Round 4: Desert Diamond West Valley, Phoenix Grand Prix. Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale. April 28-29.
Last year, after an 11 year absence, IndyCar returned to Phoenix International Raceway and it was the only 1 Mile oval on the 2016 calendar as will be this year's race.
The first race to be held at Pheonix was in 1915, on a dirt oval at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. In 1950 the American Automobile Association revived the race and when the United States Auto Club became the sanctioning body, the race was added to their calendar in 1956. In 1964, the race was moved to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, on the outskirts of Phoenix.
During the USAC era, two races a year were held, the Jimmy Bryan 150 in Spring and Bobby Ball Memorial in the Fall/Autumn. Both races were named after local race drivers who were killed at Phoenix. After the split with USAC, the race became a CART event from 1979 to 1995. The track continued to hold two races a year, with the spring race often serving as the season opener but in 1987 the track dropped the Fall race. In 1995, after a dispute between the track owners and CART series officials, the event was dropped from the 1996 CART calendar and immediately switched to the IRL for that year.
Last year's race was won by Scott Dixon, with caution periods, 6 in total and tyre wear playing a major part. Penske team mates, Hélio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya suffered tyre failures while leading the race; Castroneves on lap 39 and Montoya on lap 95, having inherited the lead from Castroneves. Dixon took the lead on lap 95 from Montoya and led the remaining laps of the 250 lap race, taking the chequered flag. Like last year, this year's race will also be a night race.
Some trivia:
Phoenix was the last career win for Mario Andretti, in 1993.
The only drivers from the current crop to have won at Phoenix are Hélio Castroneves in 2002, Tony Kanaan in 2003, 2004 and Scott Dixon 2016.
The driver with most wins: 6, Al Unser Sr, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1979, 1985.
The Team with most wins: 8, Penske Racing/Team Penske, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2002, 2005.
Track layout:
The track has both road course and oval configurations. The original road course ran both inside and outside of the oval but was replaced in 1991 with an infield course. The oval gets its unusual layout with the "dogleg", due to a combination of the terrain, the original road course and a drag strip. In 2011, the oval underwent significant changes, the most notable were to the front stretch, widened to 62 feet (19 m) and the "dogleg" being moved outward by 95 feet (29 m), as well as its radius being increased to 500 feet (150 m).
Length: 1.022 Miles (1.644 Km)
Turns: 4
Lap record old configuration: Arie Luyendyck, March 23, 1996. 19.608, 183.599 mph (295.474 km/h), Treadway Racing, Reynard 96i-Ford Cosworth XB, Indy Racing League.
Lap record new configuration: Hélio Castroneves, 1 April, 2016. 19.0997, 192.631 mph (310.01 Km/h) Team Penske, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6. Verizon IndyCar Series.
Last year's race:
Pole:
Hélio Castroneves. 19.0997, 192.631 mph (310.01 Km/h)
Winner:
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Laps: 250
Distance 255.5 Miles (411.186 km)
Race Time 1:49:39
Average Speed 139.822 (225.022 Km/h)
Caution periods: 6
Caution laps: 55
Race Broadcast:
NBCSN. 9:00pm, ET