Three tracks, including two that were on the original 2020 IndyCar schedule, got absolutely screwed by the coronavirus pandemic.
A new IndyCar season is upon us following a 14-race 2020 campaign that looked drastically different than initially scheduled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Many tracks which regularly appear on the schedule did not host races in the 2020 season, including Barber Motorsports Park, the streets of Long Beach, the streets of Belle Isle, the streets of Toronto, Portland International Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
But this year’s 17-race slate resembles, or should resemble, by the time it wraps up in late September, something more along the lines of what you would expect a season to look like.
However, not all tracks which did not host races in 2020 are getting another chance.
Two tracks on the initial 2020 schedule will not host races in 2021, and another track, which was wiped off the calendar after the 2019 season as a byproduct of the addition of those two tracks, also won’t be hosting a race in 2021.
Take a look at the three tracks that got shafted a lot harder by the pandemic than others.
IndyCar tracks that got screwed: Circuit of the Americas
Does anybody remember 2020 preseason testing at this point? That time when IndyCar expected to begin in mid-March and had the cars test at Circuit of the Americas, which was supposed to host the fourth race of the season in late April, over a month before the season actually began?
If you said no, you’re not alone.
Circuit of the Americas joined the IndyCar calendar in 2019 after hosting Formula 1 races each year since 2012, and both IndyCar and Formula 1 ran at the venue two years ago. It was slated to be back in 2020, but its preseason test sessions, which ended up taking place roughly four months before the season actually started, marked its final IndyCar activity for 2020.
It did not make a return to the schedule in 2021, so the 2019 season ended up being a one-and-done.
IndyCar tracks that got screwed: Richmond Raceway
If you think that Circuit of the Americas got screwed after hosting the series for only one season and then being wiped off the calendar beyond that despite plans for a second race in 2020, you at least have to remember that it did have the opportunity to host preseason testing.
Compared to what Richmond Raceway got, that opportunity was a massive one.
The four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) oval in Richmond, Virginia had the opportunity to be the subject of a few press conferences about a return which ultimately never happened. That’s about it.
The race was slated to take place in late June, marking IndyCar’s first event at the track since 2009, but it was canceled altogether for 2020. It didn’t make it back onto the 2021 schedule. In fact, this year’s schedule contains an all-time low three oval tracks.
Half of the four oval races on this year’s schedule are scheduled to take place in one weekend, and there is only one other race aside from that doubleheader at Texas Motor Speedway which isn’t the Indy 500, with that being the race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Iowa Speedway, which hosted a doubleheader in 2020, will not be back in 2021 either, but not specifically as a result of the pandemic.
That track is unfortunately, however, the only track to host a race in 2020 that didn’t make it back onto the 2021 schedule.
IndyCar tracks that got screwed: Pocono Raceway
This track wasn’t directly screwed by the pandemic considering the fact that it wasn’t even on the 2020 schedule, but it is listed here as a byproduct of Richmond Raceway landing a 2020 date. And of course, Richmond Raceway never actually got to host a race in 2020 — and it won’t in 2021.
Back in 2019, the rumors were that if Richmond Raceway was added to the schedule for 2020, Pocono Raceway would be off the schedule. Yes, that’s how it happened, but that wasn’t necessarily true.
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Pocono Raceway wanted to have IndyCar back in 2020, but the ball was in IndyCar’s court as they negotiated with Richmond Raceway. However, as we found out afterward, there was still a window of opportunity for IndyCar to end up at the Tricky Triangle even with Richmond Raceway added.
But based on what was said in the days after the 2020 schedule was announced in September 2019, Pocono Raceway had reportedly been under the assumption that IndyCar didn’t want it back following the addition of Richmond Raceway. Again, that wasn’t completely true, but by then, it didn’t matter.
The sad thing is that Pocono Raceway may actually have hosted a race in 2020, had it been on the schedule, even if delayed, considering the fact that NASCAR’s race weekend there went off without a hitch as originally scheduled in late June, albeit without fans in the stands.
The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by AmFirst is scheduled to get the 2021 IndyCar season underway on Sunday, April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park, which had hosted a race for 10 consecutive seasons until last year. The race, which was initially scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 11, is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.