The streets around AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field are being lined with nearly 3,000 concrete barriers this week, the infrastructure of a wager that open-wheel racing can take permanent root in Arlington’s entertainment district. The inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, a joint venture between Penske Entertainment, the Dallas Cowboys, and REV Entertainment, opens fan festivities today at Texas Live! before NTT IndyCar Series practice begins Friday on a 2.73-mile street circuit. “Through a truly remarkable and innovative partnership, we’re going to build racing’s next global spectacle,” said Roger Penske, chairman of Penske Corporation, in the event’s announcement.
The event will feature GRAMMY® Award-winning artist T-Pain as the entertainment headliner of the Good Ranchers Concert Series, along with DJ Disco Lines at the controls.
The City of Arlington permitted the course design without taxpayer expense for the resurfacing work, which relied on LiDAR surface mapping and diamond grinding to prepare municipal roads for cars capable of 180 miles per hour. “The Grand Prix covered the cost of the resurfacing — at no expense to taxpayers,” confirmed Grand Prix General Manager Jeff Miller in a briefing with D CEO Magazine.
Race weekend expects approximately 75,000 spectators from 45 states and eight countries, with Sunday’s main event broadcast nationally on FOX. Hall of Famers DeMarcus Ware and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez will give the command to start engines. “This race will become a bucket list race on the series,” Miller said.
The last street race in the DFW area, a notorious 1984 Formula 1 event at Fair Park, ended in a class-action lawsuit and ongoing scandal after melting tires and blown engines. Champion driver Nigel Mansell infamously passed out in Dallas’ 100-degree heat while trying to push his car across the finish line after a gearbox failure. Brazilian legend Aryton Senna, fresh out of the lower-tier Formula 3, crashed on lap 47. Keke Rosberg won the race from the eighth spot, after only eight cars finished the race.