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MAVTV 500

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MAVTV 500
Verizon IndyCar Series
VenueAuto Club Speedway (1997–2005, 2012–2015)
Corporate sponsorMarlboro (1997–2001)
Toyota (1998–2005)
Yamaha (2002)
King Taco (2003)
Lucas Oil (2012–2015)
First race1997
First ICS race2002
Last race2015
Distance500 mi (800 km) – 1997–2002 CART, 2012–2015 IRL
400 mi (640 km) – 2002–2005, IRL
Laps200 (2002–2005)
250 (1997–2003, 2012–2015)
Previous namesMarlboro 500 Presented by Toyota (1997, 1999–2001)
Yamaha Indy 400 (2002 IRL)
The 500 presented by Toyota (1998 & 2002 CART)
King Taco 500 (2003 CART)
Toyota Indy 400 (2003–2005)
MAVTV 500 (2012–2015)
Most wins (driver)Sam Hornish Jr. (2)
Adrian Fernández (2)
Most wins (team)Chip Ganassi Racing (2)
Newman-Haas Racing (2)
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (2)
Panther Racing (2)
Most wins (manufacturer)Chassis: Dallara (7)
Engine: Chevrolet (5)

The MAVTV 500 was an IndyCar Series race held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The event represented a continuous lineage of open wheel oval racing in the Southern California-area that dates back to 1970. Since 2012, the event had been sponsored by MAVTV, a motorsports cable channel owned by Lucas Oil.

For many years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the race served as the season finale for the CART series. From 2012 to 2014, it served as the finale for the IndyCar Series.[1]

In 2015, the race was moved to June. Despite several journalists calling the 2015 edition one of the best IndyCar races, the race did not return on the schedule for 2016.[2]

History

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CART

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CART renewed the 500-mile oval race in 1997 at the newly built California Speedway in Fontana, California. The new track was built just 4 miles (6.4 km) from the previous Ontario Motor Speedway where the California 500 was held between 1970 and 1980. Indy car races were also held at nearby Riverside, but only from 1967 to 1969 (prior to the opening of Ontario) and again from 1981 to 1983 (after Ontario closed).

The Fontana race was held under the moniker Marlboro 500, and served as the CART season finale. This event was held through 2002. The race became known for closed-course record speeds, and fast and competitive racing, owing much to the track's width.

The 1999 race is considered a tragic day in the history of CART, after the fatal crash of Greg Moore. The 2003 event was cancelled due to the Old Fire.

Along with the popular Long Beach Grand Prix, the Southern California area featured two major open wheel CART races annually for a time.

Indy Racing League / IndyCar

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In 2002, the IRL IndyCar Series added a 400-mile race to the facility. Fontana became the first facility to host races from both rival open wheel series (CART and IRL), although the race distance was different (500 vs 400 miles). The Toyota Indy 400 was held through 2005. However, crowds dwindled, and the event was removed from the calendar.

The now-unified IndyCar Series returned to Fontana for the 2012 season with a 500-mile fall night race under the lights.[1] The race served as the season finale from 2012 to 2014. For 2015, the race was moved to June.

Closed-course speed records

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Two world closed course speed records were established in qualifying for the CART event. Maurício Gugelmin, driving a Reynard/Mercedes established a one-lap time of 30.316 seconds (average speed of 240.942 miles per hour (387.759 km/h) in 1997. At the time, CART officials recognized the track measurement as 2.029 miles (3.265 km). Gugelimin had furthermore turned an unofficial lap of 242.333 miles per hour (389.997 km/h) during the morning practice.[3]

On October 28, 2000, Gil de Ferran of Penske Racing topped Gugelmin's time driving a Reynard/Honda. The lap time by de Ferran was 30.255 seconds at an average speed of 241.428 miles per hour (388.541 km/h).[4] Using the more common track measurement of 2.0 miles, de Ferran's lap translated into an average speed of 237.977 miles per hour (382.987 km/h).

  • In 2002, the 500-mile CART series race averaged 197.995 mph, and stood as the fastest 500-mile race in history (either open wheel cars or stock cars) for a dozen years. The record stood until the 2014 Pocono 500.
  • The 2003 IRL/IndyCar race was the fastest circuit race ever in motorsport history, with an average speed of 207.151 mph (333.306 km/h) over 400 miles (643.737 km).

