Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
The Daytona 500 and NASCAR's second division race were both rained out until Monday. At least that wasn't the worst thing to happen in Daytona this week. The snow did not stop the World Rally Championship. In fact, a drought ended in Sweden. Rain only slowed the Bathurst 12 Hour, as did the invitational entries. One driver is off to a start of a banner year already. Conor Daly rode the bench to his first victory since the 2013 GP3 feature race in Valencia. IndyCar made some news in Nashville, and that is where we start this week.
The Ballad of IndyCar
The unexpected news this past week was IndyCar announcing its season finale in Nashville would move from a new downtown street course that would take the course to the other side of the Cumberland River to Nashville Superspeedway, the 1.333-mile oval in Lebanon, Tennessee.
Instead of racing down Broadway and pass the Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators,, IndyCar will crown its champion about 40 minutes from downtown Nashville, at a circuit that previously hosted the series from 2001 to 2008.
Reasons for the move were plenty.
Street concerns with the construction of the new Tennessee Titans stadium.
No guarantee from the NFL the Tennessee Titans would not have a home game over that weekend.
Internal issues within the Music City Grand Prix organizers that saw music executive and long-time motorsports supporter Scott Borchetta take over control of the event after being a co-owner over the first three years.
It was the perfect mixture of turmoil to spoil the party seven months before it was scheduled to take place. A solution was found, but it is the same old song for IndyCar.
On the verge of something spectacular, it all collapsed on the series. Nashville was supposed to be the first season finale that was a true event in quite some time. The first three years of the Music City Grand Prix brought out a notable crowd and the race was snuggling into the Music City. The stadium construction was going to force some changes, but for IndyCar's sake, these would good changes. Having the race run on part of Broadway was a phenomenal snag. The famed street lined with bars, restaurants and constantly full of people would arguably be the most famous street IndyCar has ever raced on. The race would become even more ingrained in the city and could not be a greater example of bringing the race to the people.
Instead, this season finale will head 40 minutes southeast of heart of the party, to a track that isn't really in the town of Lebanon, but rather is 20 minutes away from a town of around 38,000 people that is most famously home to Cumberland University, a school that's best claim to famous is being the loser in the most lopsided game in college football history (Georgia Tech beat Cumberland 222-0 on October 7, 1916), and it is the home of the Cracker Barrel headquarters (Who knew!?).
However, things can be two things. It is devastatingly deflating for IndyCar to lose its downtown Nashville finale only seven months before it was supposed to take place, and less than a month before the 2024 season was about to commence. It is pleasantly uplifting the finale will still take place at Nashville Superspeedway and another oval was added to the IndyCar schedule.
As has been pointed out by others, the issues with the downtown Nashville race is not on IndyCar the series. The independent race organizers were having their own issues that likely were deeper than the change of circuit. This was not someone within the Penske Entertainment-owned offices in Speedway, Indiana that dropped the ball, but boy does it feel like another failure at the goal line for a series that has a long list of failed high-profile events.
It is quintessential IndyCar that the Nashville street race failed after it failed to race in Boston and failed to produce international races in Dubai and China and failed to return to Baltimore after three successful years but an event that was forced to take a pause due to Ohio State and Navy scheduled to play at the football stadium and with a promise an attempt to return in 2014. How did that work out? This is a series that thought it would have a grand finale in Las Vegas and that is remembered for all the wrong reasons. IndyCar couldn't even return to Richmond for a midseason race after it was cancelled during the pandemic. Austin was a one-and-done due the pandemic, and year two had a title sponsor for the race.
Anytime the series dreams big, it cannot pull it off. It doesn't have the power to win an arm wrestling match in a boardroom. Do you think Formula One would have an issue making sure the Tennessee Titans didn't have a home game if it wanted a mid-September race in Nashville? Puny IndyCar can be bullied around and tossed to the curb even when it is doing nothing wrong.
On the flip side, IndyCar was able to keep a race in the area. This wasn't a case of a race disappearing and no replacement being found. Nashville Superspeedway isn't easy to get to, but it has brought out 40,000 people in each of its two seasons on the NASCAR Cup schedule. I don't know if IndyCar will be able to draw that but it could bring in 25,000 to 30,000 for a respectable showing, and IndyCar does have seven months to draw people to Nashville. It might not be downtown, but it could still be a chance to have concerts and make it a party atmosphere. If Newton, Iowa can draw Carrie Underwood and Ed Sheeran, Lebanon, Tennessee can pull a notable artist or two.
