Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
The World Cup has begun. Lewis Hamilton scored his first Ferrari victory after a well executed tire strategy combined with a timely virtual safety car, and for the first time since the 1983 San Marino Grand Prix, one country swept the podium, as George Russell and Lando Norris made it three Union Jacks hanging over the rostrum. Pierre Gasly scored a podium and a seventh this week. Colton Herta ran a first practice. Meanwhile, it was a rather compelling 24 Hours of Le Mans, though Ferrari traded French glory for conquering Catalunya. Records are falling in World Superbike. NASCAR moved up a start time, and everyone was happy. Unfortunately, we end with a sad note. Dennis Reinbold passed away Saturday, aged 65. The long-time owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had been competing in IndyCar since 2000. Condolences go out to the Reinbold family.
When to Chase Momentum and When to Take a Break
IndyCar finally got a weekend off. It kind of had a week off except for the five teams and 13 entries that tested at Road America on Tuesday. Either way, it was a Saturday and Sunday at home, which had not been the case over the previous month-plus.
It really began with the Indianapolis 500 open test over Tuesday April 28 and April 29. At that point, it had been the quietest part of the IndyCar schedule. After running four of five weekends in March, IndyCar had the first two weekends of April off before the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 19. A week-and-a-half later was the test.
There was an off weekend to start the month of May, but then the teams were at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for three consecutive weekends, starting with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and then continuing through a week full of practice sessions before Indianapolis 500 qualifying and another Monday practice session. Indianapolis 500 race weekend followed. Once that race was over, it was off to Detroit before finishing this period with a Sunday night race from Gateway.
A busy period around the month of May is nothing new. For over the last decade, the usual schedule has been the three weeks at IMS between the road course race and the "500" before a race weekend immediately following. Many years that was a doubleheader in Detroit. A few times this period has had another race attached on. Last year, Barber Motorsports Park was the weekend prior to the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and that was just a little over a week after the Indianapolis open test, essentially six consecutive weeks on on-track action.
This period is always coming. Every year it comes there is plenty of vocalization calling for a break and this many consecutive weeks on track are unnecessary. That is the case anytime IndyCar does three or four consecutive weekends. These teams are not behemoths with bodies just hanging around. Most of them are small crews with team members handling multiple roles. It starts with the drive to and from events, flipping race cars from a road/street course setup to an oval setup and then all the other tasks in-between for a functional race team. The work is non-stop to get to each race. It is exhausting, and it might not be the worst stretch of this season.
The 2026 season ends with six races over the final five weekends, and it is cross-continental travel, beginning in Portland on August 9 before the first trip to Markham, Ontario, Canada on August 16. The Washington, D.C. race will be on August 23 before the Milwaukee doubleheader over August 29-30 with Laguna Seca closing the season on September 6. It should be acknowledged Washington, D.C. was added to the schedule in January. It originally wasn't supposed to be that busy at the end of the season.
Either way, the period that gets the most attention is the May-into-June portion of the calendar, and each year there is a rumble from many involved that there should be a break. After all the work that is done after the Indianapolis 500, everyone would like a breather. However, IndyCar and Chevrolet enjoy the Detroit Grand Prix immediately following IndyCar's biggest race, and there is some belief IndyCar must continue to race to ride the wave off of momentum and attention from the "500."
A few things can be true.
For starters, it usually isn't five weeks. It has mostly been four, the three in Indianapolis and the one in Detroit. A few scheduling quirks has seen it increase to five. Last year, it was Easter and Barber avoiding the NASCAR race from Talladega. This year, Gateway was moved a week earlier because this was the opening weekend for the FIFA World Cup, and Fox did not have the real estate for an IndyCar race on June 13 or June 14. There is a good chance races will spread out in 2027. The calendar naturally creates time off as May 2027 will have five race weekends with the Indianapolis 500 falling on its latest possible date of May 30.
Second, it is understandable to race the week after the Indianapolis 500. IndyCar doesn't want to be out-of-sight, out-of-mind. It keeps the party going for one more race. We are not left waiting for the next race when the Indianapolis 500 is over. We know we get to see IndyCar again in seven day's time.
