The Spring Years: 2007-2009 As exciting as the summer races at the Kansas Speedway were, the spring races have been lack-luster. During the 2007 race, the leaders ran away from the rest of the field. Dan Wheldon crossed the checkered and yellow flags ahead of the eventual season champion Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti as the race ended under caution. There was no doubt about who the winner was going to be, though. Dixon was definitely the class of the field that day. 3rd and 4th place finishers Helio Castroneves…
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IndyCar – Kansas Preview: Kansas Speedway 2001-2006
The Summer Years: 2001-2006 The first IZOD IndyCar Series race at the Kansas Speedway was held on July 8th, 2001. Those of you in the Midwest already know that no July 8th, surrounded by tarmac and concrete, it will be oppressively hot, and so it was for the first six races. Summertime in the Midwestern states, and especially in the central plains are brutal for both their high temperatures and high humidities. These conditions would challenge and tax both drivers and fans, but these years also produced some of the…
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Preview: A look at the history of open-wheel racing around Kansas City
History: An Interview with Kansas City Sprint Car Legend Luther Brewer: Open-wheel racing has always been a major part of the motorsports scene in Kansas and Missouri. After WWII, motorsports throughout the country exploded in popularity, and the MidWest was the center of sprint and midget car racing. That rich tradition hasn’t faded. Every week, you can find winged and wingless sprint cars doing battle on dirt ovals across the Kansas City area. I thought about trying to piece together a review of the sprint car history from around the…
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Preview: An introduction to open-wheel racing around Kansas City
Introduction: The IZOD IndyCar Series has been coming to the new Kansas Speedway since its opening in 2001. This year with be their 10th race at the 1.5-mile D-shaped oval track, and for the second time in a row it will be the first oval race of the season, and since 2007 it will be the lead-in event to the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. So far this season, we’ve seen three street races and one road race, two of which were outstanding, one was still pretty good, and the last…
Read MoreIndyCar – The Race Fan’s Guide to Kansas City
Of all of the 1.5-mile cookie-cutter ovals, the Kansas Speedway is by far the best, offering great racing and a great location. Some of the closest finishes and best races in the IndyCar Series have happened at the Kansas Speedway. To be sure, Texas Motorspeedway and Chicagoland Speedway also produce great racing action, but the Kansas Speedway has the added benefit of being located on the western outskirts of town where access from the airport is a snap and traffic is at a minimum, yet right around the track is…
Read MoreFirestone Indy Lights – 2009 Season Review – Spring Races
Introduction A dedicated feeder series to the primary American Open-Wheel Racing series has been in existance in one form or another since 1986. The American Racing Series began in 1986 to serve as a development platform for CART, since the Formula Atlantics series which had been around since 1965 had failed to race in 1984, and existed as two separate series, a Pacific and an Atlantic series, from 1985 to 1990. In 1991, the same year that the split Formula Atlantics championship merged back into a single national series, the…
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