There is also the unexpected conclusion to the season on an oval. After spending most of this offseason listen to people cry out in disgust after the loss of Texas Motor Speedway and the general lack of oval weekends in IndyCar over recent seasons, here is another oval! There will be five oval tracks on the 2024 season, in line with the total IndyCar has had since the introduction of the DW12 chassis, and there will be seven oval races this season, the most since 2011. Not to forget mentioning the season finale is on an oval for the first time since 2014.
You can be reluctantly joyful about this outcome in Nashville because it is only a Band-Aid to a larger problem. The wound has been addressed but what persistent problems will linger for years to come?
From the sounds of it, any return to downtown Nashville will not be likely until the new football stadium is complete. That is scheduled to open in 2027. However, Nashville Superspeedway might not be a long-term solution either. Boston was supposed to be a marquee Labor Day weekend race for IndyCar that couldn't get off the ground. It was quickly replaced with Watkins Glen, but that return to Central New York was only a two season filler.
This alternate event also doesn't make up for the issues that already exist. It is another case of a promoter swindling IndyCar, and even if it isn't the series to blame for the race failing, it still looks bad on the series when another race falls to pieces within its first three to five years or never gets off the ground. Other then never trusting anyone and the series deciding it will be the only promoter of its races, I don't know how IndyCar can avoid these bad actors and do its best to protect its image.
It is important to remember the race we are getting in the Nashville-area isn't a race anyone had plans to organize.
The desperate contingent for oval races will take whatever it can get. As desperate as some of those souls at 2:00 a.m. on Broadway looking to take someone home, this oval-crazed cult will take even a bad option of an oval race. That is how low their standards are. It has been awhile since IndyCar raced at Nashville Superspeedway, and we may need to go back and watch the tape, but previous races at Nashville Superspeedway were not exciting affairs. This wasn't a track that was praised for great racing. There is a group that clearly doesn't care.
We still have to get through this year. A new oval means a late add of oval testing to make sure the right tire compound and aerodynamic package is selected. These teams will need to squeeze at least one extra trip, if not two, down to Tennessee to pound around a concrete oval to get a feel for the circuit and make sure the series doesn't end its 2024 season with a flop.
For all the excitement anyone is feeling for six of the final eight races taking place on ovals, it must be acknowledged this isn't close to being a sign of things to come for the future. Iowa is propped up by Hy-Vee. Gateway has done well, but the crowd is not as stunning as it was when it first return. This will be Milwaukee's first year back after nine away and that race struggled to draw people over its final years.
There might be this great stretch of six oval races late in the season to decide the championship but it is six races at four tracks that aren't close to being stable events on the IndyCar schedule and any or all four could not continue into 2025.
We must also acknowledge IndyCar may never run in downtown Nashville again. Things will be wildly different in three years. Nashville is an expanding city. Not only is a new stadium being built but apartments buildings and office buildings and hospitals. The mood will change. Come 2027, the desire for a street race could be completely gone. Unless it is Formula One. That is trendy, and a party guest worth hosting.
For the moment, IndyCar has a Nashville-ish race. It is an oval and it will be the finale. There are positives to glean but one must accept the negatives that have led to this chain of events. It will exist for now. The future remains unwritten.
This is the story of IndyCar. Right when you get excited, the carpet is pulled out from underneath the series. It is making the best of the hand it has been dealt, but it continues to flirt with going bust.
Winners Fromt he Weekend
You know about the weather in Daytona, but did you know...
The #912 Manthey EMA Porsche of Matt Campbell, Laurens Vanthoor and Ayhancan Güven won the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Esapekka Lappi won Rally Sweden, his first victory since 2017 Rally Finland.
Nick Sanchez won the NASCAR Truck race from Daytona, his first career victory.
Coming Up This Weekend
The World Superbike season begins at Phillip Island, the only round outside of Europe.
Supercars keeps Bathurst busy as it starts its season with a sprint round at Mount Panorama.
Supercross is back in Arlington.
NASCAR has its second round of the season in Atlanta.
