Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Formula One had a party in London. Lewis Hamilton sounds happy. Max Verstappen and George Russell have buried the hatchet. It was a weekend of sweeps in Australia. Supercars has already had a photo finish. Cadillac looked quick. Atlanta was less of a mess than Daytona. Over 9.2 million people watched a hockey game, in which Canada won. IndyCar had a test, and a bunch of other news came out, as we are on the verge of the first race weekend of the season. Which leads to one question...
How Do We Feel at the Start of the Season?
I feel like this answer would have been different a week ago.
A week ago, we would have been focusing on the commercials, the promotion from the new Fox deal, the booth assembled and the competition. Then last week happened, and a lot of rough news came out.
From the perplexing plan to have no one with technical experience working on the next chassis and technical regulations, which now sounds less likely to happen in 2027 and the new goal is 2028 for its debut, to the news of Hy-Vee cutting back its sponsorship of the Iowa and Milwaukee events, to increased buzz Honda will be leaving the series after 2026, last week did not end on a high note for IndyCar.
That's not what you are hoping for ahead of a season opener, but it is IndyCar and here we are. Never get too high. The ground is always on the verge of falling out from underneath you.
But how does it look in total? A week ago, a month ago, everyone was doing backflips and victory laps as IndyCar commercials were regularly airing during NFL playoff and games and even the Super Bowl. The drumbeat was immense for IndyCar after a long offseason. It was getting exposure nearly two months before the first race of the season, and the key drivers were put forward. The Indianapolis 500 winner, the defending champion and the most popular driver. For someone who knew nothing about IndyCar and was seeing those commercials for the first time, they got the main points of the story. The rest can be picked up at the first race.
Fox's promotional effort is focused on the present and the future. Josef Newgarden, Álex Palou and Patricio O'Ward are winners in this moment and are going to be winners in the future. They aren't going anywhere, and Fox is pushing names that we expect to be around for the next decade, if not more. That is why there was no Scott Dixon nor Will Power regardless of their historical success and the history they could still make. Colton Herta will be around, but consistency has been his greatest weakness plus, Herta has not come close to winning the one race that really matters. Fox got the big hitters.
Beyond the promotions, the broadcast booth provided IndyCar with something familiar and new. Remaining in the booth will be Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe, broadcast partners for the previous three seasons and fan favorites, while Will Buxton will be the lead commentator. Buxton is new, but no stranger to IndyCar. He has long been a champion for the series and even worked a few races on pit lane with NBC Sports Network when the channel had both IndyCar and Formula One.
Buxton was lead commentator for GP2, but it has not been his regular gig the last few seasons. What Buxton brings that other possible contenders did not bring was familiar to a new audience. Buxton is known from his participation in Drive to Survive. He is a young face that can spread IndyCar to people who do not know exist on a national and international level. If people do not know the series, Buxton can be that face to introduce them to something new. He can make it less frightening. It is a connection that otherwise did not exist.
Away from the racing, there were positives to find in this transition period for IndyCar. Looking to on the track, it is a typical IndyCar preseason and there are plenty of reasons to be excited.
It is Álex Palou's championship to lose, but we know there are easily a half-dozen drivers who would not surprise us if they won the championship. From the three Team Penske drivers to Herta and O'Ward to Palou's teammate Dixon, there are plenty of worthy challengers. With how IndyCar is, maybe this is the year of a surprise. The same way we saw Palou come out of nowhere and become champion only four years ago, it could be Kyle Kirkwood's year or Christian Lundgaard's year.
Last year ended on a high. There were better races than expected at Milwaukee and Nashville. Gateway had a great race though there was some controversy. The introduction of the hybrid system was pretty smooth. There were some hiccups but nothing that diminished the results.
Entering 2025, the racing isn't a concern. We will get a little more racing as Long Beach, Mid-Ohio, Iowa, Toronto and Nashville will be adding laps. At some of those tracks, it should make strategy a little more dynamic and open things up. The tire allocation is changing a bit. Besides the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Road America, every team with get five sets of alternate and primary tires instead of six primary sets and four alternate sets.
Changes have also been made to the start and restart procedures to hopefully decrease the number of incidents we saw last year, notably on ovals.
The right steps have been made, but it wouldn't be IndyCar if there wasn't some grander issue that was left unresolved and plenty of disgruntled team owners, drivers and personnel participating in the series. It is worse when it feels like the same problems for the last five or six years.
Other than a new broadcast partner, some extra laps at a few events, and Doug Boles is now the series president, IndyCar on the eve of the 2025 season is not much different from IndyCar on the eve of the 2024. We are still not sure what the plan is for the next generation chassis or engine regulations or if the series can retain the engine manufacturers that are in place. The schedule is still a few races on the West Coast, no other race until Iowa and with nothing east of Toronto. But hey! At least Thermal Club is now a championship race and Arlington is coming in 2026. Just you wait until Arlington by golly!
The road to contentment was going to be long journey. It was not going to be reached in one offseason. Wallowing in disappointment will not make it any better. It should not overshadow the positive when it exists. We will see how far the new will take IndyCar. That excitement felt for the previous six weeks or so was genuine. The issues will remain and any solutions will come in time, as frustrating as that might be.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Canada, but did you know...
Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup race from Atlanta. Austin Hill won the Grand National Series race. Kyle Busch won theTruck race.
Cam Waters swept the Supercars races from Sydney Motorsports Park.
Nicolò Bulega swept the World Superbike races from Phillip Island. Stefano Manzo and Tom Booth-Amos split the World Supersport races
Cooper Webb won the Supercross Triple Crown round from Arlington (6-1-1). Ken Roczen won the first race. Haiden Deegan won the 250cc round (1-1-2). Cole Davies won the third race.
Coming Up This Weekend
Besides the IndyCar season opener from St. Petersburg, the Road to Indy also opens in the Florida city.
The Qatar 1812 opens the FIA World Endurance Championship season.
MotoGP continues the theme of season openers with a round in Buriram.
It is Daytona Bike Week and Supercross ventures south.
NASCAR will run a different configuration at Circuit of the Americas.
