Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
The Formula One world nearly imploded over team orders. Again. Max Verstappen did his best to steal the attention from the weekend. Red Bull could be making a driver change after the summer break. NASCAR got its Hollywood-scripted return of the Brickyard 400, though there was a messy overtime. We need to talk about the overtime rules. We have time for that and can do it in a few weeks. Colton Herta got Andretti Global on the scoreboard with a victory just prior to IndyCar’s Olympic break, and the Olympic break is what we should talk about.
An Olympic Break
I have a calendar with the events for a large number of series. Each series is color coded. This past weekend was rather full.
IndyCar. NASCAR. Formula One. GT World Challenge America. GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup. World Superbike was competing. Supercars was in action as was Super Formula. The World Rally Championship had a round. Oh! And Formula E concluded its season. It was a busy weekend with races all hours of the day and night.
Which is what makes the following weekend so notable. What does that look like?
Formula One. GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
That's it. That's the list.
What about the weekend after that?
IMSA. MotoGP. Super GT. WRC's Rally Finland.
Ok. That is more but that isn't close to what we just saw this past weekend.
What about the weekend after that one?
NASCAR from Richmond. World Superbike from Portimão.
There is only one explanation for this three-week dry spell.
The Olympics.
Though motorsports is not represented in the games, the Olympics dominates the sports world even if you think it doesn't.
It is a viewership behemoth. Every country is tuning in. Some are more enthused about it than others (United States, Great Britain, Jamaica, France). A few are disinterested (Russia, Belarus, somehow also France). Either way, the world is watching, and the Olympics gives people a reason to watch.
There is stuff on all day. From 9:00 a.m. Paris time to nearly midnight Paris time. Fifteen hours of competition. It is friendly to every corner of the global.
For those on the United States' Eastern Seaboard, you might miss some of the early events, but if you are up at sunrise you will see about 12 hours of action. The West Coast will have a little less time, but really about nine hours to keep the kids occupied as the summer break cannot end soon enough.
Across the Pacific, many of the events will take place in the evening and throughout the night. Those getting home from work at 5:00 p.m. in Tokyo will have something on until they crash on the couch. If they wake up in the middle of the night, they can catch the final events of the night before rolling over and getting another two or three hours of shut-eye before having to get started for their day. Australia has a similar schedule with this year's Olympics.
It is basically three weeks of around the clock sports, from the familiar team sports of basketball and soccer to the obscure that you didn't realize were in the games (break dancing, ladies and gentlemen)! It is tough to compete against. It is probably best to get out of the way.
You might not like to hear that as a motorsports fan, but who is watching? The 21st century has allowed the Olympics to take over. This isn't the days of Jim McKay and ABC’s Wide World of Sports. This isn't a day worth of competition squeezed into a two-hour primetime broadcast. Everything can be seen live. The Olympics are a full court press of sports. NBC, USA, E!, CNBC, they are all showing sports and then Peacock is showing even more. More than you can fathom. It is an overload.
If you get someone hooked on volleyball, they will have a place to find it. Then there are the tentpole sports, swimming, track and field, and gymnastics. Those always get an audience. Good luck trying to go against those.
Motorsports might have a fanbase, but none of them are going to draw a causal viewer at this time. The ratings will take a hit. It makes more sense to let the party happen, join the party in fact, and return when the dancing is over.
It isn't a negative. It is good to get a break from racing for a little bit. The summer is more than racing. Getting two or three weeks to do something else can be valuable time. There is so many other wonderful things to do, some of which may include watching a sport you didn't know existed until two days before.
In the United States, these breaks are largely led from television. NBC shows IndyCar and NASCAR. NBC is quite busy. Unless IndyCar and NASCAR want a 9:00 p.m. CNBC window or, if they are willing to have a Peacock exclusive race, they aren't going to get a prime window for a race during the Olympics. There is not enough bandwidth for an event that isn't tied to the large event. If there isn't a gold medal on the line and giving a small nation a global wave of support for an underdog, it is going to be hard to capture the hearts and minds of the average viewer.
You might be celebrating each series new television deals, as those partners are not necessarily going to clear the way for the Olympics, but don't celebrate so soon. For starters, IndyCar might be signing a new television before the start of the 2028 season. There is a chance come 2028 we could be in this situation all over again and IndyCar will be taking a few weeks off during the summer. But don't forget where the 2028 Olympics will be held.
Do you think it would be smart to compete against a Summer Olympics in Los Angeles? The games will be in the United States' backyard, and everybody will be consumed in it. There isn't going to be a narrow window for a race to get in. Unless you are willing to be completely buried and forgotten against the first Summer Olympics held in the United States in 32 years, it might be best to schedule the final three weekends in July off now and start planning your vacations accordingly.
There is nothing wrong with accepting your place in the pecking order. The motorsports world seems to know it is best to sit this one out. Considering the number of series that are off, maybe we could have some form of motorsports represented in the Olympics. It will have to wait. The sports for 2028 have already been settled. Enjoy flag football, cricket, lacrosse and squash.
There is always 2032 in Brisbane. I hear they used to race on the streets of the Gold Coast.
Champion from the Weekend
Pascal Wehrlein clinched the Formula E championship with finishes of first and second in London. Oliver Rowland won the second race.
Winner From the Weekend
You know about Colton Herta and the Formula E finale, but did you know...
Kyle Larson won the Brickyard 400, his fourth victory of the season. Riley Herbst won the NASCAR Grand National Series race from Indianapolis. Ty Majeski won the Truck race from Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Oscar Piastri won the Hungarian Grand Prix, his first career victory.
Kush Maini (sprint) and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (feature) split the Formula Two races from the Hungaroring. Maini was awarded the sprint victory after Richard Verschoor was disqualified for rear plank being worn beyond regulation. Nikita Bedrin (sprint) and Nikola Tsolov (feature) split the Formula Three races.
Simon Sikes and Lochie Hughes split the USF Pro 2000 races from Toronto. Sam Corry and Evagaros Papasavvas split the U.S. F2000 races.
The #63 DXDT Racing Corvette of Tommy Milner and Alec Udel and the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG of Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis split the GT World Challenge America races from Virginia International Raceway. The #28 RennSport1 - CBW Racing Porsche of John Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filgueiras swept the GT4 America races. Justin Rothberg and Johnny O’Connell split the GT America races.
The #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Lucas Auer and Mario Engel and the #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari of Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen split the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup races from the Hockenheimring.
Toprak Razgatlioglu swept the World Superbike races from Most, and Razgatlioglu has won ten consecutive races. Adrián Huertas swept the World Supersport races, and Huertas has won six consecutive races.
Chaz Mostert swept the Supercars races from Sydney Motorsports Park.
Sho Tsuboi won the Super Formula race from Fuji.
Kalle Rovanperä won Rally Latvia.
Coming Up This Weekend
The Belgian Grand Prix.
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup from the Nürburgring.
