Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
There was plenty of IndyCar silly season news we will discuss later. Charles Leclerc made an entire country mad. One two-wheel championship tightened. One two-wheel championship ended. NASCAR had an unsuspected clean race and dragged out a team implosion because nobody understands the value of proper team orders. Suzuka will have to update its safety standards. The World Rally Championship was in three countries. World Superbike will visit only two continents next year. However, that isn't the schedule on my mind.
Regularly Scheduled Programming
The one nice thing about Formula One is you always know how a race weekend is going to be... for the most part. Sprint weekends are kind of a wrinkle we are all adjusting to, but we know what most weekends will be like to the very hour.
Hours have shifted, but for the most part, you know when everything will be taking place. In my youth, first practice on Friday would be at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time with second practice at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. The final practice session would be at 5:00 a.m. Saturday before qualifying at 8:00 a.m. with the grand prix at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday.
When there was a grand prix weekend, you didn't have to think twice about the time. At least not when it was a European round. Things were thrown off when a race would take place in Australia or Japan, but even those had a certain feeling to them. You knew when to be up.
It is the one thing Formula One has gotten right and still gets right for all these years. It isn't going to change any time soon. Even with the sprint format, the weekend feels the same, and that could be the reason for some reluctance to any significant changes.
The schedule is the one thing Formula One has that IndyCar could realistically replicate.
In the wake of the Drive to Survive jealousy, IndyCar's inferior complex has been on full display for the last few years. From the lack of attention despite measurably better racing to disappointment in the roadside carnival aesthetic of its events compared to glitzy structure at every Formula One gathering including the ones at temporary venues, many around the American-based series keep picking out its flaws and demanding to mirror the global roadshow in at least presentation.
That's not going to happen. IndyCar doesn't have the budget, nor do its events, to build elaborate podiums with LED screens and pyrotechnics up the wazoo. IndyCar is going to look like IndyCar indefinitely, however, it could set a structured schedule and keep it at every event, at least for Fridays and Saturdays.
With all of IndyCar's practice and qualifying sessions, outside of the Indianapolis 500, broadcasted on a streaming service, IndyCar is not handcuffed to televisions windows when it comes to its preliminary action leading up to a race.
IndyCar is the main event at all of its race weekends. It has first choice of every time window for every session.
Instead of willy-nilly selecting a time, it is realistic for IndyCar to pick the same time at every race weekend. A road/street course weekend usually has the same structure, one Friday afternoon practice with a practice Saturday morning before qualifying Saturday afternoon. The framework is there. Now it is about setting the time consistently.
The beauty of a streaming service being its main broadcast partner is IndyCar can set the time and the service can open the lines for the most part. Practice isn't looking to squeeze between a soccer match and a pre-game show for a college basketball game at 11:30 a.m. ET on a Saturday morning. Nor does qualifying have to move to 6:30 p.m. ET after a college football game end and have to worry about the game going long and qualifying being joined in progress.
A streaming partner allows IndyCar to have whatever window it wants and not worry about being stepped on from either end of the session. If IndyCar wants every Friday practice at 4:00 p.m. ET, the first Saturday practice at 10:00 a.m. ET and qualifying at 3:00 p.m., it can do that, and it should.
Uniformity allows people to get comfortable and know when things are going to happen. They don't have to chase a schedule and think practice is at 1:00 p.m. when it actually occurred at noon. A person doesn't have to plan around watching qualifying at 4:00 p.m. and only to find out it will start at 5:00 p.m. while that person has made dinner plans with a friend for 5:30 p.m.
As baffling as it can be sometimes that proclaimed fans of a series complain on social media of not knowing when a race or session happens, it can be understandable if they cannot keep up on the exact time. Everyone has their own schedule and lives. There are enough scheduled events we struggle to remember that actual matter in our daily lives that we don't need a recreational viewing habit to a drain on our schedules as well.
IndyCar could make every fans' life easier if it set the same times for practice and qualifying for every event.
There will be a few exceptions and this is where it gets difficult. The continental United States has four time zones. A 10:00 a.m. Eastern start in St. Petersburg doesn't work for Long Beach. Not many residents would be thrilled with race cars hitting the streets for practice at 7:00 a.m. local. The teams don't want that either as that means they likely have to show up to prepare for practice at 4:00 a.m. and that is at the latest.
