We figured this would happen and it finally did — Road America is on the road again. I’ve been writing for weeks that racing wouldn’t realistically get going until July and this move further proves that. INDYCAR will host just one race before the month of July, which takes place on June 6 at the Texas Motor Speedway. F1 is aiming at a July 5 start. IMSA is looking towards the same weekend while the NHRA is backed up to August now.

The NTT IndyCar Series‘ stop a month from now in Road America has been moved back a couple of weeks to fill the void left by Toronto. That decision could in turn help fans attend the race, as Wisconsin’s initial plan to reopening didn’t make it very likely for the scenic Elkhart Lake track to be able to open their doors before.

But, with Toronto being pushed from its July date and now likely not even happening at all in 2020, a decision to move the race on the 4.014-mile road course back a couple of weeks made the most sense for everyone.

While a return for fans in July isn’t necessarily guaranteed, it gives three weeks extra to help its cause. Also, the return to the Richmond (VA) Raceway will have to wait a little longer with the June 27 race now being canceled all together too.

Virginia has some strict laws and holding a race on the .75-mile, D-shaped oval wouldn’t be feasibly until July at the very earliest. With NASCAR already canceling their spring race at Richmond, IndyCar followed suit.

So, Road America will in turn host a doubleheader and race on Saturday July 11 and again Sunday July 12. That means we’re at a loss of only one race from the last updated schedule as Richmond and Toronto join the list of Barber, COTA, Long Beach and the doubleheader weekend in Belle Isle was cancelations for this season. The seven races lost are made up with four new events with two races at Road America, Iowa and Laguna Seca as well as an added race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in October.

So, we will run just once in June which will take place behind closed doors at the Texas Motor Speedway, before returning a month later on July 4 for the GMR Grand Prix at IMS. That’s where it gets real busy. From July 4 through July 18, IndyCar will race five times, all at very physical tracks.

A few takeaways are this – 

▪️The front of the schedule has 28 days between the first race and the second. The end will be 22 days between the penultimate race of the season and the season finale. Between that though is madness.

▪️The season may have moved back to Oct. 25, but from Labor Day on, INDYCAR only races five times. 

▪️The breaks at the end of the year are warranted. They’ll go from Indy to Iowa in July with five races in a 15 day span. Then, they’ll go to Mid-Ohio on Aug. 9, to Indy for practice from Aug. 12-14 to qualifying for the Indy 500 on Aug. 15-16, to practice again on Aug. 20-21, the Indy 500 itself on Aug. 23 to St. Louis on Aug. 30, a breather for a few weeks, then Portland on Sept 13, a doubleheader at Laguna Seca on Sept. 19-20, a week off then to Indy on Oct. 3. In a span of nine weeks, IndyCar will be in action during seven of them including several days during the week.

▪️Qualifying will still be a premium for the finale. There’s been 16 races on the St. Pete street circuit and a driver coming from the Fast Six has won 12 of them. Furthermore, 14 of the 16 race winners of the event have started in the top 10 too. Yes, Sebastian Bourdais came from starting spots of 21st and 14th respectively in two of the last three years, but that was aided by ill timed cautions which flipped the field due to them falling during pit sequences. 

▪️The start of the schedule will be oval heavy. Five of the first nine races out of the gates are on them. We also haven’t added any new oval tracks to the schedule, but due to the subtraction of races and the addition of a second race at Iowa, five of the 14 races to run this season will contest on ovals. That’s obviously a bigger percentage than five of 17, a 7% increase in fact (36%-29%).

▪️The biggest loser is Street course racing. We had five on the schedule heading into 2020 (St. Pete, Long Beach, Belle Isle 1 and 2 and Toronto. Now, we’re down to just one. The first 13 races will be run on other tracks with the most important race to the championship — the last one, being the Lone Ranger for street courses.

Updated NTT IndyCar Series Schedule

June 6 – Texas Motor Speedway

July 4 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course) 

July 11 Road America

July 12 – Road America

July 17 – Iowa Speedway 

July 18 – Iowa Speedway 

August 9 – Mid Ohio Sports Car Course 

August 23 – Indianapolis 500 

August 30 – World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway 

Sept. 13 – Portland International Raceway 

Sept 19 – WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca

Sept. 20 – WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca

Oct. 3 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course)

Oct. 25 – Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete