Three major sporting entities have joined together to create a new street race on the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series schedule.
The Penske Corporation, the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League and the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball announced the Grand Prix of Arlington that will showcase two iconic sporting facilities in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
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It’s an NTT IndyCar Series street race that will race around the Arlington Entertainment District in March 2026 including AT&T Stadium, home of the Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, where the Texas Rangers play their home games in MLB.
The new race was announced at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on October 7. A public celebration is scheduled for Tuesday morning October 8 at Texas Live!, a special entertainment center located between AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field. It will include a special ceremony that will unveil additional details about the event, including a video that showcases the full track layout.
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“We are thrilled to join forces with the Texas Rangers, Penske Entertainment, and the City of Arlington to bring Grand Prix racing to the streets of the Arlington Entertainment District,” said Jerry Jones, owner, president and general manager of the iconic Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. “The collaboration between our organizations will make the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington special, providing a unique NTT IndyCar Series race experience for fans attending, while also creating a showcase with our friends at FOX and those watching around the world.
“An event of this magnitude is another great reflection of what we imagined over 15 years ago that AT&T Stadium could be a part of.”
Adding to the Cowboys to the partnership was impressive, but IndyCar was successful in including the Texas Rangers, who won the World Series in 2023.
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“Today is a historic day for the Texas Rangers and REV Entertainment,” said Neil Leibman, the chief operating officer of the Texas Rangers. “We are proud to be at the forefront of the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington alongside such esteemed organizations in Penske Entertainment and the Dallas Cowboys.
“This event will set a new standard for the Arlington Entertainment District, and we look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to experience what Arlington has to offer.”
The 2.73-mile track layout will feature two iconic sporting venues recognized by fans around the world: AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field.
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The track will weave through Arlington’s core sports and entertainment district, which features an all-star lineup of events and venues and annually sells more than 1.6 million tickets to spectators from around the United States.
The 2026 race returns IndyCar to the Dallas/Fort Worth market for the first time since 2023. That is when Josef Newgarden won the XPEL 375 at the 1.54-mile Texas Motor Speedway.
IndyCar competed at Texas Motor Speedway from 1997 to 2023, and once drew huge crowds to the Speedway Motorsports Incorporated facility. The first race in 1997 drew an announced crowd of 129,000 fans.
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But as time passed, the crowds for both the IndyCar and NASCAR Cup Series contests at TMS began to dwindle. Despite low attendance for the IndyCar race in 2023, SMI and IndyCar officials tried to find a return date on the 2024 schedule.
NASCAR moved its race date at TMS to the Spring and with NASCAR races at Circuit of the Americas in nearby Austin, Texas on March 24 and at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, IndyCar’s only options would have been in the heat of the summer when most of the race dates were already taken.
Penske and his staff did not give up on the huge DFW market and were able to form a partnership with two powerful owners from championship-winning franchises in other sports.
“Through a truly remarkable and innovative partnership, we’re going to build racing’s next global spectacle,” said Penske Corporation Chairman Roger Penske, who also owns IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. “Everyone involved is fully committed to delivering an incredible and unique event weekend for the city of Arlington, anchored by the stars of the NTT IndyCar Series.
“We’re grateful to the Cowboys, Rangers and REV Entertainment for entering into this partnership with us, and, of course, to Arlington’s leadership team for their excitement and ongoing support.”
Veteran motorsports industry executive Bill Miller was announced as the President of the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington on October 7. Miller brings more than three decades of experience to the role, including previously serving as president of California Speedway and senior vice president of operations at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), a leading worldwide voice for more than 7,000 companies in the automotive aftermarket.
The IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington will provide a full weekend of racing and entertainment, with general admission, reserved seating, VIP hospitality and party zone areas available.
“We are truly thankful to our partners for their vision and dedication to bringing the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington here to The American Dream City,” said Jim Ross, Mayor of Arlington, Texas. “I can’t think of a more beautiful and vibrant backdrop for this competition than Arlington’s world-class Entertainment District, which has proven again and again to be a premier destination for sports and entertainment.
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“This announcement is an economic win for North Texas, and we’re looking forward to welcoming this incredible racing series and its fans for an unforgettable experience.”