However, there is enough evidence to suggest there is no momentum after the Indianapolis 500. Outside of 2021 when the pandemic altered the schedule slightly and saw a week-off between Indianapolis and Detroit, there has been a race following the Indianapolis 500 consistently since 2006. Besides 2021, the only other year in that span that had a week off after the Indianapolis 500 was 2011. The viewership is never a monstrously greater than average.
Since 2012, the average viewership for the IndyCar races the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 is 901,182 viewers. If you remove the 2020 Gateway doubleheader, which saw both races on NBCSN, and the two races shown on USA (2022 and 2024), that average only improves to 989,444 viewers. If you just look at the Sunday races and ignore the Saturday races from when Belle Isle hosted a doubleheader, the average is 1,070,800 viewers.
In case you are wondering, in 2021, the year there was a week-off after the "500," the Belle Isle races drew 842,000 viewers and 1.383 million viewers respectively.
All those numbers are around IndyCar's average, and that has been IndyCar's average for practically that entire period.
There is no momentum from the Indianapolis 500. The same people who will watch IndyCar at St. Petersburg and Gateway and Mid-Ohio tune in for Detroit. There is nothing to suggest the people who only tune in for the Indianapolis 500 are sticking around for the following weekend. They aren't! The numbers tell us that! If Detroit had 2.5 million viewers and was notably well above average, then we would have a different conversation. That isn't the case.
So should IndyCar keep up the charade of momentum?
I am actually going to argue it is better to race the week after the Indianapolis 500 than not even if all evidence points to there being no difference in interest. If more people aren't watching when there is a race seven days later than more people aren't going to be watching if the next race is 14 days later. What is the difference? You mind as well race anyway. A week without a race isn't going to mean it will somehow be better the next time IndyCar is on track.
It doesn't matter when IndyCar races, and there is no level of promotional tour that would have dragged Felix Rosenqvist from coast-to-coast that would have led to a leap in viewership. The entire notion that IndyCar needs time to promote the Indianapolis 500 winner to generate interest and viewership is foolish, especially in the year 2026. Your message gets around the world in 15 seconds as are 25 billion other messages. Good luck being heard!
And in case you are thinking Detroit is the issue and it is holding that weekend back, it doesn't matter what race was after the Indianapolis 500. Gateway isn't going to draw three million viewers if it was the weekend after the Indianapolis 500. Gateway couldn't draw a million viewers this year on its own. The 6.6 million viewers for the Indianapolis 500 aren't dying for oval racing. They just want to see the Indianapolis 500. They will be back next May.
We know where IndyCar stands. We know what size IndyCar is and there is no surprise about it. It has practically been the same since reunification. That is fine. Instead of acting like the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 is valuable, let's look at it as another race weekend because that is what it is in comparison to all the others. It isn't special. The numbers back that.
As another race weekend, I still think there should be a race after the Indianapolis 500. There is no greater gain from not racing. Let's keep going whether that race is in Detroit, Gateway or perhaps somewhere else around the globe. Most years, the schedule will not be this cluttered and see two consecutive race weekends after the Indianapolis 500. This year was kind of a fluke in that regard, but it is a busy time for IndyCar and the teams, and something should be done to get them rest.
I am going to ask why were teams testing at Road America on Tuesday after having three consecutive race weekends and five consecutive weekends at a racetrack? There was no reason for a Road America test the Tuesday after Gateway, where the teams have to flip the cars over from oval setup to a road course setup. I would argue there is no reason to test at Road America period in the current state of IndyCar. Nothing drastically changed to warrant a need to test at Road America.
In this case, it is on the teams. The teams are making it tough on themselves. Ultimately, if the teams want a break, they can collective agree to that. The charter system is a collective effort, and the teams can make sure they all do what is best for them. If the general sense after the Indianapolis 500 and Detroit is everyone needs time off, then take time off. It isn't going to move races around, but it can at least turn the lights off at the shop when there is no on-track action scheduled.
