IndyCar Announces 2015 Schedule. What say Ye (BASTARDS)?

Drum rollllll. Here it is, the 2015 IndyCar Schedule:

3/8 -- Brazil (NBCSN)

3/29 -- St. Petersburg (ABC)

4/12 -- New Orleans (NBCSN)

4/19 -- Long Beach (NBCSN)

4/26 -- Barber (NBCSN)

5/9 -- GP of Indianapolis (Saturday, ABC)

5/16-17 -- Indianapolis 500 Qualifying (ABC)

5/24 -- Indianapolis 500 (ABC)

5/30-31 -- Detroit (Doubleheader, both ABC)

6/6 -- Texas (Saturday night, NBCSN)

6/14 -- Toronto (NBCSN)

6/27 -- Fontana (Saturday, NBCSN)

7/12 -- Milwaukee (NBCSN)

7/18 -- Iowa (Saturday night, NBCSN)

8/2 -- Mid-Ohio (NBCSN)

8/23 -- Pocono (NBCSN)

8/30 -- Sonoma (NBCSN)

Quick thoughts:

Is what is it. IndyCar is fortunate to have 16 venues, honestly. It's not like tracks are knocking down their door to get a date.

Ending at Sonoma, my least-favorite race on the schedule. BAH-LOWS. Seventy percent chance I won't watch it. Probably DVR it and if it's won from the pole, no thanks. The sponsors will love, love, love it, because they love Wine Country and flock there, and the drivers/crews will love it because it's hip and cool place to have a Championship Celebration. Everyone loves it ... except a large number of fans. Kind of a repeating (and potentially lethal, IMO) theme in IndyCar.

To be fair: I don't think IndyCar had a ton of options. I don't think Fontana would have gone for a repeat of the 2014 finale there. All the other ovals have date equity, so you're kind of stuck with Sonoma. Also I think Sonoma will get about the same TV rating as ending on an oval would. See "it just doesn't matter" in the previous post.

Finally, ending at Sonoma will give the large cadre of volunteer IndyCar PR representatives a cause to champion, which they enjoy. Prepare for: "It's really a GREAT idea no matter what you think, and if you don't like it, STFU and go away. Because your criticism is KILLING INDYCAR!" Love it or leave it, people. Those are your choices. The preceding is probably all I'll say about Sonoma, so now I will STFU.

Iowa on the schedule. Good. I will attend. However, I will walk up this year and buy the least expensive seat remaining. Sadly there is super-slim danger of the race selling out. For every year that IndyCar has come to Iowa I have locked in two of the top-price tickets for me and the wife soon after they went on sale.

The date, July 18, may be a stand-alone IndyCar weekend. USAC and the NASCAR Truck-like Vehicles are on another weekend. I'm not sure if there will be support races with IndyCar at Iowa. Iowa Speedway's site doesn't have the race weekends posted yet. Stand-alone IndyCar doesn't bode well for having a ton of stuff at the track. Last year it was the IndyCar race ... and some face painting. Disappointing to be sure -- especially for $65 a pop -- and hence my adjustment to walking up for cheap tickets.

Update: On 10/31 Iowa Speedway announced that ARCA would join IndyCar on the weekend. ARCA will race on July 17 (Friday) and IndyCar on July 18.

Pocono returns. Also good. There was some lamentation from the track manager that ticket sales were down last year. I think they got a good walk up (IndyCar is pretty much ALL about the walk-up crowd). Whatever the case, they are trying again. I also think this is the last year of the original three-year deal with IndyCar, so The Market will probably have the last say as to the future of Pocono. Stay tuned.

No Dubai. I suspect because no check arrived. The main reason to go to Dubai at all is to get a big check, so it's good they pulled the plug if they didn't get cash in advance. Maybe it was never seriously contemplated. 

Other than that, meh. Eleven twisty races and six ovals. A strong 65% of the reason I posted this is to give people a place to comment, so PLEASE let me know what you think in the comments.

Comments

[sejarzo]

How does Mark Miles expect to have any credibility with the diehards when the schedule drops a race from 2014 and he claims in the press release that this schedule is "another step forward in our strategy to grow the series"? And the rest of that corpspeak? Talkin' Terry is gone, now we have Mutterin' Mark, I guess.

[Deke]

I'm all for staying away from the NFL (Indycar loses me once college football starts anyway), but I can't help think the best finale would be to run the Indy GP at that point. Many complain that the league is Indy-centric, but there's a reason for that; why not take further advantage?

I'm not a fan of having the two indianapolis events next to each other, though I will attend both. It really cramps my budgeting and the rest of my summer.

