There is a shallowness to iRacing events. They are one-day shows. You do not know what the entry list will look like and in some cases (*cough* NASCAR *cough*) the format changes up to the morning of the race. Practices are not scheduled or publicly promoted and it is difficult to draw anything from what happens in the days leading up to a race.
Schedule speculation lives for a second. One day, everything is moving in one direction and the next day it is moving in the opposite direction. It shifts almost hourly. You are never where you are started at the beginning of the day and right when you think you have plans set it changes all over again.
With nothing on-deck and nothing to take seriously, let's delve back into the world of make-believe. We were all set for the season to commence and had broken up IndyCar into a league format for 2020. With the IndyCar season seeing two revisions, three cancellations, two doubleheaders created, a postponed but yet to be rescheduled St. Petersburg race and an additional Indianapolis Motor Speedway race called Harvest Grand Prix, it is time to look at the league and what has to be amended.
Originally, the regular season was 14 weeks and the final three races would be for the playoffs, both for determining the championship and final promotion/relegation spots. As of today, the IndyCar schedule sits at 15 races, two fewer than the original schedule.
Like actual IndyCar, it is hard to make any revisions because it seems something else is bound to change again. It is difficult to make up two races. The easy thing to do would be to have the regular season and instead of having a playoff the final race could be the championship decider with the top of each conference going head-to-head. It would be like the World Series from 1903 to 1968, no playoffs, no wild cards, the best against the best.
How could we salvage some type of playoffs? We cannot create a race out of nothing. Could we retroactively take into consideration the iRacing events? Should we count the final two iRacing events? That would be odd but this doesn't exist. It doesn't matter. It wouldn't hurt but it feels too odd.
The only thing that I think could be incorporated into the schedule is Indianapolis 500 qualifying. It is unlike a traditional qualifying session. Each entrant may take multiple attempts. It is a full-day event. For a decade, Indianapolis 500 qualifying has had its own points system and with a few variations. At one point, it was basically treated as another race. I think it makes sense.
That is one event back but one more still has to be made. We could take qualifying from another race but every other race outside the Indianapolis 500 does not have a great qualifying format. Every road and street course race has the same issue. If you take a matchup and each are in a different qualifying group, both are competing in different settings. "Driver A" could be in group one and end up seventh in the group. "Driver B" could end up ninth in group two but run faster than "Driver A" and if you go on start position "Driver A" would win. If you go on time, "Driver B" would win but neither result would feel right.
Oval race qualifying is more fair but it is one run and if it rains it is set via entrant points. You would not want a matchup decided via entrant points. That is as anti-climatic as you can get.
I really don't have a great answer of how to get a 17th event on the schedule and this could be parsed down to 16 events. The playoffs could be truncated with the top two from each conference advancing and the promotion/relegation playoff could be scraped for one year with just the bottom of each conference going down and the top two from league two ascending up for 2021.
