Jim Ayello | IndyStar

INDIANAPOLIS -- Texas Motor Speedway and IndyCar have agreed to terms on a new sanctioning agreement that will keep Indy cars racing at Texas Motor Speedway for the next four years.

IndyCar, which has competed at the Fort Worth track every year since the venue’s inaugural season of 1997, will return to the oval on June 8, 2019. That will keep “America’s Original Nighttime IndyCar Race” positioned in the same slot it has occupied since 2012, the event immediately following the street circuit doubleheader in Detroit.

As IndyStar reported last week, the new contract does not include the geographic exclusivity clause that was apart of previous arrangements between IndyCar and TMS, track president Eddie Gossage confirmed Tuesday. For many years, Gossage had steadfastly said if IndyCar wanted to race in another part of Texas, it could wave goodbye to TMS.

However, Gossage said IndyCar officials proposed a deal with a lower sanctioning fee, which provides him financial security should another Texas enter the picture and take away fans from his venue. Therefore, there was no longer a need for the geographic exclusivity clause.

With that gone, IndyCar is now free to pursue races in other parts of Texas, including Austin’s Circuit of the Americas and a street course race in San Antonio.

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In conjunction with the long-term agreement with IndyCar, Texas Motor Speedway also announced that DXC Technology will return to as the entitlement sponsor for the 2019 race and that the event will include its traditional companion race in the rebranded NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, the Rattlesnake 400, on June 7.

“Texas Motor Speedway is the second home of Indy-car racing, and we are thrilled to extend our partnership with the Verizon IndyCar Series and with DXC Technology,” Gossage said. “We are pleased to have negotiated a sanction agreement that allows Texas Motor Speedway to move forward with IndyCar. Our company has invested significant dollars into the sport and a tremendous amount of effort growing the sport through the years.”

Over the past few years, Texas has been the site of some of IndyCar’s most compelling races, including the 2016 shootout that saw Graham Rahal edge James Hinchcliffe by .008 seconds, the closest finish in track history.

This past June’s race did not deliver the same sort of edge-of-your-seat chaos that fans had become accustomed to seeing in years previous, however, they did witness some compelling, strategic racing, along with a Scott Dixon masterpiece as he ran away with an eight-second victory.

Jim Ayello/IndyStar

“Texas was an important one, in my mind, to keep on the schedule,” team owner/driver Ed Carpenter told IndyStar. “They’ve been such a long-time partner to the series and the sport. I think Eddie and his team have always done a really good job with our race.

“Looking ahead to next year, with there not being changes like we had this year, we’ll all go back better, and I think IndyCar will make some tweaks to make it even better..”

Retaining the race at Texas Motor Speedway keeps IndyCar’s 2019 oval count at five with the other races slated for Indianapolis, Iowa, Pocono and Gateway.

That, too, made Carpenter happy, though he’d still like to see even more ovals on the schedule.

“Hopefully soon we can get back up to a similar oval count to the one we have now or higher,” the oval-only driver said. “It’s hard to go to a place and build an event in a year or two, so you have to stick it out. I know we’re working hard to keep continuity, and I’d like to see some more patience with some of the ovals. Maybe we’ll go back to Phoenix one day. Who knows, but it’s great the deal with Texas is for four years.”

IndyCar is still looking for a replacement after losing the race in Phoenix earlier this year. IndyCar CEO Mark Miles told IndyStar recently he is confident next year’s calendar will include 17 races and that he’s hopeful to announced the full slate of races by Labor Day.

The short oval at Richmond is said to be a possibility, as IndyCar officials visited the track recently. However Miles told IndyStar there are three potential replacements on the table.