Where to begin? An appeal was heard. A championship was overturned. Besides that, two other championships were decided on track and one came down to the final lap while one driver joined exclusive company. Max Verstappen is not happy with Esteban Ocon. In NASCAR, the penalties from Wednesday didn't shake things up too much. There was plenty of contact though across all three races. IMSA held an exhibition race. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso and McLaren will return to attempt the Indianapolis 500 in 2019. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Exploring an IndyCar/NASCAR Joint Weekend
We are at the end of 2018. Seasons are dwindling. A few hang on but most are calling time with winter weeks away. With the end comes new beginnings and 2019 marks a few changes that could be momentous for motorsports, especially in the United States.
IndyCar moves full-time to NBC Sports in 2019 and the series will have eight races broadcasted on network NBC with the remaining nine on NBCSN. While IndyCar's relationship with NBCSN and its predecessor Versus extends back a decade, this is a new era for the series as it is now fully apart of the NBC Sports family.
Already fully apart of the NBC Sports family is NASCAR, which has been on the network since 2015. The last four years have seen a good relationship between the two series. NBCSN has created a motorsports stronghold on American cable TV and it has been beneficial to the series. IndyCar and NASCAR programming has mingled and races have led into other races. When Formula One was on the network it was arguably your one-stop-shop for motorsports. With IMSA joining the NBC Sports family as well in 2019, it appears that will be the case again but with an expanded partnership with IndyCar, could we a common television contract bring series together at the tracks?
A rumor came out over autumn about a discussion held for a IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheader at Chicagoland Speedway in 2019. While those talks were tabled it has not been completely ruled out and a motorsports summit will be held for the NBC Sports properties before the end of the year.
This will not happen in 2019 but could 2020 be an option? How realistic would it be for IndyCar and NASCAR to run a combined weekend? Let's explore and we will start with the rumored scenario.
Chicagoland makes sense. It is a Midwest venue, it has history with IndyCar and the venue falls during the NBC portion of the NASCAR season, the most crucial part of any potential combined weekend. This isn't going to happen during the Fox portion of the season. It has to be an NBC event just from a logistical standpoint.
Let's breakdown Chicagoland a little bit further. Chicagoland falls at the end of June/start of July. It was the first NBC race this year and it will be again next year. This race fell on an IndyCar off weekend in 2018 and it falls on an IndyCar off weekend in 2019 with the series running at Road America the weekend before and then having two weeks off until Toronto. A combined IndyCar/NASCAR weekend would be a great way for NBC to kick off its NASCAR portion of the schedule and it would be a big summer kick-off. We would be a month removed from the Indianapolis 500 and there would still be a little over two months until the Southern 500. It could be a big move at the start of summer.
However, there are problems with Chicagoland and I am not talking about the track size or the catchfence but the schedule itself. The weekend is already a triple-header for NASCAR with the Trucks running Friday night, the Grand National Series running Saturday afternoon and NASCAR Cup qualifying Saturday evening with the Cup race Sunday afternoon.
How can you squeeze IndyCar in? When does IndyCar squeeze in?
Oval events are known for having a lot of downtime. It is a NASCAR and an IndyCar problem. A practice session is held and then there is an hour break with nothing on track. Then another practice session is held and there is two-hour break before qualifying and when the day is over you spent just as much time watching empty asphalt as you did watching cars on racetrack.
There is room but it comes down to the tires. Goodyear and Firestone do not match well and it is neither manufactures' fault. It is science. Each tire has to be constructed its own way and they do not match. This isn't only a Goodyear/Firestone thing but Firestone has the same problem with Cooper Tires, which supplies all three series of the Road to Indy.
Thanks to Jon Beekhuis' inquiry, we have learned incompatible rubber is lifted from the track surface and thrown away. With three series on Goodyear, Firestone rubber would not have a chance to get into the surface and it would not be the best for IndyCar. I doubt the tire manufactures would want to work together to each bring a compound that would be compatible. A compromise could lead to a series taking a step back in terms of quality and I am not sure either side would be willing to give. Plus, you could be looking at an angry fan base that the series they hold closest to their hearts had to sacrifice and had a worse race because of it.
Rubber is a hurdle but there is also the question about what would the actual schedule look like that would deem it worth having a combination weekend? What would be the best for each series? It would make sense to give IndyCar its track time, rubber in and then race. IndyCar could be the leadoff to the weekend, practice Thursday night and race Friday night. The NASCAR weekend could start on Saturday. But would having IndyCar run Thursday and Friday and the NASCAR events being smushed into the Saturday and Sunday be worth promoting as a combination weekend?
The lure of a combination weekend would be getting to see IndyCar and Cup cars running on the same day. You would get to see Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and company go run a practice session and ten minutes later Scott Dixon, Alexander Rossi and the IndyCar bunch would take to the track. Splitting it up into two IndyCar days and two NASCAR days is basically having two separate weekends. If a track is going to do that then it mind as well hold the events a few months apart.
Maybe we put Chicagoland aside for a moment but we should also remember this year's Chicagoland weekend was held when it was over 90º F. The crowd was down significantly. I am not sure adding IndyCar would draw more people to the track. The easier thing to do would be to move these races to the night.
