For 25 years, Texas Motor Speedway and IndyCar have gone hand in hand.
Under the leadership of General Manager Eddie Gossage, Texas Motor Speedway supported the series from its inaugural season in 1997.
The first Indy Racing League event at TMS saw 129,000 people attend what amounted to an under-the-lights thrill show with a controversial result.
A.J. Foyt’s driver, Billy Boat, was declared the winner, but Arie Luyendyk was the actual winner because the USAC timing loops did not score two of his laps. An angry Luyendyk went into victory lane to voice his displeasure and was promptly smacked down by Foyt’s backhand.
Luyendyk was named the winner the next day, but IndyCar had found its second home in Texas.
Since that time, the track has produced some of IndyCar’s best races with three of the sanctioning body’s 10 closest finishes coming at the 1.54-mile track.
The annual trip to Texas Motor Speedway even had date equity, a Saturday night in early June, and had become one of the more anticipated races on the schedule. It was typically the first oval race after the Indianapolis 500.
IndyCar and Texas were such a hit that two races were run there from 1998 through 2004. The second date was in October and served as IndyCar’s championship finale.
But when NASCAR awarded a second date to TMS, the well of spectator interest was tapped out in the Texas area and the fall IndyCar race was dropped.
This year, TMS moves off its traditional June date and will host a doubleheader weekend for the NTT IndyCars Series on May 1-2.
The event kicks off the month of May, which leads into the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on May 15 and the 105th Indianapolis 500 on May 30.
“It’s going to put pressure on the teams that it previously hasn’t carried because you want to get the month of May started off well and carry confidence into Indianapolis,” Gossage told SPEED SPORT. “If you start the month of May in a hole, it’s hard to dig out of it. Everybody else is bringing their A-game and you are trying to get even, it’s tough.
“I think there is more pressure on the drivers and crews than there has ever been. When you focus the spotlight nice and hot on these guys, the champions rise to the top or they wilt under the heat of the hot lights. Either way, it’s fun as a fan.
“You can watch Texas and it may portend what is about to come at the end of the month on Memorial Day weekend at the biggest race in the world.”
After having date equity for 24 years, why would Gossage and IndyCar want to change the date? It’s a little complicated at this point.
Both NASCAR and IndyCar were reinventing their schedules. IndyCar dropped its March date at Circuit of The Americas in nearby Austin, Texas, and wanted to put TMS in a March date.
NASCAR wanted to race at COTA and convinced Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman Marcus Smith to move the TMS date to the Austin road course.
In exchange, Texas Motor Speedway received the NASCAR All-Star Race on June 13.
“When NASCAR awarded us the All-Star Race and hit us with the date of June 13, I toyed with the idea of running the Indy cars on the weekend of June 6-7, and it would kick off All-Star week,” Gossage revealed. “But I didn’t want anybody at IndyCar to feel like we would ever treat them like they were a second-class citizen. To me, they are every bit an equal partner with us as NASCAR is.
“We had some conversations with some folks at IndyCar and the only date they offered us was March, which is crazy because it can snow down here in March. I kept telling them, we’re not doing that.
“I was dealing with underlings and that is all they had to offer. I called Bud Denker at the Penske Corp. and told him, ‘Here’s what I’m thinking. What if we ran a doubleheader in early May?’ He said, ‘OK, keep talking.’ Within 30 minutes, Bud and I reached a deal and shook hands over the phone. I knew they really wanted to run an oval before Indy and having two of them was even more enticing.
“It served their needs and it served our needs,” Gossage continued. “The underling never considered that option, but when I talked to Bud Denker, we had a deal in 30 minutes.”
Mark Miles has been the head of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar since 2012. When Roger Penske purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar and IMS Productions from the Hulman-George family, Miles became president and CEO of Penske Entertainment.
Miles understands the value and loyalty of the relationship between TMS and IndyCar.
“They’ve been stable on this schedule for many, many years,” Miles told SPEED SPORT. “It’s very exciting racing. We’re making sure it is even more exciting this year with some testing down there. We want to be there. The fact it is a doubleheader on the oval before getting to Indianapolis for the 500 makes it even more strategically important than it has been in the past.
“Texas has always been important to us. We hope they will be for a very long time to come.”
IndyCar President Jay Frye also values the long partnership between IndyCar and Texas.
“Eddie Gossage and everybody at Texas Motor Speedway have been longtime partners of IndyCar,” Frye said. “We love going to Texas; appreciate everything they do. One of the best things about this season and the way the cadence of the schedule played out, to have Texas Motor Speedway before the Indianapolis 500 is a really good thing. We have a lot of cars and teams testing at Texas in March, then an IMS test in April, then we race at Texas and then at Indy, so the cadence is really good.
“There were times where the first oval of the year was the 500. To have a speedway race before the 500 bodes well for both Texas and IMS. We’re real pleased with the way that worked out this year.”
No other track other than Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been part of the IndyCar Series longer than Texas Motor Speedway, holding at least one race per season since 1997.
“There have been so many different administrations in IndyCar over those 25 years,” Gossage said. “Some people have come and gone that were at some points very easy to work with and at other times absolutely impossible to work with. Our fans here have loved IndyCar races. As the president of the track, it makes sense to me to continue promoting IndyCar races, no matter how many times I felt like I’ve hit myself in the head with a hammer after I’ve dealt with some of those folks over the years.
“It’s never been better than it is right now with Mark Miles, Jay Frye and Roger Penske, too,” Gossage added. “I talk to Roger a lot about communications that he originates asking questions. He’ll ask why we do some things and how much we charge for some things because he is thinking of doing that at Indy. I’m always happy to help.
“It’s a great relationship now.”
But there have been times when the relationship was strained under previous IndyCar regimes.
“I told them, ‘We are done. We are not going to renew with you.’ It was in 2011,” Gossage explained. “After that race, before the next season, and I vividly remember it, I was negotiating and wasn’t getting anywhere close on the money. I told them, ‘This is all I’m going to pay and I’m not going to pay a penny more.’ We tried and tried and tried. They said, ‘We’re not doing it for that.’ I said, ‘All right, we’re done.’ And I hung up the phone and went Christmas shopping.”
But cooler heads prevailed and IndyCar was back at TMS in 2012.
Gossage has the utmost respect for Penske, Miles and Frye.
“There has not been an issue with Mark,” Gossage said. “He has been very professional, very upfront. No surprises. He looks you in the eye. No problem with him at all. When Mark and Jay have come around, they are great,” Gossage continued. “I may not agree with everything they have done, but they are consistent. You can disagree with people that you have a business relationship with and do it in a respectful way and I have great respect for those two guys.
“They got it on solid footing before Roger Penske came along. I feel really good about Mark. I like dealing with Mark. The bottom line is it has all worked out the way it should work out. Roger is the right guy at the right time, period.
“I love IndyCar and IndyCar loves Texas. It’s been a great match.”