Just four oval races on IndyCar’s 17-round 2021 calendar

31 comments on “Just four oval races on IndyCar’s 17-round 2021 calendar”

1. 

   Will Bryan (@willbryan)
   1st October 2020, 17:10

   Fine by me! Ovals are usually a slog to watch
   1. 

      Don
      1st October 2020, 19:13

      Tough to beat a really good Indy 500. This years was not one of the best though as it appears the Aeroscreen really affected overtaking. Testing new components should fix that problem.

      I’m fine with the mix of tracks on the schedule. I prefer road and street over ovals also.
   2. 

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      1st October 2020, 21:55

      Grosjean hinted he might be scared of ovals, I think ovals are more scared of Romain.
   3. 

      Retired (@jeff1s)
      2nd October 2020, 7:55

      Yeah, on TV I admit. Trackside is great experience, racing-wise gotta be relentlessly focus.
   4. 

      Fantomius (@liko41)
      2nd October 2020, 12:09

      @willbryan
      I disagree. Oval racing is far too unpredictable for my taste, but the variety of circuit configurations has been the key feature of Indycar racing since the dawn of times.
      The old IRL all-oval calendar was honestly a stretch, but four oval races out of a total 17 are too few…
2. 

   cdfemke (@cdfemke)
   1st October 2020, 17:20

   Indy is beginning to grow more interesting.
   1. 

      tony mansell
      2nd October 2020, 10:55

      It is way more interesting than f1 right now. The cars look terrible and the driving is sub f1 but they look a handful to drive, there’s no power steering, no DRS bull, they make a noise and Ovals are genuinely terrifying. Its a pity they don’t bring a few races to Europe.
3. 

   Josh (@canadianjosh)
   1st October 2020, 17:25

   I wish it was split down the middle with ovals and circuits, what comes to mind would be Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club was good racing but the layout is changing, Gateway, Chicagoland, and the Japanese Oval. Pocono was fast and a strategy race but obviously dangerous and if 2011 at Vegas didn’t happen the racing there could have been super incredible but obviously the dangers with oval racing is probably the main focus right now. I would love to see Indy get out to more countries such as Mexico City, back to Brazil and get into new markets like China or the UK. If you get a guy like Perez in IndyCar Mexico is an absolute sellout no question.
4. 

   Balue (@balue)
   1st October 2020, 17:30

   Now all I need is an ex F1 driver to take part and it will almost be see-worthy. Perez for example.
   1. 

      Yaru (@yaru)
      1st October 2020, 19:28

      Now all I need is an ex F1 driver to take part and it will almost be see-worthy.

      …….you mean like Marcus Ericsson and Takuma Sato?
   2. 

      Bruno Verrari
      1st October 2020, 20:54

      Ericsson (and Rossi) are there!
      1. 

         Don
         1st October 2020, 23:42

         Chilton, Bourdais…
         1. 

            tony mansell
            2nd October 2020, 10:56

            Maybe he meant ex decent f1 driver.

            Perez would clean up over there
            1. 

               Balue (@balue)
               2nd October 2020, 15:50

               Yes that’s what I meant, thanks. I knew of course about the also-rans.
5. 

   Balue (@balue)
   1st October 2020, 17:32

   Does Indycar have a over-the-top streaming service TV option like F1?
   1. 

      pastaman (@)
      1st October 2020, 18:37

      Yes, it’s through nbcsports.com, not sure about location restrictions
      1. 

         Balue (@balue)
         2nd October 2020, 15:54

         Thanks, but only for USA I see
6. 

   Simon
   1st October 2020, 17:47

   Author said and I quote… “IndyCar intends to hold six races on street races in 2021”

   Ever heard of proofreading?
   1. 

      Macca (@macca)
      2nd October 2020, 2:42

      I think his proof reading is just fine mate because there are 6 street races on that list.
7. 

   Kurt Laguna
   1st October 2020, 17:47

   Memories are short but open wheel racing use to be bigger than NASCAR and then the George family decided to wage civil war and ultimately eliminated the open wheel racing series (ended as Champcar) that was so popular to replace it with Indycar (with cars that were/are no match for the March, Lola’s, and Penskes of the past). This civil war was waged to have a series that was 1) all American Drivers and 2) just ovals. Fast forward and here we are with Indycar getting less viewers than professional bowling and darts and the field is far from all American (an ill advised idea to start with) and now hardly any viewers. To give an idea of how cash strapped Indycar is now just look at salaries. In “Champcar”, Nigel Mansell was tempted away from the disfunctional Williams team to Haas Newman for $3.5 million, fast forward after the civil war and Hinchcliffe will get his full salary for not racing this year which came out publicly as $150,000 dollars. Thanks Tony George and the George Family, you sure made things better and after you were done you ended up selling out to Penske. Wish you had sold to Penske first and not messed up a good thing as Indycar is a faint shadow of the series, cars and racing of the past.
   1. 

      Josh (@canadianjosh)
      1st October 2020, 18:17

      Say we just made you CEO of the current 2020 IndyCar, what would be your changes to get the series back in the spotlight and to the former glory days.
      1. 

         Zann (@zann)
         1st October 2020, 18:58

         Look at what Liberty are doing with F1 @canadianjosh and go the opposite way! Less fake, less ‘close racing’, less safety car, less spec, less lo-cost. But for sure NO ovals: that kind of danger is out of time, and it’s all setup and luck anyway.
   2. 

      SteveR
      1st October 2020, 20:44

      Yep, Tony George really did screw it up. CART was actually putting a bit of fear into F1, was expanding internationally, and had fantastic cars and racing. I attended quite a few races BITD and remember sitting on the hill above turn nine at Portland and being amazed at how fast the cars went around a corner. I’m really glad Penske is in charge; he’s a true racer and an honest gentleman to boot. It would be nice to get away from the spec chassis though….
8. 

   Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
   1st October 2020, 19:06

   Interesting that Indy Car can get by, including financially, with only holding 17 races. I never knew there were so few in a season. But F1 needs to have 22…25. I am not in any way claiming they are similar financially or that I know much about Indy, other than what I see on here.
   1. 

      Yaru (@yaru)
      1st October 2020, 19:32

      Well it is a spec series so that helps with the costs.

      There’s also a lot less logistics because it is all in one country which streamlines a lot. Also no need deal with different regulations and rules.
   2. 

      Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
      1st October 2020, 22:30

      @phil-f1-21 @yaru

      IndyCar as a series is really run on a shoestring budget compared to F1. The race sanctioning fees are only around $1.5 million, as we learned from the recent Laguna Seca deal.

      Really, the only reason IndyCar gets by financially is because it also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — or, rather, they’re both owned by Penske — and those 250,000 paying customers bring in about as much revenue as the sanctioning fees for all the other races combined. Without the Indy 500, CART withered away and died. And probably without the Hulman–George family fortune, the IRL would have died too.
      1. 

         Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
         2nd October 2020, 8:29

         Interesting. Thank you for the insight @markzastrow
      2. 

         tony mansell
         2nd October 2020, 11:11

         Yeh nice on Mark. I’ve got little knowledge of Indy but a growing interest what with f1 being so apron strings just now and probably forever alas
9. 

   Jack (@jt1234)
   1st October 2020, 19:31

   With just 4 ovals, maybe Grosjean wouldn’t be too afraid.
   1. 

      ykiki
      1st October 2020, 20:52

      Maybe he can make a deal with Ed Carpenter Racing since Ed only drives ovals?
10. 

    Dane
    2nd October 2020, 5:39

    Now how are F1 fans supposed to make jokes about IndyCar drivers only turning left?

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