Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Elli Tomac won his 50th Supercross main event, putting him in a tie with James Stewart for second all-time after Chase Sexton fell from a leading position again in Seattle. MotoGP had its first sprint race weekend. NASCAR learned that Jordan Taylor is quite good on road courses. Red Bull said it doesn't have any room for Lewis Hamilton possibly joining the operation. Formula E went somewhere familiar for IndyCar fans. The Road to Indy's lower two series had a race weekend at Sebring. IndyCar's video game will not be released in 2023, and I believe I had that, but there is something else on my mind...
What Are We Saving?
IndyCar loves to surprise you when you are least expecting it.
Not many changes are announced with much fanfare. IndyCar isn't one for press conferences to announce a rule change or a race sponsorship. Many rule changes are spread over a period of time. There isn't a large scale announcement. Even when a big one comes, IndyCar doesn't make a big deal about it. It announces and then doesn't engage with it. The series more or less allows the masses to handle it without attempting to steer the conversation.
Race distances are a significant thing. The Indianapolis 500 matters partially because it is 500 miles. If in 1911 the race was only 100 miles or 250 miles in length, I am not sure it would have become the seminal event that it has been for over a century. Any changes to a race's length should probably be noted. Late last week, we received word of a race length changing, and it is a notable event.
The second race of the Iowa doubleheader will be shortened to 250 laps this season after being 300 laps in 2022.
Iowa has drawn a fair amount of attention since its return to the schedule was announced during the 2021-22 offseason. After a season off the calendar, its return in 2022 was highly anticipated, and Iowa transformed into something it had never been. Outside of 2020, when it became a doubleheader out of necessity due to the pandemic, Iowa's return would be a two-race affair, a 250-lapper on Saturday and a 300-lapper on Sunday. Along with the races, significant country and pop music acts were brought in to round out the weekend with a concert taking place before and after each race.
After long being one of IndyCar's favorite events, Iowa stepped up from being a single race to an entire weekend of festivities in 2022. More isn't always widely accepted. Use it as an example of "be careful what you wish for." Iowa was back, but a contingent didn't care for the inclusion of the musical acts, especially since ticket prices increased compared to previous Iowa races.
Ticket prices went up again for 2023, as Ed Sheeran, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney and the Zac Brown Band will be the musical acts over the two days, ruffling more feathers.
I am fine with the musical acts and the admission cost for such an event, but I wonder what are we saving trimming the Sunday race down by 50 laps?
In fairness to Iowa, 250 laps has long been the length of races at Iowa. It was the distance of eveery Iowa race from 2007 to 2013. Both races in the 2020 doubleheader were 250 laps, and there have been more 250-lap races at Iowa than 300-lap races, but 50 laps is nothing around the 0.875-mile oval.
The 250-lap race last year lasted an hour, 39 minutes and 34 seconds. The 300-lap race the following day took an hour, 54 minutes and 23 seconds. Fifty laps is basically 15 minutes, not a lengthy period of time.
It is one thing if a race was unfathomably long, dragging on, and was overflowing a television window. Most IndyCar races want to be completed in two hours. While last year's 300-lap race was close to the two-hour limit, the 300-lap race hardly ever goes over. Only twice in seven 300-lap Iowa races has it taken more than two hours to finish, the longest of which lasted only two hours, three minutes and 50 seconds. Over, but not too much to handle.
IndyCar typically gets a two-hour and 30-minute television window. Factoring in a desire to have a pre-race show and a post-race show, the race itself cannot be two hours and 30 minutes, but a two-hour race, even a two-hour and 15-minute race, can fit. It is a matter what is done with the window.
A 30-minute pre-race show is somewhat the norm, but it does make it difficult on the backend if the race is right on the two-hour mark. IndyCar could just come on air and have the race start within five minutes of the TV window starting, but there is some advantage to a build up. It is also smart to have a cushion in case the lead-in event is a sporting event and running long. Must I remind you what happened with the 2018 IndyCar finale at Sonoma with the NASCAR race from Las Vegas leading in or the 2021 French Open men's final and the Belle Isle race?
