Round 2. Good Ranchers 250, Phoenix, Avondale, Arizona.
Round 2. Good Ranchers 250, Phoenix, Avondale, Arizona.
Phoenix Raceway returns to the IndyCar calendar after a 9 year absence, with a new title sponsor, Good Ranchers. Both the IndyCar Series and NASCAR Cup Series will share the weekend bill for the first time since August 2023, when both series last raced on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road-course layout. The Good Ranchers 250 will take place on Saturday with the Cup Series race on Sunday.
This not the first time IndyCar snd NASCAR have raced together. In 2021
IndyCar and NASCAR teamed up for an NBC promoted double-header at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, the IndyCar Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix and the NASCAR Verizon 200. The running of both series' races was repeated in 2022 and again in 2023.
-
History
The first race to be held at Phoenix was in 1915, on a dirt oval at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. In 1950 the American Automobile Association revived the race and when the United States Auto Club became the sanctioning body, the race was added to their calendar in 1956. In 1964, the race was moved to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, on the outskirts of Phoenix.
During the USAC era, two races a year were held, the Jimmy Bryan 150 in Spring and Bobby Ball Memorial in the Autumn/Fall. Both races were named after local race drivers who unfortunately lost their lives at Phoenix.
After the split with USAC, the race became a CART event from 1979 to 1995, with the track continuing to hold two races a year, the spring race often serving as the season opener. However, in 1987 the Autumn/Fall race was dropped.
In 1995, after a dispute between the track owners and CART series officials, the event was dropped from the 1996 CART calendar and immediately switched to the IRL for that year. It remained on the IRL calendar until 2005.
In 2016 the race made a brief return to the IndyCar series calendar but was subsequently dropped after 2018, due to disappointing crowd attendance.
-
Track Layout
Length 1.022 Miles / 1.645 Km
Lap Record
Tony Kanaan, April 2, 2016
0:19.7379 Sec. 182.392 mph (293.531 km/h)
Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet Indy V6,
Verizon IndyCar Series.
Original 1964 Layout
Current Layout
Phoenix Raceway is a 1 mile, low-banked tri-oval. When the track opened in 1964. it was originally two courses in one, a 2.7-mile road course and a one-mile tri-oval, with the original road course running both inside and outside of the oval. The oval gets its unusual layout with the "dogleg", due to a combination of terrain, plus the original road course which included a drag strip.
At the end of the 1990 season, the oval course was resurfaced and in summer 1991 the old 2.7 miles road course was removed and replaced by a new 1.51 miles infield road course.
In 1997 International Speedway Corporation (ISC) owned by NASCAR founder Bill French Sr. bought the facility, making significant changes in 2003/4. Turn 2 was moved out, completely sealing the perimeter; originally the wall came to an end where the old road course crossed the oval track. SAFER barrier was installed around the course and track lighting installed the following year
In 2011, the oval underwent further changes, the most notable being to the front stretch, widened to 62 feet (19 m) and the "dogleg" being moved outward by 95 feet (29 m), as well as its radius increased to 500 feet (150 m). In January 2017, a major $178 million renovation program was announced.
The start/finish line, was moved from being between the original Turn 4 and Turn 1, to after Turn 2 and before the "dogleg", also the pit road entrance was moved further down the new backstretch.
Since its construction the track name has changed numerous times becoming: Phoenix International Raceway (1964 - March 2015), Jeff Gordon Raceway (2015) and Phoenix Raceway (2017). In September 2017, track owners International Speedway Corporation, (ISC) formed a partnership with Ingenuity Sun Media (ISM Connect) and renamed the track ISM Raceway at the begining of the 2018 season. However, the deal was terminated early by mutual consent and the track reverted to Phoenix Raceway in January 2020.
-
Some Trivia
Mario Andretti had his last and 52nd career win at Phoenix, in the The Valvoline 200 on April 4, 1993.
The driver with most wins:
Al Unser Sr. 6, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1979, 1985.
The Team with most wins:
Team Penske. 10, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2002, 2005, 2017-18
-
Previous Race
The 2018 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, 6-7 April.
https://www.indycar.com/news/2018/04...ce-final-recap
Pole
Sébastien Bourdais
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan
Dallara IR18 - Honda HI18RTT V6 Indy
Winner
Josef Newgarden
Team Penske
Dallara IR18 - Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Laps: 250
Distance: 255.5 Miles (411.25 km)
Race Time: 1:44:00.3552
Average Speed: 147.395 mph (237.219 km/h.)
Caution periods: 2
Laps: 23
Fastest Lap
Sébastien Bourdais - Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan
20.6270 Sec. (Lap 2 of 250)
178.368 mph (287.055)
-
Practice and Qualifications
Practice 1
Friday, Mar 6.
FS2 10:00AM ET
Sky Sports F1 3:00PM GMT
Qualifications
Friday, Mar 6.
FS2 2:00PM ET
Sky Sports F1 7:00PM GMT
High Line & Final Practice
Friday, Mar 6.
FS2 4:30PM ET
Sky Sports F1 9:30PM ET
-
Race Broadcast
Saturday, Mar 7.
