Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Álex Palou manhandled the field on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. There could be a change to the Indianapolis 500 entry list. The inevitable occurred in Salt Lake City. The inevitable also occurred in Darlington. Cadillac finally had a good weekend. People have lost their minds over Laguna Seca paving over some of the run-off area. Not all of it, not even close to majority of it it, only some of it. MotoGP celebrated its 1,000th grand prix weekend, and it was a race worthy of the millennium mark. Marc Márquez returned. He went down in first practice. He went down in second practice. He went down in the race. AlphaTauri is creating rumors on its own. Rumors aside, what is on my mind is what we will not see.
Missing Showcase
The Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend was a smashing success this year. Nearly 50,000 people turned up on Saturday for the IndyCar race, at least ten times the number of people who would show up to opening weekend when it was only Indianapolis 500 practice, and it is only the beginning to the month of May.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway had 50,000 spectators this past weekend, it will likely get a healthy qualifying crowd next weekend and then about 100,000 people will show up on Carb Day before 300,000 people will turn up on that Sunday for the 500-mile race.
Beyond the IndyCar race held this past Saturday, those near 50,000 spectators would have seen a few other races if they were at the facility for an extended period of time. Over the two days, the Road to Indy series put on six races. U.S. F2000 ran a triple-header, one on Friday and two on Saturday. USF Pro 2000 had a doubleheader split over the two days. Indy Lights put on a stout race Saturday afternoon. The races took place over a variety of conditions. Some in the damp, others in the dry, it was a full weekend.
In less than two weeks, U.S. F2000 and USF Pro 2000 will be on track again, taking part of the Carb Night Classic at Indianapolis Raceway Park. For Indy Lights though, this was the end of its month of May. The other two series have another event to piggyback off Indianapolis 500 weekend. Indy Lights, the series that is under IndyCar ownership and promotion, the series that is the final stepping stone to IndyCar and has the next crop of IndyCar competitors, will be nowhere to be seen over Memorial Day weekend.
This isn't going to be your usual "Bring the Freedom 100" rant. That race is gone. This is the fourth year without a race that for almost a decade put on the some of the most thrilling races and finishes in motorsports. As much as the 100th anniversary, the DW12 chassis and the 100th Indianapolis 500 breathed new life into Memorial Day weekend, the Freedom 100's constant photo finishes were a selling point of Carb Day. No offense to practice and the pit stop competition, but the Freedom 100 was the main draw that Friday afternoon.
However, under Roger Penske's ownership, the Freedom 100 is no more. Why? Penske said safety. He also said he wanted the Indianapolis 500 weekend to be about the Indianapolis 500 and not some other race.
Fair answers.
Penske isn't a dummy. It was only a decade ago Kyle Larson's car got into the catchfence for NASCAR's second division series race on the Saturday prior to the Daytona 500. Many fans were hurt from debris getting into the stands. It took up much of the conversation in the hours building up to the Daytona 500. It was a distraction from the race.
Penske doesn't want that happening with the Freedom 100, less than 48 hours before the Indianapolis 500. In the most recent Freedom 100, Chris Windom's car was split in half after getting into the catchfence, red flagging the race. Windom was not injured, but a serious injury or possible fatality to a driver in a development series is something Penske does not want becoming the focal point in the final hours leading up to the Indianapolis 500.
I get that.
The rebuttal is why have any cars on track on Carb Day then? Colton Herta's car somersaulted last year and grabbed everyone's attention. Herta was fine, walking away, and he competed in the race. However, if Herta had not been able to walk away, doesn't one think that will take away attention from the race? Shouldn't all the cars be locked away after qualifying and no one turn a lap until race day if that is the fear?
I digress, but Penske has a point, even if we don't like it.
The problem is the Freedom 100 was the only event Indy Lights had televised all season. It was also the only Indy Lights race worth winning. Every other Indy Lights race looks the same. On a road or street course, it is about 30-40 laps. Iowa and/or Gateway is 100 laps or 100 miles or so. The Freedom 100 was only 100 miles but it was 100 miles around Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend and there was a crowd that was worth a damn actively watching. Indy Lights didn't get that anywhere else. It was the highlight.
Without it, Indy Lights has just another development series schedule. On IndyCar's biggest weekend, the drivers that are trying their hardest to make it there are sidelined. The other two Road to Indy series get to compete. They get something. It might not be the biggest race in the world, but there is a chance people around the Indianapolis-area, whether residents or travelers in for the "500," will head to Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday night and want to watch some more racing. They will get to see U.S. F2000 and USF Pro 2000, but Indy Lights is nowhere, not returning to action until seven days later in Detroit.
I am not sure Roger Penske understands the trials of Indy Lights drivers. I don't think he values IndyCar driver development. Slashing the Indy Lights champion's scholarship and distributing more money to the teams than the drivers tells us as much. With the Indy Lights grid growing for 2023, it is hard to argue against Penske's approach considering car count has been the biggest black eye for Indy Lights for over a decade, but if the Indy Lights champion, let alone anyone else competing in the series, receives next to no support to make a respectable attempt at IndyCar, that is a problem.
