2013 schedule silly season thread

[Aeron]

The schedule should be out in September

Confirmed
Indy 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Honda Grand Prix of Alabama, Barber Motorsport Park
Iowa Motor Speedway
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300
Shell Grand Prix of Houston
Edmonton Grand Prix
Chevrolet Grand Prix of Belle Isle
Honda Grand Prix of Toronto
The Milwaukee Mile
Texas Motor Speedway
New Orleans Motorsport Park

Likely to return
Honda Grand Prix of Ohio, Mid-Ohio
GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
Autoclub Speedway

On the Bubble
Grand Prix of Baltimore

Rumored to be in negotiations
Pocono Raceway
Phoenix International Raceway
Circuit of the Americas
Kentucky Speedway
Ft. Lauderdale

Dark horses:
Chicagoland Speedway

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Potrero de los Funes
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Quebec City

Probable dates as of now:
March 24 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
March 31 Honda Grand Prix of Alabama, Barber Motorsport Park
April 21 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
April 28 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300
May 26 Indy 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
June 2 Chevrolet Grand Prix of Belle Isle
June 8 Firestone 550k Texas Motor Speedway
June 15 Indyfest @ The Milwaukee Mile
June 22 Iowa Corn 250 Iowa Motor Speedway
July 7 Honda Grand Prix of Toronto
July 22 Grand Prix of Edmonton
August 4 Honda Grand Prix of Ohio, Mid-Ohio
August 18
August 26 GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
Sept. 1 Grand Prix of Baltimore
Sept. 15 MAVtv 500, Autoclub Speedway
Oct. 6 Shell Grand Prix of Houston


Bold: Date and Event confirmed
Italics: Likely to be back, but not confirmed
Plain: Contract signed but date not confirmed

[Crash]

I'm sure you mean Chicagoland Speedway. Not the extinct Chicago Motor Speedway.

[Captain Spyro]

I know it's premature, but I would love to see them at the Circuit of the Americas. I have not hid my enthusiasm for a Texas Triple Crown.

[Hitokiri]

I think you forgot Road America, Portland International Raceway, Laguna Seca, and Watkins Glen. Plus don't forget the second Brazilian race.

[Aeron]

I think you forgot Road America, Portland International Raceway, Laguna Seca, and Watkins Glen. Plus don't forget the second Brazilian race.

Until Road Atlanta announces a major infrastructure upgrade I refuse to consider them as a serious contender for 2013. That track just isn't safe for Indycars. I live in Atlanta and would love to see Indycar at the track someday, but given the safety concerns (There are reasons why no Indycar team has tested there in over a decade) I don't see it. Also, having it in the spring would cannibalize some of Barber's support. The Honda Grand Prix of Alabama draws a lot of fans from the Atlanta area, and having it in the fall would conflict with the Le Petite, so unless there was something radical, like putting Barber back to the fall, I don't know how you would do it. That said, Zoom Motorsports and the league are taking about doing a second event and Road Atlanta is a reasonable place for them to expand to, but right now it would need a massive upgrade to the track. At some points at Road Atlanta all that separates the track from the trees is a couple of concrete forms laying in the grass.

As for the second Brazilian race that's gone cold I'm not sure how serious it ever was. I haven't heard anything about Laguna Seca wanting an Indycar date, but I added Watkins Glen.

[Grizzlor]

http://www.trackforum.com/forums/sho...-Race-Schedule

[pburnett]

Baltimore is signed through 2015 also...

[Aeron]

Baltimore is signed through 2015 also...

Yeah, but given the new promoter and all the troubles that happened last time...

[Aeron]

Update to remove Kentucky

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...yssey=nav|head

[Aeron]

So I found some time on my hands and started working out potential schedules



The Status Quo schedule:

This assumes that keeping races on their traditional weekends is a priority and all the existing venues return on or near their current weekends. The only radical thing I would see under this scenario is starting the season at Phoenix as part of a triple-header with NASCAR, racing on Saturday evening after the Nationwide race.

