IndyCar's misguided attempts to become Formula 1 continue to backfire

Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles has taken a boatload of criticism from the IndyCar fanbase in recent weeks, and for good reason.

Much of it started when IndyCar failed to land a race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, after it was rumored that "either IndyCar or NASCAR" would be adding a race weekend at the Mexican road course.

Anybody who has followed IndyCar pretty much knew it wouldn't be IndyCar. In all fairness, the 2025 schedule had already been released, but it was still viewed as a possibility for 2026.

Though Mexico's Pato O'Ward has more Instagram followers than IndyCar itself, it was announced that it is NASCAR which is set to head south of the border next year.

Miles proceeded to throw O'Ward under the bus for no apparent reason, stating that he isn't popular enough to justify an IndyCar race in his country, even though he is on "some billboards" (which is apparently how we're measuring popularity in the year 2024).

Miles claimed that O'Ward is nowhere near as popular as former Mexican driver Adrian Fernandez, even as it became evident that the entire effort to get IndyCar back to Mexico was mismanaged (by numerous individuals not named nor tied to O'Ward).

O'Ward responded by winning the first of two races at the Milwaukee Mile and asking "Pato who?" during the post-race press conference, after Will Power stated, matter-of-factly, that IndyCar, not NASCAR, should be the one racing in Mexico.

But things didn't improve for Miles from a public relations standpoint from that point forward.

For years, much of the IndyCar fanbase has clamored for the sport to return to iconic tracks of the past, including several that never should have been removed from the calendar to begin with.

Watkins Glen International, Richmond Raceway, Pocono Raceway, Michigan International Speedway, and Burke Lakefront Airport are among them, but there are literally dozens of others.

Yet Miles responded childishly and with needless profanity when discussing the possibility of returning to some of those tracks, instead implying that, following in Formula 1's footsteps, new street races in random spots across the United States (which would all probably be axed after two or three years, like Baltimore and Houston, anyway) could instead be on the horizon.

IndyCar trying to become Formula 1, and failing in a big way

Miles' statement, which included the phrase "no (expletive) way", goes to show just how out of touch from reality he is.

If you exclude the Indy 500's absence during World War I (1917 and 1918) and World War II (1942 to 1945), every single track on the IndyCar schedule outside the confines of Indianapolis Motor Speedway has, at some point, been left off the calendar following its initial introduction to the sport.

The lone exception is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, which has hosted at least one race every year since it was added in 2014.

For context, Texas Motor Speedway was left off the schedule in 2024, for the first time in its existence, after hosting arguably the most exciting race of the season in 2023, and there are no plans to go back.

The fact that Miles would make such a ridiculous statement after IndyCar returned to the Milwaukee Mile for the first time since 2015 and had the success it had, both on and off the race track, only further cements his status as a completely incapable leader who needs to be replaced.

IndyCar went into the weekend thinking 15,000 fans would be considered a success, considering the fact that the event had not taken place in nine years.

Instead, they got nearly three times that amount: in excess of 42,000.

It makes the ongoing (and silly) narrative that ovals don't draw fans even more laughably pathetic. But anybody who actually follows the sport – and doesn't use the comments section on Twitter/X to form their opinion for them – already knew that.

There is no reason to believe that places such as Pocono or Michigan wouldn't put butts in seats, and there are plenty more where those came from.

While there is only one Indianapolis, Pocono's crowds from 2013 to 2019 were more than enough to justify a return.

The main reason it didn't come back in 2020 is because Richmond got a multi-year deal instead, yet after Richmond's race was canceled due to overbearing restrictions in 2020, IndyCar didn't bother to go back in 2021.

Why, when IndyCar was going to go back to the short oval anyway, does the mere suggestion of returning now suddenly warrant an immature, profanity-laced response from the series CEO?

It doesn't, but clearly he doesn't care.

