• Next Season Will Mark First Time IndyCar Series’ Two Marquee Events –The Indianapolis 500 And Texas 550k – Will Run Consecutive Weekends
• WinStar World Casino 400k NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Remains Part Of Weekend And Moves To June 4

FORT WORTH, Texas (August 25, 2009) – The Texas 550k IndyCar Series race will shift its 2010 date up a week to Saturday, June 5, and follow the Indianapolis 500, marking the first time that the series’ two marquee events will be run on consecutive weekends.

The Texas 550k was originally scheduled and announced for Saturday, June 12, which was two weeks after the Indy 500 and traditional slot on the IndyCar Series schedule. However, a scheduling conflict for 2010 arose with that race week’s companion race – the WinStar World Casino 400k NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race – and a variety of options were discussed by speedway officials with both sanctioning bodies before opting for this move. The WinStar World Casino 400k will move to the evening of Friday, June 4, and the weekend’s on-track schedule will mirror previous years.

“I have always been a proponent of that off week between Indy and us, but we hope the back-to-back races create even more momentum for the IRL and Texas Motor Speedway,’’ Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said. “Having the series’ two marquee races run consecutive weekends should hopefully create a buzz and coming to a top-five media market also should generate even more publicity for the newly crowned Indy 500 champion.”

When Texas Motor Speedway became part of the IndyCar Series schedule in 1997, the IRL had positioned an off week between Indy and Texas for the first nine seasons. In 2006, the league slotted Watkins Glen between Indy and Texas and then opted for Milwaukee the past three years. The IRL opted to return to that off week between Indy and Texas when they originally announced the schedule July 31, but Texas Motor Speedway’s scheduling issue with the June 4 WinStar World Casino 400k prompted the move.

“It was important for us to keep this combination weekend together because it has been a tradition at Texas Motor Speedway since we opened in 1997,” Gossage said. “We looked at a variety of options, but felt this was the best for our fans. We appreciated the IRL’s flexibility as a result of this curve ball NASCAR unexpectedly threw at us with this schedule conflict.”

The tentative race week schedule will open Thursday, June 3, with WinStar World Casino 400k practice and qualifying and be followed by an evening IndyCar Series practice. Final practice and qualifying for the Texas 550k will take place Friday, June 4, and the day’s action will culminate with the running of the WinStar World Casino 400k that evening.

The WinStar World Casino 400k will be televised live on SPEED.

The Texas 550k – “America’s Original Nighttime IndyCar Series race” – will start at approximately 8 p.m. CT and be televised on VERSUS for the second consecutive year.

The 2010 event will mark the 14th consecutive year that Texas Motor Speedway has played host to an IndyCar Series race, dating to the opening of the speedway and second season of the IRL in 1997. Overall, this will be the 21st IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, which previously had hosted a fall event from 1998-2004.

The Texas 550k IndyCar Series race will be part of the Texas Motor Speedway season-ticket package that also includes two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series events. Season ticket packages, starting as low as $279, will go on sale when the full 2010 TMS schedule is announced later this week. Individual tickets for the Texas 550k will be available starting Nov. 11. For additional ticket information, please call (817) 215-8500.