IndyCar: 10-year anniversary of the race that never happened

On this date 10 years ago, IndyCar was to have visited China for the first time for the Indy Qingdao 600. That race was canceled, and the trip has never been made.

Shortly after the conclusion of the 2011 IndyCar season, it was announced that IndyCar would be making its first ever trip to China as one of four international races on the 2012 calendar, along with races in Sao Paulo (Brazil), Toronto (Canada), and Edmonton (Canada).

The stars of the series were to compete on a 3.87-mile (6.228-kilometer) temporary street circuit, the longest course on the schedule, on the streets of Qingdao, the Yellow Sea coastal city of roughly nine million people which sits between Beijing and Shanghai.

This race was one of 15 on the 2012 schedule, down from 18 (ultimately 17 after the cancellation of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway finale) in 2011. With the series needing 16 events to fulfill sponsorship obligations, Michael Andretti took on the role of promoter for a June race at the Milwaukee Mile.

The inaugural Indy Qingdao 600 was to have taken place 10 years ago today on Sunday, August 19, 2012, but just over two months prior (Wednesday, June 13), it was cancelled by the promoter, despite initial plans of a long-term event which would eventually move to permanent road course.

IndyCar has still not made a trip to China, and since August 19, 2012, it has made just one international trip to a track other than Toronto.

With this cancellation taking the series down to 15 races — and doing so already seven races into the new campaign — there was a belief that a 16th race needed to be added to fulfill the aforementioned sponsorship obligations.

Texas Motor Speedway, which had just hosted a race the weekend before the Qingdao cancellation announcement, was considered as a possible venue, as were Road America and WeatherTech (then Mazda) Raceway Laguna Seca, which both host races annually now, and yes, even Michigan International Speedway.

It was ultimately decided that a 15-race schedule would suffice. Those 15 races included races on the streets of Belle Isle and at Auto Club Speedway, two tracks not on the 2011 calendar which had hosted multiple races in the past.

Tracks not returning from 2011 included New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Twin Ring Motegi, Kentucky Speedway, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Texas Motor Speedway hosted just one full-length race in 2012 as opposed to two half-length races like it did in 2011.

At this time, there is still only one race on the IndyCar schedule outside the United States, and that is the aforementioned race on the streets of Toronto.

The series currently runs a 17-race calendar, and its trip to Toronto back in July was its first since 2019, as the race had been canceled in 2020 and 2021 as a result of COVID-19-related restrictions.

IndyCar hasn’t made a trip outside of the United States for a race other than this one since 2013, when the fourth and final — and definitely most memorable — race was contested on the streets of Sao Paulo in early May.

There was supposed to be a race at Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in March 2015, marking IndyCar’s return Brazil to kick off the 2015 season, but like the Indy Qingdao 600, this race did not happen. It was ultimately cancelled by the Federal District officials newly elected in the 2014 national elections.