People are mad. Racing was good but not good in the right ways, and this is all over the globe. The Formula One season started and it had more passing at Albert Park, but that is not what people want even though they say it is. They want it in a different way. Don’t ask how! Colton Herta didn’t have the worst Formula Two debut, though it started poorly. Oscar Piastri had another forgettable home weekend. I guess it was a weekend of sharing as Supercars also raced in Melbourne. Team Penske showed power belongs to the biggest teams. It won the IndyCar race with Josef Newgarden. It won the NASCAR Cup race with Ryan Blaney. The weekend in Phoenix was seen as a big success. Now we have one question to ask…
How Often Do You Want To Do This?
In the aftermath of IndyCar and NASCAR sharing a weekend at Phoenix Raceway, there was a large call for such weekends to occur more often. IndyCar raced in front of practically a full grandstand on an oval that wasn't Indianapolis. The race itself was rather wonderful, a big change from the last time IndyCar ran at Phoenix. In the immediate aftermath, many were asking when they could do it again at other venues.
For a segment of the IndyCar fanbase, desperate for more oval events, they will take them however they can get them, and if IndyCar is not going to be holding events on its own, running with NASCAR is a means to an end. If it worked in Phoenix, why couldn't it be IndyCar's way back to Pocono, Michigan, Richmond, Loudon and/or Chicagoland?
But how often do we want to do this?
Phoenix looked good. Good crowd. Good race. What else could you want? That is what IndyCar needs. It needed a race that was full of spectators and had action from start to finish. It looks good. IndyCar needs to look good, even if it is because it is standing on the shoulders of another series. The general belief is this weekend benefited both series, but we must wait and see. IndyCar needs more than one great crowd. It needs it at every race. We need to wait and see if this weekend does anything in terms of regular viewership of the series. It is doubtful it will lead to much change, but it is an attempt at increased exposure.
More people turned out on Saturday in Phoenix than for a Saturday on a typical NASCAR weekend. That is partially because a number of fans who were only interested in IndyCar showed up, but it likely drew some people who like both and felt it had a better deal with two races on Saturday with NASCAR’s second division closing out the night. Why wouldn't NASCAR want to boost its Saturday crowd and why wouldn't IndyCar want to race in front of packed grandstands? It is a mutually beneficial relationship, but there comes a point where both will want to stand on their own.
This worked because IndyCar had nothing else going on. It isn't always going to be that way.
People want Michigan back. NASCAR races at Michigan during the Gateway weekend. It is also a week after the Detroit round.
People want Pocono back. NASCAR races at Pocono on Le Mans weekend, a time when IndyCar fans like off because there is a chance one or two guys will drive in LMP2 and could theoretically improve the series' status on an international stage. It would also mean IndyCar would be competing at a racetrack for seven consecutive weeks as it has three weeks on track at Indianapolis in May, then Detroit and Gateway follow that, and if ran Pocono it would fill the off weekend before the Road America round. That would be a monstrous two months, something IndyCar teams are not built for.
Races could be moved around, but IndyCar events are highly unstable. We have seen races bounced around to different months and the crowds suffer. Then the races go away. Is IndyCar willing to make that gamble to have more events where it will not control the makeup of the weekend?
NASCAR is going to dictate the terms of these weekends. IndyCar is not getting any say. It isn't getting any beneficial television window. How much does IndyCar want to move its schedule around because NASCAR says so? NASCAR holds all the power here and be careful what you wish for. IndyCar has its own races, and it already has a history of shuffling its deck too often at the detriment of existing races. Graham Rahal loves to refers robbing Peter to pay Paul, and that is exactly what IndyCar is faced with.
How often can we do this?
Besides the conflicts that exist above, this was a Fox pushed event. When IndyCar and NASCAR first did it for four years at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it was when both were competing on NBC. If it isn't a Fox NASCAR weekend, it is unlikely to happen. This season Michigan and Pocono are both Amazon Prime races. Chicagoland will be on TNT, and Richmond is on USA. There are slim pickings after Phoenix in the Fox portion of the NASCAR schedule.
IndyCar isn't going to start its season racing with NASCAR, and it also isn't going to run at Daytona or Atlanta. Darlington, Martinsville, Bristol, Talladega and Dover are not going to happen, and IndyCar just left Texas Motor Speedway and has a new event in Arlington I am sure it would love to develop without much competition in the area.
If you take those all out of play, the only remaining oval weekends where IndyCar and NASCAR could race together are Las Vegas, which in IndyCar circles remains a forbidden place and perhaps wrongly so but this group cannot get pass Dan Wheldon’s fatal accident, and Kansas. There are also Austin and Watkins Glen, two venues IndyCar would likely love to be at, but it isn't hurting on the road course weekends even if those two venues were places where IndyCar could not get a race to stick.
Remember the logistics in these weekends and one rainy weekend would turn a weekend of unity into a bitter relationship quickly. It is risky to do this on an oval because you cannot race through the rain. A washout on Saturday would mean IndyCar would be racing at best after the Cup race on Sunday, but that would be a full 24 hours after it was scheduled. If NASCAR’s second division also had a race rained out, there is a chance IndyCar is waiting until Monday, and at that point it will be racing in front of an empty house. There would be far less cheer than we had this weekend if that were to happen. Just remember that IndyCar will be a distant third should any disruption occur on any of these weekends. Don’t say you were not warned.
There is also the sheer limit of race weekends IndyCar can have. It has been stuck on 17 races for years, and that may change by one in 2026, but IndyCar has shown an avoidance to schedule growth. Even if they are shared weekends, it doesn't save any money for the teams. It would still be more weekends competing, and IndyCar isn't going to give up existing events to run with NASCAR another two or three times. It would be foolish to drop Barber Motorsports Park, Mid-Ohio and Milwaukee because it has a chance to race with NASCAR at Michigan, Pocono and Richmond.
Phoenix was a good weekend, but IndyCar cannot sacrifice its existing races and the identity it has to chase being the third-wheel on a few NASCAR weekends, even if they are at places fans, drivers and teams wish to be. It cannot trade its headline events to be the opening act on a Saturday afternoon. Running with NASCAR is good as a one-off, but IndyCar isn't growing if it is only leeching off a bigger series. That would essentially be giving up and admitting it is never going to grow to the size on its own.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Josef Newgarden and Ryan Blaney, but did you know…
George Russell won the Australian Grand Prix.
Brodie Kostecki (races one, two and four) and Broc Feeney (race three) split the Supercars races from Melbourne.
Joshua Dürksen (sprint) and Nikola Tsolov (feature) split the Formula Two races from Melbourne.
Justin Allgaier won the NASCAR Grand National Series race from Phoenix.
Hunter Lawrence won the Supercross Triple Crown round from Indianapolis with finishes of second, fourth and first. Ken Roczen and Justin Cooper won the other two races. Cole Davies won the 250cc round after he swept the races.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar continues the start of its season with a third consecutive race and a new event, the Grand Prix of Arlington.
NASCAR will be in Las Vegas.
Formula One has its first sprint weekend in the second round of the season from China.
The World Rally Championship will run the Safari Rally from Kenya.
