IndyCar has confirmed plans to open its season Saturday, June 6 with the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race, which will mark the NTT IndyCar Series first race of the year following the rash of postponements and cancellations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, will take the green flag at 8:45 p.m. ET, with broadcast coverage on NBCSN.

As anticipated, the event will go ahead without fans in attendance, and feature a condensed schedule with practice, qualifying and the race taking place on the same day. To accommodate the one-day schedule, the length for the race has been adjusted to 200 laps (300 miles) rather than the previously announced 248.

“We’re excited and ready to kick off the NTT IndyCar Series season at Texas Motor Speedway,” IndyCar President Jay Frye said. “We’ve worked closely with (TMS president and general manager ) Eddie Gossage, the entire TMS team and public health officials on a plan of action that will ensure the safety of our event participants alongside an exciting return to competition for our drivers, teams and viewers tuning in from around the world.”

“America needs live sports and they are not going to believe what they see when the Genesys 300 storms into their living rooms on TV from Texas,” said Gossage. “One of the world’s greatest sporting events, the Indy 500, has been postponed until August by coronavirus, so all of that pent-up energy, anticipation, frustrations and anxiety will be pounding through the drivers’ nervous systems. Typically, the Genesys 300 results in a 220mph photo finish.”

Steps being taken to protect the well-being of participants have been identified through close consultation with TMS and public health officials. These include:

• Strict access guidelines limiting the number of personnel on site

• A health screening system administered to all participants

• PPE equipment provided to everyone entering the facility, along with guidelines on usage

• Social distancing protocols in place and carefully maintained

• Revised competition layout to increase distancing

“I’m really glad to hear that we are going back IndyCar racing in Texas,” team owner Mike Shank said. “This has been a really tough time for everyone, but IndyCar has been doing a great job keeping us updated and I know there has been a ton of prep to go into making sure the right measures are put in place to keep us all safe. My guys and our IndyCars are pretty set to go. We obviously have a little fine tuning to do before we get back on track but we’ve really been working hard to have everything ready to go when the day came. It’s good news all around”

The full on-track schedule for the Genesys 300:

• Practice: 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET

• Qualifications: 5 p.m. ET

• Genesys 300: 8:45 p.m. ET

IndyCar also noted that the remainder of its updated, 15-race calendar for 2020, which was announced April 6, remains on schedule for competition.

With a pair of new engine supply contract extensions in hand, the NTT IndyCar Series is armed with its best argument to make for a third manufacturer to join Chevrolet and Honda on the open-wheel circuit in 2023. As the summer months wound down, and the financial ravages from COVID-19 were continually felt by the two car companies, getting those all-important signatures were far from guaranteed.

Arriving at the place where the deals could be announced earlier this month took considerable effort by the series, as mounting turmoil in the domestic economy from a pandemic, and rapid changes to technology and buyer demographics in the automotive world, made for a prolonged negotiation process that could have gone either way.

“Well, I would say we were very close to getting it done early in the year, as we took on responsibility for the IndyCar Series,” Penske Corporation president Bud Denker told RACER. “Now (IndyCar president) Jay Frye, and myself, and Paul Ray from Ilmor, and of course, Jim Campbell from Chevy and Ted Klaus from Honda Performance Development, the group here drove this. I know each of those folks very well, so I was able to stay connected to all of them and continue to help Jay move things along.

“I would say that we were close to getting it done pre-COVID, but then, as you know, life changed and everybody’s world changed, including the Speedway’s, including Chevy’s and Honda’s; but we never lost the intention or objective of getting it done. It was just a matter of reestablishing our connections, getting these companies like Honda and Chevy back into production, getting people back working again, including ourselves with some direction.

“Really, it was a combination of pulling it together, pre- and post-COVID arrival.”

As multiple manufacturers have been busy announcing their upcoming departure from all manner of racing championships, Chevy and Honda were presented with an easy exit strategy to follow. One brand was more interested in going hybrid than the other, and, with costs as a central concern to manage, questions on if and how all parties might move ahead with a 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 aided by a spec kinetic energy recovery system became the subject of passionate debate behind the scenes.

In both cases, and after intense efforts to reach bi-partisan agreements. the decision by Chevy and Honda to recommit to IndyCar and its new hybrid engine formula came as a powerful counter argument to those brands who’ve opted out of the sport.

“Are there always challenges in the language of your agreements, in the contract of your agreements as such?” Denker asked. “There are, so we were looking at, of course, the right time to start the 2.4-liter hybrid engine formula with all the things taking place in the world right now. Originally, we had targeted 2022, but pushing that to 2023 made so much sense.

