Infineon Raceway Hosts Only IRL Event on West Coast in 2006

SONOMA, Calif. The success Infineon Raceway
enjoyed during its inaugural IRL IndyCar(r) Series weekend in August
will continue in a big way during the 2006 racing season.

 

Not only will Infineon Raceway host the penultimate event of the 2006
season, it will feature the only IRL event on the West Coast, Aug.
25-27. IRL officials announced the entire 14-race schedule for 2006 on
Tuesday, featuring a more compact and consistent lineup of races.

 

The race at Infineon Raceway will surely feature plenty of storylines as
teams should enter the Sonoma Valley fighting for the championship. The
season will conclude two weeks later at Chicagoland Speedway (Sept.
8-10).

 

"The spectacle of IndyCars twisting through the Sonoma hills was
everything we'd anticipated and more," said Steve Page, president and
general manager of Infineon Raceway. "The feedback from our fans has
been terrific and we look forward to a race in 2006 that could determine
the IRL IndyCar(r) Series championship."

 

The Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix was not only the first event on a
permanent road course in the 10-year history of the IRL, but it also
marked the first major open-wheel race at Infineon Raceway in 35 years.
The weekend was a huge success, culminating with Tony Kanaan (Andretti
Green Racing) taking the checkered flag in the 80-lap race over the
12-turn, 2.26-mile road course.

 

"I think we all enjoyed getting on the road course again and this was a
really good event," Kanaan said of Sonoma. "For the racers, for the
teams and for the sponsors, I think coming to (Sonoma) was a big
success."

 

The 2006 race weekend will also be enhanced by the addition of the Grand
American Road Racing Association with the highly-competitive Rolex
Sports Car Series. The Rolex Series, which includes Daytona Prototypes
and production-based GT cars, will come to the Sonoma Valley for the
first time since its inception in 2000. The Rolex Sports Car Series will
be the featured event on Saturday of race weekend (Aug. 26).

 

The compacted IRL schedule allows the series to run 14 events in a
period of 25 weeks, eight weeks fewer than the early March to
mid-October schedule that has been used in recent seasons. The season
will begin for a fifth consecutive season at Homestead-Miami Speedway,
March 26. All races will be televised by ABC Sports, ESPN or ESPN2.  The
schedule will include 11 oval events, two permanent road courses and one
street-course event. 

 

"The primary reasons for the compacted schedule are momentum and
consistency," said Brian Barnhart, the IRL's president and chief
operating officer. "Scheduling our races on a consistent basis in a
compacted time frame will give us momentum from the drop of the green
flag in Miami into the month of May, right through the heart of our
season and into the championship point battle."

 

 

2006 IndyCar Series Schedule

Date

Venue

Television

March 26

Homestead-Miami Speedway, 1.5-mile oval

ABC Sports

April 2

St. Petersburg, 1.8-mile street course

ESPN

April 22

Twin Ring Motegi, 1.5-mile oval (Japan)

ESPN

May 28

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2.5-mile oval

ABC Sports

June 4

Watkins Glen International, 3.37-mile road course 

ABC Sports

June10

Texas Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile oval (Night)

ESPN

June 24

Richmond International Raceway, .75-mile oval (Night)

ESPN2

July 2

Kansas Speedway, 1.5-mile oval

ABC Sports

July 15

Nashville Superspeedway, 1.33-mile oval (Night)

ESPN

July 23

The Milwaukee Mile, 1-mile oval

ESPN

July 30

Michigan International Speedway, 2-mile oval

ABC Sports

Aug. 13

Kentucky Speedway, 1.5-mile oval

ABC Sports

Aug. 27

Infineon Raceway, 2.26-mile road course

ESPN

Sept. 10

Chicagoland Speedway, 1.5-mile oval

ABC Sports