The anticipation is high for this weekend’s racing schedule at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s a crossover event for the famed track with the NASCAR Cup Xfinity Series running a twin bill with the NTT IndyCar Series on Saturday, preceding the  27th Running of the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.

It’s a dream for NBC Sports to make this work.

“I have a strong suspicion this will be the start of a beautiful relationship,” NBC Sports executive Sam Flood said of the NASCAR/IndyCar doubleheader. “This is the future.”

With it being three different racing series, racing on the same track, in a span of two days, would there be any crossover between drivers?

This year, no. The COVID-19 outbreak won’t allow that to happen. But, it’s not like some haven’t tried though. We know Jimmie Johnson was interested. He’s testing a Chip Ganassi Racing Indy Car on Wednesday on the 2.439-mile IMS road course. Kurt Busch noted that he pursued a ride for the Saturday Indy Car race but everything fell through when the limitations were set in place.

“I did,” Busch said on if he looked at getting a ride for the GMR Grand Prix. “I looked at it and just with everything going on with COVID and the pandemic and lack of preparation, it just kind of shut everything down as far as the progress and the approach, because it takes a full effort of being tested and track time and being ready.

“And that’s something that I really put in when I ran the Indy 500 six years ago now. And so, everything just got shut down.

“But, it would have been fun to with Chip Ganassi Racing and then with Jimmie Johnson now doing a test next week with Scott Dixon’s car, it’s all right there in front of us. It’s just the timing wasn’t right.”

Other drivers would have just been happy to see the other series race. But, with such strict orders on distancing, and rightfully so too, there’s no way for any NASCAR/IndyCar interaction this weekend.

“I’ve never been to an INDY race,” said Denny Hamlin. “I’m sure we’re not going to be able to go down there when they’re on track or in the pits or anything like that.

“Certainly we’d like to go there and check it out for the first time because I haven’t been to one.  Excited to see how it works.”

His teammate Erik Jones said he was excited to have both IndyCar and NASCAR sharing the same track and that he too would love to drive an Indy Car at some point, but bummed he won’t be able to see them in person on Saturday.

That’s because the Cup teams can’t be there until the IndyCar teams are out. IMS and both series officials worked together to have all three garage areas separate. There’s no sharing or co mingling.

The Cup teams can’t be there until Sunday. The haulers will arrive late Saturday night, well after the IndyCar teams are gone.

“We wish were able to interact with those guys a little bit more and be there on the same day,” said Tony Lunders, Team Manager for Chip Ganassi Racing. “But for our Cup guys, it will be somewhat business-as-usual as we’ve had these one-day shows. I think from that aspect, it won’t be anything different. We’ll show up the morning of – we’re actually flying out Sunday morning. So, our day will look similar to some of these one-day shows that we’ve been doing.”

Defending Brickyard winner, Kevin Harvick, said that he won’t be able to see anyone but is also bummed by that too.

“I am definitely not going to run into anybody,” Harvick said. “I know that for sure because they will all be gone by the time I get there. That part, I wish that I was able to be in the garage and go over and see what the Indy cars are all about and watch in person. We will definitely be watching on TV. It is a great situation for all three series’ to be together and a huge step for racing. As you look at IndyCar and Xfinity and Cup cars all at the same venue because we are all racers. We all want to see racing be successful and I think this is definitely a great step for both series’ to be in the same venue and bring our fans together and show both sides that it is not about picking sides, it is about watching a great show and being a part of a great event.”

The IndyCar guys want to see the Cup cars up close too, but know that they’ll have to wait. They’re flying back to their neck of the woods after Saturday’s race ends themselves.

“I’m actually going to hop on the plane to get home to make sure we all stay safe,” said the defending GMR Grand Prix as well as Indy 500 champion Simon Pagenaud. “Obviously we just have to follow the guidelines. It’s the way it is. I don’t think I’ll be able to watch the race. I wish I could have. It’s the situation we’re in.”

Maybe one day we will get this crossover again. The drivers are all for it. So is the TV networks. If so, expect to see a smorgasbord of teams/drivers co mingling in the garages and pit lane.

For now, we just have to be thankful that we’re at least racing in the midst of a global pandemic.