Beyond the Flag
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IndyCar season finale a rare find in 2020

By Asher Fair

Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport, St. Petersburg, IndyCar (Photo by Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport, St. Petersburg, IndyCar (Photo by Brian Cleary/Getty Images) /
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This Sunday’s IndyCar season finale on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida is a one-of-a-kind race across both IndyCar and Formula 1 in 2020.

Following a chaotic season full of schedule changes, IndyCar‘s 14-race 2020 calendar is slated to wrap up this Sunday, October 25 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden enter this 100-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida set to battle for the championship.

The five-time champion leads the two-time champion by 32 points (502 to 470) in the standings, so the title is set to be decided in the season finale for the 15th straight year.

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But irrespective of what happens in the race itself, this is a race to embrace in 2020 because of the fact that it is truly one-of-a-kind — and that goes beyond IndyCar.

IndyCar was scheduled to run five street course races this season. All five were scrapped from their initial positions on the schedule, with the St. Petersburg race fortunately able to find a new date as the season finale. The series was initially scheduled to open the season on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 15. The streets of Long Beach, California were then slated to host a race on Sunday, April 19, and the Raceway at Belle Isle Park in Detroit, Michigan was slated to host a doubleheader on Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31.

The final street course race of the season was scheduled to take place in Toronto, Ontario at Exhibition Place on Sunday, July 12.

The only street course race remaining on the final 14-race calendar is the original season opener — now as the season finale.

Even when you throw Formula 1 into the mix, this weekend’s IndyCar race is still the only street course race on the schedule. Formula 1 was slated to have run six street course races this season. All six were scrapped from their initial slots on the calendar, and none of them were rescheduled.

Those six races included the Australian Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 15 at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, the Vietnamese Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place at the new Hanoi Street Circuit on Sunday, April 5, and the Monaco Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place at Circuit de Monaco on Sunday, May 24.

The other three were Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place at Baku City Circuit on Sunday, June 7, the Canadian Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday, June 14, and the Singapore Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place at Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday, September 20.

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Tune in to NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 25 for this rare street course race to see who will be crowned the 2020 IndyCar champion.