2015 IndyCar Schedule

KevinWI

KevinWI

Oldest Operating Motor Speedway In The World
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Racer.com has a new piece about next year's schedule, some exciting stuff.

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/107193-indycar-2015-calendar-taking-shape?showall=&limitstart=

Things that caught my eye:

- IndyCar is planning to start the season with two international races in Dubai (!) and a return to Brazil. Dubai would be a street race and Brazil would be at the Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet road course.
- Texas may move to Toronto's traditional weekend, since the Toronto is hosting the Pan-Am games during its traditional July race weekend. Texas may also be dropped from the schedule all together.
- The New Orleans race may take the place of any race dropped from the 2015 schedule.
- Aside from the two early international races, it looks like it will be a pretty dense schedule from St. Pete to Fontana.

Hmmmm, don't know how I would feel about losing TMS. I'm kind of warming up to the place since they took the downforce out so the guys have use the gas and brake pedals. The undeniable good thing about the possibility of losing TMS is that without having to keep Eddie Gossage happy, IndyCar could go to COTA.
 
KevinWI said:
Racer.com has a new piece about next year's schedule, some exciting stuff.

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/107193-indycar-2015-calendar-taking-shape?showall=&limitstart=

Things that caught my eye:

- IndyCar is planning to start the season with two international races in Dubai (!) and a return to Brazil. Dubai would be a street race and Brazil would be at the Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet road course.
- Texas may move to Toronto's traditional weekend, since the Toronto is hosting the Pan-Am games during its traditional July race weekend. Texas may also be dropped from the schedule all together.
- The New Orleans race may take the place of any race dropped from the 2015 schedule.
- Aside from the two early international races, it looks like it will be a pretty dense schedule from St. Pete to Fontana.

Hmmmm, don't know how I would feel about losing TMS. I'm kind of warming up to the place since they took the downforce out so the guys have use the gas and brake pedals. The undeniable good thing about the possibility of losing TMS is that without having to keep Eddie Gossage happy, IndyCar could go to COTA.
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Bingo.


Also, why aren't we racing at Laguna Seca? I was hoping to hear some news of that track coming back..
 
I'm unfamiliar with the road course at Nelson Piquet, but I'm all for more international dates.

Wouldn't hurt my feelings to lose Texas, but Pocono falling off the schedule would be a bummer. Unfortunately, it feels like so much time passed until the series went there last year ... a lot of potent years for open-wheel racing at that track were lost and now they're playing catch-up.
 
Texas is safe, according to Eddie Gossage.

Eddie Gossage @eddiegossage · 4h
As I said before, @IndyCar returns 6/6/15 for 19th straight year @TxMotorSpeedway. Mark Miles & I shook hands on it in June. #Tradition

Toronto on that weekend may not have worked out too well anyways with that being Montreal's typical F1 weekend. Texas, and the big ovals in general, is still really important to IndyCar for the TV ratings (Pocono's event really needs to remain on the schedule too, but being separated a few weeks away from a NASCAR weekend in either direction probably isn't good for the track). I hope they find a spot for Toronto somewhere because it gets really solid attendance, and despite Mosport being thrown around as a potential replacement I don't know if it will be up to safety standards for a race in less than a year.

I like the idea of Dubai; I have to imagine they're shelling out a huge sanctioning fee and it will look good for the series to be racing in such a city.

I can't imagine them finding weekends for Houston and NOLA that aren't ridiculously hot. March would probably be best weather-wise but that probably can't work out for a variety of reasons.
 
DUN24 said:
Bingo.


Also, why aren't we racing at Laguna Seca? I was hoping to hear some news of that track coming back..
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I wonder if the powers-that-be at SMI are worried that a race at Laguna Seca would hurt attendance at Sonoma.
 
ztevans said:
I'm unfamiliar with the road course at Nelson Piquet, but I'm all for more international dates.
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If you remember the old CART race on the (very fast) Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Brazil, the Piquet road course is in the same facility. Would have been nice to see them return to the oval there, but it fell into a state of disrepair after CART left in 2000 and is now being demolished to make room for the swimming pool for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

FLRacingFan said:
I can't imagine them finding weekends for Houston and NOLA that aren't ridiculously hot. March would probably be best weather-wise but that probably can't work out for a variety of reasons.
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Yeah that's one negative of this compact schedule.
 
KevinWI said:
If you remember the old CART race on the (very fast) Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Brazil, the Piquet road course is in the same facility. Would have been nice to see them return to the oval there, but it fell into a state of disrepair after CART left in 2000 and is now being demolished to make room for the swimming pool for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
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I remembered the oval, especially for the 1998 finish there.



Wondered why they weren't using it, now I know.
 
KevinWI said:
I wonder if the powers-that-be at SMI are worried that a race at Laguna Seca would hurt attendance at Sonoma.
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If they could have a race in Houston and then in N.O., why not have another race in the area?
 
ztevans said:
I remembered the oval, especially for the 1998 finish there.



