The more and more I thought about the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule after it was released, I thought the perfect weekend to end the IndyCar season with a guaranteed crowd of substance would be the Saturday of United States Grand Prix weekend at Circuit of the Americas.
I have been a proponent for IndyCar being a support series for Formula One's stops at Montreal and Austin for quite sometime now but I realize the realistic hurdles it faces (Bernie Ecclestone). However, I think both series should put their agendas aside and realize how great of an event it would actually be. It's not about proving one series is better than the other rather giving motorsport fans a thrilling weekend to enjoy and can only experience in North America.
If I was IndyCar, I would ask for little to no sanctioning fee to make it happen because the amount of publicity the series would get and the fact they would be guaranteed their biggest crowd outside of running the Indianapolis 500.
Ending at Austin would go against the current agenda adopted by IndyCar to end by Labor Day, however expanding the schedule would allow for races such as Fontana to get back a more reasonable date. Fontana in October makes much more sense than June, August of September. As for filling the month of September, I have suggested looking for European suitors. Formula One runs all fly-away races from September onward so it's an open market. Mark Miles wants to expand IndyCar's presence internationally and if he already has a race in Brazil and is looking for a race in the Middle East, why not consider France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain or Portugal? Heck, partner up with the DTM, British Touring Cars or European Le Mans Series if you head to Europe.
This is all easier said than done but I contest that the ratings increase we saw had nothing to do with ending earlier, rather running races consistently without two, three or four week gaps between races. If you run regularly with no more than a week between races into autumn than the ratings might stay consistent. Of course, choosing to race on Saturdays or Saturday evenings and not Sundays will help as you would avoid both the NFL and NASCAR but just because those two entities are taking place doesn't mean IndyCar has to sit on the sidelines and miss all the fun. They just have to take a chance and fight for their slice of the pie, not hope it will magically appear.
Another thought I had was all the gripes about the IndyCar schedule not having the events of old; Laguna Seca, Road America, Michigan, Phoenix, Cleveland. I wondered what if IndyCar decided one year, "you know what, were going... to all of them." What if IndyCar decided to take less money and do these races just because the fans wanted them? How would fans react? Would the series popularity grow because they listened? I don't think just deciding to return to these five locations will cause a ratings boom with two million people watching every IndyCar race but it would show the series is listening to it's fans and is willing to take the risk of a financial hit to keep their fans happy.
Cleveland is the hardest to return to because it is a temporary venue but Mike Lanigan still owns the rights to promote that event and if he just took his Shell money to Cleveland it could be a spectacular event. Pirelli World Challenge goes to both Laguna Seca and Road America on their own and if IndyCar were to lift their end by Labor Day agenda it would open the door to IndyCar tagging along. Michigan and Phoenix are difficult as the good weekends are taken by NASCAR but it isn't impossible to find a date that could work for each track. None of these appear to be on the horizon of returning and to be honest, I would be surprise if IndyCar returns to any of them in my lifetime but you have to hold out some hope.
A few extra thoughts I had on the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule:
1. I am worried that Mark Miles' agenda to end by Labor Day might lead to his demise. He has at least four races on life support going into 2015; Texas, Fontana, Milwaukee and Pocono. Fontana and Milwaukee have had different dates for at least the last three seasons and Pocono is in the final year of it's contract after moving off 4th of July weekend because post-race traffic was horrific and probably turned enough people off from the event. Meanwhile, Texas lives on one-year deals with dwindling crowds. Fontana saw attendance go up for the October 2013 but the agenda to end by Labor Day squashed any momentum that race had of continuing to grow like a bug. What if all four don't make it past 2015? There aren't places lining up to host IndyCar at this time. Forget about getting four ovals to make up for the lose, I highly doubt IndyCar could find any four tracks that would be willing to host a race. Miles is confident in what he is doing but if he suffers a massive loss of 2/3 his oval races and drops from 17 to 13 races, strategy has to change.
2. IndyCar at Fontana is the same weekend as NASCAR in Sonoma. They are six hours apart and IndyCar runs on Saturday but should you really be running in the same state on the same weekend? Don't get me wrong, I have thought about turning it into an awesome motorsports weekend and trying to catch both but it's just another reason as to why Fontana should not have left October. There is no reason to split a state, even if it's the largest in population.
3. I hate that there is a race on Le Mans weekend. Le Mans should be respected and be the only race that weekend. No IndyCar, no Formula One, no NASCAR, not even MotoGP or World Superbike. The 24 Hours of Le Mans should have the undivided attention of the motorsports world.
Only 127 days until the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season opener.
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