestone 550 doubleheader featuring the IZOD IndyCar Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>&bull; Send Mom To The Races For Mother&rsquo;s Day</strong><br /> <br /> Tired of sending flowers on Mother&rsquo;s Day? How about sending her on a pace-car parade lap with some of the biggest names in the IZOD IndyCar Series? Beginning Monday, Texas Motor Speedway will kick off a Mother&rsquo;s Day promotion, where fans that purchase tickets for the Firestone 550 IZOD IndyCar Series race on Saturday, June 8, are eligible to send mom on a pre-race parade lap with either Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe, Marco Andretti or Graham Rahal.&nbsp;<br /> The promotion will run through Mother&rsquo;s Day on Sunday, May 12, and season ticketholders as well as anyone who purchased tickets prior to the promotion also are eligible. Texas Motor Speedway will select six winners from the qualified entries and notify them on Mother&rsquo;s Day. For a complete list of rules and information, visit www.texasmotorspeedway.com.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Last Laps</strong><br /> <br /> The media credential deadline for the Firestone 550/WinStar World Casino 400 weekend is Friday, May 24. To apply for credentials, visit www.smicredentials.com. Those not yet registered for the website will first need to apply for access through the site. Once a registration confirmation e-mail is received, the credential request can then be submitted. No credentials will be issued following the deadline. &hellip; Fans can take advantage of the special frontstretch ticket special for the Firestone 550 IZOD IndyCar Series race on Saturday, June 8. The package includes four frontstretch tickets, four hot dogs, four Cokes and exclusive Firestone coupons for just $99. To purchase the package, call (817) 215-8500 or visit www.texasmotorspeedway.com.&nbsp;</p>FORT WORTH, Texas (April 30, 2013) – IZOD IndyCar Series driver Simona de Silvestro is reaping the benefits of having a teammate for the first time in her career. De Silvestro, who was without a...<br/> <br/> NASCAR, Indycar and racing news from Texas Motor Speedway