Texas Gets Longer

[BobbyC]

The IRL race at Texas Motor Speedway, long a 300-mile race, goes to 342 miles for 2007.

It is misnamed the Bombardier Learjet 550k, because the race is just 534.6k.

[Alexamateo]

The IRL race at Texas Motor Speedway, long a 300-mile race, goes to 342 miles for 2007.

It is misnamed the Bombardier Learjet 550k, because the race is just 534.6k.

THat's OK everything's bigger in Texas! :p :

[Jonesi]

I get 228 laps at 1.500 track length is 342 miles, times 1.60935 is 550.3977 kilometers. What conversion factor did you use?

[jarrambide]

Americans talking about kilometers? :D What´s next? Kilograms?, Liters?
Jonesi is right 342 miles are 550.39565 kilometers.

[Subaru WRX]

lol 534 or 550 I don't like ovals att all and I don't understand how people in America love, watching cars turning around and around for more than 2 or 3 hours !!! its simply too boring, better the CCWS

[MarcoCheever]

Americans talking about kilometers? What´s next? Kilograms?, Liters?

will we have to stand in que for the loo ?

[DocF225]

No, but we'll be knocking up our mates before the race...

[Mark in Oshawa]

I don't get what you were getting at Bobby. It was that distance all along.....which is long enough.

[BobbyC]

The "500 kilometer" marketing ploy for a 300-mile race is a trick in the book used by NASCAR since the 1970's, when Riverside (CA) switched to metric distances to cut the races.

The Nextel Cup races at Phoenix are 500k races, and the two road courses are 350k races.

Fro 1992-1997, the 311-mile races at Talladega for Busch Series cars were known as 500-kilometer races. A fan complaint led to the race distance being shortened by four laps to 300-mile races, and in 2002, Aaron's Rents restored the Metric 500 distance.

Personally, I think making the 300-mile races 500k races (eight extra laps) would be better for fans. One extra fuel stop, one pit move, or one flawed incident would change the drama -- a 300-mile loser is a 500k winner.