Racing world set for a weekend not seen since Easter
By Asher Fair
NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar are all off this upcoming weekend, setting this realm of the racing world up for a weekend not seen in nearly four months.
The last time that there were no NASCAR, Formula 1 or IndyCar races on a given Sunday — or even a given weekend — was over Easter back in early April.
While the spotlight was on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, none of the three NASCAR national series ran races on Saturday, April 3 or Sunday, April 4, and neither did Formula 1 or IndyCar. IndyCar hadn’t actually started the 2021 season yet, though they were originally scheduled to do so in early March.
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Now this weekend, this streak is set to end, as once again, none of these series are set to be in action. Saturday, July 24 and Sunday, July 25 are race-free for the three NASCAR national series, Formula 1 and IndyCar.
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The NASCAR Xfinity Series and Cup Series are both set for the first of two consecutive off weekends as a result of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan after running at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this past weekend on Saturday, July 17 and Sunday, July 18, respectively.
The Truck Series is set for the second of three consecutive off weekends after running at Knoxville Raceway on Friday, July 9. All three series are set to return at Watkins Glen International, with the Truck Series and Xfinity Series scheduled to do so on Saturday, August 7 and the Cup Series scheduled to do so on Sunday, August 8.
As for Formula 1, this weekend is the lone off weekend between the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit this past Sunday, July 18 and next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring.
After the latter, the sport is set to take its annual summer break, as there are no more races on the schedule until the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, August 29.
Finally, as for IndyCar, this weekend is the third of fourth consecutive off weekends between the race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday, July 4 and the inaugural race on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, August 8.
Even if the race on the streets of Toronto, Ontario had been run as scheduled on Sunday, July 11, this weekend would still be the second of three consecutive off weekends, a topic that has drawn much criticism within the series considering how much momentum it had built up heading into what is more than a month-long break.
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So catch your breath while you can. This is the final weekend without any of these series in action until Sunday, November 14, assuming Formula 1 doesn’t have a replacement race slotted into this date, and this next date is after the 2021 NASCAR and IndyCar seasons end. In fact, following the current hiatus, the Cup Series doesn’t have another off weekend at all until this particular weekend in mid-November.