IndyCar: Has a final 2020 schedule finally been determined?

The rescheduling of the Mid-Ohio doubleheader could very well result in IndyCar finally reaching a final 2020 calendar — more than a year after the introduction of the original.

It typically takes quite a few races, if not the whole season, into an IndyCar season for the series to release the following year’s schedule.

Last year was no exception, as it took 15 of the 2019 season’s 17 races to be run before the 2020 schedule was revealed on Sunday, September 1, just before the penultimate race of the year at Portland International Raceway.

Of course, those plans ended up going up in smoke due to the coronavirus pandemic, as the series lost more than half of its planned 15 different venues, venues which were slated to include 17 races among 16 different track layouts.

More from IndyCar

• IndyCar: Two teams with no drivers confirmed for 2024
• IndyCar: Chip Ganassi Racing news hints Alex Palou announcement
• IndyCar: ‘Addition by subtraction’ could pay off in a big way
• Team Penske should make a bold driver signing for 2024
• IndyCar: 5 teams that still have open seats for 2024

Due to the implementation of several doubleheaders, IndyCar was still set for a 14-race season. But that shrunk to a 12-race season when the doubleheader at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was postponed indefinitely back in early August.

That doubleheader was finally rescheduled for next weekend, with the first race set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from the 13-turn, 2.258-mile (3.634-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Lexington, Ohio beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 12 and the second race set to be broadcast live on NBC on Sunday, September 13 beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Now we are more than one year beyond the date when the original 17-race 2020 schedule was released — 53 weeks, to be exact.

Does IndyCar have a final 2020 schedule?

It seems strange to even be asking this question on Sunday, September 6, 2020. If so, it will have taken nine of the season’s 14 races to figure out that season’s own schedule.

But as ironic as it may sound, IndyCar deserves a ton of credit for making happen this soon, following an extremely challenging several months in terms of not necessarily making plans but following through with them.

Beyond next weekend, there are three races remaining on the schedule over the course of two weeks. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course is slated to host a doubleheader on Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3 while the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida are set to host the season finale on Sunday, October 25.

None of these race dates were on the initial calendar.

In an ordinary season, we may know the 2021 schedule by now. But it goes without saying that this has been no ordinary season; in an ordinary year, we also wouldn’t still be less than two-thirds of the way through the season in early September.

So while the timetable in terms of figuring out a whole new season is still up in the air, fortunately the 2020 schedule finally looks clear.