The teams could collectively agree to a mandatory off period. No working on the cars. No one working at the shops. No testing. Nothing can be done, especially this time of year. It was Formula One does each August.
We can establish some sort of Indianapolis period that also encompasses other race weekends. After the final race of that "Indianapolis period" all teams return their cars to their shops and then all shops are closed for a full week.
In this case, after the Gateway race, once the teams get back their respective shops, all doors are locked and everyone is on break starting that Monday at 6:00 p.m. and no one can resume work until 8:00 a.m. the following Monday. That is basically seven full days off. If everyone is off, no one is getting an advantage.
We can also pause testing. Unless there is some drastic change to tire compounds or a repaved surface, there is almost no reason to test during the season in IndyCar. There was no need to test at Road America this past Tuesday. There is no need for 14 drivers from six teams to test at Mid-Ohio on June 23, two days after Road America. There is no need for nine teams and 23 drivers to test at Milwaukee on July 8, three days after the Mid-Ohio race. Both of these are actual tests that will happen.
Again, these are teams deciding to do more work during their off periods. If these teams want extra track time, have an extra practice session on the Friday of the race weekend. At least those are weekends when there are spectators at the racetrack and the series can at least get something out of that track time.
Also, why aren't the teams smarter when scheduling tests? Why test at Milwaukee on July 8 and have to flip the cars from Mid-Ohio configuration when the Milwaukee test could happen after Nashville when the cars are already in an oval configuration? I am sure there is a reason, but this feels like an obvious way for the teams to look out for themselves. Work smarter, not harder folks!
There is a proper balance between racing and rest. IndyCar can improve. Prior to this season, this was a series that made it habit of running its first race of the season, its first race in six months and then taking three weeks off. This year saw IndyCar's busiest March arguably ever.
There is this five-week slog that takes up most of May and part of June, and then there is a breather. There are only three race weekends in an eight-week period from June 14 through August 2. Then IndyCar ends with five consecutive race weekends.
Tweaks can be made that can allow for those busier periods when it feels right to be racing and staying on track but also allow for those breathers to be actual time off, and better balance for those competing. More can be done to make sure teams are taking off when there is time off. If testing is necessary, it can be properly allocated within the calendar, and it can better planned.
There is something beautiful with IndyCar. It can have these intense periods when there are races after races and it gives you something to look forward to, but then there are pauses and you come to appreciate the races you saw while building anticipation for the next one to come. There is a way IndyCar can have both without over-working everyone involved.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Lewis Hamilton, but did you know...
The #7 Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries won the 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans. The #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca of Tom Dillmann, Nick Yelloly and Jakub Śmiechowski won in LMP2, their second consecutive Le Mans class victory. The #33 TF Sport Corvette of Jonny Edgar, Nicky Catsburg and Ben Keating won in LMGT3.
Kush Maini (sprint) and Rafael Câmara (feature) split the Formula Two races from Barcelona. James Wharton (sprint) and Théophile Naël (feature) split the Formula Three races.
Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup race from Pocono, his third consecutive victory, all from pole position, and it was Hamlin's fourth victory of the season. Justin Allgaier won the Grand National Series race, his fifth victory of the season.
The #27 JMW Motorsports Mercedes-AMG of Jason Daskalos and Philip Ellis won the GT World Challenge America race from Road Atlanta. The #33 Blackdog Racing McLaren of Tony Gaples and Michael Cooper and the #028 RS1 Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly and Luca Mars split the GT4 America races. Memo Gidley swept the GT America races.
Nicolò Bulega swept the World Superbike races from Misano, and Bulega is 21-for-21 this season with 25 consecutive victories dating back to last season. Valentin Debise and Albert Arenas split the World Supersport races.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar is back in Road America.
MotoGP has a round in Brno.
NASCAR makes it trip to San Diego and Coronado Air Base
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters return to the Laustizring.
Supercars take a trip to Hidden Valley Raceway.
Formula E returns to Sanya, China for the first time since 2019.
