IndyCar: Top Five Tracks to Fill Schedule Gaps

Homestead Miami Speedway

At the start of the season, the Verizon IndyCar Series is already in the state of Florida. The season opener is set for the streets of St. Petersburg. Right now, the teams go from racing at St. Pete to testing at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. But we’re going to keep them in the Sunshine State.

Let’s keep the week after the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as a testing week, but instead of heading to Birmingham we’re going to send the teams to nearby Sebring International Raceway. It cuts down on travel costs, teams can learn more about their cars, and it’s a proven track for testing.

After the testing days at Sebring Raceway, we’re going to the other end of the state. The IndyCar Series rolls into Homestead-Miami Speedway. It’s a classic 1.5 mile oval with a strong history connected to open-wheel racing. The track hosted CART and IRL races from 1996 to 2010 and the fastest lap ever recorded at the track belongs to Sam Hornish, Jr. in an IRL IndyCar. If you like, IndyCar could even run the road course at Homestead-Miami, but adding an oval would help bring balance to the schedule.

Of course, now we have a unified IndyCar series and we have different cars and drivers. That means there is potential there for a successful technical package that could lead to improved and possibly faster racing. We’re already seeing a similar situation at Phoenix International Raceway as IndyCar tested at faster speeds than it previously ran there.

After the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, we have to remember it is still March. So we’re heading west to chase the weather.