Circuit of the Americas joins 2019 IndyCar calendar

Circuit of the Americas will host its maiden IndyCar round as the 2019 race calendar is revealed.

The 17-round campaign starts at its traditional opener St Petersburg in Florida before making a first trip to the Texas circuit, home of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, for the second round.

The new round sees IndyCar run both an oval and a road course in Texas with the series returning on June 8 at the Texas Motor Speedway.

“COTA is one of the finest motorsports facilities in the world and Austin is a happening city. This a natural fit for the IndyCar Series,” Mark Miles, President and CEO of Hulman & Co., owners of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Indy car racing has a large and passionate fan base in Texas with a hunger to attend more races. This added date will allow us to deliver both oval and road course events to the state in a single season.”

The 2019 calendar has produced an even split between different course types with seven permanent road tracks, five street circuits and five ovals. Detroit hosts the only doubleheader on June 1-2 on its street circuit while the Toronto street race makes a comeback for 2019.

“IndyCar has worked to deliver a consistency and cadence to the schedule and that is reflected again in 2019,” Miles added. “We've added races at a pair of tracks that know how to put on fantastic events, while returning to tracks where IndyCar has longstanding relationships on familiar race dates.

“The diversity of next year's schedule will continue to make what we believe is the most challenging and competitive championship in motorsports.”

2019 IndyCar Series calendar
March 10: Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida
March 24: Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas
April 7: Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama
April 14: Streets of Long Beach, California
May 11: INDYCAR Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
May 26: 103rd Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval
June 1: Streets of Detroit, Race 1, Detroit, Michigan
June 2: Streets of Detroit, Race 2, Detroit, Michigan
June 8: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas*
June 23: Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
July 14: Streets of Toronto, Canada
July 20: Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa*
July 28: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio
Aug. 18: Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Aug. 24: Gateway Motorsports Park, Madison, Illinois*
Sept. 1: Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon
Sept. 22: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Salinas, California
(*-night race)