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.
[edit] History
[edit] 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 300-mile (480 km) race sanctioned by AAA took place only once at the 1.25-mile (2.01 km) wooden board track. Peter DePaolo was the winner.
[edit] 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 200-mile (320 km) CART Champ Car event. In 1997, the race was lengthened to 225 miles (362 km).
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).
[edit] Indy Racing League
In 2001, the event switched to an Indycar Series event and was again lengthened, to 300 miles (480 km).
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.
[edit] Past winners
[edit] Rolex Sports Car history (Homestead)
[edit] IndyCar TV Broadcasters
| Season | Date | Network | Lap by lap | Driver Analyst(s) | Pit Reporters |
| CART races |
| 1996 | March 3 | ABC | Paul Page | Danny Sullivan | Jack Arute, Gary Gerould, & Jon Beekhuis |
| 1997 | March 2 | ABC | Paul Page | Danny Sullivan | Jack Arute, Gary Gerould, & Jon Beekhuis |
| 1998 | March 15 | ABC | Paul Page | Danny Sullivan | Jack Arute, Gary Gerould, & Jon Beekhuis |
| 1999 | March 21 | ABC | Paul Page | Danny Sullivan | Gary Gerould & Jon Beekhuis |
| 2000 | March 26 | ESPN | Paul Page | Danny Sullivan | Gary Gerould & Jon Beekhuis |
| IRL races |
| 2001 | April 8 | ESPN | Bob Jenkins | Larry Rice & Jason Priestley | Jack Arute & Vince Welch |
| 2002 | March 2 | ABC | Paul Page | Scott Goodyear | Jack Arute, Gary Gerould, & Dr. Jerry Punch |
| 2003 | March 2 | ABC | Paul Page | Scott Goodyear | Jack Arute, Gary Gerould, & Dr. Jerry Punch |
| 2004 | February 29 | ESPN | Paul Page | Scott Goodyear | Jack Arute, Gary Gerould, & Dr. Jerry Punch |
| 2005 | March 6 | ESPN | Todd Harris | Scott Goodyear | Jack Arute, Dr. Jerry Punch, & Jamie Little |
| 2006 | March 26 | ABC | Marty Reid | Scott Goodyear & Rusty Wallace | Jack Arute, Dr. Jerry Punch, & Jamie Little |
| 2007 | March 24 | ESPN2 | Marty Reid | Scott Goodyear | Jack Arute, Vince Welch, & Brienne Pedigo |
| 2008 | March 29 | ESPN2 | Marty Reid | Scott Goodyear | Jack Arute, Vince Welch, & Brienne Pedigo |
| 2009 | October 10 | Versus | Bob Jenkins | Jon Beekhuis & Robbie Buhl | Jack Arute, Robbie Floyd, & Lindy Thackston |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
