December 8, 2006
Texas Motor Speedway’s petition to extend the length of the 2007 Bombardier Learjet IndyCar Series race has been granted by the Indy Racing League, speedway president Eddie Gossage announced today.
The Indy-car race traditionally has been a 200-lap, 500-kilometer affair, but the 2007 event scheduled for June 9 will officially be extended to 228 laps and 550 kilometers. The race, formerly titled the Bombardier Learjet 500k, will now be renamed the Bombardier Learjet 550k.
The Bombardier Learjet race – also known as “America’s Original Nighttime Indy Car Race” – has long treated fans to exceptional side-by-side racing and dramatic finishes, but Texas Motor Speedway officials had noticed that the races were routinely being completed in less than two hours. Speedway officials were particularly concerned about the trend when this past season’s Bombardier Learjet 500k established a track record with a race time of 1 hour, 34 minutes and 1 second.
Looking to provide more value to the fans, TMS officials petitioned the Indy Racing League to extend the race length beginning in 2007.
“Lengthening the race has long been an issue I have led on behalf of the fans,” Gossage said. “Taking positions on such issues has caused me to be criticized on occasion, but this is a leadership position I firmly believe in. I hope other IRL races are lengthened as well as a result of our lead. We always want to give our fans more, and now they are getting 10 percent more with no additional increase in ticket prices. I just hope the fans have the energy and can stand more of that action.”
Another issue that Gossage has championed over the years has been a later start for the race. For a variety of reasons, “America’s Original Nighttime Indy Car Race” has ended before the sun has fully set on occasion. In 2007, the Bombardier Learjet 550k will begin at 9 p.m. CT and be broadcast on ESPN2.
“Fans dig nighttime races because the cars appear even faster, the temperatures are cooler and strange things seem to happen when the stars come out as darkness falls,” Gossage said. “This start time will ensure that the entire event will be run under the lights. It should be magic.”
Tickets for the Bombardier Learjet 550k, as well as the accompanying Sam’s Town 400 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday, June 8, are available by calling the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or visit (www.texasmotorspeedway.com).
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