That doesn't sound too bad but I am going to leave the door open before calling this final. At this time you really shouldn't close the door on anything. There is bound to be a few more changes. Everything from here on is tentative:
Schedule
League One:
Week One (Texas)
#1 Penske vs. #7 AMSP
#9 Ganassi vs. #20 ECR
#12 Penske vs. #55 Coyne
#30 RLLR vs. #15 RLLR
#22 Penske vs. #98 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #14 Foyt
#10 Ganassi vs. #5 AMSP
#28 Andretti vs. #18 Coyne
Week Two (Road America)
#1 Penske vs. #20 ECR
#9 Ganassi vs. #7 AMSP
#12 Penske vs. #15 RLLR
#30 RLLR vs. #55 Coyne
#22 Penske vs. #14 Foyt
#27 Andretti vs. #98 Andretti
#10 Ganassi vs. #18 Coyne
#28 Andretti vs. #5 AMSP
Week Three (Richmond)
#1 Penske vs. #55 Coyne
#9 Ganassi vs. #15 RLLR
#12 Penske vs. #7 AMSP
#30 RLLR vs. #20 ECR
#22 Penske vs. #5 AMSP
#27 Andretti vs. #18 Coyne
#10 Ganassi vs. #98 Andretti
#28 Andretti vs. #14 Foyt
Week Four (Grand Prix of Indianapolis)
#1 Penske vs. #15 RLLR
#9 Ganassi vs. #12 Penske
#30 RLLR vs. #7 AMSP
#55 Coyne vs. #20 ECR
#22 Penske vs. #18 Coyne
#27 Andretti vs. #10 Ganassi
#28 Andretti vs. #98 Andretti
#5 AMSP vs. #14 Foyt
Week Five (Toronto)
#1 Penske vs. #30 RLLR
#9 Ganassi vs. #55 Coyne
#12 Penske vs. #20 ECR
#15 RLLR vs. #7 AMSP
#22 Penske vs. #28 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #5 AMSP
#10 Ganassi vs. #14 Foyt
#18 Coyne vs. #98 Andretti
Week Six (Iowa I)
#1 Penske vs. #12 Penske
#9 Ganassi vs. #30 RLLR
#15 RLLR vs. #20 ECR
#55 Coyne vs. #7 AMSP
#22 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi
#27 Andretti vs. #28 Andretti
#18 Coyne vs. #14 Foyt
#5 AMSP vs. #98 Andretti
Week Seven (Iowa II)
#1 Penske vs. #9 Ganassi
#12 Penske vs. #30 RLLR
#15 RLLR vs. #55 Coyne
#20 ECR vs. #7 AMSP
#22 Penske vs. #27 Andretti
#10 Ganassi vs. #28 Andretti
#18 Coyne vs. #5 AMSP
#14 Foyt vs. #98 Andretti
Week Eight (Mid-Ohio)
#1 Penske vs. #7 AMSP
#9 Ganassi vs. #20 ECR
#12 Penske vs. #55 Coyne
#30 RLLR vs. #15 RLLR
#22 Penske vs. #98 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #14 Foyt
#10 Ganassi vs. #5 AMSP
#28 Andretti vs. #18 Coyne
Week Nine (Indianapolis 500 Qualifying)
#1 Penske vs. #20 ECR
#9 Ganassi vs. #7 AMSP
#12 Penske vs. #15 RLLR
#30 RLLR vs. #55 Coyne
#22 Penske vs. #14 Foyt
#27 Andretti vs. #98 Andretti
#10 Ganassi vs. #18 Coyne
#28 Andretti vs. #5 AMSP
Week Ten (Indianapolis 500)
#1 Penske vs. #55 Coyne
#9 Ganassi vs. #15 RLLR
#12 Penske vs. #7 AMSP
#30 RLLR vs. #20 ECR
#22 Penske vs. #5 AMSP
#27 Andretti vs. #18 Coyne
#10 Ganassi vs. #98 Andretti
#28 Andretti vs. #14 Foyt
Week Eleven (Gateway)
#1 Penske vs. #15 RLLR
#9 Ganassi vs. #12 Penske
#30 RLLR vs. #7 AMSP
#55 Coyne vs. #20 ECR
#22 Penske vs. #18 Coyne
#27 Andretti vs. #10 Ganassi
#28 Andretti vs. #98 Andretti
#5 AMSP vs. #14 Foyt
Week Twelve (Portland)
#1 Penske vs. #30 RLLR
#9 Ganassi vs. #55 Coyne
#12 Penske vs. #20 ECR
#15 RLLR vs. #7 AMSP
#22 Penske vs. #28 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #5 AMSP
#10 Ganassi vs. #14 Foyt
