IndyCar says hello to an old friend at Texas Motor Speedway

300-mile IndyCar races at 1.5-mile ovals used to be common. But there hasn’t been one since 2011. That is slated to change this weekend.

A plethora of changes to the 2020 IndyCar schedule caused by the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in Texas Motor Speedway becoming the first oval to host a season opener since Homestead-Miami Speedway did so all the way back in March of 2008.

After it was officially confirmed that Texas Motor Speedway would indeed open up the 2020 season on Saturday, June 6, the length of the race was shortened from its usual 248 laps to 200 laps.

It was renamed the Genesys 300 (miles) from the Genesys 600 (kilometers) as a result of the change. 300-mile races at 1.5-mile ovals used to be fairly common at the highest level of American open-wheel racing.

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There would typically be around five of these races per season. In fact, the final four races of the 2010 season were all races of this variety. But with this change, IndyCar is set to see its first 300-mile race at a 1.5-mile oval since the abandoned race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway back in October of 2011.

Aside of this race, which was canceled after Dan Wheldon was killed in a 15-car crash on only the 11th lap, the most recent 300-mile race at a 1.5-mile oval took place two weeks prior at Kentucky Speedway, when Ed Carpenter held off Dario Franchitti in one of the closest finishes in series history to secure the first of his now three career victories. This race was contested on Sunday, October 2, 2011.

Yes, it has really been nine seasons since the last 300-mile race.

Carpenter, whose most recent win came at Texas Motor Speedway in June of 2014, is entered into Saturday night’s race. Can he go back-to-back in 300-mile races — nearly nine years apart — and end a lengthy win drought at the same track where it began nearly six years ago?

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Tune in to NBC, not NBC Sports Network as originally scheduled, at 8:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, June 6 for the live broadcast of the Genesys 300 from Texas Motor Speedway.