IndyCar: One key schedule change for 2022

The 17-race 2022 IndyCar season is scheduled to get underway this Sunday afternoon on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

After a five-month offseason, the 2022 IndyCar season is scheduled to get underway this Sunday afternoon with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida (12:00 p.m. ET, NBC; watch for free on FuboTV!)

The 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit has returned to its traditional spot as the host of the season opener for the first time since 2019, and it is set to kick off what is hoped to be the first 17-race season since 2019 as well.

In 2020, COVID-19-related restrictions led to the track hosting the season finale (14th race) instead of the opener, and last year, similar restrictions led to the track hosting the second of 16 races instead of the first.

All in all, there were a number of changes made to this year’s schedule compared to last year and prior years.

These changes include Texas Motor Speedway moving from May to March and hosting one race instead of two after it hosted a doubleheader last year as well as the return of Iowa Speedway after a one-year hiatus in 2021. Iowa Speedway is again scheduled to host a doubleheader, just like it did for the first time in 2020.

But the biggest change to make note of is the fact that the Belle Isle Street Circuit doubleheader, a staple on the IndyCar calendar as the event immediately after the Indy 500 for the last decade, is no more.

One year before Detroit Grand Prix officials plan to move the long-standing Detroit IndyCar weekend from Belle Isle to the streets of the Michigan city, which last hosted an IndyCar race in 1991, there is set to be just one race at the 14-turn, 2.35-mile (3.782-kilometer) temporary street circuit this season.

The last time Belle Isle hosted just one race in a season was in 2012, which is when it made its return to the schedule for the first time since 2008. From 2013 to 2019, Belle Isle hosted two races the weekend after the Indy 500, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

COVID-19-related restrictions led to the event being canceled in 2020, but it returned in 2021, albeit two weeks after the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” instead of just one.

This year’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 5 as IndyCar says goodbye to Belle Isle. The 106th running of the Indy 500 is scheduled to take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29.