IndyCar

Fontana (Auto Club) is June 27th as per the list you’ve copied, Keith. Not sure about the placement of Pocono so close to the second Nascar Cup race – I was expecting it to be in July, with Milwaukee ending the season.

I like it how IndyCar keeps ovals, road courses and street circuits balanced in its schedule.

If only F1 would do the same, at least across low-, medium- and high-downforce tracks, not to mention a race on an oval (although I understand the latter would mean an oval-spec chassis and in the current financial strain that’s be a tad too much to ask for).

Then again, Indy cars always had their roots in oval racing, so it’s understandable they keep up a significant presence there – and also that fans were outraged, when CART went increasingly for street and road courses only.

Fontana is the name of the town, the track was originally known as California Speedway until ISC sold the naming rights to Auto Club for 10 years in 2008.

Sonoma is the town, again, Infineon (a semiconductor firm with interests in nearby Silicon Valley) also had a naming deal for the track which expired. It was known as Sears Point from 1967-2001, with the Infineon deal running for 10 years after that. It’ll likely stay as Sonoma Raceway for the time being.

The Brazilian touring cars/stock cars run at Brasilia – I have a feeling it might be a good fit for Indycars. The facilities aren’t exactly state of the art, but half of the track is a sequence of very fast, banked right handers followed by a twisting infield switchback. Overtaking might be tough, but there’s plenty of opportunity for mistakes throughout a lap. Sure beats St. Pete for the opener.

I think Toronto has another major event this year that would shut the city down, there was talk of moving to Mosport as a backup plan. I liked the double at Toronto, the crowds are big and the track always produces action. Hopefully it returns in 2016.

Sad to see Fontana moved to mid-season and finishing up at the usually-dull Sonoma, but if the series is committed to ending before Labor Day, Fontana is a tough sell in the height of summer.

Looks good overall, nice to see a little consistency in the schedule to build up the fan base.

@jb001 The cancellation looks to be due to insufficient funding of the area around the Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet. Nothing to do with the track.

Here’s a statement from Indycar Boss, Mark Miles:

“The track sold out all their hospitality, were delighted with ticket sales – sold 2 thirds of all seats with a month to go… It’s a shame, it has nothing to do with the Verizon IndyCar Series, and we were all looking forward to a great start to the year in Brazil.”
“There’s an appetite for our series in Brazil.”

I really hope Brazil really consolidates its spot in the Indycar schedule soon. I really liked the Anhembi Circuit in Sao Paolo before the Bandeirantes cancelled that event too.