“These manufacturers were focused on other things beside IndyCar, and I think now, with the launch being 2023, it not only allows everybody to get their proper protocols and technology and teams together, but also importantly for us, as we look at a third manufacturer. What third manufacturer could develop and pull strings together in 18-month time period to have an effective program 2022? Nobody. So, 2023 is the right date.”

In a July interview, IndyCar Series owner Roger Penske said Ferrari was his sole focus for securing a third manufacturer. With the new engine formula confirmation and commitments from both Chevy and Honda, Denker says talks with the famous Italian brand continue, and other manufacturers have joined in the conversation regarding 2023.

“The ongoing dialogue (between) Roger and Ferrari is the closest opportunity here because that dialogue continues,” Denker added. “And when I say who’s having a dialogue, it’s Roger Penske. I give him great credit to develop those conversations, and they continue. Are there are others interested? Yes. But I think the most material conversation still continues to be Ferrari. When Roger Penske’s driving it, I give that some good credibility.

“I think the fact that we announced a significant timeframe here – to 2026 – that’s important. That has runway. Think about how we actually have a six-year runway, from ’21 on out to 2026, with a program to allow us to plan, to build the series, bring more teams into the series.

“To bring more teams into the series, we’ve got to have more engine manufacturers; we’re all over that.”

That’s where the new six-year-long faith expressed by Chevy and Honda in IndyCar can only help Penske, Denker, Frye, and others at the series to land a third manufacturer. Presented with a fresh regulatory start in 2023, Denker believes IndyCar’s reboot as a series that embraces hybrid technology could succeed where its current non-hybrid rules have failed to land a third supplier since 2013.

“With that runway, it allows others to say, ‘I know we’re going to have two great manufacturers, Chevy and Honda in the sport. There’s more opportunity for us now to come in, have enough development time, and have a proper engine and proper technology to be part of this series,” Denker said.
“So there’s no coincidence on the timing or what technology that’s coming, and that allows others to see these announcements and maybe raise their hands. If you build it, will they come? We’ll see.”

Organizers of the Honda Indy Toronto and the NTT IndyCar Series announced Friday announce that this year’s event, scheduled for July 9-11, has been cancelled due to ongoing restrictions in Ontario focusing on COVID-19 health-and-safety measures.

“The NTT IndyCar Series race around Exhibition Place and Princes’ Gates is a hallmark of our summer schedule,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “To have that void for a second straight year is heartbreaking. We deeply miss our fans there and urge them to remain safe during these unprecedented times. IndyCar looks forward to a high-powered return in 2022 and for years to come.”

No replacement race has yet been set, but the sanctioning body stated it “is considering various scenarios for the remainder of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series calendar as it relates to the cancellation of the event on the streets of Toronto.”

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The day after Marco Andretti put his car on the pole for the Indianapolis 500 — 51 years after his grandfather scored the only Andretti win in the only race that matters to the iconic family — the third-generation racer dismissed any idea of a curse at the historic track.

He said all the right things about being an Andretti at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the hallowed grounds where seven different family members have raced with only that one win, by patriarch Mario Andretti in 1969.

Marco had suffered his own heartbreak in his Indy 500 debut, a crushing 2006 loss when the rookie was passed just 100 yards from the finish line. He had just two wins to show for a 15-year career, and a year ago, with an Andretti about to lead the field to green at Indianapolis with the spotlight at last all to himself, Marco was doing his best to convince anyone who asked that he very much still loved racing. If he didn't, he insisted, he'd walk away.

Just five months later, he did just that.

It wasn't so much of a surprise, at least not to his father. Michael Andretti had heard rumors through the grapevine. Andretti Autosport was having a difficult time selling sponsorship for the 34-year-old, but Michael Andretti was not giving up, not until his oldest son himself called off the hunt.

There was maybe enough money for a partial season, Michael Andretti told The Associated Press, but when father and son finally connected in a telephone call, Marco wasn't interested.

“I think he was worried about talking to me about it,” Michael told AP. “And when he saw that I agreed with him, the weight was just lifted off of him. I could hear the change in his voice immediately. It's been so good for him because he's so much more relaxed and happy.”

The IndyCar season began this year without an Andretti on the track for the first time since 2006. There had been stretches before — Michael retired from full-time racing after the 2002 season — but Marco's decision to scale back puts the brakes for now on the most famous name in motorsports, which Michael himself acknowledges is disappointing but ultimately trivial.

