The Indianapolis Star’s Curt Cavin and the Boston Globe’s Mike Vega are now confirming that the IZOD IndyCar Series will be racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 31, 2011.
The ‘Magic Mile,’ which is now owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. after many years under the stewardship of the Bahre family, was one of the original tracks for the Indy Racing League and held races for the then-fledgling series from 1996 to 1998. It also held races for CART from 1992 to 1995. Since those days, the track has been a NASCAR stronghold in the Northeast.
Track general manager Jerry Gappens, an Indiana native, has tried for some time now to get his facility on the IndyCar schedule, but it appears that his persistence (and perhaps that of his boss, SMI kingpin Bruton Smith) has finally paid off.
In an interesting sidenote, Cavin writes that reigning IZOD IndyCar Series and Indy 500 champ Dario Franchitti will get to drive his No. 10 Target machine around the one-mile oval at speed in a demo run just before the start of Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 as part of the announcement of the IndyCar event at NHMS.
Keep your ears open for more news from the Granite State in the days ahead!
