Our 2008 website is now online!

#Race #1 : XM Satellite Radio Indy 300

Race 1 of 17
Saturday, March 29
Homestead Miami Speedway, Florida

2007 Winner: Dan Wheldon
Distance: 200 laps/300 miles


Saturday, March 29, 2008
XM Satellite Radio Indy 300
XM Speed Jam - Full Schedule of the day

The XM Satellite Radio Indy 300
The XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 is an Indy Racing League Series race held at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. In 2007, on television, the race was advertised as the Ethanol 300 Presented by XM Satellite Radio.

The first championship car race that took place in the Miami-area was on February 22, 1926 at Fulford-Miami Speedway in nearby Fulford. A 300-mile race sanctioned by AAA took place only once at the 1.25-mile wooden board track. Peter DePaolo was the winner.

Modern American open wheel racing in the Miami-area dates back to 1985. In that year, the CART Champ Car series began racing on a temporary street circuit in Tamiami Park, a small outdoor sports facility in the nearby suburb of Tamiami. The served as the season finale. In 1987-1988, the short-lived CART all-star exhibition race, the Marlboro Challenge, was also held at the Tamiami circuit, in conjunction with the main event. The races did not enjoy the same interest or attendance that had been experienced by the annual IMSA races in March, which was held at a different street course in Miami. After 1988, the Tamiami Park race was discontinued. As of 2007, subtle remnants of the course are still visible.

In 1995, race promoter Ralph Sanchez brought open wheel racing back to Miami. He had already begun construction on the Homestead Motorsports Complex (now known as Homstead-Miami Speedway), where the race would be, but the track would not be completed until later in the year. For 1995 only, CART held a race on the Bicentennial Park circuirt, on Biscayne Bay, formerly used by IMSA from 1983-1993. It was, however, run in the opposite direction to prevent drivers familiar with the circuit from having an experience advantage. The course wound through roads surrounding the current site of AmericanAirlines Arena and traversed down Biscayne Boulevard. As of 2007, some of the course layout remains intact.

In 1996, CART debuted at the Homestead oval with a 200-mile CART Champ Car event. In 1997, the race was lengthened to 225 miles. In 2001, the event switched to an Indycar Series event and was again lengthened, to 300 miles.

After several years as the Toyota Indy 300, Toyota decided not to renew the contract for the Indy races thus giving the opportunity for other presentors such as Honda and XM Satellite Radio to be the presenting sponsor. Homestead-Miami Speedway gave an opportunity for Honda Racing to be the presenting sponsor since Toyota was not going to compete in the sport, but XM Satellite Radio came to terms with HMS and provided the appropriate funding to be the presenting sponsor of the Sunday event. In 2006, the event was named theToyota Indy 300 Presented by XM Satellite Radio as the last year of Toyota's involvement in the Indy sport.

For the 2007 Season Opening of XM Satellite Radio's debut as presenting sponsor, Homestead-Miami Speedway combined Saturday's Linder Industrial Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami part of the Rolex Sports Car Series & Sunday's Indy 300 into one large Saturday event called the XM Satellite Radio Speed Jam. The event proved to be successful in the predominantly latino city of Miami & Homestead and steps are being made to make the opening of the 2008 season an even bigger event at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Speedway Facts
Dedication Date: November 3, 1995

Inaugural Race: ( NASCAR Busch Series) Jiffy Lube Miami 300- Nov. 5, 1995
Winner: Dale Jarrett
Pole Winner: Joe Nemechek

Inaugural Indy Racing League Race: Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami-April 8, 2001
Winner: Sam Hornish, Jr.
Pole Winner: Jeff Ward

Current Capacity: 65,000 Grandstand seats

Facility: 600 acres

Tower Building: Equivalent of a 12-story building in height (although only five levels)

Course: 1.5 mile oval, 2.21 mile road course

Surface: Asphalt

Length of front straight: 1,760 feet


Length of back straight: 1,760 feet

Banking in turns: 20-degrees variable banking

Banking in straights: Three degrees

Width of Track: 55 feet

Pit Road: 1,900 feet long, 50 feet wide

Garage Area: 30 stalls (spaces for 120 cars)

Garage Suites: 30 suites available for viewing above the garages.

TV Monitors: 750 monitors. That is 15,140 inches of monitors on the premises.

Press Areas: The infield media center accommodates up to 90 writers and photographers; as well as, the timing and scoring crews. The press box on the fifth floor of the Tower Building accommodates 156 writers, while the sixth floor has seven TV/radio booths. An infield media tent can accommodate an additional 100 writers and photographers. Two auxiliary media areas can also be added to the infield, which will accommodate 90 additional media members.

Fencing: Over 33 miles of high strength steel cable are used as part of the oval fencing/cable barrier system. More than 9,000 clamps are used to hold this cable in place. The 33 miles of cable is long enough to stretch from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale.

Palm Trees: 1005 palm trees of 15 different varieties.

Tunnels: Two tunnels, both below sea level. The back tunnel is the southern-most tunnel in the continental United States, and is large enough to hold two tractor-trailer trucks.

Water: The facility's water tower has a capacity of one million gallons. That's enough water to fill 20,000 bathtubs.

Lakes: Four lakes were created, providing more than 2.5 million cubic yards of limerock fill to build the speedway. Three of the four lakes are located on the Speedway's property, with two lakes in the infield. The largest of the lakes is 18 acres and stocked with rare Peacock Bass. This lake is deep enough to submerge an entire six-story building.

Parking: Spaces for over 30,000 cars. Parking is free to all guests at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RV Parking: There are 1300 parking spaces for RV's.

Weight: The entire project weighs 10 billion pounds, give or take a few million.

Lights: In 2005 Homestead-Miami Speedway installed state-of-the-art lights throughout the facility, making it possible for Ford Championship Weekend to be held after dark for the first time

Electrical System: 2.4 millions watts of power per hour will be necessary to illuminate the Speedway. That is equal to the amount of power needed to light 17,143 blocks with residential street lighting in South Florida

Champions Club Tower: This luxurious new facility, which is located outside Turn One, will include 16 skyboxes, seating 32 people each, and offering amenities such as an indoor, air-conditioned club area with buffet and full-liquor bars, plasma televisions, outdoor chairback seating, exclusive elevator, pre-race track pass, and a spectacular view of the Speedway.