REV Entertainment is a full-service company with the goal of producing first-class sports and entertainment events nationwide.
REV Entertainment serves as the official events partner of the Texas Rangers, including serving as the official booking agent for both Globe Life Field and Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas. REV Entertainment has also created and produced several original concepts, including the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown, one of the highest attended tournaments in college baseball.
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REV Entertainment also includes several entities focused on enhancing the events and entertainment business nationwide, including REV Production Services, REV Sports Management, REV Food Service, and REV Sports Marketing.
Penske Entertainment is a leading provider of world-class sports and entertainment, comprised of IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IMS Productions. IndyCar is the Indianapolis-based governing body for North America’s premier open-wheel auto racing series, the NTT IndyCar Series, and its developmental series, INDY
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The NTT IndyCar Series features an international field of the world’s most versatile drivers – who compete on superspeedways, short ovals, street circuits and permanent road courses across the United States and Canada.
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has been a loud anti-abortion crusader throughout his political career.
But as reproductive rights loom over the election season as a key issue for voters, Cruz is uncharacteristically quiet.
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The Texas Republican, running for a third term in the Senate, is locked in a tight race against U.S. Sen. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, who has made restoring access to abortion and blaming Cruz for the toppling of Roe v. Wade central to his campaign.
This past week, Allred’s campaign, boosted by an influx of cash from Senate Democrats, began airing an ad on TV and streaming platforms across the state that blasted Cruz for his anti-abortion record.
Texas has banned almost all abortions — including in cases of rape and incest — since Roe was overturned. Since then, Cruz has been more careful about how he engages on the topic. He has repeatedly called abortion a state issue, while offering more vocal support for in vitro fertilization.
Cruz, through a spokesperson, declined a request for an interview. The Texas Tribune reached out to his campaign eight times over six weeks to ask about his positions, posing nine initial questions via email and several follow ups on topics ranging from his past support for a national abortion ban to how he squares his belief in fetal personhood with his support for IVF — a process which routinely involves the disposal of fertilized embryos.
Cruz’s campaign did not respond directly to questions, instead providing links to previous statements he had made on the topic in other interviews. Those statements did not address several specific questions.
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While Democrats have not won statewide in Texas in 30 years, the issue could pose a risk for Cruz, who squeaked to victory in 2018 against Beto O’Rourke by less than three percentage points. Though polling shows Texans prioritizing issues like border security and the economy over abortion, more Texans believe that the state’s abortion laws are too strict, and Democrats are banking on the issue boosting turnout nationwide in a presidential election year.
The most important Texas news, sent weekday mornings.
Abortion ban
When the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in 2022, Cruz celebrated the decision as “nothing short of a massive victory for life” that would not outlaw abortion across the country, but leaves “abortion policy up to the states and returns power to the American people.”
“This is a momentous day, and yet the fight for life doesn’t end with the Dobbs decision,” he said in a statement after the ruling. “It simply begins a new chapter. I’ve been proud to stand for life in the U.S. Senate, and I will continue to do so as we navigate the path ahead.”
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Republicans have faced scrutiny in recent months about their past efforts to pass a federal abortion ban, with Democrats warning that former President Donald Trump would press for further restrictions.
In 2021, before Roe was overturned, Cruz cosponsored a 20-week federal abortion ban, which included exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. He cosponsored a similar ban at least six times over his Senate career. He did not sign onto a 15-week ban when it was introduced in September 2022. In 2023, he co-introduced a bill that would allow states to exclude medical providers that perform abortions from state Medicaid funding. None of those measures advanced through Congress.
Cruz did not respond directly to a question about whether he still supports a federal ban. But in a past interview his campaign provided to the Tribune, he said that abortion policy is up to each state.
“Questions of what the rules of abortion are will be made by state officials in Austin, the state legislature, the governor. And the situation we have right now, every state makes different rules,” Cruz said in an August interview with WFAA.
Trump, during the vice presidential debate on Oct. 1, said on social media for the first time that he would veto a national abortion ban, after backing a series of shifting positions over the course of his third campaign for the White House.
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Abortion exemptions
Cruz declined to directly answer whether he thought Texas should add carveouts for rape and incest and if he thought the state’s exception to save the life of the mother was working.
