Nascar and Indy Racing League Speed Toward Chicago; Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet Announces Race Schedule, Initial Ticket Program

Business Wire, May 8, 2000

Business Editors & Sports Writers

JOLIET, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2000

The Chicago-area sports scene revved its engines on Monday with the announcement that the country's most popular spectator sport is coming to nation's third largest city.

At a Monday morning press conference at Chicago's Navy Pier, Tony George, president and chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation and founder of the Indy Racing League, and Mike Helton, NASCAR senior vice president and chief operating officer, announced the addition of the Indy Racing Northern Light Series, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division, to the Chicago sports lineup.

The three popular series will race at the newly named Chicagoland Speedway, a 1.5 mile tri-oval now under construction in Joliet. The racetrack is owned by Raceway Associates, LLC, which is made up of the combined interests of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation (IMS), International Speedway Corporation (Nasdaq/NM: ISCA; OTC Bulletin Board: ISCB) and the founding owners of Route 66 Raceway, LLC. When completed in Spring 2001, the 75,000-seat Chicagoland Speedway will be one of the nation's top motorsports complexes.

The NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Winston Cup Series will share the inaugural event weekend at the Chicagoland Speedway on July 14 and 15, 2001. The Indy Racing Northern Light Series will make its Chicago debut on September 2, 2001.

"NASCAR has enjoyed phenomenal growth in recent years due to the overwhelming support of our long-time fans and the interest of newer fans," said Helton. "We are continuing this growth by bringing the excitement of NASCAR to new markets like Chicago to satisfy the appetite of these fans."

Some of auto racing's most popular drivers were on hand for the event and offered praise for the facility and the opportunity to race in Chicago.

"The opportunity to bring big-time racing to a big city is going to be great for the sport and our drivers," said NASCAR Winston Cup driver Tony Stewart. "Many of the fans here grew up on open wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500, and we now get to introduce them to the bumping and grinding world of stock car racing."

Eddie Cheever, 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner, seconded Stewart's sentiment. "It's going to be a great track in a great city. Chicago has the most dedicated, vocal sports fans, and I can't wait to see them turn out by the thousands to cheer on their favorite drivers - hopefully me. And as a team owner in the Indy Racing Northern Light Series, I'm proud to see our series expand our schedule into another major market."

For the Chicagoland Speedway, it was one more important step in a long development process.

"We're thrilled to bring the Indy Racing Northern Light Series, the NASCAR Busch Series and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series to the Chicago area," said Joie Chitwood, general manager of the Chicagoland Speedway. "Our partners identified Chicago as a target market several years ago, and we've been working toward this day ever since. We began construction with the hopes of getting a great lineup of events, but there are no guarantees in this business. We hoped that if we built a great facility and assembled a solid leadership team, our chances would be good."

Great Racing....Great Track

The Chicagoland Speedway is scheduled to open in Spring 2001 and host two race event weekends initially featuring three top racing series.

Tony George, with drivers Cheever and Scott Sharp, announced that Chicagoland Speedway has been awarded an Indy Racing Northern Light Series event. Made famous by legendary drivers such as A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Johnny Rutherford, the series now features top drivers Al Unser Jr., Cheever, Sharp, Scott Goodyear, Buddy Lazier and Greg Ray. The Indianapolis 500, the signature race for the Indy Racing Northern Light Series, is the largest single-day sporting event in the world.

"This region has a great tradition of open wheel racing dating back to Meadowdale International and Raceway Park, and we are proud to link the heritage of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 with the racing tradition of Illinois," said George. "Chicago will be the largest market where the Indy Racing Series competes, and I expect it will be a great event for our drivers, our fans and our sponsors."

With a new five-year, multi-million dollar series sponsor fueling its future, the Indy Racing Northern Light Series is bringing Indy Racing and its exciting appeal to new fans and corporate partners. New young stars, new team sponsors, a new engine and chassis program, and a new five-year television contract with ABC and ESPN are among the many factors spurring the growth of America's premiere open-wheel, oval-track racing.

The Indy Racing Northern Light Series has seen double-digit revenue growth each year since 1996, and is well on its way to continuing that in 2000. Sponsor support has grown 43 percent and the number of teams competing in the series has increased to 30 in 2000 from 16 in its inaugural season. By 2005, the Indy Racing Northern Light Series forecasts it will have as many as 18 events on the annual circuit. The Indy Racing Northern Light Series features open-wheel, open-cockpit racecars with normally aspirated V-8 engines that race at more than 220 miles per hour.