What other options are there? Both series go to Pocono but NASCAR at the end of July and IndyCar at the end of August. That would be something if both series shared a weekend but I don't think that is an option. Fans have wanted the Cup series to go to Iowa for quite sometime and with a possible calendar a few years away maybe that would be the better venue for this combination event in July. IndyCar has run with ARCA at Iowa the last few seasons and despite the tire differences, the IndyCar race hasn't been that bad. This year's race was just fine and it had not only ARCA's General Tire but also Indy Lights on Cooper Tires.
IndyCar is moving the Iowa race to Saturday night. I bet NASCAR would want the Cup race on Saturday night. On top of that, what about the support series for each? In my mind, Iowa might be the best option when it comes to an oval. But it also could allow for something different. What if each series could have the best of both worlds? What if instead of fighting over the prime time slot, each series got its chance under the lights?
This could be a chance for each series to run a doubleheader, one race on Friday and one race on Saturday. Each night could have 400 laps of racing, IndyCar running 200 and NASCAR running 200. On Friday night, one series would lead off in the evening, let's say it would be a 6:00 p.m. local start and the second race would begin at 8:00 p.m. local. On Saturday night, whatever series had the late start runs at 6:00 p.m. and the series that opened up on Friday closes out on Saturday at 8:00 p.m.
The only other option I would throw out there is Watkins Glen. IndyCar had good races at Watkins Glen. Crowds, not so much. NASCAR gets a great crowd at Watkins Glen and the race isn't half bad. This would be IndyCar's best chance to go back to Watkins Glen and this would basically force NASCAR to run the boot.
That is the start of a two-week break for IndyCar, as the Watkins Glen NASCAR weekend falls the week after Mid-Ohio. The NASCAR weekend already has Cup, Grand National Series and the East series but NASCAR road course weekends are always underwhelming when compared to an IndyCar weekend or sports car weekend. Four series is nothing. IndyCar could start on Thursday with a test session and fit in practice sessions on Friday. In August, there is enough daylight to go late into the day. Cup qualifying was held after the Grand National Series race this year. The IndyCar race could be held at that time or maybe IndyCar and the Cup races could be run on Sunday. The IndyCar races held in 2016 and 2017 took an hour and 41 minutes and an hour and 42 minutes respectively. The IndyCar race could begin at noon, end around 2:00 p.m. ET and the Cup race could begin at 3:00 or 3:15 p.m. ET.
That is a combination weekend worth having.
One final concern with all those possibilities is weather. If it rains, it will throw the entire weekend into chaos. What happens if the IndyCar race is scheduled to go first and it rains but the track is being dried and will be done at the time the NASCAR race is supposed to start. What happens? The only guarantee is anger. IndyCar fans would be angry if they are force to wait until after the Cup race or worse until the next day. NASCAR fans would be angry if their race is on hold until the IndyCar race is completed and the Cup race doesn't go green until 11:00 p.m. ET. Any road course would hopefully alleviate those concerns but we know there have been rainstorms hard enough that neither IndyCar nor NASCAR can race in.
This is the closest we have ever been to IndyCar and NASCAR's top series running together on the same weekend. It is still miles away from happening but a combination of the decline of motorsports, a stagnant landscape and a mutual television partner has made it seem possible. We are a long way off from it ever becoming a reality and egos will have to be put aside to make it happen. That might be the greatest hurdle of all.
If the two sides can come to terms then I hope we get to see it, preferably at Iowa or Watkins Glen.
Retroactive Champions From the Weekend
The #4 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG of Lucas Stolz, Maro Engel and Yelmer Buurman have been reinstated to the 3 Hours of Barcelona, given back the race victory and in turn the trio have won the Blancpain Endurance Series championship over Raffaele Marciello. Marciello remains the overall Blancpain GT Series champion despite the reversed result.
Champions From the Weekend
Jenson Button and Naoki Yamamoto of the #100 Team Kunimitsu Honda won the Super GT GT500 championship with a third place finish at Motegi. Yamamoto is the fourth driver to win the Super Formula and Super GT championships in the same year joining Pedro de la Rosa, Satoshi Motoyama and Richard Lyons.
The #65 K2 R&D Leon Racing Mercedes-AMG of Haruki Kurosawa and Naoya Gamou won the Super GT GT300 championship with its victory at Motegi.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Black Falcon and the GT300 results from Motegi but did you know...
Lewis Hamilton won the Brazilian Grand Prix, his tenth victory of the season and 72rd of his career.
Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Cup race from Phoenix, his eighth victory of the season. Christopher Bell won the Grand National Series race, his seventh victory of the season. Brett Moffitt won the Truck series race, his fifth victory of the season.
The #8 ARTA Honda of Tomoki Nojiri and Takuza Izawa won the Super GT race from Motegi.
The #13 ANSA Motorsports Ligier-Nissan of Kyle Kirkwood and Roman De Angelis won the IMSA SportsCar Encore from Sebring. The #60 Roush Racing Ford Mustang of Nate Stacy, Kyle Marcelli and Dean Martin won in GT4. The #22 Mark Motors Racing Audi of Remo Ruscitti and Marco Cirone won in the TCR class.
Coming Up This Weekend
Three NASCAR finales from Homestead.
Three finales from Valencia in MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3.
Three World Touring Car Cup races from Macau, the final round of the season.
The Macau Grand Prix.
The FIA GT World Cup from Macau.
The final FIA World Endurance Championship race of the calendar year, 6 Hours of Shanghai.
The World Rally Championship finale, Rally Australia.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
