ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Roger Penske and IndyCar found a Texas-sized \u201cplayground\u201d in Jerry Jones\u2019 neighborhood for a temporary street course to bring the series back to the Dallas-Fort Worth market.<\/p>\n
Nearly three years after IndyCar last ran on the fast 1 1\/2-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway about 30 miles away, the open-wheel series<\/a> will race Sunday on a 2.73-mile, 14-turn circuit on the streets of Arlington around the home stadiums of the NFL\u2019s Dallas Cowboys and MLB\u2019s Texas Rangers. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s iconic because we are here between the Cowboys and the Rangers real estate. To have this as our playground, you might call it, for a weekend is amazing,\u201d Penske said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have this kind of commitment any place that we go as we do here. The investment by the partners along with IndyCar is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n The Grand Prix of Arlington is the first of three new street races on the IndyCar schedule this season. It is also the start of a multiyear deal in North Texas<\/a> that came together with the involvement of a pair of successful businessmen and showmen. Their relationships goes back to when Penske was chairman of the host committee for the Super Bowl played in Detroit in 2006, five years before one in Jones\u2019 then sparkling-new stadium. <\/p>\n A powerhouse partnership<\/p>\n The 89-year-old Penske acquired the racing series in January 2020 and this year marks his 60 years as a team owner<\/a>, with more than 650 major race wins and 48 championships across multiple series. The 83-year-old Jones<\/a> is a three-time Super Bowl champion owner, though the most recent title came three decades ago. whose Cowboys play in the stadium referred to as \u201cJerryWorld\u201d because of his desire for big events there.<\/p>\n AT&T Stadium was the site of the first championship game<\/a> in the College Football Playoff era, an NCAA men\u2019s Final Four and an NBA All-Star Game. This inaugural race comes three months before the first of nine scheduled World Cup matches<\/a> there, the most for any of the 16 host markets this year for the world\u2019s most-watched sporting event, and while work goes on inside the stadium to prepare for the installation of a grass field.<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly we know what the World Cup\u2019s going to be. But it is amazing what we\u2019re going to do with IndyCar,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way to that you can present any better, any classier, with any more fan-friendly presentation that\u2019s been put right out here.\u201d<\/p>\n Racing around the stadiums<\/p>\n During a ribbon-cutting this week for IndyCar\u2019s longest street course, Jones said he couldn\u2019t believe what he was seeing and how everything came together \u2014 from the track trimmed with paint schemes recognizing the NFL and MLB franchises partnering with IndyCar, to the grandstands and hospitality areas throughout Arlington\u2019s entertainment district. The area is just off Interstate 30 halfway between the downtown areas of Dallas and Fort Worth, a metroplex with more than 8 million residents.<\/p>\n \u201cThis thing has been done first class. And no detail has been spared,\u201d said Jones, who also expressed his excitement for the event\u2019s future. \u201cOne thing for sure, Roger Penske, they wanted first impressions to be the right one.\u201d<\/p>\n A double-sided pit is set up on the road between AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field, where the Rangers are about to begin their seventh season. There are a couple of curves into a horseshoe turn in the Cowboys\u2019 parking lot that will lead drivers into a 0.9-mile straight where speeds could reach 190 mph and goes between the MLB team\u2019s current and old stadiums. Both of those baseball venues have hosted two World Series<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI think this is the new standard, this is what IndyCar needs to stick to,\u201d six-time series champion Scott Dixon said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe build of the track, it\u2019s all the attention to detail here. I think it\u2019s very, very impressive,\u201d driver Marcus Ericsson said. \u201cI think this really raises the standard of IndyCar racing.\u201d<\/p>\n IndyCar has extensive history in DFW market<\/p>\n Texas Motor Speedway hosted 36 IndyCar races from the track\u2019s opening in 1997 until Josef Newgarden won the last race there<\/a> April 2, 2023 \u2014 and also the previous one in 2022. The series raced on that high-banked track twice a year from 1998-2004, including six season finales in a row. <\/p>\n The five drivers who combined to win the last 10 IndyCar races at TMS, where laps could be more than 200 mph, are racing in Arlington. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of fond memories obviously,\u201d said Dixon, who won three of those races, and five overall at the track. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great to be back. I loved the Texas Motor Speedway. Selfishly as a driver, I wish you could go everywhere,\u201d said three-time TMS winner Newgarden, who also won last week<\/a> in Phoenix. \u201cI would love to race there and here. But if we\u2019re not going to be there, I\u2019m happy that we have this event. I\u2019m certainly really pleased with what they\u2019ve put on here.\u201d<\/p>\n Pole and earlier start<\/p>\n Ericsson, in his eighth IndyCar season and making his 117th start, will be on the pole for the first time after a lap of 104.158 mph in the final round of qualifying Saturday. He never had a pole in 97 F1 races from 2014-18.<\/p>\n The green flag for Sunday\u2019s race was moved up to 11 a.m. local time (CDT), from 12:20 p.m., because of the forecast of 25-35 mph winds later in the day, with the potential for gusts of 40 mph or more. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n