In the WFAA interview, he pointed to legislation he has supported with those exceptions, while reiterating that the decision would be made at the state level.
But during his 2016 presidential run, Cruz said at a town hall in Wisconsin that he did not support an exemption for rape.
“When it comes to rape, rape is a horrific crime against the humanity of a person, and needs to be punished and punished severely,” Cruz said. “But at the same time, as horrible as that crime is, I don’t believe it’s the child’s fault.”
Texas law allows abortions only in instances where the life of the mother is at risk. Critics, including Allred, say that exemption is unclear and has resulted in women — such as Kate Cox, who was denied an emergency abortion by the Texas Supreme Court after finding out her pregnancy was no longer viable — being unable to access necessary medical care.
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When asked if he thought the law needed clarifying or changing, Cruz’s campaign pointed to an interview he sat for on CNN. When asked during that interview if he agreed with the court’s ruling in Cox’s case, he said the Texas Supreme Court “was right” to direct the Texas Medical Board to “set the rules.”
“I think there’s a very good argument that she fell under that exception,” he said. “But what the Texas Supreme Court said in its opinion is it asked the Texas Medical Board go in and set clear rules.”
The Texas Medical Board adopted guidance in June for how doctors should interpret the state’s new abortion laws, but declined to provide a list of cases in which an abortion should be permitted.
IVF
This year, Cruz has become increasingly vocal about his support for IVF, which he calls a “miracle.”
In February, a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court sparked a nationwide panic about the future of access to IVF. That decision said that frozen embryos should be considered people, and that anyone who disposed of them could be liable for wrongful death. The Alabama Legislature subsequently passed a law to protect fertility treatments.
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In May, Cruz introduced a bill with U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, that he said would protect IVF on the federal level by excluding any state that bans the treatment from federal Medicaid dollars.
“It simply does what needs to be done: safeguarding the right of couples to grow their family if they choose to use IVF, because this should not be a political issue,” Cruz said on the Senate floor in September describing his bill.
The bill, which Democrats blocked, would not create a statutory right to access fertility treatments. Critics panned it as lip service and “incentivizing far-right, anti-choice policymakers in deep red states to defund health care for low-income Americans” without barring them from also outlawing IVF.
Cruz voted against Democratic legislation that would create a federal right to access fertility care, saying the bill infringes on religious freedoms — though the measure does not require medical professionals who may oppose IVF to provide any treatments.
Cruz also did not respond to a question asking if he supported an idea Trump floated to make IVF free for all Americans. Trump did not explain how that proposal would be implemented.
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Allred said he would support the Democratic IVF bill, which was backed by two Senate Republicans, and he cosponsored a related measure in the House to federally protect fertility treatments.
Cruz did not respond to questions about whether he believes an embryo created through IVF constitutes a person.
In 2015, during his presidential campaign, Cruz signed a pledge to back a personhood amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would “guarantee a constitutional right to life for every innocent human being, from earliest biological beginning until natural death.”
He embraced personhood measures in February 2016, before ducking questions about the topic a couple of months later.
Cruz has argued that his support for IVF is not inconsistent with a belief in fetal personhood by pointing to states that have adopted both personhood amendments and IVF protections.
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“There are three states — Alabama, Georgia and Missouri — all of which have adopted personhood amendments, and all of which protect IVF,” he said on the Senate floor in June. “The Democrats maintain that IVF is in jeopardy, and yet the facts are precisely to the contrary.”
After the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision, IVF providers paused treatments across the state. Most resumed services once the Alabama Legislature passed protections for fertility treatments. But that law did not address the question of personhood, and simply provides immunity to IVF providers and patients.
Filibuster
At the same time, Cruz has characterized Allred as an extremist on abortion and accused him of supporting “abortion literally up until the moment of birth.”
Allred’s campaign rejected that claim as a scare tactic, providing a statement he made to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in response to Cruz’s allegations.
“I find it offensive that Ted Cruz would knowingly misstate not only my position but what has been the standard in this country for the last 50 years,” he said, saying a return to Roe would allow states to restrict abortions after viability while also leaving the decision of whether to have an abortion to patients and their doctors.
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Meanwhile, Allred has tried to pin the end of Roe and subsequent state abortion bans on Cruz’s support for anti-abortion state lawmakers and his position on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which advanced three conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices.
