Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
IndyCar did some testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Arlington was confirmed. Some promos were run. People are easily impressed. Elsewhere, it was a good weekend for a Pink Cadillac. Some hardware was awarded. NASCAR officiating had a weekend. Parker Kligerman deserved better. World Superbike had its closest finish. The Bathurst 1000 occurred, but that wasn't the biggest news out of Australia this weekend, and it is time to ask, what the hell are we doing?
Looking For Relevance
While Supercars had its 2025 schedule released the previous week, a new championship format was confirmed ahead of the Bathurst 1000. Coming next year will be a format that resembles something the United States has become all too familiar with.
In 2025, the Supercars championship will be broken up into three parts. The first eight rounds will comprise the sprint championship. The next two rounds will be the Enduro Cup, a 500-kilometer race at The Bend Motorsport Park and the Bathurst 1000. After Bathurst, the sprint champion and Enduro champion along with the next best eight drivers in the championship will advance to the Finals, a three-round title-decider.
Like NASCAR's playoffs, there will be eliminations. After the first round of the Final at Surfers Paradise, three drivers will be eliminated from the championship. Three more drivers will be eliminated after the penultimate round at Sandown. The Adelaide finale will feature four drivers competing for the championship. The driver with the most points after the three races over the Adelaide weekend will be the champion.
NASCAR made its switch to effectively a playoff format 20 years ago. While a few other championships have dabbled in resets and playoffs, it is still a rather rare in the motorsports world. Other than some double points and the inclusion of sprint races, full season aggregates are still the norm. Championships are still occasionally decided before the final weekend around the world, the biggest championships included. Yet, Supercars has decided it is time for something different. The only explanation is relevance.
For all the competition Supercars has, tight championship races are not rather common. Last season was the first time in five years the championship was undecided entering the final round. Though there was a stretch of four-year stretch of title races that went to the wire before that, like NASCAR at the turn of the 21st century, Supercars knows it is better if every race means something toward the championship than to have nothing to play for late in the season. Whether changing the format to ensure the championship goes to the final race works in keeping an audience's attention remains a matter of debate, it is hard to argue against having something to play for even if it is in a convoluted system.
It is a battle for relevance.
Even if it seems like this is something the current audience does not want, it is looking to attract the audience that is not there. Like NASCAR in the United States, Supercars is not the biggest fish in the Australian sporting pond. Competition is a good thing. People understand what it means to have a championship on the line. A great number of Super Bowl viewers are not die-hard football fans. They care more about commercials than pass coverage, but the thrill of watching a sporting event and the greatest unscripted spectacle there can be is what makes the entire show as popular as it is.
The commercials, the halftime show, the festivities are nothing without the game, without the competition. Even if it is not natural to motorsports, a championship final, win-take-all, is understandable to the common viewer. Though, as we have seen with NASCAR, it doesn't appear that is really drawing viewers.
But something must be done.
Formula One has grown without a playoff format filled with resets and changing point systems, but it is tougher to grow following the way Formula One has, by making the drivers relatable to people who otherwise they did not know existed. The racing takes a backseat because people are watching for the people participating. There is also a finite appetite for racing docuseries. Not every Netflix series is going to turn a motorsports series into the hottest thing on the planet. It actually looks like it is only going to work for one. With that out of the mix, the next thing to do is try and make the competition worthy of consideration.
The drivers and teams will go with it. They have too much invested to walk away with nothing due to a change in the championship structure. Existing fans will have a choice to stay or go. Nothing says a championship must be awarded the same way as it always has been just because it has always been that way. Maybe a full-season aggregate is like democracy, the best of all the bad options.
If you love the series, you do not get any other choices. You can always find another hobby, but how strong is that love if all you are going to do is runaway when change comes knocking? That is the bet Supercars is making. They are hoping those who are around will remain because where else are they going to go?
That bet has arguably not worked out for NASCAR, as viewership declined for a decade and has since plateau far from where it was when playoffs were first introduced. Each place is different, and Supercars might be able to do change differently, and in a way that does not constantly feel alienating.
For all those that are upset, there is no proof that a full-season aggregate is really what people want. People didn't flock to IndyCar or sports cars when NASCAR introduced and constantly tweaked its playoff format to what we have today. If that is what people wanted and those other series grew due to their commitments to the long-held way of deciding champions, then playoffs would have become a dead concept a long time ago.
There was plenty of noise from upset people, but it will require a significant shake to the foundation for anything to revert back. Supercars highly doubts it will all go to hell. People will leave but it is gambling more will come in and increase relevance. It is willing to take a short-term loss for a long-term gain.
Champions From the Weekend
The #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Penske of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr clinched the IMSA GTP championship with a third-place finish at Petit Le Mans.
The #52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca-Gibson of Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann clinched IMSA's LMP2 championship with a fourth-place finish in class at Petit Le Mans.
The #77 AO Racing Porsche of Laurin Heinrich clinched IMSA's GTD Pro championship with an 11th-place finish at Petit Le Mans.
The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Philip Ellis and Russell Ward clinched the GTD championship with a eighth-place finish at Petit Le Mans.
The #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Lucas Auer and Maro Engel clinched the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup championship with a finish of third and fourth in Barcelona.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about some champions, but did you know...
The #01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande, Sébastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon won the 27th Petit Le Mans. The #11 TDS Racing Oreca of Mikkel Jensen, Hunter McElrea and Steven Thomas won the LMP2 class. The #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera won in GTD Pro class. The #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari of Albert Costa, Manny Franco and Cédric Sbirrazzuoli won in GTD class.
Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood won the 67th Bathurst 1000.
Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup race from Charlotte, his sixth victory of the season. Sam Mayer won the Grand National Series race, his third victory of the season.
Sho Tsuboi swept the Super Formula races from Fuji.
Toprack Razgatlioglu (race one and two) and Nicolò Bulega (SuperPole race) split the World Superbike races from Estoril. Yari Montella and Stefano Manzi split the World Supersport races.
The #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG of Maximilian Götz and Jules Gounon and the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche of Sven Müller and Patric Niederhauser split the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup race from Barcelona.
Coming Up This Weekend
Formula One returns to competition with the United States Grand Prix, the first of a triple-header.
MotoGP will be at Phillip Island.
World Superbike ends its season at Jerez.
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters ends its season at the Hockenheimring.
The European Le Mans Series ends with the 4 Hours of Portimão.
NASCAR is in Las Vegas.
Super GT competes at Autopolis.
