Auto racing hat trick
Indianapolis Motor Speedway to have F1 race in 2000
Posted: Wednesday December 02, 1998 04:04 PM
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Tony George says he has been trying to get an F1 race in Indianapolis since 1991 David Taylor/Allsport |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Tony George has pulled off an auto racing hat trick.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway president said Wednesday his track, once the exclusive domain of the Indianapolis 500, will add its third annual race with Formula One Racing's return to the United States in the year 2000.
The date for the inaugural U.S. Grand Prix, the first in a multi-year agreement, will be announced in the future, George said. It will be the first F-1 race in the United States since 1991.
"This is a project that we have pursued since 1991, and is now about to become a reality," George said in a prepared release.
The F-1 race will join the Indy 500, run annually on Memorial Day Weekend, and the Brickyard 400, which became part of NASCAR's Winston Cup in 1994.
This year, the International Race of Champions also made Indy part of its series.
"Our vision as a company is international leadership in motorsport entertainment, and the U.S. Grand Prix underscores the reality of that vision," George said.
The addition of a road course will be the first reconfiguration at the speedway since it was built in 1909.
The U.S. Grand Prix will be run on a permament, 2.53-mile circuit to be built within the speedway, much to the approval of Bernie Ecclestone, F-1's chief executive.
"I know the Speedway will look after us and see that we have a home for Formula One for years to come," Ecclestone said.
The F-1 race will start on the main straightaway of the 2.5 mile oval and drivers will then negotiate a 13-turn course. The course will wind through the north infield, south on the current Hulman Boulevard, turn east just north of the Hall of Fame Museum and exit back onto the Speedway's oval near Turn Two.
The cars will then run clockwise on the oval, which is the reverse of the direction used for the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400.
Kevin Forbes, who designed the course, said the infield holes of the Brickyard Crossing golf course won't be affected.
The Speedway announced that work on the mult-million dollar project for the race already has begun with the clearing out of the rooms outside the existing Tower Terrace grandstand which will be torn down starting in December. Thirty-six F-1 garages topped by 12 suites will replace them.
Officials also announced that a new 400-seat press building will be constructed.
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