#18 Coyne vs. #98 Andretti
Week Thirteen (Laguna Seca I)
#1 Penske vs. #12 Penske
#9 Ganassi vs. #30 RLLR
#15 RLLR vs. #20 ECR
#55 Coyne vs. #7 AMSP
#22 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi
#27 Andretti vs. #28 Andretti
#18 Coyne vs. #14 Foyt
#5 AMSP vs. #98 Andretti
Week Fourteen (Laguna Seca II)
#1 Penske vs. #9 Ganassi
#12 Penske vs. #30 RLLR
#15 RLLR vs. #55 Coyne
#20 ECR vs. #7 AMSP
#22 Penske vs. #27 Andretti
#10 Ganassi vs. #28 Andretti
#18 Coyne vs. #5 AMSP
#14 Foyt vs. #98 Andretti
Week One (Texas)
#88 AHSR vs. #60 MSR
#21 ECR vs. #8 CGR
#26 Andretti vs. #31 Carlin
#59 Carlin vs. #4 Foyt
Week Two (Road America)
#88 AHSR vs. #8 CGR
#21 ECR vs. #60 MSR
#26 Andretti vs. #4 Foyt
#59 Carlin vs. #31 Carlin
Week Three (Richmond)
#88 AHSR vs. #31 Carlin
#21 ECR vs. #4 Foyt
#26 Andretti vs. #60 MSR
#59 Carlin vs. #8 CGR
Week Four (Grand Prix of Indianapolis)
#88 AHSR vs. #4 Foyt
#21 ECR vs. #26 Andretti
#59 Carlin vs. #60 MSR
#31 Carlin vs. #8 CGR
Week Five (Toronto)
#88 AHSR vs. #59 Carlin
#21 ECR vs. #31 Carlin
#26 Andretti vs. #8 CGR
#4 Foyt vs. #60 MSR
Week Six (Iowa I)
#88 AHSR vs. #26 Andretti
#21 ECR vs. #59 Carlin
#4 Foyt vs. #8 CGR
#31 Carlin vs. #60 MSR
Week Seven (Iowa II)
#88 AHSR vs. #21 ECR
#26 Andretti vs. #59 Carlin
#4 Foyt vs. #31 Carlin
#8 CGR vs. #60 MSR
Week Eight (Mid-Ohio)
#88 AHSR vs. #60 MSR
#21 ECR vs. #8 CGR
#26 Andretti vs. #31 Carlin
#59 Carlin vs. #4 Foyt
Week Nine (Indianapolis 500 Qualifying)
#88 AHSR vs. #8 CGR
#21 ECR vs. #60 MSR
#26 Andretti vs. #4 Foyt
#59 Carlin vs. #31 Carlin
Week Ten (Indianapolis 500)
#88 AHSR vs. #31 Carlin
#21 ECR vs. #4 Foyt
#26 Andretti vs. #60 MSR
#59 Carlin vs. #8 CGR
Week Eleven (Gateway)
#88 AHSR vs. #4 Foyt
#21 ECR vs. #26 Andretti
#59 Carlin vs. #60 MSR
#31 Carlin vs. #8 CGR
Week Twelve (Portland)
#88 AHSR vs. #59 Carlin
#21 ECR vs. #31 Carlin
#26 Andretti vs. #8 CGR
#4 Foyt vs. #60 MSR
Week Thirteen (Laguna Seca I)
#88 AHSR vs. #26 Andretti
#21 ECR vs. #59 Carlin
#4 Foyt vs. #8 CGR
#31 Carlin vs. #60 MSR
Week Fourteen (Laguna Seca II)
#88 AHSR vs. #21 ECR
#26 Andretti vs. #59 Carlin
#4 Foyt vs. #31 Carlin
#8 CGR vs. #60 MSR
As of now, the regular season ends at Laguna Seca for both leagues and it would be better to have both Laguna Seca races in the regular season or both races in the playoffs rather than have it split. If we are adding a 17th event it would likely come before Laguna Seca, which would mean one of those events would get pushed into the playoffs if it was an eight-team bracket. In a truncated playoffs, the Harvest Grand Prix and St. Petersburg would be the two rounds with Indianapolis being the semifinals and St. Petersburg being the finals.
Everything is still hanging in the air and if there is another postponed event it would likely be moved to October if it were to be made up at all, which would force another revision to the schedule. This all feels futile but imagine how it must feel trying to revise the real thing. They have to plan for something even if it all seems fruitless.
