IndyCar released a revision of the 2020 schedule yesterday after numerous of postponements and cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most notable change in yesterday's release was the Indianapolis 500 moving from Memorial Day weekend, May 24 to August 23. We will cover that but we need to go over the new schedule in its entirety.
Where Are We Starting?
As of now, Belle Isle will be the season opening round with its doubleheader on May 30 and May 31. Texas will be round two on June 6 with Road America hosting the first summer race on June 21 and IndyCar will return to Richmond on June 27.
The First Change
The Grand Prix of Indianapolis has moved to July 4 and it will be apart of the Brickyard 400 weekend. The NASCAR Grand National Series race was already scheduled to be on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on July 4 with the Brickyard 400 scheduled for July 5 on the oval.
Back As Intended
Toronto will remain July 12 and Iowa will remain July 18.
Second Change
IndyCar will take two weeks off before going to Mid-Ohio on August 9, one week earlier than originally scheduled and this was done to make room for the 104th Indianapolis 500.
The Indianapolis 500
Practice will begin on Wednesday August 12 and go through Friday August 14. Qualifying will take place the weekend of August 15-16th. Carb Day will return August 21 with the 104th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for August 23.
Fourth Change
To fit Indianapolis on August 23, Gateway has been pushed back a week to Sunday August 30. The race will be Sunday because NASCAR is at Daytona on Saturday August 29.
Labor Day Change
With Indianapolis being slotted into August and creating four consecutive weekends at a racetrack from Mid-Ohio to Gateway, IndyCar has moved Portland back a week from Labor Day weekend to Sunday September 13.
Laguna Seca will remain Sunday September 20.
St. Petersburg's Revival... hopefully?
St. Petersburg has been included on the revised schedule and it will be the season finale but with a to be announced date.
Where Should We Begin?
It was probably best to shift the Indianapolis 500 from Memorial Day weekend.
It was getting tight on whether or not the Indianapolis 500 could take place and with too much uncertainty IndyCar could not risk starting practice only to have an outbreak in the paddock or in the greater Indianapolis-area shut everything down.
IndyCar was able to move Indianapolis and get to include three practice days and a full qualifying weekend. It is not going to be a rushed three-day weekend of practice, qualifying and race. Hopefully come August we are not worrying about 300,000 people gathering. IndyCar could not ensure everything would be safe in May and moving was the correct move.
Let's Talk Doubleheader
We finally get that IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheader that was speculated about for the better part of a year and it only took a global pandemic to make it happen.
Joking aside, it made the most sense when looking at the schedule. Indianapolis Motor Speedway would already be up and operational, the road course is being used that weekend, it is a holiday weekend and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis gets about the same size crowd as the Brickyard 400 so it shouldn't be that crazy of a crowd, not more than the Speedway could handle.
It brings up a few interesting questions.
First, all Road to Indy series are going to be there. Where are they going to get the garage space and how are they going to fit all these sessions in? I think Indianapolis was supposed to be a two-day show for NASCAR's second division and a two-day show for Cup with the Grand National Series being at the track on the 3rd and 4th and Cup there on the 4th and 5th. The Road to Indy will be there July 2-3rd. I guess July 2 could be all IndyCar and the junior series. On July 3, the Grand National Series cars come in for practice while IndyCar has qualifying and the Road to Indy series conclude.
The schedule gets interesting for the July 4 because Cup is going to start practice and it takes a little bit of time for the track to change configurations from road course to oval and vice versa. A few barriers have to be moved and safety vehicles have to be re-arranged. Indianapolis has done it before when it hosted Grand-Am and IMSA during the Super Weekend with NASCAR for those few years but how do you do it with Cup practice and likely qualifying, Grand National Series activities and possibly an IndyCar warm-up and race?
The Grand National Series race was already scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET but that is subject to change.
The good news is there should be plenty of daylight. It is just a matter of what makes sense in terms of deciding what is the main event of the day. Do you want Cup qualifying to close the day or the IndyCar race? Do you start Saturday with oval practice, switch the track to road course configuration for those races, switch it back to oval configuration for qualifying and create more work? Do you leave it in road course configuration after Friday, run all the road course festivities and then switch it once for the oval stuff beginning late Saturday afternoon and go into the evening?
I am going to break it to IndyCar fans now that the Grand Prix of Indianapolis will probably not be the final thing of the day, held in the coolness of evening. Most likely, Cup qualifying will close the day and IndyCar is likely going to be run in the heat of the afternoon. Let's see how everyone feels about IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheaders after that.
August Rearrangement
Some necessary changes were made. It is good Mid-Ohio was able to move up a week and Gateway was able to move back a week. The one thing about Gateway is with it being on a Sunday, will it be a day race or can it still be at night? Part of Gateway's success is it has been a Saturday night race and it has avoided the heat of the afternoon.
