Indycar Road Race in May 2014 at IMS

Announcing live right now at Indycar.com


Watch the announcement of details for the May 2014 road course race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 4:30 p.m. (ET) Oct. 1 on www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 app.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC board of directors approved the race at its regular meeting Sept. 26.

The race will be contested on the opening weekend of Month of May activities at IMS leading into the 98th Indianapolis 500 on May 25. It will be the first time the series has competed on the Speedway road course, which will undergo reconfiguration this fall and next spring to create more passing zones and fan-friendly vantage points.

 

For or against?

 

I wonder...

Must compete to be eligible for the 500?
Winner starts P2?

I suspect they'll tie it in somehow...

For / Against? How about "don't care" as an option? Last time I cared was CART.

 

I think this is the beginning of the end for the Indy 500. Road race to replace it. 500 mile road race...not oval.

 

as I said on facebook earlier today, this is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

 

It most certainly is. Care for a seat where we can watch it go down by the bow before it breaks in two?

 

Or we could take a load off and enjoy the band .

 

Will Wallace Hartley & Company be playing?

 

By Dave Lewandowski
Published: Oct 1, 2013
With the announcement of the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, scheduled for May 8-10, 2014, “the Month of May is coming back.”

So pronounced IZOD IndyCar Series driver Josef Newgarden after hearing details about the event on the opening weekend of activities leading into the 98th Indianapolis 500 on May 25.

The IndyCar race on a 2.434-mile, 14-turn course, incorporating portions of Turns 1 and 2 and the frontstraight of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will feature a standing start and will run clockwise, the opposite of the Indianapolis 500, creating even more diverse competition during the month.

“I’m all for it. We haven’t even had the whole month at Indianapolis for years and now it’s making more than way,” said Newgarden, 22, who is coming off a career-high runner-up finish on the streets of Baltimore. “Fans will have more time with IndyCars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Is that a bad thing? It should be more exciting for people."


The Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing driver’s sentiments were echoed by other competitors following a news conference at the Speedway. The race will be the first time the series has competed on the road course. Reconfiguration and enhancements to create more passing zones and spectator vantage points are underway.

“I think it’s going to present us as a series the opportunity to put on a great show,” said Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal, who tested on multiple configurations of the road course in September. “I think it presents itself as a different opportunity than the ‘500’ and that’s the biggest thing.

Click it: Project will enhance spectator experience, competition


“I say to a lot of people that what the Indy 500 was 50 years ago, or even when my dad was racing, is different from what it is today. Indy is still the same, but the Month of May is coming back. It gets the buzz going about the sport. If anything, I think it adds to the ‘500.’ ’’

Added Roger Penske, the winningest team owner in Indy 500 history: “With road racing coming in, there's just no question that this combination and the utilization of this facility is imperative for us to build this sport where we need to be. The assets here are the best in the world, there's no question about it, and to think that we can be here the week before we start, the weekend before we start running and run a road race is terrific.

"As people talk about history, they talk about this being an oval, the '500,' and we've got the Brickyard, and I think today being able to bring a road race in and have a speed week is almost the greatest thing I've heard."

ABC will televise the Grand Prix of Indianapolis live, including locally.
“With ABC televising the Indianapolis 500 for the 50th consecutive year in 2014, it’s only fitting that the historic first IndyCar race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course will also air on ABC," said John Skipper, president of ESPN and co-chairman of Disney Media Works. "We’re honored to continue our long relationship with the Speedway and look forward to the Month of May in Indianapolis."


Additionally, all series in the Mazda Road to Indy will compete during the event weekend. Tickets will be available Oct. 14.

“The Grand Prix of Indianapolis is all about elevating the Month of May, the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Series with more thrilling content for our loyal supporters and new fans,” said Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Co., the parent of INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “This will be a very different event than the ‘500’ and will be one of three major weekends of excitement at IMS in May, all leading into the 98th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25."


The Month of May will begin with IndyCar Series practice for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 8. Practice and qualifying are scheduled for May 9, with the race May 10. An Open Test will be conducted before the race weekend, and Miles noted that a title sponsor is being pursued.

The first day of practice for the 98th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for May 11 on the 2.5-mile oval.

The seating configuration for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis is being designed to provide the best sightlines of the course and affordable ticket prices for fans. New spectator mounds and new grandstands will be available in the infield section of the course.

“Our approach is to create an affordable, fun, family-friendly opening event to kick off the excitement for the entire Month of May,” Miles said. “The most expensive ticket for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis is less than half the price of the costliest seat for the Indianapolis 500. Fans will get the best views possible of the exciting, side-by-side action created during this historic event on our new circuit.”

Race day reserved seat prices will range from $40-75. Existing ticket customers to any 2014 IMS event will receive a $10 discount on reserved seats ($30-65). Race day general admission tickets are $25 for all customers. Children 12 and under with a paid adult will be admitted free.

Also free is admission to practice May 8. General admission tickets for May 9 is $20.

