Exclusive: IndyCar head explains how street race can become North Texas staple
Greg Penske wants IndyCar to race through the streets of Arlington for years to come and says he knows what it takes to make the event a mainstay of the North Texas sports scene.
Penske, chairman of the Penske Corporation, which owns IndyCar, spoke with the Star-Telegram about preparations for the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington on March 15, including working with the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers to stage the event.
The Grand Prix of Arlington uses a 2.73-mile temporary street circuit with 14 corners that will run through Arlington, including around AT&T Stadium, home of the Cowboys, as well as Globe Life Field and Choctaw Stadium, the current and former homes of the Rangers.
“We hope this could be a Long Beach Grand Prix. It’s been there for 50 years,” Penske said. “I think with [IndyCar] plus the city of Arlington and all the other partners we have, we want to make this an annual event, right?”
Penske explained what he thought would be needed for this event to stick around for decades.
“It’s execution, you know?” he said. “I think people [need to] come here and say, ‘Wow, had a great event, had a great time. I got a signature drink. I had this experience here. I met this one driver. I got to see this race car.’ It’s not gonna be perfect, but we’re gonna sure try to give the best experience you can on this first event, right?”
Penske said he hopes the event can grow similarly to how Formula One has expanded in Austin.
“I think about Formula One in Austin. It didn’t have the amount of people coming there, eight, seven years ago,” Penske said. “It’s only once a year coming to these locations. That makes it special, right? ... I think we try and do that, you know, look at that way. It’s just we got to build on this one.”
The Cowboys and Rangers have been tremendous partners in the event, Penske said.
“Getting the Cowboys and Rangers as partners, where, operationally, you know, we have their security. We’ve got their operations teams,” he said. “So I’ve got the blue zone over the Cowboys. Got the red zone over the Rangers. We’re all working together as one, but we’ve got their team members that we don’t have to hire.”
IndyCar is returning to Dallas-Fort Worth for the first time since 2023 following more than two decades at Texas Motor Speedway. Penske said he doesn’t see a return to TMS.
“I think today, this is where we’re going to be [not at Texas Motor Speedway],” he said. “I mean, because we had to make that change. I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault. In that case, it just happened to be a schedule issue.”
Penske gave his pitch to those who had never seen a race why they should attend or tune in on Fox.
“When you think about IndyCar racing, we’re able to do different things than most sports, which is we can get you in the locker room,” he said. “So you think about when a driver goes out and drives, and we give you headphones. To be able to listen to the strategy and things like that. They can listen to the driver. They can listen to the crew chief. What’s our strategy? Which should we put on, what type of tires, right? We can look at the teamwork that’s done with those different team members.”
Those familiar and unfamiliar won’t have to wait long with a little over a month remaining until race day.
