MOORESVILLE, N.C. — It was the day earlier than the ultimate race of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Collection season when championship profitable crew proprietor Chip Ganassi stated he didn’t wish to add any extra normal races to the NTT IndyCar Collection schedule, he wished so as to add “massive occasions.”
Ganassi was most likely conscious of what IndyCar Collection proprietor Roger Penske and his employees have been engaged on, a brand new avenue race in a serious metropolitan space.
On Monday, that “massive occasion” grew to become a actuality as Penske Leisure, the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, the MLB’s Texas Rangers and multi-service Rev Leisure introduced the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington.
It is an NTT IndyCar Collection avenue race across the Arlington Leisure District in March 2026, together with AT&T Stadium, dwelling of the Cowboys, and Globe Life Discipline, the place the Rangers play.
The brand new race was introduced at 2 p.m. ET. A public celebration is scheduled for Tuesday morning at Texas Reside!, a particular leisure heart positioned between AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Discipline. It would embrace a ceremony that can additional element the occasion, together with the complete monitor format.
“Via a very outstanding and progressive partnership, we’re going to construct racing’s subsequent international spectacle,” stated Penske Company Chairman Roger Penske, who additionally owns IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. “Everybody concerned is absolutely dedicated to delivering an unbelievable and distinctive occasion weekend for the town of Arlington, anchored by the celebs of the NTT IndyCar Collection.
“We’re grateful to the Cowboys, Rangers and REV Leisure for getting into into this partnership with us, and, after all, to Arlington’s management crew for his or her pleasure and ongoing help.”
The 2026 race returns IndyCar to the Dallas/Fort Price marketplace for the primary time since 2023. That’s when Josef Newgarden gained the XPEL 375 on the 1.54-mile Texas Motor Speedway.
IndyCar competed at Texas Motor Speedway from 1997 to 2023, and as soon as drew big crowds to the Speedway Motorsports Integrated facility. The primary race in 1997 drew an introduced crowd of 129,000 followers.
However as time handed, the crowds for each the IndyCar and NASCAR Cup Collection contests at TMS started to dwindle. Regardless of low attendance for the IndyCar race in 2023, SMI and IndyCar officers tried to discover a return date on the 2024 schedule.
NASCAR moved its race date at TMS to the spring and with NASCAR races at Circuit of the Americas in close by Austin on March 24 and at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, IndyCar’s solely choices would have been within the warmth of the summer time when many of the race dates have been already taken.
Penske and his employees didn’t hand over on the large DFW market and have been in a position to type a partnership with two highly effective homeowners from championship-winning franchises in different sports activities.
“We’re thrilled to affix forces with the Texas Rangers, Penske Leisure, and the Metropolis of Arlington to convey Grand Prix racing to the streets of the Arlington Leisure District,” stated Jerry Jones, Cowboys proprietor, president and basic supervisor.
“An occasion of this magnitude is one other nice reflection of what we imagined over 15 years in the past that AT&T Stadium may very well be part of.”
Including the Cowboys to the partnership was spectacular, however IndyCar was profitable in together with the Rangers, who gained the World Collection in 2023.
“Right this moment is a historic day for the Texas Rangers and REV Leisure,” stated Neil Leibman, the Rangers chief working officer. “We’re proud to be on the forefront of the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington alongside such esteemed organizations in Penske Leisure and the Dallas Cowboys.
“This occasion will set a brand new normal for the Arlington Leisure District, and we sit up for welcoming followers from around the globe to experiencewhat Arlington has to supply.”
The two.73-mile monitor will weave via Arlington’s core sports activities and leisure district, which options an all-star lineup of occasions and venues and yearly sells greater than 1.6 million tickets to spectators from across the U.S.
“We’re really grateful to our companions for his or her imaginative and prescient and dedication to bringing the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington right here to The American Dream Metropolis,” stated Arlington Mayor Jim Ross. “I can’t consider a extra lovely and vibrant backdrop for this competitors than Arlington’s world-class Leisure District, which has confirmed time and again to be a premier vacation spot for sports activities and leisure.”
Veteran motorsports business govt Invoice Miller was introduced on Monday because the president of the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington. Miller brings greater than three a long time of expertise to the function, together with beforehand serving as president of California Speedway and senior vice chairman of operations on the Specialty Tools Market Affiliation (SEMA), a number one worldwide voice for greater than 7,000 corporations within the automotive aftermarket.
The IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington will present a full weekend of racing and leisure, with basic admission, reserved seating, VIP hospitality and celebration zone areas accessible.
