Let's Look at the League
Remember a few months ago when I mentioned how head-to-head betting was what was going to get people into motorsports if gambling is going to increase interest at all? Remember how I said the series should step up and provide the infrastructure that way the casinos didn't have to be responsible for creating the match ups? We are doing that today for IndyCar.
Before we get started, this is for fun. Don't take it too seriously. And this isn't replacing the championship. This isn't turning motorsports into other sports. This is just something to run in unison with the championship as it is and it adds another dimension to a race. It would be something different to watch.
IndyCar is not an easy series to split. There are full-time teams and then part-time teams but some run ten races, other only do four to six and then there are one-offs. I have limited this to the 22 teams we know will be full-time: Four Andretti Autosport entries, three Team Penske entries, two entries from Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Dale Coyne Racing, A.J. Foyt Racing, Carlin, Ed Carpenter Racing, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and one Harding Steinbrenner Racing.
You can only split 22 in two ways, divide it into one group of 22 parts or two groups of 11 parts. When it comes to setting up a league, 22 is not a great number, especially when there are only 17 race weekends and you want to use the final three for playoffs.
How do you solve the problem? Split the deck.
Instead of having one league, there are two and there will be promotion and relegation.
The top sixteen entries from the 2018 entrants' championship were put in "IndyCar League One" and the remaining six were put in "IndyCar League Two." That is a big disparity but a 12-10 split would not be as interesting and it allows for if more entries come in then those would be added to League Two and League Two can grow while League One remains untouched.
The 16 entries in League One were split into two conferences and each entry would face the other seven conference opponents twice for a total of 14 fixtures. In League Two, each entry faces each other three times for a total of 15 fixtures. The top two from League Two get promoted while the bottom of each conference is relegated.
What do the conferences look like?
League One Conference A:
#9 Ganassi
#28 Andretti
#2 Penske
#18 Coyne
#15 RLLR
#20 ECR
#30 RLLR
#26 Andretti
League One Conference B:
#27 Andretti
#12 Penske
#22 Penske
#7 SPM
#98 Andretti
#5 SPM
#10 Ganassi
#21 ECR
League Two:
#14 Foyt
#23 Carlin
#4 Foyt
#88 HSR
#19 Coyne
#59 Carlin
For League One, I snaked the entries from the championship into each conference to make sure it was balanced. League Two is a round robin while League One is a round robin to decide the playoffs. The top four from each conference advance. I am flexible about how the playoffs are formatted but for the sake of this experiment I would say the top of each conference faces the bottom of the other conference in the quarterfinals so it would be 1A vs. 4B, 2A vs. 3B, 2B vs. 3A and 1B vs. 4B.
What would the schedule look like?
League One:
Week 1 (St. Petersburg):
#9 Ganassi vs. #26 Andretti
