Beyond the Flag
Fansided

Why IndyCar’s delayed start is a huge blessing

By Asher Fair

IndyCar (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
IndyCar (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The delayed start of the 2021 IndyCar season is actually a huge plus for the series as it heads into what could easily be its best season yet.

If there’s one thing that fans don’t like doing during a long offseason, it’s even more waiting. That’s exactly what IndyCar fans have had to deal with for two consecutive seasons.

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the start of the 2020 season was pushed back from Sunday, March 15 to Saturday, June 6. This year, the season was scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 7, but due to pandemic-related restrictions, it hasn’t started yet.

This year’s delay came after three separate schedule changes resulted in Barber Motorsports Park landing its first ever date as the host of a season opener.

The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by AmFirst is scheduled to get the season underway at the track this Sunday, April 18.

More from IndyCar

This is six weeks after the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida were scheduled to host the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. However, this six-week wait is something that most fans should actually be okay with. In fact, it was more of a blessing in disguise than anything, and I’m not talking about anything to do with the pandemic.

As mentioned above, the season was scheduled to get underway on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 7.

The 2021 season has all the makings of one of the best ever, or at least in recent times, as a result of the star power in the series.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean are both set to run the 13 road and street course races while three-time Australian Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin is set to run full-time.

So how awesome would it have been to get the season underway with everybody hyped up on Sunday, March 7 and then have had absolutely nothing happen for another five weeks?

It would have been like a second offseason, quite frankly.

More waiting, and absolutely no rhythm to anything.

The second race on the schedule was originally scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 11 at Barber Motorsports Park, 35 days after the opener. It was moved back a week to its new date, which initially belonged to the streets of Long Beach, California. Long Beach is now scheduled to host the season finale on Sunday, September 26.

Now, the season, which still consists of 17 races, is set to get underway with a race on Sunday, April 18 before immediately getting back in action on Sunday, April 25 on the streets of St. Petersburg.

Then the following weekend, Texas Motor Speedway is set to host a doubleheader, with one race on Saturday, May 1 and another on Sunday, May 2, to get the month of May off to sizzling start before the events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — yes, the same Indianapolis Motor Speedway which hosted its main event in August last year.

That’s four races in a span of two weeks as opposed to one “offseason race” on Sunday, March 7 and then finally another race five weeks later.

Talk about a blessing in disguise…

Next. Top 25 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark

Tune in to NBC at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, April 18 for the live broadcast of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by AmFirst from Barber Motorsports Park to get the 17-race 2021 season underway.