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What are your thoughts about this "potential" 2009 schedule.....
here is a suggested 20-race schedule for the 2009 IndyCar Series, along with comments about individual venues:
• Round 1: Feb. 20-22, St. Petersburg -- Kick off the open-wheel season in Florida the week after the Daytona 500. Any later than March 1, and MLB spring training becomes a factor. May be a lame-duck event if the Tampa Rays build a new stadium in downtown St. Pete.
• Round 2: March 7-8, Phoenix International Raceway -- Bring back this historic and once-popular IndyCar venue, but give it only two years to prove open-wheelers can again draw a crowd in the desert.
• Round 3: March 13-15, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City -- The more races that can be run in warm-weather markets prior to the Indianapolis 500, the less stacked together the summer races will be.
• Round 4: March 27-28, Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- Perhaps run it as a Saturday night special.
• Round 5: April 3-5, Long Beach -- Avoid conflicting with the PGA Tour's Masters Tournament to help the TV ratings, if possible.
• Round 6: April 17-18, Twin Ring Motegi, Japan -- Ship the cars and equipment from Los Angeles, then give the teams a week to catch up.
• Round 7: April 25-26, Kansas Speedway -- Continue oval-track buildup toward Indy.
• Round 8: May 2-3, Kentucky Speedway -- More Indy buildup, at the track closest to IMS.
• May 8-10, 13-15, Indy practice days -- Cut back the number of practice days to condense activity for fans and reduce costs for teams.
• May 16-17, Indianapolis 500 qualifying -- Two days is plenty, even if real bumping makes a comeback.
• May 22 -- Carb Day.
• Round 9: May 24 -- 93rd Indianapolis 500.
• Round 10: May 29-30, Texas Motor Speedway -- Give Eddie Gossage the date he wants (first race after Indy) and leverage other choice dates with Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. tracks.
• Round 11: June 6-7, The Milwaukee Mile -- The next couple of years will determine whether Brew-town still wants to be an open-wheel market.
• Round 12: June 19-21, Portland International Raceway -- This is a key market that NASCAR still hasn't cracked. A motivated title sponsor and a little TLC could bring the fans back to PIR.
• Round 13: June 26-28, Edmonton airport circuit -- Would make economic sense to twin with Portland.
• Round 14: July 3-5, Cleveland airport circuit -- Re-establish and grow this unique event with an annual Fourth of July tie-in.
• Round 15: July 17-18, Richmond International Raceway -- A slightly later date more equally splits RIR's traditional pair of NASCAR races.
• Round 16: July 24-26, Toronto -- It's a golden opportunity to truly recreate the Molson Indy now that the "What's a Champ Car?" confusion will be gone.
• Round 17: Aug. 7-9, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course -- A Honda favorite, though the company might get more bang from its buck by sponsoring a rejuvenated Cleveland GP.
• Round 18: Aug. 14-16, Road America -- America's fastest and most challenging natural terrain road course must be on the schedule.
• Round 19: Sept. 5-7, Detroit Belle Isle -- How about a Labor Day weekend race run on the holiday?
• Round 20: Sept. 11-12, Chicagoland Speedway -- Run the season finale Saturday night so as not to go up against the NFL on Sunday.
• Round 1: Feb. 20-22, St. Petersburg -- Kick off the open-wheel season in Florida the week after the Daytona 500. Any later than March 1, and MLB spring training becomes a factor. May be a lame-duck event if the Tampa Rays build a new stadium in downtown St. Pete.
• Round 2: March 7-8, Phoenix International Raceway -- Bring back this historic and once-popular IndyCar venue, but give it only two years to prove open-wheelers can again draw a crowd in the desert.
• Round 3: March 13-15, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City -- The more races that can be run in warm-weather markets prior to the Indianapolis 500, the less stacked together the summer races will be.
• Round 4: March 27-28, Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- Perhaps run it as a Saturday night special.
• Round 5: April 3-5, Long Beach -- Avoid conflicting with the PGA Tour's Masters Tournament to help the TV ratings, if possible.
• Round 6: April 17-18, Twin Ring Motegi, Japan -- Ship the cars and equipment from Los Angeles, then give the teams a week to catch up.
• Round 7: April 25-26, Kansas Speedway -- Continue oval-track buildup toward Indy.
• Round 8: May 2-3, Kentucky Speedway -- More Indy buildup, at the track closest to IMS.
• May 8-10, 13-15, Indy practice days -- Cut back the number of practice days to condense activity for fans and reduce costs for teams.
• May 16-17, Indianapolis 500 qualifying -- Two days is plenty, even if real bumping makes a comeback.
• May 22 -- Carb Day.
• Round 9: May 24 -- 93rd Indianapolis 500.
• Round 10: May 29-30, Texas Motor Speedway -- Give Eddie Gossage the date he wants (first race after Indy) and leverage other choice dates with Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. tracks.
• Round 11: June 6-7, The Milwaukee Mile -- The next couple of years will determine whether Brew-town still wants to be an open-wheel market.
• Round 12: June 19-21, Portland International Raceway -- This is a key market that NASCAR still hasn't cracked. A motivated title sponsor and a little TLC could bring the fans back to PIR.
• Round 13: June 26-28, Edmonton airport circuit -- Would make economic sense to twin with Portland.
• Round 14: July 3-5, Cleveland airport circuit -- Re-establish and grow this unique event with an annual Fourth of July tie-in.
• Round 15: July 17-18, Richmond International Raceway -- A slightly later date more equally splits RIR's traditional pair of NASCAR races.
• Round 16: July 24-26, Toronto -- It's a golden opportunity to truly recreate the Molson Indy now that the "What's a Champ Car?" confusion will be gone.