#28 Andretti vs. #30 RLLR
#2 Penske vs. #20 ECR
#18 Coyne vs. #15 RLLR
#27 Andretti vs. #21 ECR
#12 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi
#22 Penske vs. #5 SPM
#7 SPM vs. # 98 Andretti
Week 2 (Austin):
#9 Ganassi vs. #30 RLLR
#28 Andretti vs. #20 ECR
#2 Penske vs. #15 Rahal
#18 Coyne vs. #26 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #10 Ganassi
#12 Penske vs. #5 SPM
#22 Penske vs. #98 Andretti
#7 SPM vs. #21 ECR
Week 3 (Barber):
#9 Ganassi vs. #20 ECR
#28 Andretti vs. #15 RLLR
#2 Penske vs. #18 Coyne
#30 RLLR vs. #26 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #5 SPM
#12 Penske vs. #98 Andretti
#22 Penske vs. #7 SPM
#10 Ganassi vs. #21 ECR
Week 4 (Long Beach):
#9 Ganassi vs. #15 RLLR
#28 Andretti vs. #18 Coyne
#2 Penske vs. #30 RLLR
#20 ECR vs. #26 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #98 Andretti
#12 Penske vs. #7 SPM
#22 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi
#5 SPM vs. #21 ECR
Week 5 (Grand Prix of Indianapolis):
#9 Ganassi vs. #18 Coyne
#28 Andretti vs. #2 Penske
#15 RLLR vs. #26 Andretti
#20 ECR vs. #30 ECR
#27 Andretti vs. #7 SPM
#12 Penske vs. #22 Penske
#98 Andretti vs. #21 ECR
#5 SPM vs. #10 CGR
Week 6 (Indianapolis 500):
#9 Ganassi vs. #2 Penske
#28 Andretti vs. #26 Andretti
#18 Coyne vs. #30 RLLR
#15 RLLR vs. #20 ECR
#27 Andretti vs. #22 Penske
#12 Penske vs. #21 ECR
#7 SPM vs. #10 CGR
#98 Andretti vs. #5 SPM
Week 7 (Belle Isle I):
#9 Ganassi vs. #28 Andretti
#2 Penske vs. #26 Andretti
#18 Coyne vs. #20 ECR
#15 RLLR vs. #30 RLLR
#27 Andretti vs. #12 Penske
#22 Penske vs. #21 ECR
#7 SPM vs. #5 SPM
#98 Andretti vs. #10 Ganassi
Week 8 (Belle Isle II):
#9 Ganassi vs. #26 Andretti
#28 Andretti vs. #30 RLLR
#2 Penske vs. #20 Carpenter
#18 Coyne vs. #15 RLLR
#27 Andretti vs. #21 ECR
#12 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi
#22 Penske vs. #5 SPM
#7 SPM vs. # 98 Andretti
Week 9 (Texas):
#9 Ganassi vs. #30 RLLR
#28 Andretti vs. #20 ECR
#2 Penske vs. #15 Rahal
#18 Coyne vs. #26 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #10 Ganassi
#12 Penske vs. #5 SPM
#22 Penske vs. #98 Andretti
#7 SPM vs. #21 ECR
Week 10 (Road America):
#9 Ganassi vs. #20 ECR
#28 Andretti vs. #15 RLLR
#2 Penske vs. #18 Coyne
#30 RLLR vs. #26 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #5 SPM
#12 Penske vs. #98 Andretti
#22 Penske vs. #7 SPM
#10 Ganassi vs. #21 ECR
Week 11 (Toronto):
#9 Ganassi vs. #15 RLLR
#28 Andretti vs. #18 Coyne
#2 Penske vs. #30 RLLR
#20 ECR vs. #26 Andretti
#27 Andretti vs. #98 Andretti
#12 Penske vs. #7 SPM
#22 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi
#5 SPM vs. #21 ECR
Week 12 (Iowa):
#9 Ganassi vs. #18 Coyne
#28 Andretti vs. #2 Penske
#15 RLLR vs. #26 Andretti
#20 ECR vs. #30 RLLR
#27 Andretti vs. #7 SPM
#12 Penske vs. #22 Penske
#98 Andretti vs. #21 ECR
#5 SPM vs. #10 CGR
Week 13 (Mid-Ohio):
#9 Ganassi vs. #2 Penske
#28 Andretti vs. #26 Andretti
#18 Coyne vs. #30 RLLR
#15 RLLR vs. #20 ECR
#27 Andretti vs. #22 Penske
#12 Penske vs. #21 ECR
#7 SPM vs. #10 CGR
#98 Andretti vs. #5 SPM
Week 14 (Pocono):
#9 Ganassi vs. #28 Andretti
#2 Penske vs. #26 Andretti
#18 Coyne vs. #20 ECR
#15 RLLR vs. #30 RLLR
#27 Andretti vs. #12 Penske
#22 Penske vs. #21 ECR
#7 SPM vs. #5 SPM