Even the drivers with the most talent struggle to make ends meet in Indy Lights. There are no real driver development programs. No IndyCar team is really behind any of these drivers where the driver will be in IndyCar no matter what as long as he or she runs respectably. It all comes down to money, and even that scholarship isn't enough to allow a driver to properly develop in IndyCar.
Nine of the last 12 Indy Lights champions aren't in IndyCar. The only three that are competing are Josef Newgarden, Patricio O'Ward and Kyle Kirkwood.
Oliver Askew had one season in IndyCar despite winning two championships in three Road to Indy seasons. Gabby Chaves got one full season in IndyCar and then became a super-sub, as did Tristan Vautier. Sage Karam didn't even get a full season and was quickly discarded to become an Indianapolis one-off at 21 years old. Kyle Kaiser has only made six IndyCar starts despite winning the Indy Lights championship in 2017.
Then there is the 2022 Indy Lights champion Linus Lundqvist, who isn't even entered for this year's Indianapolis 500. Lundqvist is the first Indy Lights champion not entered for the following year's "500" since 2010 champion Jean-Karl Vernay.
Without the Indy Lights scholarship money, there is a great chance many more of those champions that only got a brief taste of IndyCar wouldn't have even gotten their Indianapolis 500 shot. That could become even more frequent in the future. If Indy Lights drivers don't have a path to IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500, and they don't have a showcase event at least in Indy Lights to sell each year to sponsors and partners, what is the point of Indy Lights?
Indy Lights should be included in some meaningful way Indianapolis 500 weekend. Penske wants the focus to be on the "500," but he should be using the "500" to benefit the structure that props IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500 up. Penske should see this is a chance to bring Indy Lights drivers and teams to a larger audience. Indy Lights doesn't fill the grandstands at Mid-Ohio or Gateway. It doesn't get on television when it races at Iowa or Road America. Indy Lights needs a tentpole event, but no alternative will match what the Freedom 100 was.
The Freedom 100 could become a race at Indianapolis Raceway Park alongside the other two Road to Indy series races and the USAC Silver Crown race, but it still will not be television and at best 20,000 people will show up that night. Could the Freedom 100 move back to qualifying weekend, where it was for its first two editions when there were still two qualifying weekends? The Indianapolis 500 schedule has changed since then. In 2023, that is the only qualifying weekend. This isn't 2003 where IndyCar kept up the two qualifying weekend charade and had loads of dead time to fill, meaning Indy Lights could squeeze in practice and qualifying on Friday and then race on Saturday when it was only a practice day and Bump Day was just Sunday.
It could be done. Indy Lights could get two hours of practice on Thursday and/or Friday morning before IndyCar practice. Saturday would be tough to squeeze in because it is non-stop track time for Indianapolis 500 qualifying. There is time on Sunday. Indy Lights could qualify Sunday morning and then race before the Fast 12 and last chance qualifying take place. It is a little tight but still possible.
A practical set up would be for two hours of Indy Lights practice on Thursday morning (with Indy Lights getting its own test day at the Speedway somewhere in the week or two leading up to the race just so everyone at least gets some practice time in case this Thursday session is rained out), qualifying is held Friday morning, Saturday is an off day for Indianapolis 500 qualifying and then the Freedom 100 kicks off Sunday at noon before the final day of "500" qualifying resumes at 2:00 p.m.
It could be done. It won't though.
As much as we circle around looking for solutions, we always come back to there isn't one. The Freedom 100 is gone. It is a loss to the Carb Day crowd. It is a loss to the regular fans. Worst of all, it is a loss to Indy Lights, and there is no better way to showcase a series that needs just a little attention.
Champion From the Weekend
Chase Sexton clinched the Supercross championship with a victory in the Salt Lake City season finale.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Álex Palou and Chase Sexton, but did you know...
Matteo Nannini won the Indy Lights race from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Ricardo Escotto and Joel Granfors split the USF Pro 2000 races. Sam Corry, Simon Sikes and Lochie Hughes split the U.S. F2000 races.
Maco Bezzecchi won MotoGP's French Grand Prix, his second victory of the season. Jorge Martín won the sprint race. Tony Arbolino won the Moto2 race. Daniel Holgado won the Moto3 race, his second victory of the season. Jordi Torres and Matteo Ferrari split the MotoE races.
William Byron won the NASCAR Cup race from Darlington. Kyle Larson won the Grand National Series race. Christian Eckes won the Truck race, his second victory of the season.
The #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Sébastien bourdais and Renger van Zande won the IMSA race from Laguna Seca. The #11 TDS Racing Oreca-Gibson of Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas won in LMP2 class. The #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG of Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella won in the GTD Pro class, its second victory of the season. The #91 Kelly Moss with Riley Porsche of Alan Metni and Kay van Berlo won in the GTD class.
The #88 AKKodis ASP Team Mercedes-AMG of Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy and the #40 Tresor Orange1 Audi of Mattia Drudi and Ricardo Feller split the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup races from Brands Hatch.
Kalle Rovanperä won Rally Portugal.
Coming Up This Weekend
Indianapolis 500 qualifying.
Formula One visits Imola.
NASCAR's All-Star Race is the long-awaited return to North Wilkesboro.
GT World Challenge America heads to Austin.
Supercars will be at Symmons Plains.
Super Formula has its third round of the season at Autopolis.