Now here we are in 2024, and it has been more than a half decade since IndyCar's most recent race in the Northeast, making the decision to balk at a golden multi-year opportunity even more of a headscratcher.

But there's no effing way IndyCar is going back to more old tracks. Right.

In typical IndyCar out-of-touch-with-everything-that-is-real-life fashion, however, Milwaukee has already lost one of its two race dates for 2025. That change was announced even before the iconic Wisconsin venue even was given a chance to host IndyCar for the first time since 2015.

Because that really makes a lot of sense from a certain standpoint, the likes of which nobody is really sure of. More brilliant strategizing from IndyCar's top brass.

And what is replacing it? A points race at the Thermal Club, which proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it is not fit to host any form of an IndyCar race with its shambolic exhibition event back in March.

But again, it fits IndyCar's desire of desperately trying to become Formula 1. While the international series has managed to remain appealing to anybody who wants to watch an auto race, it has inarguably always made an extra effort to appeal to the rich and famous.

So of course IndyCar has to follow suit. Did we mention that the Thermal Club is an exclusive club for multi-millionaires with multi-million dollar car collections, or did NBC already make that clear 58 times during the broadcast of this year's nonsensical IndyCar exhibition race? I can't quite recall.

IndyCar is obsessed with trying to catch up to Formula 1, which has mastered the art of captivating an American fanbase whose potential in terms of its open-wheel racing interest has not been properly tapped into for decades.

And they're doing a terrible job at it, because CTRL+C/CTRL+V doesn't work that way when you're consistently failing to promote your product and capitalize on what's good about the sport.

When John Bommarito, a local car dealer in St. Louis, has quite literally become the biggest and most proven promoter this sport currently has, you have a problem (and that's nothing against Bommarito; every year, it seems like he outdoes himself).

Hy-Vee does a great job as well, though it does seem like IndyCar has become nothing more than a sideshow for the concerts at Iowa Speedway. The relatively empty grandstands during the doubleheader itself can attest to that assertion.

As corny as some may view the Formula 1 street races in Miami and Las Vegas, Miami has drawn massive crowds since it was added to the schedule in 2022, and despite the overwhelmingly negative vibe surrounding Las Vegas on social media (which should never be taken with more than a grain of salt), Formula 1's first Saturday night race in nearly four decades was also a success.

That's not to mention a continued increase in attendance at Circuit of the Americas, which was added to the calendar as the new host of the official United States Grand Prix in 2012.

Formula 1 knows how to promote its product. IndyCar isn't going to magically have that same success, whether it's Denver, Dallas, New York City, Beijing, Bangalore, or wherever else Miles is dreaming of taking the series to airtight city streets.

Even NASCAR has done a better job. Aside from its willingness to take chances with new events, such as the one in Mexico, NASCAR has listened to fans in regard to going back to old race tracks, including North Wilkesboro Speedway, Rockingham Speedway, and Bowman-Gray Stadium. Even Darlington Raceway's return to hosting two races, instead of one, can't be understated.

But Miles and his ironically outdated philosophy instead involve edgy responses criticizing fans who rightfully believe, based on the current complexion of the schedule, its tracks, and its crowds, that returns to former IndyCar venues would indeed prove successful.

Speaking of NASCAR, wait and see what TV ratings are like this weekend.

IndyCar is set for its championship race at Nashville Superspeedway (another "old us" track that hasn't hosted a race since 2008), and that race is set to be shown on NBC.

NASCAR, on the other hand, is set to have its Watkins Glen playoff race shown on the NBCUniversal-owned alternative, USA Network.

Both races are scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET.

IndyCar is only falling further behind when these kinds of approaches are applied by those at the top, and their unwillingness to change is proving costly.

Simply trying to be Formula 1 isn't good enough, and you'd think after years and years of Formula 1's meteoric rise, all while IndyCar has remained somewhat stagnant (and well behind NASCAR), that those in charge would have figured that out.

Apparently that too is a big (expletive) nope.