The Firestone Indy 300
is an Indy Racing League Series race held at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. As of 2009, it serves as the season finale.
|
TOYOTA INDY 300 TICKETS
|
History
Early Miami races
The first championship car race that took place in the
Miami area was on
February 22, 1926 at the Fulford-Miami Speedway in nearby
Fulford. A race sanctioned by
AAA took place only once at the wooden board track.
Peter DePaolo was the winner.
CART events
Modern American open wheel racing in the Miami-area dates back to 1985. In that year, the
CART series began racing on a
temporary street circuit in Tamiami Park, a small outdoor sports facility in the nearby suburb of
Tamiami. The event lasted through 1988, and twice included the CART
Marlboro Challenge all star race.
In 1995, race promoter Ralph Sanchez brought open wheel racing back to Miami. In the aftermath of
Hurricane Andrew, Sanchez began redeveloping a devastated area of
Homestead, Florida into the
Homestead Motorsports Complex. From 1983-1993, Sanchez had promoted a very successful
IMSA street circuit at
Bicentennial Park on
Biscayne Bay. Sanchez revived the
Bicentennial Park circuit for one season as a CART race, while Homestead was still under construction.
In 1996, after construction was complete, CART debuted at the Homestead oval with a CART
Champ Car event. In 1997, the race was lengthened to .
For each of its years through 2000, the race served as the CART series season opener. CART also used the facility as their venue for "spring training" (offseason testing).
Indy Racing League
In 2001, the event switched to an Indycar Series event and was again lengthened, to .
From 2002-2008, the race served as the IndyCar Series season opener. In 2007-2008, the race was held under the lights. After a schedule reorganization, the race was moved to become the season ending race for
2009.
Since 2007, the event has been part of the
Speed Jam
, a twin race combo weekend with the
Rolex Sports Car Series along with concert festivities. The event proved to be successful in the predominantly Latino city of Miami & Homestead.
Past winners
| Season
| Date
| Winning Driver
| Chassis
| Engine
| Team
|
| CART Champ Car history
|
| 1996
| March 3
| Jimmy Vasser
| Reynard
| Honda
| Chip Ganassi Racing
|
| 1997
| March 2
| Michael Andretti
| Swift
| Ford-Cosworth
| Newman/Haas Racing
|
| 1998
| March 15
| Michael Andretti
| Swift
| Ford-Cosworth
| Newman/Haas Racing
|
| 1999
| March 21
| Greg Moore
| Reynard
| Mercedes
| Forsythe Racing
|
| 2000
| March 26
| Max Papis
| Reynard
| Ford-Cosworth
| Team Rahal
|
| IRL IndyCar Series history
|
| 2001
| April 8
| Sam Hornish, Jr.
| Dallara
| Oldsmobile
| Panther Racing
|
| 2002
| March 2
| Sam Hornish, Jr.
| Dallara
| Chevrolet
| Panther Racing
|
| 2003
| March 2
| Scott Dixon
| G-Force
| Toyota
| Chip Ganassi Racing
|
| 2004
| February 29
| Sam Hornish, Jr.
| Dallara
| Toyota
| Team Penske
|
| 2005
| March 6
| Dan Wheldon
| Dallara
| Honda
| Andretti Green Racing
|
| 2006
| March 26
| Dan Wheldon
| Dallara
| Honda
| Chip Ganassi Racing
|
| 2007
| March 24
| Dan Wheldon
| Dallara
| Honda
| Chip Ganassi Racing
|
| 2008
| March 29
| Scott Dixon
| Dallara
| Honda
| Chip Ganassi Racing
|
Atlantics/Indy Lights winners
| Season
| Date
| Winning Driver
|
| CART Atlantic Series history (1. infield road course)
|
| 1996
| March 3
| Tony Ave
|
| 1997
| March 1
| Anthony Lazzaro
|
| 2000
| March 25
| Dan Wheldon
|
| 2000
| March 26
| Buddy Rice
|
| Indy Pro Series/Indy Lights Series history (1. oval)
|
| 1996
| March 3
| David Empringham
|
| 1997
| March 2
| David Empringham
|
| 1998
| March 15
| Shigeaki Hattori
|
| 1999
| March 21
| Mario Dominguez
|
| 2003
| March 2
| Mark Taylor
|
| 2004
| February 29
| Phil Giebler
|
| 2005
| March 6
| Travis Gregg
|
| 2006
| March 26
| Jeff Simmons
|
| 2007
| March 24
| Alex Lloyd
|
| 2008
| March 29
| Dillon Battistini
|
Rolex Sports Car history (Homestead)
- 2007 Bill Auberlen/ Matthew Alhadeff
- 2008 Scott Pruett/ Memo Rojas
References