Fox 3:00PM ET, 8:00PM UTC
Sky Sports F1, 8:00PM GMT
Phoenix Raceway returns to the IndyCar calendar after a 9 year absence, with a new title sponsor, Good Ranchers. Both the IndyCar Series and NASCAR Cup Series will share the weekend bill for the first time since August 2023, when both series last raced on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road-course layout. The Good Ranchers 250 will take place on Saturday with the Cup Series race on Sunday.
This not the first time IndyCar snd NASCAR have raced together. In 2021
IndyCar and NASCAR teamed up for an NBC promoted double-header at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, the IndyCar Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix and the NASCAR Verizon 200. The running of both series' races was repeated in 2022 and again in 2023.
-
History
The first race to be held at Phoenix was in 1915, on a dirt oval at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. In 1950 the American Automobile Association revived the race and when the United States Auto Club became the sanctioning body, the race was added to their calendar in 1956. In 1964, the race was moved to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, on the outskirts of Phoenix.
During the USAC era, two races a year were held, the Jimmy Bryan 150 in Spring and Bobby Ball Memorial in the Autumn/Fall. Both races were named after local race drivers who unfortunately lost their lives at Phoenix.
After the split with USAC, the race became a CART event from 1979 to 1995, with the track continuing to hold two races a year, the spring race often serving as the season opener. However, in 1987 the Autumn/Fall race was dropped.
In 1995, after a dispute between the track owners and CART series officials, the event was dropped from the 1996 CART calendar and immediately switched to the IRL for that year. It remained on the IRL calendar until 2005.
In 2016 the race made a brief return to the IndyCar series calendar but was subsequently dropped after 2018, due to disappointing crowd attendance.
-
Track Layout
Length 1.022 Miles / 1.645 Km
Lap Record
Tony Kanaan, April 2, 2016
0:19.7379 Sec. 182.392 mph (293.531 km/h)
Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet Indy V6,
Verizon IndyCar Series.
Original 1964 Layout
Current Layout
Phoenix Raceway is a 1 mile, low-banked tri-oval. When the track opened in 1964. it was originally two courses in one, a 2.7-mile road course and a one-mile tri-oval, with the original road course running both inside and outside of the oval. The oval gets its unusual layout with the "dogleg", due to a combination of terrain, plus the original road course which included a drag strip.
At the end of the 1990 season, the oval course was resurfaced and in summer 1991 the old 2.7 miles road course was removed and replaced by a new 1.51 miles infield road course.
In 1997 International Speedway Corporation (ISC) owned by NASCAR founder Bill French Sr. bought the facility, making significant changes in 2003/4. Turn 2 was moved out, completely sealing the perimeter; originally the wall came to an end where the old road course crossed the oval track. SAFER barrier was installed around the course and track lighting installed the following year
In 2011, the oval underwent further changes, the most notable being to the front stretch, widened to 62 feet (19 m) and the "dogleg" being moved outward by 95 feet (29 m), as well as its radius increased to 500 feet (150 m). In January 2017, a major $178 million renovation program was announced.
The start/finish line, was moved from being between the original Turn 4 and Turn 1, to after Turn 2 and before the "dogleg", also the pit road entrance was moved further down the new backstretch.
Since its construction the track name has changed numerous times becoming: Phoenix International Raceway (1964 - March 2015), Jeff Gordon Raceway (2015) and Phoenix Raceway (2017). In September 2017, track owners International Speedway Corporation, (ISC) formed a partnership with Ingenuity Sun Media (ISM Connect) and renamed the track ISM Raceway at the begining of the 2018 season. However, the deal was terminated early by mutual consent and the track reverted to Phoenix Raceway in January 2020.
-
Some Trivia
Mario Andretti had his last and 52nd career win at Phoenix, in the The Valvoline 200 on April 4, 1993.
The driver with most wins:
Al Unser Sr. 6, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1979, 1985.
The Team with most wins:
Team Penske. 10, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2002, 2005, 2017-18
-
Previous Race
The 2018 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, 6-7 April.
https://www.indycar.com/news/2018/04...ce-final-recap
Pole
Sébastien Bourdais
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan
Dallara IR18 - Honda HI18RTT V6 Indy
Winner
Josef Newgarden
Team Penske
Dallara IR18 - Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Laps: 250
Distance: 255.5 Miles (411.25 km)
Race Time: 1:44:00.3552
Average Speed: 147.395 mph (237.219 km/h.)
Caution periods: 2
Laps: 23
Fastest Lap
Sébastien Bourdais - Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan
20.6270 Sec. (Lap 2 of 250)
178.368 mph (287.055)
-
Practice and Qualifications
Practice 1
Friday, Mar 6.
FS2 10:00AM ET
Sky Sports F1 3:00PM GMT
Qualifications
Friday, Mar 6.
FS2 2:00PM ET
Sky Sports F1 7:00PM GMT
High Line & Final Practice
Friday, Mar 6.
FS2 4:30PM ET
Sky Sports F1 9:30PM ET
-
Race Broadcast
Saturday, Mar 7.
Fox 3:00PM ET, 8:00PM UTC
Sky Sports F1, 8:00PM GMT