Tickets can be purchased at Official Indianapolis Motor Speedway Tickets - Indianapolis 500 - Brickyard 400 - Red Bull Indianapolis GP - IZOD Indycar Series - Brickyard Authentics, by calling 800-822-INDY or 317-492-6700 between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday or by visiting the IMS Ticket Office at the IMS Administration Building at the corner of Georgetown Road and 16th Street between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday.
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Changes to the track since you saw it last for F1 or Grand-AM:


"The focus is to get all the asphalt down by Dec. 1 and then we spend all winter building the mounds, putting in the curbs, striping and timelines," said IMS director of engineering and construction Kevin Forbes, who oversaw construction of the road course in 1999. "There will be a different surface that will have substantial grip, more spectator viewing areas and enhancements, so I thing this has all the earmarks of a great event."

Among the highlights of the 14-turn, 2.434-mile road course:

• A hard braking area and 90-degree right into Turn 1 exiting the historic front straightaway of the oval (the current Turn 4 exit). Reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan described the sharp right-hander as “the best passing corner in all of IndyCar racing.”

• A fast, new infield chicane that will comprise Turns 5 and 6 and lead to the 2,500-foot back straightaway.

• A revision of the Turns 7-8-9 complex that will create more speed and passing.

• A hard braking area creating excellent passing opportunities leading into the new 90-degree right Turn 12, which enters the infield adjacent to Turn 1 of the oval and rejoins the 3,200-foot main straightaway at Turn 14.

The reconfiguration plan also includes new spectator mounds in Turn 1 of the road course and new grandstands adjacent to Turns 5 and 6 in the infield. Expanded grandstands in Turn 7 – at the end of the back straightaway – also will be available.

 

Anyone going to this love fest?

 

I'll not bother to reserve a room and rental car for you.


I'd watch baby buggy races at IMS. Just walking in the gate there still gives me chills and a lump in my throat. I think this will be a good show. With the Rahals, TK, Penske etc weighing in on the changes to the track, 14 turns, 185+ mph and the level of competition Indycar has been producing lately this should be a fun even. Cheap ticket prices as well so they might be able to make May a month long event again if this works. I'll support it.

 

Your a wise man!!

I also get chills walking thru the gates, but not because of this. What made Indy Indy was nothing more than a simple set of rules, and the ability for anyone to put him or herself on the line and simply try what you had. Nothing more or less. Money tuned it into what it is today. People want to control things and the basics of human nature teaches you no one has control over anything. Current attendance and TV figures support that.

 

I think this will take away some fans for the real 500 later in the month. People are on tight budgets (ask nascar), and there are too many empty seats now. Oh well, it might be a good race, I might just have to drive up and look.

 

Snooze. Rearranging seats on the deck of the Titanic is about right.

Last I remember, the Titanic sunk. Just sayin'....

 

Wanna by seats on the fantail? I can offer them at a discount!!

 

I'll be there this May for sure. Hopefully this is the start of the track getting used a lot more.

 

I'd rather watch paint dry!!!

 

Latex or Urethane ?

 

Equal opportunity paint watcher...heck, I might even watch oil paint dry (or at least try to!!)

 

Not sure if it does any good to say for or against.

They're trying stuff but now it looks like they're throwing ideas against the wall
and seeing what sticks.

Sure, they'd love to have two events at IMS in the same month. Will it enhance
the 500 or detract from it? You have to really wonder what issues they're batting
around other than having the attention all on Indy during the entire month of May.

Wouldn't it be better, if say, perhaps they ran the 500 as per usual and put the
road race on Labor Day weekend? That way, Indy bookends the summer with their
blue ribband event and the new road course event.

Putting both of these events in the same month on serves to cause brand confusion
among the less initiated.

The rest of Indy's issues revolve around it becoming spec racing and that opens a
whole other discussion.

BHW

 

This alone is the main issue for its failure. People seems to forget that part of what made Indy great was the wide variety of entries from all across the world and from all different financial lifestyles. The ONLY thing that mattered was the stopwatch. Make the show and you race. Made more story lines and interest based solely on that alone. Today we get 10-12 owners fielding the race. Just rich kids playing with their toys.

 

Why can't they have both races the same week? Most teams have at least two cars and one could concentrate on the road course and the other on the oval. It does not make sense imho to have two separate races at the same venue in the same month, most fans have to work and attending just one race is a logistical and financial burden.

No wonder IndyCar is in dire straights.

 

I think Mr Workman has it correct. They are throwing **** to see if it sticks. At this point they are losing everyone. Fans are just leaving for many reasons. They simply can't stop it because they won't listen. Best of luck to them.......they are going to need it.

 

The IMS road course has failed to resonate with any of the relevant series that run
on it except perhaps Moto GP. And, even then, has that lived up to expectations?

GrandAM thought they were doing themselves a huge favor by running on the road course
on the same weekend as the Brickyard 400 but from what I saw, the place was a virtual
ghost town when the races ran on Friday afternoons as someone in Daytonner had notions
of the Indy GrandAM races being played out in front of 400K spectators.

As we see, NASCAR runs at several circuits twice per year and it doesn't seem to affect
matters. At least they're smart enough to space things out a bit so as to not
step on themselves.

If the course changes make things better, great! If not, then Indy Car is flirting with a
PR disaster and losing face on it's home track.

Who knows, it might be great. But, even if it is, will anyone be paying attention? It seems
the only time Indy Car gets any sort of media is when drivers are seriously hurt or killed.

BHW