There would either have to be an Eastern/Central Time Zone schedule and a Pacific Time Zone schedule, or IndyCar would have to pick up times that work for the entire country. A 5:00 p.m. Eastern Friday practice works across the country. Saturdays are a little more flexible. A noon Eastern practice would be 9:00 a.m. Pacific, and IndyCar already runs plenty of 9:00 a.m. sessions. Qualifying at 3:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. window is in the sweet spot to maximize the Saturday afternoon over the entire United States.
Ovals weekends already are different, mostly contained to just Saturday and Sunday, two-day shows versus the three-day road and street events. There are also night races where morning practice sessions and qualifying sessions do not make any sense. With plans for Iowa and Gateway to each host at least one night race in 2024, those are two weekends where the schedule would have to be considerably different from the others. This isn't even mentioning doubleheader weekends at Iowa and Milwaukee.
However, two or three different race weekends doesn't mean a dozen weekends shouldn't look the same. Even with Formula One, there are race weekends where qualifying is a little later in the day. Hell, Formula One has multiple night races now, significantly more night races than IndyCar and even NASCAR! Yet, Formula One manages to run 80% of its events to the same timetable.
There can be slight variety without wild inconsistency. That is what IndyCar should strive for.
Races are always going to be different. The television partner will help decide that and IndyCar needs network television windows. If NBC has noon open, then noon it is. If IndyCar must wait until 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday, then we are going to wait. IndyCar is fighting break one million viewers each race. It is the tail, and not the dog when it comes to scheduling its races. That is good as the series attempts to maximize its exposure.
When it comes to practices and qualifying, that is IndyCar's domain. It is a much more balanced relationship as the series and Peacock work together. However, it is much friendlier to IndyCar's demand, and IndyCar should set its schedule for the benefit of everyone.
If everyone knows today when practice and qualifying will be for St. Petersburg, Barber, Long Beach, Detroit, Road America, Toronto, Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio and Portland in November or December then wonderful! Once the schedule is in use, it will allow viewers to develop a habit of tuning it at those certain times for a session, whether it be 5:00 p.m. on Friday or 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. It has a better chance of becoming second nature and viewers would appreciate the punctuality.
We talk about the Penske standard and the expectations of anything Roger Penske operates being at a high level. Setting a uniform practice and qualifying schedule is perfectly aligned with that mindset and most likely would only be a gigantic positive for the series.
Better yet, this is something IndyCar can do without any additional cost to the series. A schedule will always have to be set. Whether a practice is held in the morning or the late afternoon can determine when teams arrive and if they need an extra night at a hotel. There is some cost, but if teams can budget appropriately, uniformity will likely help out the bottomline.
For all the wishes we have for IndyCar to improve, a uniform practice/qualifying schedule is one of the simplest and is rather realistic.
Champion From the Weekend
Álvaro Bautista clinched the World Superbike championship after sweeping the weekend at Jerez.
Ritomo Miyata clinched the Super Formula championship with finishes of second and third at Suzuka.
Kalle Rovanperä clinched the World Rally Championship with his runner-up finish in the Central European Rally.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Álvaro Bautista, but did you know...
Max Verstappen won the Mexican Grand Prix, his 16th victory of the season.
Jorge Martín won MotoGP's Thailand Grand Prix, his fourth victory of the season, and Martín also won the sprint race. Fermín Aldeguer won the Moto2 race, his second victory of the season. David Alonso won the Moto3 race, his fourth victory of the season.
Nicolò Bulega swept the World Supersport races from Jerez.
Tomoki Nojiri and Kakunoshin Ohta split the Super Formula races from Suzuka.
Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup race from Martinsville, his third victory of the season. Justin Allgaier won the Grand National Series race, his fourth victory of the season.
Thierry Neuville won the Central European Rally, his second victory of the season.
Cam Waters and David Reynolds split the Supercars races from Surfers Paradise.
Coming Up This Weekend
The conclusion to the NASCAR season in Phoenix.
The conclusion to the FIA World Endurance Championship season with an eight-hour race in Bahrain.
The conclusion to the Super GT season at Motegi.
The Brazilian Grand Prix.
