Marcus Ericsson caught air and won. Two drivers were disqualified in Nashville. Arrow McLaren SP is heavier on the McLaren than the SP. It rained again on the IMSA parade at Road America. NASCAR returned to Watkins Glen. MotoGP had another big accident in Austria. Supercars continues to tweak its schedule and it has added Phillip Island in October, which fills in the vacant MotoGP Australian Grand Prix weekend at the circuit. Japan's top two series announced their 2022 schedules. Alexander Albon is coming up with new excuses for not winning races. The Olympics ended. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
Should the IndyCar/NASCAR Combination Weekend Move Around?
Last year, August's big event was the Indianapolis 500, three months delayed due to the pandemic, but it still happened, albeit behind closed doors. One year later, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is hosting arguably the biggest August race weekend in North America, but instead of being a 500-mile race around the oval, this weekend will be three races totaling 558.531 miles, as IndyCar and NASCAR come together.
A combination weekend has been in the cards for the last few years, and we technically got it last year when IndyCar ran the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Brickyard weekend as it was filling in race weekends after the season was delayed three months, but this is the first time it was planned, and this year's race weekend will have practice and qualifying for all series. There will be cross-pollination as a NASCAR session will follow an IndyCar session. The Cup drivers will practice Saturday morning and the IndyCar race will follow. You get to see most of North America's best drivers on the same track at the same race weekend and this isn't the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Considering the circumstances, last year was received very well and that IndyCar/NASCAR combination weekend was carried over to this year. Many spoke about how Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the ideal venue for such as weekend. This will be year two, but it has always felt like IMS is not the best place for this motorsports collaboration.
While being a historic racetrack with over a century of notable events, does Indianapolis Motor Speedway really need this weekend, especially if it is on the IMS road course?
IndyCar already has a race on the IMS road course, and though there have been some exceptional races, IndyCar doesn't get anything out of a second IMS road course race. No offense to IndyCar but adding it to the NASCAR weekend isn't going to help the turnout at the Speedway. Brickyard weekend has been difficult for nearly 15 years. That weekend has shrunk so much that any increase would be a massive pull, but I don't think a second IndyCar race on the IMS road course while NASCAR's top two series also run the road course will shift the tides. I honestly think the crowd we will see this weekend would have been the same crowd if the Brickyard 400 remained on the oval and IndyCar wasn't involved at all.
The combination weekend is a relatively new thing and instead of locking it in one place this could be a chance for IndyCar and NASCAR to have floating weekend and bringing this event to a different racetrack every year.
There are plenty of places IndyCar does not race but would love to be at. IndyCar should use this combination weekend to get it to tracks it is currently not at or have historically had difficulty attracting a crowd. There is also enough open space in the summer for IndyCar that is flexible to an annually changing event.
But the track will come down to NASCAR and what it schedules in the summer. August is the best time for this event, but it could also take place in late July. It is just before either championship heats up. A combination weekend would not be ideal once the NASCAR playoffs start and IndyCar likely would not like one of its pivotal championship races to be second fiddle to a NASCAR race. But both championships have a lull in this part of the season. For IndyCar, it has been over two months since the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's playoff push isn't that seismic. We pretty much know who is going to make the playoffs and if there is a surprise winner then there is a surprise winner. It is really just wait and see and the result might warrant excitement.
This weekend will also be constricted to the latter half of the season because that is when NBC has both IndyCar and NASCAR. It can set up one production truck and run one set of cables. Everyone can get the preferred broadcast booths. We wouldn't have Fox and NBC having to split everything.
Moving this weekend around could be beneficial to many tracks. It could give each race weekend a boost with IndyCar fans getting a chance to visit somewhere new and adding value to a weekend. In the case of the month of August, we could see Michigan get an IndyCar race back for the first time in almost 15 years. Watkins Glen has been a popular venue in IndyCar circles, but it struggled to draw a crowd in 2016 and 2017 and the event disappeared after two years. NASCAR does very well at Watkins Glen, and it would make sense for IndyCar to latch on to something already successful. IndyCar maybe got 10-15 thousand spectators when it went to Watkins Glen. The NASCAR weekend easily draws 60,000 people. IndyCar needs to put itself in front of people. It is the easiest way to grow.
In late-July, there is a Loudon. Atlanta would be difficult in terms of the heat, and it is going through a track reconfiguration, but it could be another option and another different market for IndyCar. Maybe Daytona is even possible, albeit with IndyCar running on the infield road course while NASCAR uses the oval. The calendar could continue to change. The door could open for Pocono to be an option. Both series could decide Richmond in the middle of September is a good time for this event. A track we aren't even thinking about could pop up. It could be Gateway or Iowa. Who is to say this isn't how Chicagoland or Kentucky returns to prominence? Maybe it could be a weekend up in Canada. Montreal sounds lovely, doesn't it?
IndyCar and NASCAR are closer than they have ever been before. They have a shared television partner that will use each race as a lead-in for the other and we have seen improved ratings for IndyCar and NASCAR when that occurs. Roger Penske owns IndyCar, and he is firmly in the NASCAR paddock. Chevrolet straddles the divide as well. There are too many people invested in both to think this combination weekend will only be a one-time thing and never happen again. As long as the series share these many top officials and a television partner, the combination weekend will be around, but does it have to be on the IMS road course?
I don't think so.
A combination weekend was once unthinkable and now not only is it a reality but it on the verge of becoming a permanent fixture on the schedule. What does each series hope to get out of this weekend and does each series possess the creativity and flexibility to allow this weekend to be something different each year?
Long-term success could come down to making sure this combination weekend never gets stale. If it rotates around it will get to draw out people from all around the country. Occasionally, IMSA could be included to create a triple-header. Tying this event down to one place and Indianapolis Motor Speedway sounds idealistic, but it might be in the best interest of both series if they spread the wealth and this collaboration had its one big weekend at a different place each year.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Marcus Ericsson, but did you know...
Jorge MartÃn won the MotoGP's Styrian Grand Prix, his first career victory. Marco Bezzecchi won the Moto2 race, his first victory of the season. Pedro Acosta won the Moto3 race, his fifth victory of the season.
The #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani won the IMSA race at Road America. The #18 Era Motorsport Oreca-Gibson of Ryan Dalziel and Dwight Merriman won in LMP2. The #54 CORE Autosport Ligier-Nissan of Colin Braun and Jon Bennett won in LMP3. The #79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche of Cooper MacNeil and Matt Campbell won in GTLM. The #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche of Zach Robichon and Laurens Vanthoor won in GTD.
Kyle Larson won the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen, his fifth victory of the season. Ty Gibbs won the Grand National Series race, his third victory of the season. Austin Hill won the rain-shortened Truck race.
Toprak Razgatiouglu won the first two World Superbike races from Most and Scott Redding won the third. Steven Odendaal and Dominique Aegerter split the World Supersport races.
Kelvin van der Linde and Marco Wittmann split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Zolder.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar and NASCAR are getting together on the IMS road course.
MotoGP will now run the Austrian Grand Prix from the Red Bull Ring.
Formula E concludes its season with a Berlin doubleheader.
The World Rally Championship will contest the Ypres Rally Belgium for the first time.
The 60th Knoxville Nationals.
