LV and NH are no-go's

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http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing...ory?id=3510273

Article also confirms Infineon, Texas, and Kentucky for next year.

SMI is ridiculous. They have no problem with running the oval but the road course is off limits?

Gossage needs to get his head out of his ass. There are enough boring ovals and there's nothing special about Las Vegas' oval.

[icehammer97]

I find it interesting that the IRL wanted to end the season on a road course espically since the rumors say they are going to start at one too.

[Rogelio]

Now that TG holds the reins to AOWR there will be no one else to blame but himself. As the ICS comes to a 'uneventful' end, the series seems to be floundering along even without the competition that was CART/CC.

There is an untapped market out there of former CART/CC fans. They happen to live in cities that once supported and were the foundation of AOWR. Now, that the split is over, those fans and cities are largely ignored. What a way to mend bridges TG.

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Now that TG holds the reins to AOWR there will be no one else to blame but himself. As the ICS comes to a 'uneventful' end, the series seems to be floundering along even without the competition that was CART/CC.

There is an untapped market out there of former CART/CC fans. They happen to live in cities that once supported and were the foundation of AOWR. Now, that the split is over, those fans and cities are largely ignored. What a way to mend bridges TG.

What's with the doom and gloom? This is pretty good news in my opinion.

Are you saying you actually WANTED to run the oval?

I fail to see how adding another crappy identical oval is a good thing. Especially one that has been NASCAR-ified.

[icehammer97]

I think either one would have been a bad idea. The oval is just like others and the road course is on 1.3 miles long (unless there was a typo on autoracing1.com). Having a road course that short is a joke too.

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I think either one would have been a bad idea. The oval is just like others and the road course is on 1.3 miles long (unless there was a typo on autoracing1.com). Having a road course that short is a joke too.

Yeah, I re-read that and realized even the road course would've been lame. SMI was still stupid to reject the idea, though I'm glad they did.

[BenRoethig]

What's with the doom and gloom? This is pretty good news in my opinion.

Are you saying you actually WANTED to run the oval?

I fail to see how adding another crappy identical oval is a good thing. Especially one that has been NASCAR-ified.

And adding another street course would be any better? Trust me, with a Vegas street course 7 of the last 9 events would be road/ street courses and they would be pretty boring by the time of the finale.

[icehammer97]

And adding another street course would be any better? Trust me, with a Vegas street course 7 of the last 9 events would be road/ street courses and they would be pretty boring by the time of the finale.

Actually if this schedule is a correct guess
Apr 05 St. Petersburg 1.78 Mile Street
Apr 12 Long Beach 1.97 Mile Street
Apr 19 <--Sonoma could move here or be dropped--|
Apr 26 Kansas City 1.5 M Oval..................|
May 24 Indianapolis, IN 2.5 mile Oval.......... |
May 31 West Allis, WI 1.032 Mile Oval......... |
Jun 6 Ft Worth, TX (Sat. Nite)................ |
Jun 14 Newton, IA 0.875 Mile Oval.............. |
Jun 27 Richmond, VA (Sat. Night)............... |
Jul 5 Watkins Glen 3.37 Mile RC............... |
TBD Lexington, OH 2.258 Mile RC............. |
TBD Toronto, CN 1.721 Mile Street........... |
TBD Edmonton CN 1.96 Mi Airport............. |
TBD Sparta, KY (Sat Nite) 1.5 Mile Oval......|
TBD Sonoma, CA RC --------------------------
Sep 06 Detroit, MI 2.096 Mi. RC
Sep 13 Joliet, Ill. 1.5 Mile Oval
Sep 27 Motegi, Japan Sat 1.549 Oval
Oct 04 Queensland, Au 2.795 Mi Street
Oct 11 Homestead-Miami 1.5 Mile oval

Only 2 or the last 5 will be been Road courses so it would have been 3 of 6. The Vegas guys were smart not letting Indycar making them look bad by having a 1.3 mile road course repersent them. If they wanted the Vegas market and wanted a road course the street course that Champ Car ran they last year there would have been the best choice.

