RACE ONE: SECOND PLACE.
Marco second at season opener in Miami! Pole-sitter Scott Dixon overtook Tony Kanaan on a restart with three laps left and went on to win the Gainsco 300 at the Homestead Miami Speedway. He beat Marco Andretti by 0.5828 seconds to give Chip Ganassi Racing its fourth straight win at Homestead.

Marco led 85 of 200 laps, almost twice as many as he did in all of 2007. See Exclusive Photos

"We're not messing around this year. We've done a lot of work. We're ready to go. I gained my confidence back on the ovals, which was our definite weak spot to start. And we're hopefully going to be strong next weekend, as are a lot of other people."
Marco in the post race interview. Read full transcript

"This is exactly where we hoped to be coming into the Honda Grand Prix. We would have liked to have won at Homestead, but this is the best start to a season we've ever had and that's important. I like the circuit at St. Petersburg. Obviously I've had some success there in the past and the pressure is going to be high to finish well. We expect to win races in the Gillette car and I think we have a great shot this weekend."- Marco

"Marco and the #26 car ran well in qualifying on Friday, and will start on the third row at the Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300. Andretti posted a four-lap average speed of 211.838 miles per hour during his qualifying attempt.

"It wasn’t a bad run for the NYSE car. Once the clouds got behind the stands, it picked up a lot of downforce and drag, too. To be honest, we’re starting right where we need to be for this race. I started fifth here last year and we didn’t finish, so it’s all about getting the right setup for the race car and that’s what we’ve been working toward today."

Before Friday's sessions Marco said: "We’ve had a couple of tough races at Homestead in the past. Last year we thought we had it figured out and we did a great job in qualifying. I think that will help us and will certainly give the NYSE team some confidence as we head into the race weekend. I think it’s really important for us to have a good finish at Homestead. If we can put together two great results in Florida (Homestead-Miami and St. Petersburg), I think we’ll be in great shape for the season..." Gallery

SpeedJam 2008:
The world’s best open-wheel drivers storm Homestead-Miami Speedway March 29 for SpeedJam 2008. One of motorsports premier event weekends, SpeedJam features the IndyCar Series season-opening GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300, the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami, the IndyPro Series Miami 100, and a full-day festival of car shows, Memphis Barbeque, kids activities and a special live performance by Three Doors Down—2003 Billboard Music Award Winner for “Best Pop/Rock Group."

Homestead-Miami’s 18-to-20-degree variable banking makes for one of the most action-packed evenings found anywhere on the South Florida calendar, and anticipation for this year’s SpeedJam has been at an all-time high. The natural allure of attending the IndyCar Series season opener has been buoyed by the participation of two-time Indy 500 winner-turned-"Dancing with the Stars" champion Helio Castroneves.

Joining Helio on track--and racing under the South Florida stars at speeds approaching 220 mph--will be the biggest stars in open-wheel racing: perennial contender/"Sports Illustrated" swimsuit model Danica Patrick, three-time Homestead-Miami IndyCar Series winner Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, , Ryan Briscoe, Ed Carpenter, Hideki Mutoh and the rest of IndyCar’s best.

Revel in all there is to offer with the IndyCar Series’ brightest stars shining throughout the weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tickets are on sale now. Call (866) 409-RACE or click here.

Backstory
The GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 is an Indy Racing League Series race held at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.
The first championship car race that took place in the Miami-area was on February 22, 1926 at Fulford-Miami Speedway in nearby Fulford. A 300-mile race sanctioned by AAA took place only once at the 1.25-mile wooden board track. Peter DePaolo was the winner.

Modern American open wheel racing in the Miami-area dates back to 1985. In that year, the CART Champ Car series began racing on a temporary street circuit in Tamiami Park, a small outdoor sports facility in the nearby suburb of Tamiami.

Further information: Streets of Miami
In 1995, race promoter Ralph Sanchez brought open wheel racing back to Miami. For 1995 only, CART held a race on the Bicentennial Park circuirt, on Biscayne Bay, formerly used by IMSA from 1983-1993. In 1996, CART debuted at the Homestead oval with a 200-mile CART Champ Car event. In 1997, the race was lengthened to 225 miles. In 2001, the event switched to an Indycar Series event and was again lengthened, to 300 miles.

After several years as the Toyota Indy 300, Toyota decided not to renew the contract for the Indy races thus giving the opportunity for other presentors such as Honda and XM Satellite Radio to be the presenting sponsor. Homestead-Miami Speedway gave an opportunity for Honda Racing to be the presenting sponsor since Toyota was not going to compete in the sport, but XM Satellite Radio came to terms with HMS and provided the appropriate funding to be the presenting sponsor of the Sunday event. In 2006, the event was named theToyota Indy 300 Presented by XM Satellite Radio as the last year of Toyota's involvement in the Indy sport.

For the 2007 Season Opening of XM Satellite Radio's debut as presenting sponsor, Homestead-Miami Speedway combined Saturday's Linder Industrial Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami part of the Rolex Sports Car Series & Sunday's Indy 300 into one large Saturday event called the XM Satellite Radio Speed Jam. A new logo for the weekend and the IndyCar race was created by Homestead-Miami Speedway's in-house creative designer, Angel A. Acevedo, along with some collaborations from XM Satellite Radio's creative team. The event proved to be successful in the predominantly Latino city of Miami & Homestead and steps are being made to make the opening of the 2008 season an even bigger event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The 2008 event will have yet another primary sponsor as GAINSCO Auto Insurance has purchased the naming rights to the race. The Speed Jam concept will be retained and the event will take place on March 29.

Race 1 of 16
Saturday, March 29
Homestead, Florida

2007 Winner: Dan Wheldon
Distance: 200 laps/300 miles
TV: 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

SpeedJam 2008, featuring the IndyCar Series season-opening GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300, also includes the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami, the IndyPro Series Miami 100, and a full-day festival of car shows, Memphis Barbecue, kids activities and live music.

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