I am not sure Gateway can draw close to the same crowd on a Sunday, regardless of if it is in the afternoon or at night. That time of the year is when most schools are back in session. It is not going to be as flexible for families. This is a one-off. I do not think a day race or a Sunday night race is going to kill the event. Everyone is adjusting and making sacrifices. Gateway will be fine.
Rose City Delayed
Speaking of sacrifices, Portland moves from Labor Day weekend and will now be run on the first Sunday of the NFL season. IndyCar could not consciously make the teams run five consecutive weeks hence why Portland was moved back a week. It is a loss but the good news is Portland could lead into Sunday Night Football and that could help out on what will be a difficult afternoon.
A New Finale
The St. Petersburg inclusion is surprising and I feel like it shouldn't have been done unless it had a date set. I get announcing it as a TBD and letting everyone know it is out there instead of six weeks from now announcing an addition but there is still a chance it doesn't happen and after the blowback from St. Petersburg's refund policy I am not sure it will look good if the race cannot get off the ground with an autumnal date.
When could St. Petersburg fall?
September 27 is Ryder Cup weekend and I am not sure NBC could squeeze it then. After that every Sunday has a NASCAR race in the afternoon. However, perhaps IndyCar could end on a Saturday. October 3 is an open Saturday with only a Truck race from Talladega.
How late does IndyCar want to end the season?
I am sure the series wants to end as close to Laguna Seca as possible. I am sure the series doesn't want to wait until the weekend of October 17-18th for the finale but if St. Petersburg is that hellbent on having a race in 2020 IndyCar has to be flexible and take what it can get.
Other Thoughts
This is as good as it gets for IndyCar.
This year has already be upended enough. There is not going to be a perfect schedule and you cannot be upset over anything that happens this year. It is ok to be concerned but everyone is making sacrifices. Everyone is losing out in someway. There is no point in feeling too bad about whatever you have lost.
It was interested seeing the Road to Indy announce its revised schedules and all three series will still have 18-race calendars.
Indy Lights will have a triple-header at Road America, a doubleheader at the IMS road course and Toronto, a triple-header at Mid-Ohio, run the Freedom 100 on Carb Day, run at Gateway and conclude with doubleheaders at Portland, Laguna Seca and St. Petersburg.
Indy Pro 2000 will also have a Road America triple-header followed by doubleheaders at the IMS road course and Toronto. It will also have a triple-header at Mid-Ohio, run the Freedom 90 at Indianapolis Raceway Park on August 22 before running at Gateway. It seasons will conclude with doubleheaders at Portland, Laguna Seca and St. Petersburg.
U.S. F2000 will start with two triple-headers, first at Road America and then at the IMS road course. It will have a doubleheader in Toronto before a triple-header at Mid-Ohio. The only U.S. F2000 oval races will be the Freedom 75 from IRP on August 22. The season will conclude with doubleheaders at Portland, Laguna Seca and St. Petersburg.
I was wondering if IndyCar could make one or two rounds doubleheaders just to get the schedule to 15 or 16 races but I think that ship has set sail and it would be too much to ask for these teams.
I think it could only be done at the natural-terrain road courses but it couldn't be done at Road America because that is the first week of five consecutive weekends of racing. Mid-Ohio is the week before Indianapolis and the start of another four consecutive weeks at the track so that isn't happening.
That leaves Portland and Laguna Seca but NASCAR has races scheduled for Saturday night both those weekends so those are kind of ruled out. I am not sure you want to end the season with a doubleheader at St. Petersburg. You are just hoping to get one St. Petersburg race. Let's not ask for too much and try to get two.
The one thing I would like to see IndyCar try for 2021 is having doubleheaders at Barber and Austin. I do not think IndyCar owes us anything but it would be a nice gesture for these two tracks who lost dates and it would give the fans a little bit more. Barber always has great crowds and it is one of the best road courses in the country. This was only supposed to be year two for Austin and that event did well in year one but with all that Austin has gone through it is going to need something big to make sure people come out should IndyCar return.
I am sure the teams will push back again additional doubleheaders. It is not cheap and it is not easy but if it is just a one-year thing I think it could be manageable.
If there is one note we have to end on it is this revised schedule is far from concrete. We could lose Belle Isle. Texas could be pushed back. The season could start at Road America and even that could be the optimistic projection. The next few weeks have to be better in terms of COVID-19 cases. Until things start to get better we need to get comfortable that the entire season could be called off.
Indianapolis was pushed far enough back to hope things can calm down over the additional two months but if we start losing dates in June and run the risk of losing dates in July it might reach the point where the entire season will be lost. It could be a season that is just the Indianapolis 500 plus two or three races. We have no clue what will happen.
We are hopeful this revised schedule will be it but we must remain aware that this might not be the final schedule and more changes are possible.
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