Wondered why they weren't using it, now I know.
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Even back then I remember CART had trouble with the track. The CART race was the only thing that used the oval and I remember Paul Page saying in pre-race one year it was basically untouched for 361 days of the year and it would always need work when CART showed up. I can't imagine what state it was in after 14 years of disuse.

I liked that track. Fast and short, like Indy.
 
KevinWI said:
If you remember the old CART race on the (very fast) Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Brazil, the Piquet road course is in the same facility. Would have been nice to see them return to the oval there, but it fell into a state of disrepair after CART left in 2000 and is now being demolished to make room for the swimming pool for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
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I think there are two Piquet road courses, the one they're going to is a different one in Brasilia.
 
DUN24 said:
It worked for many years.. I don't think Sonoma was in the equation though..
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There wasn't such a condensed schedule though. I remember the Fontana president saying a couple of years ago he doesn't want Laguna Seca near that weekend, and there aren't a whole lot of open spaces after Long Beach.

I'm more bummed about Road America becoming less and less likely every year.
 
True... As great as these recent street races have been, we don't need one in every major city.... They need to bring back some true, classic racetracks.
 
Needs more ovals
 
I go to the St. Petersburg race each year. I have been going there for the past three years. (That's me standing next to the Dan Wheldon memorial on the corner of Dan Wheldon Way in my avatar) I love that place. St. Pete is like going to heaven. Last March I stayed for three weeks. I wish I could find a nice condo to buy down there. My son and I went to both Indy races this year. Last year we made it up to the Mid-Ohio Race but I didn't make it this year. Maybe next year I'll try for Detroit. Or Milwaukee? Iowa isn't that far for me either. I just love following Indycar.

Besides, look at all of the great people I meet. :D
 
St. Petersburg race-2012.
I always wear a yellow shirt when I go to the races. (Or any event that will be televised). It is easier to see the yellow in a crowd. This is the St. Petersburg race in 2012. At 2:22-2:25 minutes, that is me in the far right hand corner in the yellow shirt, blue shorts with the camera over my shoulder. At the time, I was looking for the margarita stand. :D

At 20:50 minutes, if you look in the left hand corner, you can see Ryan Hunter-Reay's yellow umbrella in the pits. I am sitting in the third row, (yellow shirt/ white hat) on the aisle right behind his yellow umbrella. Check it out:

 
Jimmy W1 said:
At the time, I was looking for the margarita stand. :D
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LOL Jimmy.

Yeah, St. Petersburg is a great race. It's basically an IndyCar tradition in its own right now. Great fans, great attendance, the city wants them there. I've been thinking about going. My dad has a little single-engine Cessna airplane and we were thinking about just buzzing down there and landing right at the little airport there before the race and not having to worry about the hassles/costs of commercial air travel. Plus, it would be nice to get out of Wisconsin in March. I think there was still snow on the ground here when they were racing in St. Pete.
 
The IndyCar schedule is looking more and more ChampCarish every passing year. The series is great, the competition is great but nobody is paying attention.

I'm starting to think the only thing that would save IndyCar would be to open up the Indy 500 rules completely. Let the car companies flex their muscles and show off. Bring us back to the 1970s-1980s.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Another oval gone, two international dates and more road/street courses. Welcome back, CART :(
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Not even CART! ChampCar... with about three hundred less horsepower.

Can we just strip the field to 17 and have all timed races on street courses like 2007 so at least we don't have to watch this thing die again?
 
jdbrew said:
The IndyCar schedule is looking more and more ChampCarish every passing year. The series is great, the competition is great but nobody is paying attention.

I'm starting to think the only thing that would save IndyCar would be to open up the Indy 500 rules completely. Let the car companies flex their muscles and show off. Bring us back to the 1970s-1980s.
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No ISC (except for Fontana).
 
KevinWI said:
Racer.com has a new piece about next year's schedule, some exciting stuff.

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/107193-indycar-2015-calendar-taking-shape?showall=&limitstart=

Things that caught my eye:

- IndyCar is planning to start the season with two international races in Dubai (!) and a return to Brazil. Dubai would be a street race and Brazil would be at the Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet road course.
- Texas may move to Toronto's traditional weekend, since the Toronto is hosting the Pan-Am games during its traditional July race weekend. Texas may also be dropped from the schedule all together.
- The New Orleans race may take the place of any race dropped from the 2015 schedule.
- Aside from the two early international races, it looks like it will be a pretty dense schedule from St. Pete to Fontana.

