Firestone Indy 300

GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300

Venue	Homestead-Miami Speedway
Corporate sponsor	Firestone
First race	1985
First IndyCar race	2001
Distance	300 miles
Number of laps	200
Previous names	CART Champ Car race Beatrice Indy Challenge (1985) Miami Indy Challenge (1986) Nissan Indy Challenge (1987-1988) Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota (1995-2000) Grand Prix Americas (2002) Grand Prix Americas presented by sportsbook.com (2003) IRL race Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami presented by 123.com Americatel (2001) 20th Anniversary Miami Grand Prix (2002) Toyota Indy 300 (2003-2005) Toyota Indy 300 Presented by XM Satellite Radio (2006) XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 (2007) GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 (2008)

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.

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 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.

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).

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.

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
2009	October 10	Dario Franchitti	Dallara	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing

Atlantics/Indy Lights winners

Season	Date	Winning Driver
CART Atlantic Series history (1.4-mile (6.4 km) 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 (1.485-mile (781 km) 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
2009	October 9	Mario Romancini

Rolex Sports Car history (Homestead)

• 2007 Bill Auberlen/ Matthew Alhadeff
• 2008 Scott Pruett/ Memo Rojas
• 2009 João Barbosa/ Hurley Haywood

IndyCar TV Broadcasters

References

• http://www.indycar.com
• http://www.champcarstats.com

External links

• Google Maps satellite image of former Bicentennial Park race course
• eTracks map of Tamiami Park circuit
• Google Maps satellite image of former Tamiami Park race course