By: IndyCar Press Release
The IZOD INDYCAR Series announces that the final race of the 2011 season will be October 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
MORE: $5 million bonus for win in Indy Car finale by outsider: The Izod IndyCar Series confirmed its 2011 season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with an enticing twist: A $5 million reward to any driver from another series who can win the race. IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard says a selection committee would be created to select a group of five entrants from outside IndyCar, likely determined by mid-summer. A test session also will be held at Las Vegas, and Bernard singled out the series’ top teams — Penske Racing, Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport — as prime candidates for offering rides to the interlopers. Bernard wouldn’t speculate on who might be interested in the proposition, but the race date was designed with NASCAR in mind. IndyCar will make its return to Las Vegas’ for the Oct. 16 race, which will be held at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Sprint Cup Series will race the night before at Charlotte, with the Bank of America 500 ending sometime between 11-11:30 p.m. in Concord, N.C. The Charlotte race is the fifth of 10 Chase for the Sprint Cup, which might dissuade many big names in Cup from participating because of focus on the title hunt. The obvious candidates would be former IndyCar drivers Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Sam Hornish Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya. But Montoya has indicated no interest in racing Indy cars again, and Stewart has said he doesn’t want to do a one-off. Gordon and Hornish, however, might be interested in returning, and other veterans (such as Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne) have admitted intrigue in the prospect.(Jayski via USA Today)(2-23-2010)
