I think IndyCar made a mistake in resigning with ABC/ESPN for 5 races each year in addition to NBC sports instead of signing with NBC and their cable networks (NBC Sports, USA Network, Universal) for the entire season. I think we can all agree that NBC Sports provides far better race coverage than ABC/ESPN, and so I don't understand why they didn't decide to sign with the NBC network due to this, and the fact that they wouldn't have to compete with NASCAR on the same network.

With regards to scheduling races, although in a perfect world we would have an even distribution of superspeedways, short tracks, road courses and street circuits, it's clear most oval tracks don't help IndyCar with respect to attendance. However, I do think IndyCar should consider going to oval tracks that don't have more than 1 NASCAR Cup race per year like Kentucky and Chicagoland. For me, I'd like to see those two tracks, along with tracks like New Hampshire, Michigan, and Phoenix, be added to the current slate of oval tracks (Indianapolis, Texas, Milwaukee, Iowa, Pocono, Fontana). I know that IndyCar struggled with attendance the last times they went to those tracks, but I believe if they scheduled those tracks during weekends with appropriate weather they could get fair attendance. In addition, I would like to see IndyCar race at the ovals at Lausitzring and/or Rockingham Motor Speedway and provide itself as a real alternative to Formula 1 in Europe. I realize this appears to be wishful thinking, but I would appreciate it if IndyCar would consider these venue options.

Now, with road courses/street courses, the main suggestion I would have is for IndyCar to go back to traditional tracks (Elkhart Lake, Portland, Cleveland, etc.) and consider racing at Sebring and/or Road Atlanta. They could add those races with St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Sao Paulo, and Toronto. I'm not a big fan of street course races, so if were up to me, I would drop the races at Detroit, Baltimore, and Houston. Of course, we would see how the Houston race does and then I may reconsider my feelings towards that race. I'm also not really a big fan of the races at Sonoma, Mid-Ohio, and Barber, because of how narrow those tracks are, although I'd be willing to keep Barber because of its attendance. I would rather see road course races at Mexico City, Watkins Glen, and Montreal be added in place of those races.

The other main thing IndyCar should do is start and end the season earlier. Ideally, IndyCar would start the season the weekend after the Super Bowl and end the weekend before the NFL regular season begins. This would help with TV ratings and give the series some relevance during the dog days of summer for American sports, when Major League Baseball and NASCAR would be the main competition. If IndyCar added the races I recommended, they could begin their season with the warm weather races like Phoenix, Fontana, Sao Paulo, St. Petersburg, Sebring, Road Atlanta, and Mexico City and establish some momentum early on before they head to the Indianapolis in May.