#98 Andretti vs. #10 Ganassi
League Two
Week 1 (St. Petersburg):
#14 Foyt vs. #59 Carlin
#23 Carlin vs. #19 Coyne
#4 Foyt vs. #88 HSR
Week 2 (Austin):
#14 Foyt vs. 19 Coyne
#23 Carlin vs. #88 HSR
#4 Foyt vs. #59 Carlin
Week 3 (Barber):
#14 Foyt vs. #88 HSR
#23 Carlin vs. #4 Foyt
#19 Coyne vs. #59 Carlin
Week 4 (Long Beach):
#14 Foyt vs. #23 Carlin
#4 Foyt vs. #19 Coyne
#88 HSR vs. #59 Carlin
Week 5 (Grand Prix of Indianapolis):
#14 Foyt vs. #4 Foyt
#23 Carlin vs. #59 Carlin
#88 HSR vs. #19 Coyne
Week 6 (Indianapolis 500):
#14 Foyt vs. #59 Carlin
#23 Carlin vs. #19 Coyne
#4 Foyt vs. #88 HSR
Week 7 (Belle Isle I):
#14 Foyt vs. 19 Coyne
#23 Carlin vs. #88 HSR
#4 Foyt vs. #59 Carlin
Week 8 (Belle Isle II):
#14 Foyt vs. #88 HSR
#23 Carlin vs. #4 Foyt
#19 Coyne vs. #59 Carlin
Week 9 (Texas):
#14 Foyt vs. #23 Carlin
#4 Foyt vs. #19 Coyne
#88 HSR vs. #59 Carlin
Week 10 (Road America):
#14 Foyt vs. #59 Carlin
#23 Carlin vs. #19 Coyne
#4 Foyt vs. #88 HSR
Week 11 (Toronto):
#14 Foyt vs. #4 Foyt
#23 Carlin vs. #59 Carlin
#88 HSR vs. #19 Coyne
Week 12 (Iowa):
#14 Foyt vs. 19 Coyne
#23 Carlin vs. #88 HSR
#4 Foyt vs. #59 Carlin
Week 13 (Mid-Ohio):
#14 Foyt vs. #88 HSR
#23 Carlin vs. #4 Foyt
#19 Coyne vs. #59 Carlin
Week 14 (Pocono):
#14 Foyt vs. #23 Carlin
#4 Foyt vs. #19 Coyne
#88 HSR vs. #59 Carlin
Week 15 (Gateway):
#14 Foyt vs. #4 Foyt
#23 Carlin vs. #59 Carlin
#88 HSR vs. #19 Coyne
For League One, Gateway, Portland and Laguna Seca would make up the playoffs, which would best represent the IndyCar calendar in three races. You get an oval and two road courses. For League Two, there are five ovals, five street course races and five road courses and I have even adjusted the schedule so every one faces each other on one oval, one street course and one road course.
As for tiebreakers, head-to-head would be the first tiebreaker and if the drivers split the head-to-head meeting then we would use outright victories and then go through most runner-up finishes, third-place finishes and so on until one driver comes out on top.
We keep an eye on this as the year goes along. I am not what we could take away from it or if the results will mean anything but it will be fun to see what happens.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Joey Logano and Scott McLaughlin but did you know...
Kyle Busch won the Grand National Series race and the Truck race, his 93rd and 53rd victories in the respective series.
The #3 K-PAX Racing Bentley of Rodrigo Bautista and Maxime Soulet and the #61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari of Toni Vilander and Miguel Molina split the World Challenge America races from Austin. The #47 NOLASport Porsche of Jason Hart and Matt Travis and the #77 Park Place Motorsports Porsche of Trent Hindman and Alan Bryjolfsson split the GT America races.
Cooper Webb won the Supercross race from Atlanta, his fifth victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar starts its season from St. Petersburg with all three Road to Indy series and GT4 America.
It is Daytona Bike Week and that means Supercross is in town.
Formula E returns to Hong Kong.
NASCAR remains out west at Phoenix.
World Rally Championship heads to the warmth of Mexico.