In the case of Iowa, it really feels like not much is gained by trimming off 50 laps. Iowa has had good races at both distances. I don't think IndyCar is stifling itself with a shorter race, but there are so few races in IndyCar. There are even fewer oval events. Shortening Iowa by 50 laps is a loss IndyCar shouldn't take. Trimming 15 minutes off a race that is usually always completed in under two hours isn't helping the series at all. I cannot imagine IndyCar is saving the teams that much money reducing a race by 50 laps or 43.75 miles. If IndyCar is penny-pinching over 43.75 miles, there are bigger problems at hand.
Honestly, if IndyCar was going to change the length of the second Iowa race, it should have made both races of the doubleheader 275 laps. The total number of laps over the two days remains the same, except each race is the same distance. No one really loses. It is just evenly distributed.
IndyCar should be conscious of its race length, but still look to maximize its races. Iowa isn't the only place that has seen a race shortened recently. Prior to the pandemic, St. Petersburg was 110 laps and Mid-Ohio was 90 laps. St. Petersburg went back down to 100 laps during the pandemic and has remained that length. St. Petersburg is already the longest street race of the season. Losing those ten laps does make it a more straightforward race on strategy, but the race remains grueling.
Mid-Ohio has been 80 laps the last few seasons. The problem with that is Mid-Ohio becomes a two-stop race. Strategy is taken out of it. When it was 90 laps, it opened the door for either a two-stop or three-stop strategy coming out on top. We saw the variety of strategies play out in the 2019 race where two different routes brought Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist to the checkered flag only 0.0934 seconds apart. It was wonderful but also less likely to happen at an 80-lap distance.
In the seven 90-lap Mid-Ohio races that took place from 2013 to 2019, none went over two hours in length. Only two exceeded an hour and 50 minutes in length.
The strange thing is, as these few races have been shortened, a few others have gotten longer. Portland and Laguna Seca each added five laps when they returned in 2021. That same season Gateway became 12 laps longer compared to its pre-pandemic race length. Even Texas this year will be two laps longer. It is only two laps, but more is more!
To make it even odder, both Laguna Seca races since increasing to 95 laps took more than two hours to complete. The 2021 Portland race took two hours and seven minutes. The series obviously is comfortable tip-toeing over the two-hour length, but for some reason is shortening races that haven't been excessively long to begin with.
IndyCar is always financially conscious when making decisions, almost to a fault, but in a few recent examples the series should not be slashing away from races to save the teams money or to be cautious with a television window. Slashing can dull a race, especially when it sets up for only one usable strategy to make it to the finish. The series shouldn't be looking to save 15 minutes from races that are already short of two hours in length. They are still within the desired window without feeling excessively long. A few will go over and the post-race coverage may be lacking, but if the race is satisfying, fewer post-race interviews will be forgiven.
It is too late for 2023, but in 2024, IndyCar should not be afraid to run 300 laps at Iowa or 90 laps at Mid-Ohio, especially when the series isn't adding any races any time soon.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Eli Tomac, but did you know...
Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP's Portuguese Grand Prix. Bagnaia also won the inaugural sprint race. Pedro Acosta won the Moto2 race. Daniel Holgado won the Moto3 race, his first career grand prix victory.
Mitch Evans won the São Paulo ePrix.
Tyler Reddick won the NASCAR Cup race from Austin. A.J. Allmendinger won the Grand National Series race. Zane Smith won the Truck race.
Myles Rowe swept the USF Pro 2000 races from Sebring. Lochie Hughes and Simon Sikes split the U.S. F2000 races.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar's long-awaited second race of the season from Texas.
Formula One is in Australia.
Supercars joins Formula One in Melbourne.
MotoGP flies from Portugal to Argentina.
NASCAR has its first short track race of the season at Richmond.
GT World Challenge America opens its season at Sonoma.