Hmmmm, don't know how I would feel about losing TMS. I'm kind of warming up to the place since they took the downforce out so the guys have use the gas and brake pedals. The undeniable good thing about the possibility of losing TMS is that without having to keep Eddie Gossage happy, IndyCar could go to COTA.
Click to expand...

next ta last paragraph in article ........"taxing grind of 2014 schedule " huh ?? 18 friggin races !
wonder if chip & roger's nascar crews are weepin sympathy tears for tha indycar boys ? ha!

hope nola gets a date.
 
Bruggenthies, who’s told me previously that the sanctioning fee IndyCar requires has been too high, now said it’s more the schedule that’s an issue.

“With Mark Miles ending the year on Labor Day, it compacts everything,” Bruggenthies explained. “The schedule is more the issue than the business side. Of course we’d need sponsors to make it happen.

“I could do Labor Day. But there’s another event already there. Derrick Walker was here this weekend; we’ve talked.”

Perhaps the greater sticking point from an IndyCar at Road America standpoint now compared to a year or two ago is the fact the TUDOR Championship would rather position itself as a lead series, not play as a second feature on an IndyCar weekend.
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http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.co...-good-nascar-imsa-crowds-indycar-still-waits/
 
Kiante said:
I want COTA. I want to see more road courses, not street courses. Texas and Pocono should be kept. I want see a larger schedule about 19 to 20 races.
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I know it would never happen, but I would like to see them add Texas World Speedway or somewhere similar. I think it would help their double-header weekends if they did them at a track like that with different configurations, that way each days race could be ran on a totally "different track". Oval one day, road course the next, or two days with two different road course configurations. http://www.texasworldspeedway.com/the-track/track-maps/trackconfigs.html
 
CamelPowered said:
I know it would never happen, but I would like to see them add Texas World Speedway or somewhere similar. I think it would help their double-header weekends if they did them at a track like that with different configurations, that way each days race could be ran on a totally "different track". Oval one day, road course the next, or two days with two different road course configurations. http://www.texasworldspeedway.com/the-track/track-maps/trackconfigs.html
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Have you seen Texas World lately? It's not exactly in a condition to be raced by a major racing series.
 
KevinWI said:
Have you seen Texas World lately? It's not exactly in a condition to be raced by a major racing series.
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No, I hadn't, but thanks to the power of Youtube I have:

I was mainly using it as an example of what I would like to see them run. I like street courses, but instead of their two race weekends being on street courses I would like to see them run their doubleheaders on a circuit with multiple layouts, with them running a different layout on Saturday and Sunday.
 
CamelPowered said:
No, I hadn't, but thanks to the power of Youtube I have:

I was mainly using it as an example of what I would like to see them run. I like street courses, but instead of their two race weekends being on street courses I would like to see them run their doubleheaders on a circuit with multiple layouts, with them running a different layout on Saturday and Sunday.
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I'm not really a fan of the road course layouts in ovals. They're mainly there for weekend amateur car club races and not really quality road courses.
 
Not sure how I feel about losing Texas either. Losing Pocono would suck. Dubai will be sweet.

Still wondering if Laguna Seca or Phoenix will be on schedule.
 
PushRodV8 said:
Not sure how I feel about losing Texas either. Losing Pocono would suck. Dubai will be sweet.

Still wondering if Laguna Seca or Phoenix will be on schedule.
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Doesn't sound like it. Neither have been mentioned in the rumor mill and Phoenix is an ISC track which is currently on bad terms with IndyCar, save for Fontana, whose track management apparently DGAF what the Frances think about IndyCar.
 
hawg dawg said:
sounds like good promotion stuff / support from all involved.
too bad racin sucked.
maybe they can put a bus stop in little back straight next yr ? ? :D
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IMO, Milwaukee has always been a very technical track where those with the best car setup have a good day and everybody else has a bad day.

Like Marco said, they don't go fast enough down the straights with the V6 for aero / drafting to play a roll. Passing there is all about who can get in and off of the corners faster.

I enjoyed the race. That said, I would be interested to see if there was any change in the racing if they had the oval aero package instead of the road course one.

It was the best crowd there in years. I was really impressed with the number of people there. Kind of shocked the stands weren't full. Somebody on the Racer.com comments said "12 people showed up" which wasn't exactly true. Remember Andretti is trying to push it as "IndyFest" (Milwaukee has a lot of summer festivals, Summerfest is music, IrishFest, Festa Italiana, Octoberfest, Pridefest for gay people, etc. etc.) like a summer festival. They had live music, pro volleyball tournament, kids rides and a car show in the infield. I thought the common concession areas behind the stands and in the infield were pretty packed. Then the stands were like 65% filled. I think a lot of people were still enjoying the other attractions. The people in front of us weren't race fans. They showed up 5 laps into the race. Stayed for 15 laps, then left and came back when there was 20 laps to go. I'm okay with the casual fans. The street races get a ton of casual fans. Not everybody who shows up to the race has to be able to name how many pounds of turbo psi the teams are allowed to run this year and who name won every Indy 500 from 1960 to current.
 
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