Houston

Just as a race in the Motor City (Detroit) seems logical, so a race around the streets of America’s petrol capitol was inevitable. The race was instigated in 1998 by Champ Car team owner Carl Haas and sponsored by his long-time backers Texaco/Havoline. Former Newman-Haas driver Mario Andretti advised on track layout with long back straight easing overtaking and a proliferation of second-gear 90 degree corners. Dario Franchitti survived a downpour to win the inaugural race and the event remained a part of the Champ Car World Series for four years before redevelopment of the area forced sanctioning body CART to look elsewhere.