Race results

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Season Date Driver Team Chassis Engine Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph) 		Report Ref
Laps Miles (km)
PPG CART World Series/FedEx Championship
1997 September 28 United Kingdom Mark Blundell PacWest Racing Reynard Mercedes-Benz 250 500 (804.672) 3:02:42 166.575 Report [5]
1998 November 1 United States Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 250 500 (804.672) 3:17:54 153.785 Report [6]
1999 October 31 Mexico Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Reynard Ford-Cosworth 250 500 (804.672) 2:57:17 171.666 Report [7]
2000 October 29/30* Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing Lola Ford-Cosworth 250 500 (804.672) 3:38:04 139.563 Report [8]
2001 November 4 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Newman-Haas Racing Lola Toyota 220* 440 (708.111) 2:59:39 149.073 Report [9]
2002 November 3 United States Jimmy Vasser Team Rahal Lola Ford-Cosworth 250 500 (804.672) 2:33:42 197.995 Report [10]
2003 November 9 Cancelled due to wildfires in the San Bernardino Mountains. Report [11]
Indy Racing League/Verizon IndyCar Series
2002 March 24 United States Sam Hornish Jr. Panther Racing Dallara Chevrolet 200 400 (643.737) 2:13:49 179.345 Report [12]
2003 September 21 United States Sam Hornish Jr. Panther Racing Dallara Chevrolet 200 400 (643.737) 1:55:51 207.151 Report [13]
2004 October 3 Mexico Adrian Fernández Aguri-Fernández Racing G-Force Honda 200 400 (643.737) 2:14:13 178.826 Report [14]
2005 October 16 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda 200 400 (643.737) 2:22:23 168.567 Report [15]
2006
–
2011 		Not held
2012 September 15 United States Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara Chevrolet 250 500 (804.672) 2:57:34 168.939 Report [16]
2013 October 19 Australia Will Power Penske Racing Dallara Chevrolet 250 500 (804.672) 3:13:43 154.867 Report [17]
2014 August 30 Brazil Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Chevrolet 250 500 (804.672) 2:32:58 196.111 Report [18]
2015 June 27 United States Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara Honda 250 500 (804.672) 2:57:41 168.846 Report [19]
  • 2000: Race started on Sunday but finished on Monday due to rain.[20]
  • 2001: Race started late because of rain and was shortened because of darkness.[21]

Firestone Indy Lights

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Season Date Driver Chassis Engine Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph) 		Ref
Laps Miles (km)
Auto Club Speedway
1997 September 27 United States Clint Mears Lola Buick 50 100 (160.934) 0:52:16 116.467 [22]
1998 October 31 United States Mark Hotchkis Lola Buick 50 100 (160.934) 0:39:41 153.395 [23]
1999 October 30 United Kingdom Jonny Kane Lola Buick 50 100 (160.934) 0:46:52 129.902 [24]
2000 October 29 New Zealand Scott Dixon Lola Buick 50 100 (160.934) 0:33:08 183.672 [25]
2001 November 4 United States Townsend Bell Lola Buick 44* 88 (141.622) 0:29:23 182.334 [26]
2002 Not held
2003 September 20 United Kingdom Mark Taylor Dallara Infiniti 50 100 (160.934) 0:41:14 145.536 [27]
2004 October 2 United States James Chesson Dallara Infiniti 50 100 (160.934) 0:40:51 146.894 [28]
2005 October 16 New Zealand Wade Cunningham Dallara Infiniti 50 100 (160.934) 0:43:07 139.17 [29]
2006
–
2011 		Not held
2012 September 15 Colombia Carlos Muñoz Dallara Infiniti 50 100 (160.934) 0:37:38 159.41 [30]
2013 October 19 Colombia Carlos Muñoz Dallara Infiniti 50 100 (160.934) 0:32:10 186.552 [31]
  • 2001: Race shortened due to time limit.

References

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  1. ^ a b (IZOD IndyCar) Series Returning to Fontana in 2012 Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Home". Archived from the original on 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
  3. ^ A.M. Briefing -- Gugelmin Record: Lap At 240.942 Mph
  4. ^ "De FERRAN SETS NEW WORLD CLOSED COURSE RECORD, ADDS CRUCIAL POINT TO FedEx CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES LEAD BY TAKING POLE FOR MARLBORO 500 PRESENTED BY TOYOTA". SpeedCenter. October 28, 2000. Archived from the original on 7 January 2001. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  5. ^ "1997 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  6. ^ "1998 The 500 Presented by Toyota". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  7. ^ "1999 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  8. ^ "2000 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  9. ^ "2001 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  10. ^ "2002 The 500 Presented by Toyota". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  11. ^ Humason, John (October 29, 2003). "Champ Car season ends early due to California fires". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  12. ^ "2002 Yamaha Indy 400". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  13. ^ "2003 Toyota Indy 400". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  14. ^ "2004 Toyota Indy 400". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  15. ^ "2005 Toyota Indy 400". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  16. ^ "2012 MAVTV 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  17. ^ "2013 MAVTV 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  18. ^ "2014 MAVTV 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  19. ^ "2015 MAVTV 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "CART Marlboro 500 postponed due to rain". Las Vegas Sun. October 29, 2000. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  21. ^ Tate, Mark (November 4, 2001). "Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota – Sunday Afternoon Press Notes". Championship Auto Racing Teams. Archived from the original on November 2, 2002. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  22. ^ "1997-13". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  23. ^ "1998-14". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  24. ^ "1999-12". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  25. ^ "2000-12". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  26. ^ "2001-12". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  27. ^ "2003 California 100". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  28. ^ "2004 California 100". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  29. ^ "2005 California 100". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  30. ^ "2012 Auto Club Speedway Foundation 100". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  31. ^ "2013 Lefty's Kids Club 100". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
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