“He is singularly responsible for what’s happening in our state,” Allred said.
Allred has been a consistent abortion rights advocate throughout his tenure in Congress.
After he was elected to the U.S. House in 2018, Allred cosponsored and voted in favor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would create a federal protection for abortion access. The bill passed the House in 2021 and 2022 but died in the Senate. Allred has also spoken out against local efforts to ban the use of roads and highways to obtain an abortion out of state.
“We have to restore freedom to Texas women and Texas families,” he said. “And the way we do that is going to be at the federal level.”
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If elected to the Senate, Allred said he would support changing the filibuster to enable passage of a federal abortion protection law. The Senate requires 60 votes to move forward on any legislation — a threshold meant to protect the minority party’s power and foster bipartisanship, but which has stymied Democrats’ efforts to pass abortion and voting rights legislation over Republican resistance.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, recently reiterated her support for carving out an exception to the filibuster for abortion legislation — though institutionalists warn that lowering the threshold to a simple majority would be a slippery slope that could lead to less durable reforms and sap the minority’s leverage when the other party comes into power.
Still, Allred argued that the Senate now exists in an “ahistorical period in which the filibuster is being abused,” and that the chamber ought to return to a rule that required any senator blocking a bill to speak on the Senate floor for the duration of their filibuster.
Voting FAQ: 2024 Elections
When is the next election? What dates do I need to know?
Election Day for the general election is November 5, and early voting will run from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. The deadline to register to vote and/or change your voter registration address is Oct. 7. Applications to vote by mail must be received by your county of residence – not postmarked – by Oct. 25.
What’s on the ballot for the general election?
In addition to the president, eligible Texans have the opportunity to cast their ballots for many Texas officials running for office at the federal, state and local levels.
This includes representatives in the U.S. and Texas houses and the following elected offices:
-1 U.S Senator (Ted Cruz)
– 1 of 3 Railroad Commissioners
– 15 State Senators
– 7 State Board of Education members
– 3 members of the Texas Supreme Court
– 3 members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
– 5 Chief Justices and various justices for Texas Courts of Appeals
– Lower-level judges and local county offices will also appear on the ballot:
– Various district judges, including on criminal and family courts
– County Courts at Law
– Justices of the Peace
– District Attorneys
– County Attorneys
– Sheriffs
– Constables
– Tax Assessor-Collectors
How do I make sure I’m registered to vote?
You can check to see if you’re registered and verify your information through the Texas Secretary of State’s website. You’ll need one of the following three combinations to log in:
Your Texas driver’s license number and date of birth.
Your first and last names, date of birth and county you reside in.
Your date of birth and Voter Unique Identifier, which appears on your voter registration certificate.
How do I register to vote if I haven’t?
You can request a postage-paid application through the mail or find one at county voter registrars’ offices and some post offices, government offices, or high schools. You can also print out the online application and mail it to the voter registrar in your county.
Applications must be postmarked by the Oct. 7 deadline. Download your application here.
Additionally, you can register to vote through the Texas Department of Public Safety while renewing your driver’s license. You may be able to register to vote online if you’re also allowed to renew your license online. This is the only form of online registration in the state.
After you register to vote, you will receive a voter registration certificate within 30 days. It’ll contain your voter information, including the Voter Unique Identifier number needed to update your voter registration online. If the certificate has incorrect information, you’ll need to note corrections and send it to your local voter registrar as soon as possible.
The voter registration certificate can also be used as a secondary form of ID when you vote if you don’t have one of the seven state-approved photo IDs
What can I do if I have questions about voting?
You can contact your county elections official or call the Texas Secretary of State’s helpline at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683). A coalition of voting rights groups is also helping voters navigate election concerns through the 866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683) voter-protection helpline. The coalition has hotlines available in other languages. Disability Rights Texas also assists voters with disabilities.
BURNET COUNTY — Authorities are looking for two men in connection to a possible attempted church shooting in Central Texas on Sunday.
Around 10:30 a.m., Burnet County deputies were called to the Church at the Epicenter in Burnet County, northwest of Austin.
Officials said a member of the volunteer church safety team encountered two “suspicious” men in the parking lot, one of them holding a rifle.