March 3 Phoenix International Speedway +
March 11 Grand Prix of Austin, Circuit of the Americas
March 24 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg *
April 7 Honda Grand Prix of Alabama, Barber Motorsport Park *
April 14 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach *


April 28 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 *
May 26 Indy 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
June 2 Chevrolet Grand Prix of Belle Isle
June 8 Firestone 550k Texas Motor Speedway +
June 16 Indyfest @ The Milwaukee Mile

June 22 Iowa Corn 250 Iowa Motor Speedway +
July 7 Honda Grand Prix of Toronto *
July 22 Grand Prix of Edmonton *
August 4 Honda Grand Prix of Ohio, Mid-Ohio
August 18 Grand Prix of China, Streets of Qingdao

August 26 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
Sept. 1 Grand Prix of Baltimore *
Sept. 15 Autoclub Speedway 400 +
Oct. 6 Shell Grand Prix of Houston *
Oct. 13 Grand Prix of Ft. Lauderdale

*Contractually obligated
+ Night race
New events in Bold



Radical Shift:
Assuming that Baltimore doesn’t survive past its second year, the California and Chinese events flop and Mid-Ohio doesn’t do enough to keep the series and the powers that be are successful in convincing Honda to move their support. This would cut two street courses, move the series back towards standing road courses and add two ovals before Indy

March 3 Arizona 300, Phoenix International Speedway
March 24 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
March 31 Honda Grand Prix of Alabama, Barber Motorsport Park
April 7 Rockingham 400, Rockingham Speedway
April 14 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

April 28 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300, Streets of Sao Palo
May 26 Indy 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
June 2 Chevrolet Grand Prix of Belle Isle
June 8 Firestone 550k Texas Motor Speedway
June 16 Indyfest @ The Milwaukee Mile

June 22 Iowa Corn 250 Iowa Motor Speedway
July 7 Honda Grand Prix of Toronto, Exhibition Place
July 22 Grand Prix of Edmonton, Edmonton, Canada *
August 11 Honda Grand Prix of Ohio, Burke Lakefront Airport
August 18 Grand Prix of Oregon, Portland International Raceway

August 26 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
Sept. 1 Pocono Indy 500, Pocono Raceway
Sept. 15 Tecate/Tel-Mex Grand Prix of Mexico Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Oct. 6 Shell Grand Prix of Houston
Oct. 13 Izod World Championship, Las Vegas Motor Speedway

[TUBORG-fan]

Road america, road america, road america!!!

[red5champ]

i'm under the impression that road america could happen next year. randy said they had a date with the alms there this year but it didn't fit with him as they wanted to go do china. so my guess is that they will work something out for 2013. they have to. its the best road course in the world in my opinion! and a crime that indycar doesn't race there in their home country!

[red5champ]

I'm also under the impression that Phoenix quite possible and we're yet to hear more on Pocono but I sure hope those 2 happen. then add Road America and Laguna Seca and I will be happy.

[NaBUru38]

As for the second Brazilian race that's gone cold I'm not sure how serious it ever was.

I tend to believe in Brazilian promoters. I mean, they can fail to find sponsors, but they don't announce events they think they can't pull. The Porto Alegre mayor was involved.

[Racing Steward]

- I believe Milwaukee will return. I think they will have a nice crowd this year. Micheal's team will get it done. They know what they're doing.
- I also think if Texas produces another solid crowd, it will be back. I dont think Randy will drop an oval at this point unless the attendance is really bad or the racing is unsafe.
- I STAND by my prediction Fontana will be a ONE & DONE. Crowd will be bad, ratings will be bad, outta here.
- Baltimore doesnt look promising.
- Mid Ohio & Sonoma (both get nice crowds), i think they will call Randy's BLUFF and not do anything to their tracks and as long as the crowds are nice, who cares if its a parade. (Although Firestone made Barber great. It can be done).
- I think we will see Phoenix added, possibly Richmond & Chicago. As for Pocono/Rockingham/Michigan = I'll believe it when I see it.
- Circuit of Americas would be a nice addition
- Of course i would LOVE to see Surfers back
- A street race in Vegas would be nice.

I think we are looking at roughly 13 R-S to 7 ovals next year.

[spanny]

I would love to see Pheonix, Pocono, and Road America on the schedule. 3 tracks the Indy Cars would put on a great show (and hopefully draw a crowd.) Road America would be more iffy if Milwaukee stays on the schedule (which if I had to choose, I'd keep Milwaukee)

[acfinn]

not sure why mid-ohio would be on the bubble since they've consistently drawn very good crowds.

