The IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights will add New Hampshire Motor Speedway to their 2011 schedules, competing on the 1-mile oval proving that Indycar series is actually returning to its original venues.Indy Racing League CEO Randy Bernard, joined a news conference at the track by New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, Speedway Motorsports Inc. founder, chairman and CEO O. Bruton Smith and New Hampshire Motor Speedway executive president and general manager Jerry Gappens and commented:
"The fans had asked us to bring back Loudon and we'll be here in 2011. As evident last weekend in Iowa, our cars produce tremendous racing on short ovals and we’re pleased to restore an IndyCar short oval to the schedule to further increase our diversity of venues. As a newcomer into the sport, short tracks seem to lend themselves to great racing.
(The Loudon-Baltimore swing) should be fun for us, and the great part of it is going to an oval and then to a street course. You're going to reach two different demographics in the East."
The New Hampshire facility played host to one of the five Indy Racing League events in its inaugural year (Aug. 8, 1996) with Scott Sharp taking the checkered flag. It also was the site of Robbie Buhl’s first victory (Aug. 17, 1997) and Tony Stewart’s third (June 28, 1998). CART sanctioned races on the variably-banked (2 to 7 degrees) oval from 1992 to ’95.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing co-owner Buhl, who grabbed the lead from Eddie Cheever Jr. with three laps left and won by 0.064 of a second in the No. 3 Quaker State/Menards Special commented:
"I won when we raced there so it has good memories. I love the fact that of the short ovals it’s definitely challenging for the team and driver. It’s a tight oval; you have to work on getting the car balanced and working for you. As a series, in terms of how it rounds us out with road courses, street circuits and superspeedways, having a mile oval as part of that template is good. It’s a good market for us to be in, too."
For 2010, the .875-mile Iowa Speedway is the only oval on the IZOD IndyCar Series less than 1.5 miles.
The Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti commented:
"It will be a great track for us, similar to Milwaukee with those long straights and those tight corners. I'm looking forward to racing here. You look at Iowa last week and that was one of the best races I've been involved with as a driver.
To add another short oval to the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule is cool. Judging by the talk in the drivers' meeting and the buzz at night in the motorcoach lot, everyone is very excited about it and looking forward to it. We'll put on a helluva show. I think the cars and the race will sell themselves; the product at all tracks is fantastic."
New Hampshire International Speedway, which opened in 1990, was purchased in 2008 by Smith from Bob and Gary Bahre and renamed New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It is about an hour north of Boston and, according to the most recent census, more than 18 million people live within two hours of the picturesque venue.
Jerry Gappens said:
"It's been my mission for three years to get IndyCar to New Hampshire on our schedule. As an Indiana native and a fan of open-wheeled racing, I strongly believe that the people of New Hampshire will embrace this new breed of speed much like they do NASCAR.
It's gratifying to see it finally on the schedule and now it's sort of like the dog who chased the truck. I caught it, but now I have to do something with it. I promise I'm going to work hard to sell this new event to fans everywhere."
