Indy Racing Coming To California Speedway In 2002

[MountaineerTom]

From indyracing.com

 

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The Indy Racing League will compete at California Speedway for the first time on Sunday, March 24, 2002, Indy Racing League President and CEO Tony George and California Speedway President Bill Miller announced today.

 

The 400-mile race will consist of 200 laps on the 2-mile superspeedway at Fontana, Calif. The long-awaited debut of Indy Racing in Southern California will be televised live on ESPN2.

 

"The Los Angeles market is very important to our league from a corporate sponsorship and media awareness standpoint," George said. "In addition, we experienced an unprecedented amount of positive response to our oval racing product from fans throughout the 2001 season. I am confident this enthusiasm will continue as we grow even more in 2002, especially when the great race fans in Southern California experience the Indy Racing League.

 

"I know our teams and drivers are looking forward to all that California Speedway and the community has to offer."

 

The 2002 Indy Racing Northern Light Series schedule now grows to 15 events, the largest in the history of the Indy Racing League, which debuted in 1996 after being founded by George to promote the American tradition of open-wheel, oval-track racing. The California Speedway race is the third event on the schedule, highlighted by the 86th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 26.

 

"California Speedway is proud to welcome the IRL to our family of events," Miller said. "We have been saying for some time that we want to grow the number of events at the speedway, and adding the IRL to our traditional schedule that we've had for the last five years takes another step toward accomplishing that goal. We look forward to working with the IRL as the series ventures to the West Coast for the first time."

 

California Speedway, which is owned by International Speedway Corporation, joins seven of its "sister" tracks owned or partially owned by ISC on the 2002 Indy Racing schedule. The tracks are: Homestead-Miami, Phoenix, Nazareth, Richmond, Kansas City, Michigan and Joliet (Chicagoland).

 

"We appreciate the efforts of Tony George and the IRL staff in making this event at California Speedway a reality," said John Saunders, ISC senior vice president of operations. "Adding the IRL at California Speedway continues our company's commitment to the Southern California marketplace in providing additional motorsports events at the speedway, as well as further expanding our overall oval strategy with the Indy Racing League."

 

 

2002 Indy Racing Northern Light Series Schedule

 

Date

Track

Television

 

March 2

Homestead-Miami Speedway

ABC

 

March 17

Phoenix International Raceway

ABC

 

March 24

California Speedway

ESPN2

 

April 21

Nazareth Speedway

ABC

 

May 26

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

ABC

 

June 8*

Texas Motor Speedway

ESPN

 

June 16

Pikes Peak International Raceway

ABC

 

June 29*

Richmond International Raceway

ESPN

 

July 7

Kansas Speedway

ABC

 

July 20*

Nashville Superspeedway

ESPN

 

July 28

Michigan International Speedway

ABC

 

Aug. 11

Kentucky Speedway

ABC

 

Aug. 25

Gateway International Raceway

ESPN

 

Sept. 8

Chicagoland Speedway

ABC

 

Sept. 15

Texas Motor Speedway

ABC

 

 

* -- Night race