IndyCar (kind of) solved a lingering problem for 2025, but only slightly

Four IndyCar seasons from 2018 to 2024 featured at least a four-week break between the first and second races on the schedule, including a six-week break in 2024.

The 2024 season did see an exhibition race in between the two, but the 42 days without a points race were the most between a season's first two races during that stretch.

Considering the fact that the 17-race season is fit into roughly six months, having one championship race, followed by about a month and a half off before the second, to start the season never seemed like the most ideal approach.

Fortunately for IndyCar fans, the 2025 season features no such break.

Yet ironically, the 2025 schedule is technically the same as the 2024 schedule in the early going. The difference is that what was an exhibition race in 2024 is set to be a points race in 2025, eliminating a six-week hiatus between championship events to open up the calendar.

The only schedule change, venue-wise, is the fact that the Thermal Club is set to host a points race three weeks after the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida and three weeks before the crown jewel race on the streets of Long Beach, California.

This points race is set to replace one of the two races at the Milwaukee Mile, which returned to the schedule for the first time in 2015 with a doubleheader in 2024. The 2024 schedule featured seven oval races, the most since 2011, and the 2025 schedule is back down to six.

Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou, who won his second straight championship in 2024 despite finishing the second Milwaukee race in 19th place, dominated at the Thermal Club in the exhibition race this past March, winning his heat race before driving away from the field in the main event.

The 2025 IndyCar season is scheduled to get underway in St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 2, with live coverage set to be provided by Fox after NBC wrapped up its coverage of the series with the 2024 season finale at Nashville Superspeedway last month. All 17 races are set to be shown live on Fox next year.