IndyCar: Grand Prix of Boston Post Mortem

IndyCar’s Grand Prix of Boston is no more and that’s truly a shame.

Well, this isn’t the way the Verizon IndyCar Series wanted to kick off the month of May. After some of the best racing to start a season in recent memory, and the introduction of new races in Phoenix and Road America, things took a wrong turn when the promoters of the Grand Prix of Boston announced the cancellation of that event. To some, it may seem like just another race cancellation, a small blemish on their record, but it is much more than that in a year where more eyes should be on the series than ever.

This is not the first time that an American open wheel race was cancelled before running. Numerous Champ Car World Series events were cancelled, as that series never ran a season without a cancellation. IndyCar also cancelled previous attempts at races in China and Brazil in the last six years. Each of these marks a black eye on the series, but the loss of Boston seems to hurt more. Considering that neither NASCAR nor Formula One has been forced to cancel an event in modern times due to a lack of support or promotion, it’s a serious issue for the premier open wheel series in America to have seen regular cancellations of events. But Boston is different for many reasons.

Think of all the sponsors this race had already lined up, many with either deep ties to New England or IndyCar. Furthermore, think of all the fans that were very excited to see the cars race in such a historic city. All signs as recently as earlier in April pointed to the race being confirmed, and was even included in our list of potential Formula E tracks for the future because all impressions suggested the issues with the city and its residents had been worked through.

It is clear however after the announcement late last week that issues remained between the city and the race promoters, so much so that they could not continue forward. But unfortunately, Boston will not be the one to suffer from the loss of this race, but IndyCar itself. There are still plenty of events to keep the ever-hungry Boston sports fans satisfied over Labor Day weekend, while it remains to be seen whether or not open wheel junkies will get a replacement race.

There are two key lessons that must be learned from what has been revealed so far in this unfortunate turn of events between the series and the city:

First of all, not every city is going to be willing to embrace street racing. Not every American city can be a Long Beach or a St. Petersburg. Boston has a very vibrant sports landscape, one that would make one think that IndyCar would fit in well there. But it became clear early that many in the city were not ready to embrace it, and the fans have now seen the results of that issue.

Second, and arguably most important, is that IndyCar needs to do more to confirm and assure that street races will happen in cities they are targeting. Already a statement from the series does not guarantee a replacement for the Labor Day date, and it would seem unlikely to this observer that there will be one. But going forward, a more rigorous and planned out process must be used when assessing these races. If a future city were to want a race, like the rumors of Oklahoma City suggest, then as much if the behind the scenes negotiating with all constituencies should be done before the race is announced, in order to avoid further black eyes. Certainly there are fewer challenges with this when talking about adding an oval or a permanent road course, but then again challenges are always there for those who want to tackle them.

The loss of the Grand Prix of Boston is certainly a black eye for IndyCar, no matter when the announcement may have been made. But timing the announcement just ahead of the 100^th running of the Indianapolis 500 guarantees a rocky start to the month of May.

What do you think? Were you planning on attending the Grand Prix of Boston this Labor Day weekend? Comment below or tweet to us @Beyond_The_Flag with your thoughts on its cancellation.