Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, like all IndyCar followers, has seen temporary street circuits, of course. But this Arlington, Texas, race, by all accounts, raised the bar with its professional presentation and jam-packed grandstands. Towriss recognized the wild popularity of this event among drivers and fans alike.
And he said that “a number of owners have said they’d love to see this model replicated more and more. It takes a lot to pull off. It takes special people on-site to make it happen. We think this is a model that could be replicated and lead to successful events in IndyCar.”
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Across the paddock, Towriss would get a unanimous thumbs up. Everyone in IndyCar wants an encore—and more. They want every IndyCar race to have that same vibe, same crowd, and same electricity—and not just on temporary street circuits.
Drivers from every team raved about the event and its value to the sport. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:
Will Power (Andretti Global): “This is setting a new standard of what our events should look like. Every stand was full. It was totally, totally full. The track looked amazing. It just looked like a big event. I can’t thank Penske Entertainment, the Cowboys, the Rangers [enough].”
“I cannot wait to be back here next year. It’s been a 10 out of 10. There’s nothing you can say that was bad.”
Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing): “My expectations were high, but this has exceeded by 10 times, this event in general. By far this is the best street course race I’ve been a part of. The energy was incredible. I cannot wait to be back here next year. It’s been a 10 out of 10. There’s nothing you can say that this was bad. The attendance was incredible. The fans were incredible. Everybody was just there, being happy. It’s incredible to be part of this.”
Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren): “I’ve had such a great weekend driving around this place, and everyone here and involved in this event deserves the sold-out crowd that I saw today. They’ve set a new standard on what IndyCar races should look like every single weekend.”
Christian Rasmussen (Ed Carpenter Racing): “It’s an instant favorite.”
Josef Newgarden (Team Penske): “Roger Penske and Mr. [Jerry] Jones are titans of the industry. Mr. Jones and the Dallas Cowboys have great staying power. The link between those brands can be very complementary and create some staying power on the calendar. I hope we’re here for many years to come.”
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And Dave O’Neill, team principal at Juncos Hollinger Racing, congratulated the series and race organizers “for bringing such an impressive new venue to the calendar. The scale of this event and the work that has gone into creating this circuit in the Texas Live! entertainment district are exceptional. It’s great to see the series continuing to expand into major markets with events like this. It was also a fantastic introduction to IndyCar for the Arlington fans. The race itself turned into a real thriller, and the atmosphere around the circuit all weekend was incredible.”
The numbers back up the hype. The event—set against the backdrop of AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field, and Choctaw Stadium—scored record merchandise sales for a non-Indianapolis 500 event and boasted the largest premium hospitality program outside of the Indianapolis 500.
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The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders root on the Chevrolet Corvette pace cars.
The goal, Java House Grand Prix of Arlington President Miller said, was “to redefine the guest experience.” He succeeded. And he said, “This weekend proved that Arlington is built for world-class racing.”
Towriss rated the race at the “marquee event” level: “This is a great event by any stretch, let alone for a first-year event. Thank you to Jerry Jones and the team that put this together. I think everybody knows they do it right. It’s absolutely a big race on the circuit. We’ve known that IndyCar is some of the best racing in motorsports for a long time. To showcase that, you need big events, events like this. It was a tremendous success. We need more of these kind of events. This is definitely a showpiece in the series.”
What’s more, this might be one of the rare moments everybody in IndyCar is agrees with one another.
Susan Wade has lived in the Seattle area for 40 years, but motorsports is in the Indianapolis native’s DNA. She has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with nearly 30 seasons at the racetrack, focusing on the human-interest angle. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, and Seattle Times. She has contributed to Autoweek as a freelance writer since 2016.