“As long as this is what's good for him, that’s all I care about,” Michael said.

Marco Andretti returns to the speedway Tuesday to begin preparations for the Indy 500, the only race on his IndyCar schedule this year. He will be part of Tony Stewart's six-race Superstar Racing Experience All-Star Series that begins next month, and he will likely join the Andretti Autosport sports car program later this year and drive alongside his cousin, Jarett.

Michael will reunite with Marco as his race strategist at Indy, another chance for them to break the Andretti curse together. Like so many others in the sport, Michael doesn't know where things went off course in Marco's career.

It certainly had a promising start when as a 19-year-old rookie he passed his father for the lead at Indy with two laps remaining and the checkered flag in sight. But Marco was caught before the finish line by Sam Hornish Jr., victory snatched away in the final seconds as his grandfather could only shake his head in disbelief from pit lane.

Marco scored a win later that 2006 season, and a second victory came in 2011, but that was it. Mario ranks second on IndyCar's all-time wins list and is considered one of the greatest racers ever, and Michael ranked third on the wins list when he retired.

But it just doesn't come easy for Marco, not even last year. He was the final driver to make a qualifying attempt on a windy afternoon at Indy and bumped six-time series champion Scott Dixon from the top of the board to put an Andretti on the pole for the 500 for the first time in 33 years.

On race day, though, Marco failed to lead a single lap, something that had not happened to a pole winner since 2001. He finished 13th.

His grandfather won't attempt to explain why Marco walked away from full-time racing.

“Only Marco can answer that and I can't say it's not disappointing for me because I live for the fact that he was out on the track,” Mario told AP. “Last year he proved something to me — I always felt that he had the talent and just putting the car on pole under those conditions last year, he beat the very best that day. So he's capable. Why he's not more consistent? I can never answer that. But Marco's a good kid. That's the main thing for me.”

Michael can't help but wonder if he should have taken a different approach with Marco's career and not brought him immediately into the top-tier team team he owned. His first job was as a rookie teammate to Dario Franchitti, Bryan Herta and Tony Kanaan. His only boss was his father.

Bobby Rahal, meanwhile, sent his son out to learn in other organizations. Graham Rahal had driven for both Newman-Haas and Chip Ganassi when, six seasons later at 24 years old, he finally went to drive for his father.

“People say that maybe I should have done what Bobby did and have him go race for somebody else and all that stuff, I don't know, maybe I should have,” Michael said. “Maybe because people think, you know, the silver spoon and all that crap. I don't know. I really don't.”

The youngest of his five children is a twin 7-year-old boy they call Rio, named for his grandfather but with enough of an age gap between Mario Andretti that Michael didn't worry about the pressures of being a namesake. Rio has recently caught the racing bug, but Michael doesn't really know what to do with him.

“He's not out there doing it every week and it's partly my fault because I'm not going to be out there doing it every week. I'm not that type of dad who is going to sit down and school him on everything,” Michael said. “And second, well, I don't think I want him to be doing it just yet. It's too early. I want him to see other stuff.”

Andretti Autosport in April signed Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon, the 12-year-old and 10-year-old sons of the late driver Dan Wheldon, to junior development programs. The Wheldon boys and their mother have been navigating the junior racing divisions the last six years and could guide Rio should Michael greenlight another Andretti chasing the bug.

Mario remembers setting up a race course at a high school near their Pennsylvania home for his sons to navigate on a golf cart. Michael, then 9, he said “took to it like a laser. Like a duck to water.” Little Rio, he's been told, only likes to go fast and hasn't yet figured out how to complete a lap.

“Rio tells me, ‘I like the straights! I like to go fast!’” Mario laughs, the pride unmistakable. “We'll see. He's still a little young. We've got to get him to complete a full lap before we make big plans for him.”

Throughout the interview with Craig, who remains a consultant to a number of companies and organizations both in and out of sports today, as well as governmental entities, while he could have pointed fingers or assessed blame, rather he was both fair and transparent in his thoughts about the split.

But it’s also noteworthy that now, even 25 years later, a number of individuals who were in the middle of both sides of the row, including Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi, A.J. Foyt and Tony George, all turned down requests to speak to Autoweek about the split.

it’s also noteworthy that now, even 25 years later, a number of individuals who were in the middle of both sides of the row, including Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi, A.J. Foyt and Tony George, all turned down requests to speak to Autoweek about the split.