[Smoke14Racing]

I like the events that Indycar added. However, I am disappointed that there is not more races. I was hoping for somewhere like Phoenix International Raceway or Michigan International Speedway to return for season finale or just somewhere on the schedule. Overall, I'm relatively happy, but 17 races sounds really bad to me.

I think 19 races, 20 would be nice, would be good for Indycar. I'm also glad there is only one double-header, those take up a LOT of races on the schedule. Hoping for a good season this year and can't wait for March 8th!

[DZ]

Neutrals:
- MIL, POC, FON, starting from 0 again with building date equity, may work in their favor, may not.
- NOLA may sound good in theory, I question the facility/infrastructure.

Pros:
- Lucky to keep TOR, FON, MIL another year.
- Large parts of sched stay where they've been.
- Adding a new US venue.
- Adding a Brazil race if the added bank is right.
- Racing nearly every week from late March through mid-July.

Cons:
- Possible crew fatigue with intense sched. from March through late-July.
- Split TV coverage pkg.
- Finishing at SON is fabulous for everyone at SON, sucks for those in the midwest who are cash poor, especially by this time in the sched and won't get to see a season finale in person.

Thoughts:
- I'd be surprised if anyone was surprised with the '15 sched.
- I have significant fears in '16: MIL, FON, POC, IOW, all gone, BAR to a lesser degree.
- Not sure how BRA can be a net positive for the sport long-term, hope it will be though.

[DZ]

PS
Pro:
- I can now shut my Indycar brain until late-Feb.

[billytheskink]

Underwhelming is probably not a fair term for this schedule, since we pretty much all knew what tracks were going to make it. Unlike Randy Bernard, Miles keeps discussions he's having with venues fairly well under wraps, which will temper the expectations of the fanbase.
Nevertheless, it is probably not any fan's dream schedule.

Pros:
- Lost only one venue from previous season (Houston)
- Returned all ovals for the 3rd consecutive season
- Two new tracks to see in Brasilia and New Orleans
- Date problems worked out in Toronto

Cons:
- Lost Houston for stupid reasons
- No Dubai, the more races the better
- No double-header at Toronto
- Season finale at Sonoma (debatable, but Sonoma does not lend itself to unpredictability)

Neutral Observations:
- Essentially the same television schedule, seems to designed to bolster IMS specifically
- Several date changes, hope all are positives but I expect a mixed bag
- Gaps in schedule limited, but some still exist
- Personal note, New Orleans is within driving distance for me, but it is in April... the same month 5 other major motorsports events are within driving distance for me. I hate missing out.

[Tom M.]

i'll go to indy. i always do. i watch what races i can on tv work schedule allowing....but i'm starting to get to the point that i'm losing interest. maybe it's the boredom of the lock step a thons at the road/street course races. I don't know. There's a spark missing somewhere (pun not intended).

[Steve cox]

It's not great, but anyone expected cota, road America, mosport, Kentucky, mid, etc hasn't been paying attention. I am happy to see Milwaukee on 7-12.

[ramblinman]

Sadly, over the years of switching cable channels and eventually pulling the plug on cable altogether, I only watch the Indy 500 in person and on the internet a couple of days later.

The rest is either too boring, too expensive to have cable, or just a PITA to follow on the internet.

I love the 500 and the sport but have watched the sport slowly implode over time. There's always good racing and hope for the future but 2015 looks to be the same old same old.

[Cheeseczar]

I love the ovals and not having one before the 500 is just wrong. Give the new guys a shot at some oval competition before throwing them at The Speedway. And Sears Point just is an awful place. Why not Laguna Seca? And why is Elkhart Lake not on this years schedule? Arrgg.
It's so difficult to know how one feels about the direction the series is headed when there is seemingly no direction at all.

[Chris Lukens]

It makes perfect sense that the final is at Sonoma. It is most important for the B2B types to be seen with the beautiful people in the hospitality suites. They might even put down their wine glasses, turn around long enough to see the action on the track, but probably not, they will be too busy making their next B2B deal.

IndyCar is becoming the very definition of a club racing series.
IndyCar has become of the owners, by the owners, for the owners. Fans be damned. Look at what they are doing;
- 45% of cars on the grid supplied by just 3 owners
- 40% of races promoted by owners or former owners
- Two engine manufactures with close ties to two owners, and a third owner making noises about getting his engine into the series.

It also makes perfect sense that they would not want have the final in a place like, say maybe, Iowa. Why would those B2B types want to attend an event in the middle of a corn field. No beautiful people there, at least in their minds. And it makes perfect sense that Indycar wouldn’t want to race on the same weekend as USAC Silver Crown. It would be unfair for our euro-centric drivers to be forced to rub elbows with those mouth breathing, no talent, knuckle dragging USACer’s. Of course it would be rude of me to point out ( so therefore I will ) that Silver Crown cars have MORE horsepower, LESS weight & ZERO downforce.

