Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix Fast Facts Race weekend: Friday, April 6 – Saturday, April 7, 2018 Track: ISM Raceway, a 1.022-mile oval in Avondale, Arizona Race distance: 250 laps / 255.5 miles Entry List: Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix (PDF) Firestone tire allotment: Ten sets primary Twitter: @ISMRaceway, @IndyCar, #DesertDiamondPGP, #IndyCar Event website: www.ISMRaceway.com INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com 2017 race winner: Simon Pagenaud (No. 1 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet) 2017 pole winner: Helio Castroneves (No. 3 REV Group Team Penske Chevrolet), 37.7538 seconds (194.905 mph) Qualifying lap record: Helio Castroneves (18.8701 seconds; 194.975 mph), set on April 29, 2017 NBCSN…
Author: Mike Haag
Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 39 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 19 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.
Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Libby Vincek made her debut as the newest member of the “Great American Sweethearts” during Texas Motor Speedway Media Day in February. That evening, she also made her television debut, starring as a contestant on the CBS reality show “Survivor: Ghost Island.” This weekend, she’ll make her sweetheart debut in front of more than 100,000 race fans during the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 NASCAR doubleheader weekend. Libby, a Houston native, is a graduate of Fort Worth’s Texas Christian University, where she received her degree in social media strategy and…
Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Does mowing your lawn each weekend get you down? It could be worse. You could be tasked with mowing 1,000 acres and all that weed-eating that accompanies that massive chore. Those are just two items on the extensive check list for the Texas Motor Speedway Operations Department to make the facility look meticulous for 100,000+ of their guests arriving for this weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 NASCAR doubleheader. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWIiHExZZH0&feature=youtu.be Those 1,000 acres extend well beyond the infield grass with the race logos, from the outer campgrounds to the circle…
FORT WORTH, Texas – Jared Leto’s “Mars Across America” journey will make a stop Wednesday at Texas Motor Speedway. The Thirty Seconds To Mars lead singer and Academy Award-winning actor will join NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Tyler Reddick of JR Motorsports and Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage for a special media and promotional event. Leto will take a Team Texas two-seater stock-car ride with Reddick behind the wheel. The car will have a special wrap that will be unveiled at the event featuring the cover art of their new album America that debuts Friday, April 6. Gossage also will make a special presentation…
Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – George Shea, the colorful emcee of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest held annually on the Fourth of July at Coney Island, rattles off an endless stream of adjectives and clichés at break-neck speed because he too is pumped up for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U68BQ7VySpY&feature=youtu.be Shea, known for his hyperbole and voracious vocabulary, is featured in this adrenaline-pumping one-minute race preview video known as “Go Time” that will reenergize every NASCAR fan with the Monster Energy NASCAR…
By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When you’re a seven-time champion in NASCAR’s elite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, an 83-race winner, and perpetually on the verge of hoisting that unprecedented eighth championship trophy, people are watching, dissecting and diagnosing your every move. Jimmie Johnson is especially experiencing that right now thanks to a 29-race winless streak. A mark that would seem luxurious and enviable to the vast majority of his competition, but it’s the longest of his first-ballot NASCAR Hall of Fame career and Johnson couldn’t be more ready to talk about something else. Like…
Courtesy of the NHRA LAS VEGAS – Already a fan of four-wide racing and running at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Funny Car’s Tommy Johnson Jr. is excited to see what that means for him when those aspects are combined for the first time at the upcoming 19th annual DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, April 6-8 in Las Vegas. It is the debut of NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series four-wide racing, one of the biggest spectacles in motorsports, on the West Coast, and Johnson, the defending winner of the Las Vegas spring race, is one of…
Courtesy of the NHRA LAS VEGAS – For the first time on the West Coast, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will treat fans to the incredible sights and sounds of four-wide drag racing during the 19th annual DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, April 6-8 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The early-season race is the fourth of 24 events during the 2018 NHRA season, and the first of two annual events in Las Vegas, but the spring race will have a distinctly different feel this time around. The speedway widened The Strip at Las Vegas…
Courtesy of TMS Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway is home to some of the biggest, most exhilarating racing events on the planet. The world-renowned motorsports facility extends far beyond the confines of its mile-and-a-half racetrack. On Wednesday, April 11 at 10 a.m., the largest sports venue in Texas will open its doors to showcase all of its amenities and opportunities for special non-racing events. “We are very proud of the fact that we put on some of the best racing events in the country, but there’s so much more to Texas Motor Speedway,” said Eddie Gossage,…
FORT WORTH, Texas – A number of NASCAR drivers and celebrities will be participating in autograph sessions on April 6-8 at Texas Motor Speedway. Below is a list of times, dates and locations. Check the Texas Motor Speedway App for updates. Friday, April 6 6:45 p.m. – Brad Keselowski – Walmart, 1228 N. Hwy 377, Roanoke, Texas 76262 7-9 p.m. – Martin Truex Jr. – Cabela’s – 12901 Cabelas Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76177 Saturday, April 7 9:25 a.m. – Spencer Gallagher – TMS – Chevrolet Stage at Gate 4 9:40 a.m. – Matt Tifft – TMS – Chevrolet Stage at…