Grand Prix of Houston

Race history

From 1998 to 2001, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) held a race on Houston's downtown streets, adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center. This event was sponsored by the oil company Texaco, and named the Texaco Grand Prix of Houston. However, construction in downtown Houston resulted in the race not being renewed for the 2002 CART season.

In 2005, the Champ Car World Series announced that it would be making a return to Houston in 2006; for some time, series directors had wanted to make a return to the city. The 2006 event was held on May 13 as the second round of the 2006 Champ Car schedule. However, this time the race was held on a 1.7-mile temporary street circuit on the Reliant Park complex instead of the downtown streets and was the first race held on a street course to run at night in the history of Champ Car or its precursor series (in 2003, Champ Car ran under the lights at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio). Also, the American Le Mans Series held an event, the Lone Star Grand Prix, on the previous night, marking only the second time Champ Car and American Le Mans promoted their own events in the same city on the same weekend (they joined in 2003 for the Grand Prix Americas in Miami, Florida). For 2007, JAG Flocomponents picked up the naming rights to the previously unnamed street course, naming it JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park.

Mi-Jack Promotions had a handshake deal with IndyCar to revive the event in October 2011, however the required sponsorship was not found by June 2010. IndyCar officials announced the event will return in 2013 sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell and using a tweaked version of the 2006–2007 course. The event had a 5-year race contract through 2017 with IndyCar and Shell, using its Pennzoil brand of motor oil, was signed for 4 years as the event's title sponsor.[[File:2007GPofHouston1.jpg|thumb|left|350px|Cars approaching turn 1 during the 2007 race]]

On the final race lap of the 2013 event the car of Dario Franchitti was launched airborne in turn five when it made contact with the car of Takuma Sato. Franchitti's car flew into the catch-fencing, displacing a portion of the fence and sending debris into the stands, injuring 14. Franchitti suffered a broken ankle, broken back, and concussion, injuries which led him to retire from racing later that year.

IndyCar & Mi-Jack Promotions announced on August 29, 2014, that the Houston doubleheader at NRG Park had been canceled for 2015 due to scheduling issues.

Features

The Champ Car paddock was located inside Reliant Arena. In 2006, the Newman/Haas, RuSPORT, Dale Coyne, and Team Australia haulers were on the northern side, while the Forsythe, Rocketsports, PKV, and CTE-HVM teams were on the southern side. The 2006 race was also the last Champ Car or IndyCar race to ever be held on a road or street course at night under the lights, the first of which was the 2003 U.S. Bank Cleveland Grand Prix. 2007 and subsequent runnings were day races.

Race winners

Champ Car/IndyCar

• 1998: Race shortened due to heavy rainshower that caused poor visibility.
• 2006: Race shortened due to time limit.
• 2014: First race shortened due to time limit.

Atlantics/Indy Lights

Lap records

The fastest official race lap records at the Grand Prix of Houston circuits are listed as:

References

References

1. (2010-02-09). "City's sputtering motor sports scene may rev up". Houston Chronicle.
2. Lewandowski, Dave. (March 28, 2012). "Houston, we have liftoff for October 2013 event". [[IndyCar]].
3. Goodall, Russ. (March 28, 2012). "IndyCar's coming to town: Houston race slated for 2013". [[Houston Chronicle]].
4. Olson, Jeff., Nate Ryan, and Curt Cavin. [https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/motor/indycar/2013/10/06/grand-prix-houston-dario-franchitti-will-power-scott-dixon/2932683/ Franchitti breaks back, has surgery after crash that injures fans], ''USA Today'', October 11, 2013, Retrieved 2014-01-12
5. [https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/motor/indycar/2013/11/14/dario-franchitti-retires-indycar-injured-crash/3537295/ Dario Franchitti retires from IndyCar after accident], ''USA Today'', November 14, 2013, Retrieved 2014-01-12
6. "1998 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
7. "1999 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
8. "2000 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
9. "2001 Texaco-Havoline Grand Prix of Houston". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
10. "2006 Grand Prix of Houston". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
11. "2007 Grand Prix of Houston". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
12. "2013 Shell-Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston (1)". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
13. "2013 Shell-Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston (2)". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
14. "2014 Shell-Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston (1)". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
15. "2014 Shell-Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston (2)". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
16. "Houston-NRG - Motor Sport Magazine".
17. (6 October 2013). "2013 Houston Indycars - Round 18".
18. (5 October 2013). "2013 Houston Indy Lights".
19. (29 June 2014). "2014 Allied Building Products GP of Houston - Official Final Results - Race 2".
20. (5 October 2013). "2013 Marlin CNG Services Grand Prix of Houston - Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda - Official Race Report - Round 13".
21. (6 October 2013). "Houston Grand Prix at Houston Street Course on October 4–6 2013 - Final Race Results - Pirelli World Challenge GT/GTS Round 14".
22. (5 October 2013). "Houston Grand Prix at Houston Street Course on October 4–6 2013 - Final Race Results - Pirelli World Challenge TC/TCB Round 14".
23. (29 June 2014). "Koch completes Mazda MX-5 Cup sweep at Houston".
24. (21 April 2007). "American Le Mans Series Houston 2007".
25. (22 April 2007). "2007 Formula Atlantic Houston".
26. (21 April 2007). "2007 USF Pro 2000 Championship Houston Race Statistics".
27. (13 May 2006). "American Le Mans Series Houston 2006".
28. (14 May 2006). "2006 Formula Atlantic Houston".
29. (13 May 2006). "2006 USF Pro 2000 Championship Houston Race Statistics".
30. "Houston - Motor Sport Magazine".
31. (1 October 2000). "2000 Houston Champ Cars".
32. (1 October 2000). "2000 Indy Lights Houston 69".
33. (14 May 2006). "2000 Formula Atlantic Houston".