Start preparing yourself now, the 2020 schedule will be one oval and sixteen road races.

I have been a lifelong Indy car fan. The very first race I ever attended was a USAC sprint car race at the, now long gone, race track in New Bremen Ohio. I was hooked. Nowadays, I don’t know. Like Bill said in his last post,“It just doesn’t matter.”

[Nancy Gass]

Hate to say it I will probably be in Iowa for the Silver Crown race and not the IndyCar Race. we shall see. Other than that no big surprises for me.

[Harvey Pelovsky]

Phoenix should be a BIG priority on the schedule along with Road America.
They should have worked with Baltimore better (lots of fans, duh!!!). How many road courses were this well attended?
MORE Europe and 1 Middle east or 1 Japan or China race needed.

[Dylan]

The schedule is underwhelming though not unexpected. Scheduling is hard and I understand that, but I think a little better schedule (at least one longer road course, 2 more banked ovals) would be achievable if Miles tried. I get the sense he's not trying much except for Boston, Dubai, and two unnamed countries. Yeah... I'm losing just a little bit of enthusiasm for Indycar. Interestingly Indycar is racing less with the PWC and conflicting more with TUDOR than usual. Also worth noting the Pirelli World Challenge (typically an Indycar support series) is alone at Road America, COTA, Mosport, Miller Motorsports Park AND Laguna Seca. Kind of.... interesting. While it's not a fair comparison MotoAmerica (brand new series) and TUDOR and PWC all race better road courses. It may not be fair to Indycar to make that comparison, but there it is.

Overall I'm glad Dubai didn't make it, but it does look kind of bad to have talked about Dubai for a year and then not actually get it. I'm actually sort of interested in NOLA and Brazil not because I wanted those two races (I didn't) but because they're new road courses. Maybe they'll be the chance to see Indycar race a more competitive road course which we haven't seen since Watkins Glen. If nothing else it's something new. We roughly know what we'll get out of Sonoma/Barber/Mid Ohio while these two will be new at at least for the first year spots of hope.

I really hate ending the season at Sonoma. I'd rather see them end at an airport in Houston or Boston than Sonoma. Fontana was fun to watch on TV but Fontana is never a great ticket sell, and it's too hot on Labor Day. Perhaps the difficulty of finding a date to end at the end of August should be taken as a sign that is not the best time to end the season. I get that sponsors like Sonoma, but ending the season there seriously feels like a slap in the face to fans who like close racing. As you said though, it's good for the sponsors and volunteer PR people as well. But since watching Indycar in 07 they've almost always ended at interesting oval tracks (exception: 09 Homestead) and though I thought the 2014 Fontana race wasn't great it's still disappointing to see yet another oval based institution go by the wayside. That the current ovals survived is a good thing; it's just too bad the racing at Texas and Milwaukee and Fontana and Pocono wasn't that exciting this year.

At this point two 300 mile banked oval races and one longer road course (doesn't even have to be Road America) would be enough to keep me satisfied with Indycar. At the very least it would make me excited/enthusiastic for the season. As it is I'm only really excited for Indy, Iowa, and Fontana and that's pending aero kits potentially ruining whatever close racing is left. Nola and Brazil are two races I want to see just to see if they produce something good. I'm glad some people are super excited about everything Indycar but to be honest it's just hard to feel as excited. 2015 will be a rebuilding year. Just like 2008. And 2009. And 2010. And 2011. And 2012, and 2013. And 2014. How many rebuilding years can you have? Chicagoland and Kentucky were my favorite two races to watch, and with them gone and apparently never coming back it's hard for me to be really excited about the schedule. At least with Randy we had hope. With Miles we just have rumors of Dubai and Boston. Hopefully ratings improve next year with the NASCAR team up and maybe things will be better in the future in terms of tracks and sponsorship. Of course while ending the season early is good to avoid conflicts on NBC Sports, it's also bad in that there will be less NASCAR bump potential.

[OSCA]

I love it!! It is super!!! Every true IndyCar fan should be behind it!!!!

Horse Poop!! It is continuation of a failed strategy formed in 1998.

Will I watch and attend races....YES. Why? Because even a flawed series is better than no series.

It is getting to be a closer call each year? YES!!....I wander the Museum at the Speedway...I see cars that bring back memories of hero's and races....since 1998 there are duplicates of cars that are like warm water in your mouth....BLAH!! Spit it out.

Does it really matter where they race...except at Indy which is a happening?

NO!!

