Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
In his 110th race, Lando Norris scored his first career victory at the Miami Grand Prix after a timely safety car gave Norris a free pit stop while leading Max Verstappen, who won the sprint race. Adrian Newey will be leaving Red Bull during 2025. A minor could be receiving a waiver. NASCAR had a long enough of a rain delay to allow you to watch the entire Formula One race uninterrupted, but the Cup Series had its closest finish in series history. There was some sports car racing. The Supercross championship is formality entering the final round of the season. It looks like we can settle on 34 entries for this year's Indianapolis 500, but I think future months of Mays are on our mind.
Unchartered Waters
The exact timeframe of IndyCar's charter program, essentially a franchise granted for each entry that participates in IndyCar to create value for the organizations that contest the full season, remains unclear. But it is coming.
What we know so far is IndyCar is hoping to introduce a 25-charter system with a limit of three charters per team. All current entries would get a charter while Chip Ganassi Racing's additional two entries, the #4 Honda and #11 Honda, would not. Those two Ganassi cars would still be eligible to race, as while all 25 chartered cars would be locked into every race and receive additional benefits that would come along with it, two spots on each grid would be open to non-charter entries. Each grid would be capped at 27 entries.
Of course, this pertains to every race outside the Indianapolis 500, including the locked in entries... for now.
IndyCar's unofficial official proposal is the charter teams would be guaranteed entry into every race except the Indianapolis 500. The Indianapolis 500 would remain open for everyone. Anyone could miss it, from the one-off team showing up with two full-time employees and only getting 12 laps of practice on Fast Friday to the championship leader with a dozen victories in the last 20 races. No one would be locked into IndyCar's biggest race...
For now...
Nothing has been agreed to yet. IndyCar hasn't even officially made this charter proposal public.
At the start of this season, IndyCar said a lot of things would be decided by the Indianapolis 500. We are less than a month away from that race and almost none of them have achieved. Most we will know in the next 20 days. From the future television partner to when the hybrid system will be introduced to even the charter system, we will know, but the charter system remains the most unknown, frankly because it is all made up anyway.
The teams are already guaranteed spots in all the races outside of the "500." The teams are already getting the $1 million Leaders Circle money. Nothing has been stated in how a "charter" will differ from what the Leader Circle already offers. There has been no stated difference in benefits, whether that be an increase in prize money, additional test days, additional tires at race weekends or discounts on Penske Truck Rentals. We have no clue what being a chartered team will mean.
It seems the difference will be in name only. “Charter” takes over for “Leader Circle” and the hope is the new name will increase the value of a spot on the IndyCar grid.
The bargaining chip was guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500. It is the only race that draws a significant audience every season. It is where the value is for the series. Without the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar is nothing. It is the only thing the teams can sell that is worth a damn.
Whether there has been enough pushback that guaranteed spots become guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500 as well is something that remains to be seen, but even if this first round in the charter agreement sees no guaranteed spots for the "500," it will not go away. When it comes time for an update to the charter agreement, guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500 will be brought to the table, and it could be more likely they are given out next time around.
It is difficult to say which is more accurate, "if" or "when" when it comes to guaranteed spots for the Indianapolis 500. At the start of May 2024, it feels 50/50. The one thing that the Indianapolis 500 has over every other great race in the world is any car can fail to make the race. Nobody is locked in and the bumping procedure, though different from 30 years ago, is still a highly dramatic hour that leaves you heartbroken for one team, elated for another, and looking for a pack of cigarettes to calm your nerves.
However, teams invest millions of dollars to compete full-time in the IndyCar Series, of which, about 70% of that budget is generated thanks to what the Indianapolis 500 does for the teams. Missing the race could kill a program. It can lead to costly conversations, and it isn't easy to find $5 million laying around.
This conversation is not going away anytime soon, even when we know what the inaugural charter proposal will be from IndyCar. Our yearly May discussions will include intense discussions over guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500, more so than we have seen over the last 25 years. Once the 25/8 rule went away, it felt like we were in the clear, but the world has a habit of repeating itself. What was once old is new again.
Would guaranteed spots kill the Indianapolis 500?
Despite what some might say, it is hard to imagine a race that attracts such an ambivalent crowd to IndyCar race as a whole would all of a sudden decide to stop attending the party over something they know nothing about. About 300,000 people will fill out Indianapolis Motor Speedway in less than three weeks. How many know and care about how the cars make the race and the qualifying procedure? Plenty are there because it is the Indianapolis 500. Whether the field was set via qualifying or hot dog eating contest, they know it is the Indianapolis 500 and it is a great way to spend the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
There will be upset people. There will be people who vow to leave and never return. Some will stand by their word. It will hurt a little, but the race would continue onward, and with Doug Boles as track president, he would probably find a way to keep attracting people through the turnstiles.
For the moment, things are status quo. Nobody is locked into this year's race. Josef Newgarden will have to qualify like everyone else. Graham Rahal does not get a free pass this year after missing last year. Rahal might have to relive his nightmare. Six championships are not saving Scott Dixon. Kyle Larson isn't getting a break because he is Kyle Larson. We will have one car missing the race. The goal is simple. All you must do is beat one car in qualifying. It sounds simple enough, and yet it could be the most monumental task of the year.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, but did you know...
Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup race from Kansas by 0.001 seconds over Chris Buescher. Corey Heim won the Truck race, his second victory of the season.
The #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca-Gibson of Tom Dillmann, Sebastián Álvarez and Valdislav Lomko won the 4 Hours of Le Castellet. The #15 RLR Sport Ligier-Nissan of Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock and Gaël Julien won in the LMP3 class. The #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Duncan Cameron, David Perel and Matthew Griffin won in the GT3 class.
The #3 NISMO NDDP Nissan of Mitsunori Takaboshi and Atsushi Miyake won the Super GT race from Fuji. The #88 JLOC Lamborghini of Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima won in GT300.
The #85 RS1 Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly and Trent Hindman swept the GT World Challenge America races from Sebring. The #28 RS1 Porsche of John Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filgueras swept the GT4 America. George Kurtz swept the GT America.
The #32 Team WRT BMW of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts and the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Maro Engel and Lucas Auer split the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup races from Brands Hatch.
Jett Lawrence won the Supercross race from Denver, his seventh victory of the season. Jo Shimoda won the 250cc race.
Coming Up This Weekend
The 11th Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
MotoGP will be at Le Mans.
Formula E's has its most notable race, a doubleheader at Berlin Tempelhof Airport.
NASCAR races at Darlington.
The World Endurance Championship is at Spa-Francorchamps.
IMSA has three classes contesting at Laguna Seca.
The World Rally Championship ventures to Portugal.
The Supercross season concludes in Salt Lake City.