[OpenWheelSnob87]

Please God give us Pocono and Road America. A non-cookie cutter big oval and a natural terrain road course would be wonderful.

[Aeron]

not sure why mid-ohio would be on the bubble since they've consistently drawn very good crowds.

Mid-Ohio is on the bubble because there have been published reports about the league asking Mid-Ohio and Sears Point to change their configuration in order to get more passing. Supposedly they've asked Barber to look into some changes, and George Barber is talking about doubling the size of the museum, adding a glass bridge structure over the track and dropping a second wing to the museum on the other side of the track.

Scuttlebutt from my racing friends is that ICS wants to be at Cleveland and not Mid-Ohio, but the sticking point is Honda. They have a factory and a couple of offices in Columbus, which is an hour closer to Mid-Ohio than Cleveland. Supposedly the front office is softly trying to negotiate with Honda to move their support from Mid-Ohio to Cleveland.

[TUBORG-fan]

Mid-Ohio is on the bubble because there have been published reports about the league asking Mid-Ohio and Sears Point to change their configuration in order to get more passing. Supposedly they've asked Barber to look into some changes, and George Barber is talking about doubling the size of the museum, adding a glass bridge structure over the track and dropping a second wing to the museum on the other side of the track.

Scuttlebutt from my racing friends is that ICS wants to be at Cleveland and not Mid-Ohio, but the sticking point is Honda. They have a factory and a couple of offices in Columbus, which is an hour closer to Mid-Ohio than Cleveland. Supposedly the front office is softly trying to negotiate with Honda to move their support from Mid-Ohio to Cleveland.

That I don't get. Mid-Ohio is a great track with lots of IndyCar history.

[pdas1996]

I don't think that we'd return to Vegas after what happened.

[red5champ]

That I don't get. Mid-Ohio is a great track with lots of IndyCar history.

I agree but I loved Cleveland as it was so cool being the first airport track. attendance was good and the racing was the best of the year.

[Mikemat5150]

I love Mid-Ohio! It doesn't have the most exciting racing (neither did Barber till this year so we'll see) and it has a great history. Not only that but it is well attended and it's a great event with ALMS on the bill.

I could understand if the attendance is shaky but it's a great event.

[red5champ]

I'd just like to add I think that just because there is successfull Indy car venues in maybe just one state it shouldn't mean they can't run there. Hell 2 in Ohio being Mid-Ohio Sports Car course and Burke Lakefront Airport. And in Wisconsin being the Milwaukee Mile and Elkhart Lake. If California can have multi races so should those states as they happen to be the best venues there are for Indy cars! Bring in Laguna Seca and have 4 Californian races.

[TUBORG-fan]

I agree but I loved Cleveland as it was so cool being the first airport track. attendance was good and the racing was the best of the year.

I like Cleveland as well, but i would hate to loose a natural terrain road course to another temp. Track.

[dlm1953]

Agreed TUBORG-fan. Perhaps replace B'more with Cleveland if we can get Richmond back on the schedule.

[Aeron]

I believe the thinking behind why Cleveland > Mid-Ohio is that Mid-Ohio doesn't have the drama to justify being on national TV. Supposedly they feel that Cleveland, with it's massively wide corners and incredibly racey layout it would do far more for the sport than Mid-Ohio

[PhillyIRL]

I could see that. I like attending Mid-Ohio, but I hate watching it on TV. Get Pocono back. I need a race only 40 minutes away. If Road America comes back I'm definitely going there someday.

Next year, the NJ F1 race will dictate my schedule. If it happens it may only be that and Indy.

[mitchbr]

I agree but I loved Cleveland as it was so cool being the first airport track. attendance was good and the racing was the best of the year.

^This

From what I've heard over time is that mostly everyone in the paddock wants to go back to Cleveland, but the main obstacle was Mike Lanigan wouldn't make an effort towards Cleveland before he got Houston. Now that he's got Houston hopefully he will shift his focus to Burke Lakefront Airport. Honda GP of Cleveland sure sounds good though.

[irloyal]

I don't think that we'd return to Vegas after what happened.

Gee, maybe we better not go to Indy, or Fontana, or Milwaukee, or Phoenix, or Laguna Seca, or Watkins Glen after what happened.