Not where they race, who is racing, or what they are racing in......Nobody cares, Nobody watches who is younger than 30, and we are discussing how Mr. Miles is trying to pull the wool over our eyes???

The only way this series makes money, is by raising prices on "500" tickets, having another race at the Speedway and a CONCERT, and most likely by getting tax dollars and hiring a talented accountant!!

YAWN....Now for my winter nap, wake me May 1st!!

[redcar]

Did this schedule seriously surprise anyone? seems like they're not really trying to "move the needle," they're still in survival mode.

ending at Sonoma is great for the party tent people but a fail for regular fans.

I guess I'm just happy they have a schedule.

[Tropical Slim]

In 2005 I went to the first IndyCar race in Sonoma as I happened to be in San Francisco at that time. Never would I go back there for an Indycar race, maybe for a NASCAR race but no way for Indycar. Boring was the right word for it.

Also if I may, I want to comment on one new thing about the Indy 500 that drives me bananas: Glamping. Staying on a yacht and watching the Grand Prix from the top deck in the harbour at Monaco is glamorous. Staying in a tent, even with a bed and a floor, in the infield at the Speedway is not glamorous by any stretch of the imagination.

For most people, especially younger ones, auto racing has become less relevant, so I imagine auto racing as we knew it will continue to lose popularity.

[pressdog]

As always, I appreciate all the comments. It's always interesting to read what others think about the issues. As I said, a bit part of my motivation to even post this was to hear what y'all had to say about it, so thanks for let me (us)know.

[Ron Ford]

As Redcar stated above, I guess I am just happy that there is a schedule. The essence of damning with faint praise.

The Milwaukee race starts at 4 PM. WTF??!!

[GeorgeK]

Was I just having a nightmare, or does anyone else remember the month long (or longer?) busts between races on the old schedule(s)? Leads me to conclude:
1. Glad there is a schedule
2. Glad they are relatively close together.

Course, if any of these deals falls flat, we could yet again go through the month long span between events when people say "Whatever happened to Indycar racing"?

[Jane]

Oh to bring back the excitement watching indy car racing in the 1980s....remember when cars were almost equal every one helped other teams (gasp) and racing was exciting every lap. Drivers were 1000x more fan friendly. Could rub elbows with them in local bar places (yes Road America. ..) cars were a mechanical work of art now computers do that...I remember waiting in line at Michael Andretti souvenir trailer for glimpse of my favorite driver and Marco was just wee kid...and Mikey took the time to chat and take pictures...fast forward to 2014..engines are super secret always covered -drivers some - like Josef and Hinch and Simon are very fan friendly most others can't get eye contact! If indy car wants to survive they need to remember who buys tickets. ..not just who sponsors them. .so many races you see...invited guest only. .translated if you not sponsored us go away...which brings me to schedule. .why do Mile and Iowa back to our back? That's drained most family vacation fund on one race...so have to choose...why stop in august? So what if football is on best races are cool fall weather....understand about final in wine country almost makes it say its for well off people only..round and round we goooooo yawn.....double headers hard on crews but exciting for fans...only one ? Sad....many tracks need more support races...why can't we hook back up with twisty loving sports cars on road courses and maybe trucks on ovals? Why don't we have good partners any more? Yeah I am old school hate to see my favorite racing series go down tubes but that's gonna happen unless someone quits sitting on their thumbs and listen to the fans and do something about it.! Be aggressive find sponsors make it more fan friendly. Bring back the indy car passion and excitement! ! There's only one IndyCar..hear them roar!

[The Speedgeek]

Like every other thing IndyCar, the new schedule is going to allow you to see exactly what you want to see. Want to believe that the Series is dying and that it's just a matter of time before the whole thing goes tats up, due to an imbalance of types of tracks or the deletion of Houston or a couple races moving around or the failure of Dubai to come through or any of another half dozen reasons? You can draw that conclusion. Want to believe that the addition of NOLA and Brazil heralds a return to roadster-era or CART-era glory days? You can draw that conclusion. Want to believe that "OK, it's another season of IndyCar...good!" You can draw that conclusion, too. It is whatever you make of it.

[S0CSeven]

Toronto the bad:
A) Indycar was just getting it about being fan friendly and they abandon the 2 race weekend. This is REALLY bad for the fans ($) and REALLY bad for the promoters ($). So What's up? Oh yeah, the drivers and teams don't like it because it's so hard on them. Well ......... grow a set guys.
b) No Mosport. Again. Where the race should be. But isn't.

Toronto the good:
I know this isn't Texas, but Toronto in mid-July is SofaKing hot you'll die sitting out on the aluminum expanses. June is a welcome bonus.