[BenRoethig]

That one makes a lot more sense.

[gofastandwynn]

From tomorrow's USA Today:

Sunshine State becomes a hub for IRL in 2009

By Nate Ryan, USA TODAY
Florida will become a focal point next year for the IndyCar Series, which also will continue its Canadian expansion.
The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will open the 2009 season April 5, taking the leadoff spot held by Homestead-Miami Speedway since 2002. Homestead will shift to the finale Oct. 11, extending the season a month longer than the past two seasons.

The IRL will make its first visits next year to the streets of Long Beach, Calif., (April 19) and Toronto (July 12), which will be followed by Edmonton (July 26) for back-to-back stops on temporary circuits north of the border.

Edmonton made its IndyCar debut to a strong crowd last weekend, and Terry Angstadt, president of the IRL's commercial division, said the reception was similar to St. Petersburg, which has become one of the circuit's biggest stops since its 2005 debut.

"St. Pete will be a great opener," Angstadt said. "It's a big-event feel, festive, well-attended and shows well on TV."

Angstadt said the series wanted a warm-weather oval such as Homestead as its finale. The 1.5-mile superspeedway also plays host to the November season finales of NASCAR's three national series.

"That gives Homestead an opportunity to market themselves as a venue of champions," Angstadt said.

The series won't return to Nashville Superspeedway, and the Surfers Paradise, Australia, event also is missing from next year's schedule, which was released today. Angstadt said there's a possibility Australia, which will hold a non-points IndyCar race on Oct. 26, could be added in '09.

"We're optimistic," he said. "We've given them a couple of time slots. It may take a little while."

Angstadt said the IRL also had fruitful discussions with New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and temporary circuits in Cleveland and Houston that were Champ Car venues.

Angstadt said "there's not a big window" at New Hampshire because of NASCAR Sprint Cup races in late June and mid-September, and IndyCar isn't ready for Las Vegas' 142,000-seat grandstands.

"For us to put 50-60,000 fans in a place like that, it's almost not good for either side," Angstadt said. "We want to keep an open dialogue. We've also had very positive conversations with Cleveland and Houston, which are both very viable locations. We're not assuming these venues will stay interested forever. We know there's a great window of opportunity, and there's a lot of urgency."

Angstadt said IndyCar is aiming for a 20-race schedule, possibly by 2011.

Other highlights of next year:

•Chicagoland Speedway is moving to a Saturday night race Aug. 29, exchanging dates with the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix (Sept. 6).

•Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is moving to Aug. 9 to interrupt a stretch of six consecutive races this year. The series won't race more than four in a row in '09.

•The Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi shifts to Sept. 19 after six consecutive seasons in April.

•The addition of Toronto brings a nearly even balance of ovals (10) and street- or road-course races (eight) for a series that was contested exclusively on ovals from 1996 to 2004.

"It's a true test of skill," Angstadt said. "We like aiming toward a 50-50 balance."

•Angstadt said the title sponsorship of the IndyCar Series was being strongly considered by two companies for '09. The circuit is hoping to sign a deal in 30 to 45 days.

2009 IRL INDYCAR SCHEDULE

Date Track
April 5 Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.
April 19 Streets of Long Beach
April 26 Kansas Speedway
May 24 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
May 31 The Milwaukee Mile
June 6 Texas Motor Speedway*
June 21 Iowa Speedway
June 27 Richmond International Raceway*
July 5 Watkins Glen International
July 12 Streets of Toronto
July 26 Edmonton City Centre Airport
Aug. 1 Kentucky Speedway*
Aug. 9 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Aug. 23 Infineon Raceway
Aug. 29 Chicagoland Speedway*
Sept. 6 The Raceway at Belle Isle Park
Sept. 19 Twin Ring Motegi, Japan
Oct. 11 Homestead-Miami Speedway