Texas race lengthened to 550K

Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage understood the issue even before he began receiving letters and e-mails from ticket-holders.

People came to his track for IndyCar Series racing and weren't seeing enough of it. So the Bombardier Learjet 500 became the Bombardier Learjet 550. The 50 extra kilometers will translate into 28 additional laps tonight.

The catalyst was last year's race, which finished in one hour, 34 minutes with only two caution flags.

"That was much too quick, so we appealed to the IRL to lengthen the race," Gossage said Friday. "It's giving fans more of a good thing."

Even with the additional length, the 550-kilometer race – about 305 miles – should be completed in about two hours, 15 minutes. In contrast, the Indianapolis 500, which is 500 miles, can last up to four hours. Dallas Morning News