That church volunteer pulled out their weapon and fired multiple rounds, the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office said, and the suspects fled north on US 281 in a white minivan.
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The sheriff’s office said there are no known injuries.
State and federal agencies have joined the investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.
This is a developing story.
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S.E. Jenkins
S.E. Jenkins is a digital content producer for CBS Texas. She has also been a Digital Content Producer in Tallahassee and Myrtle Beach. S.E. graduated with journalism degrees from Texas State University, Aarhus Universitet and City, University of London.
It was a week of upheaval in The Associated Press college football poll, with Texas returning to No. 1 on Sunday after a one-week absence following Vanderbilt’s monumental upset of Alabama.
The Commodores’ win as more than three-touchdown underdogs caused the Tide to drop from No. 1 to No. 7. The last top-ranked team to fall so far was Ohio State, which plunged to No. 11 in 2010 following an October loss to Wisconsin.
Texas, which had an open date, received 52 out of 61 first-place votes and became the first team in two years to bounce in and out of the top spot in a span of three polls. The Longhorns also were just the third team since 2008 to be voted No. 1 after not playing the day before.
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Ohio State beat Iowa for its fourth straight easy win, received nine first-place votes and moved up a spot to No. 2.
Oregon and Penn State each rose three spots, with the Ducks up to No. 3 and the Nittany Lions fourth. Georgia remained No. 5.
Miami (Fla.), which came back from a 25-point second-half deficit to beat Cal, 39-38, rose two spots to No. 6.
The mayhem wasn’t limited to Alabama.
Six of the 18 AP Top 25 teams that played lost to unranked opponents (33%), the highest mark since six of 16 (38%) lost the first week of October 2020.
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The Tide were among four teams in the top 11 to lose to unranked opponents — the first time that’s happened since October 2017.
Tennessee lost to Arkansas and went from No. 4 to No. 8. Michigan lost to Washington and went from No. 10 to No. 24. USC lost to Minnesota and went from No. 11 to out of the Top 25. The Trojans were first among teams also receiving votes.
Texas A&M soundly beat Missouri at home in the only Top 25 matchup. That earned the Aggies a promotion from a tie for No. 25 to No. 15 and the Tigers a demotion from No. 9 to No. 21.
The Big Ten dominates the top five, but the SEC maintains its grip on the top 10. No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 Penn State are bookended by the SEC’s Texas and Georgia. The SEC also has Alabama, Tennessee and Ole Miss in the top 10.
Double-digit drops by Missouri, Michigan and USC mark the first time since Nov. 13, 2016, that three teams fell 10 or more spots in the same poll. That week it happened to Auburn (8 to 18), Texas A&M (10 to 23) and North Carolina (15 to receiving votes).
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The biggest upward movers were Texas A&M (25 to 15), Clemson (15 to 10) and Iowa State (16 to 11).
SMU (5-1) was rewarded for knocking off Louisville on the road and enters the rankings at No. 25. The Mustangs have appeared in the Top 25 all but one season (2022) since 2019. Louisville (3-2) has lost two of three and dropped out.
Pittsburgh won at North Carolina to start 5-0 for the first time since 1991 and enters the rankings at No. 22 for its first appearance in two years.
USC (3-2) has lost two of its first three Big Ten games and is out, as is UNLV, whose first-ever Top 25 appearance was spoiled by an overtime home loss to Syracuse.
SEC: 9 (Nos. 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, T-18, 21).
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Big Ten: 6 (Nos. 2, 3, 4, T-18, 23, 24).
Big 12: 4 (Nos. T-11, 14, 16, T-18).
ACC: 4 (Nos. 6, 10, 22, 25).
Mountain West: 1 (No. 17).
Independent: 1 (No. 11).
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Here’s the full top 25:
1. Texas 2. Ohio State 3. Oregon 4. Penn State 5. Georgia 6. Miami (Fla.) 7. Alabama 8. Tennessee 9. Ole Miss 10. Clemson T-11. Iowa State T-11. Notre Dame 13. LSU 14. BYU 15. Texas A&M 16. Utah 17. Boise State T-18. Kansas State T-18. Indiana T-18. Oklahoma 21. Missouri 22. Pittsburgh 23. Illinois 24. Michigan 25. SMU
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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