• Round 17: Aug. 7-9, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course -- A Honda favorite, though the company might get more bang from its buck by sponsoring a rejuvenated Cleveland GP.
• Round 18: Aug. 14-16, Road America -- America's fastest and most challenging natural terrain road course must be on the schedule.
• Round 19: Sept. 5-7, Detroit Belle Isle -- How about a Labor Day weekend race run on the holiday?
• Round 20: Sept. 11-12, Chicagoland Speedway -- Run the season finale Saturday night so as not to go up against the NFL on Sunday.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Christy on -
Just so you all know.. I didnt come up w/ this "potential" schedule...I got it off another site :) I too would think the drivers, teams, crews and fans could all benefit by a week off after Indy...it is a very draining month not only on the drivers/teams...but draining on ones budget too :) all month at Indy is an account drainer ;) hee hee
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Permalink Reply by 1969Andretti on -
Pretty good, but they will not be invited to Phoenix. They want the $$ to all go to Nascar here.
What about the UK, Rockingham or Brands Hatch?? Laguna Seca or Sears point?
2 weekends for qualifying at Indy is a tradition. We need more of those.
IMHO
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Permalink Reply by Hawkeye50317 on -
Looks like whoever made this up dropped Iowa. Surely anyone would want to keep a track that has sell out crowds after all, 35-40,000 grandstand seats that are filled and to beyond capacity looks better than 100,000 grandstand seasting that has only a fourth of it's seating capacity filled. In my humble opinion.
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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on -
Iowa is definitely a keeper as is Belle Isle and Mid-Ohio. Those events were great successes, financially. Some will make an argument about the quality of racing at some of these, but ultimately what matters is the profitability of the event. The Iowa event this year will likely be even bigger than last year, and with an improved aero package, the racing should be outstanding! One track that keeps appearing on a lot of lists is Laguna Seca, but I'm not so sure how profitable an event there would be. Don't get me wrong, Laguna Seca is one of the most incredible race courses in the world with by far the most evil two turns in the world. However, it always seems to struggle to get a sizable crowd, and without a crowd there is no event.
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Permalink Reply by KoHoSo on -
I completely agree with both of you about Iowa. That is why I included it on my own fictional schedule earlier in this thread.
I also agree with xorpheous about Laguna Seca being an incredible course. But, to restate one of my points about it, I just think it's easier for most of the Bay Area's population to get to Sonoma than it is to Monterey. Thus, that's why the track formerly known as Sears Point is better able to attract a larger crowd and would be my choice for that market's event. Perhaps opinions on that may very...that was just my impression from my years of being a NorCal resident.
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Permalink Reply by topkartgirl on -
I like it!! If The Rays get that new stadium (as a person from there no one wants it!!!) I will die............ It is a known fact the Rays suck and no one likes them.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff McKinley on -
This is the second "pretend" schedule I have seen on this forum that suggests Kentucky to be the first weekend in May. Does anyone remember that little race in Louisville held the first weekend in May every year for some 100 years called the Kentucky Derby? Not a horse fan myself, but no way are you running anything else in Kentucky that weekend.
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Permalink Reply by 1972IndyCar on -
I sent Orz the following questions regarding the above schedule. But first - In the years ahead if Indycar truly takes off as all of us hope and expect it too I also will expect the folks at ISC to treat Indycar as a true competitor if not openly at first certainly their actions will make this apparent. I do understand that they are a publicly held company however a strong Indycar series would hit close to home and I expect them to stick a knife in us when ever possible. So to ensure the Indycar series is secure from being leveraged or jerked around each year by the ISC boys (see MIS) I suggest TG to limit the number of Indycar visits to ISC tracks to no more than four each year.
(1) If the goal is to limit the # of ISC tracks to four then Richmond, Chicagoland, Kansas and MIS or Watkins Glen are in if TG can get assurances that these tracks will promote the races more vigorously. Remember Phoenix was a great Open Wheel track - before - the ISC acquired it. Since then the race was scheduled around the two primary Nascar dates and received little promo support. in this context doesn't the Michigan Speedway deserve a second shot before Phoenix?
(2) Iowa already has a contract for 2009 and I think I read they are planning to add seats. If the 08 & 09 races sell out and the pre-race Saturdays continue to pull 25K+ for IndyPro/Qualifying then why eliminate this non-ISC track?
(3) I agree the season needs to be stretched to mid-Sept or Oct but Chicago's weather might make your Sat Night race questionable. The average race time temp drops 10+ degrees if moved from the 1st Sunday of the month compared to the 2nd Sat night of Sept (46 degrees at 9:00PM in 2007). Also at this date and hour Chicago's average winds increase to more than 10 mph often with gusts up to 20-25 mph. Maybe this race belongs on a Sat night in Mid-August.
(4) Australia? This race is a happening down under (175K plus during 1990’s?). It can solidify Australia as a great market for Indycar and it's drivers not to mention anchor the Assize Racing team(s) that join Indycar. Of course this race needs to be connected with Mogeti for logistic sanity but September/October weather may be riskier than Chicago's Sept weather (see above).
(5) A 24 race schedule will allow an eight month long "season" with 10 races during the last 12 wks of the season. Your schedule has too many off wks (19 races in 26 non-May weekends) or seven off weeks - Nascar has only three breaks during the same span.
(6) I thought last years Indy 500 Qualifying format was good - first time without rainouts. Also the two week tradition needs to stay put now that the merger has happened.
(7) Leave Kentucky on its current date - no way can it be scheduled during the Derby weekend.
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Permalink Reply by Christy on
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I agree with you.... I wouldnt want Kentucky to be anyother date than what it is.... May is for Indy and nothing else... I also agree that Michigan should be back on the schedule....once again I didnt come up w/ it ..just found it and thought it would be fun to pick apart and discuss ;)
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