There is an old trick in the news/public relations business, where if you think something may not be received kindly – you release it on a Friday, near or after lunchtime. The thinking is that people are getting prepared for the weekend and they (hopefully) will not see it. By the time Monday rolls around, it is considered old news and people are less likely to gripe about it publicly.
Coincidence or not, the 2027 IndyCar was released at 11:31 am EDT on Friday. For the most part, it was a yawner. Except for some minor date changes, it was mostly a copy of the 2026 schedule except for two major omissions and one significant addition – if significant is the correct word.
Like last year, the schedule hits the ground running; which is a departure from a couple of years ago, when the early schedule was riddled with huge gaps between the first few race of the season. As usual, the season kicks off March 7 at sunny St. Petersburg – a welcome sight after a long cold winter. The next weekend, they travel to Phoenix on a Saturday, once again pairing up with NASCAR. For the third consecutive weekend, the series finds itself in Arlington, Texas. Last year’s debut of this race proved to be very popular with fans and drivers. It will be interesting to see what Year Two looks like.
One minor date change includes moving Barber from early May back to early April, after a one-weekend break (for Easter) from Arlington. I am in favor of this change. I’ve been to Barber when the weekend kicked off in late March, and I’ve also been to races there in early May. The difference in climate is amazing for there to only be one month separating that time frame. Although there is a chance for a late winter in early April; bringing cold weather, brown grass and no blooms – it is much more likely to be hot and way past any blooms in early May. One weekend later in mid-April would’ve been the sweet spot, but then that would’ve created a two-weekend gap after Arlington. I expect the weather to be fine, along with the blooming dogwoods and azaleas on the property.
Two weeks later will be the 52nd running of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. This race is always a moving targe because of Easter, but with Easter being in March this year, they are able to get that mid-April date.
Some will look at the schedule and complain that there is a one-month gap between the races at Long Beach and the IMS road course. That’s true, but what the schedule does not tell you is that the Open Test on the IMS oval is Tue May 4 and Wed May 5, pretty much in the middle of that gap. That event is now generally televised and usually satisfies the IndyCar die-hards.
One key point for the Month of May is that the Indy GP will not be held over Mother’s Day weekend in 2027. That could bolster attendance for the opening weekend of May at the track, since so many have said they choose Mother’s Day over racing. We’ll see what that translates to attendance-wise.
After the Month of May, the schedule falls into the same rhythm as last year’s. June sees the series visiting Detroit, Gateway and Road America. The one difference is that Road America will run one week later, thus avoiding Father’s Day weekend – which I personally know of several people that have not gone to Road America for that reason.
July is where things have changed The series will still run on July 4 at Mid-Ohio, but Nashville has been replaced by Barcelona. More on both of these moves on Wednesday.
August and Labor Day weekend follow the same order as last year, with the exception of the Freedom 250, which most considered a one-off event. Some were hoping that following the success of that event that it might continue. Personally, I’m glad it didn’t. It should be left as a stand-alone one-time event. That success was never going to be replicated. When it couldn’t, it would be considered a black mark. I think it should remain in the past as a success story that IndyCar and FOX can learn from so that it might be duplicated somewhere else in the future. The weekend after Portland will remain open for 2027, before the season closes with three consecutive weekends in Markham, the double-header at Milwaukee and the season-finale at Laguna Seca.
It’s not easy putting a schedule together. There are so many moving pieces that have to be taken into account. People that were actually aware that the schedule dropped were mainly complaining that it was so boring that it was almost identical to last year’s. I think they don’t realize that keeping it the same is a lot of hard work behind the scenes.
Many of my racing friends remember the late Eric Schwarzkopf, a regular in several of the IndyCar media centers over the years who passed away suddenly a few years ago. He was a racing photographer and a very good one too. Eric was a fair man; who could publicly defend IndyCar on social media one day, and absolutely rip them to shreds the next. I was reminded of him this weekend, as everyone felt the need to share their opinion on how they could have done a much better job with the schedule than what IndyCar did. It was almost an annual event for him to post this meme on Facebook, so I give Eric the credit on this one.
While I would like at least one more oval, I think IndyCar did an OK job with what they had to work with. But I’m not happy with the mid-July portion of the schedule, and I’ll tell you why on Wednesday – otherwise, this would have been a very long post.
So here is the IndyCar schedule as it was released on Friday.
What are your thoughts? Without sounding like an armchair expert, what would you have done differently? Please don’t give the usual “Let’s go back to Cleveland and Michigan”. That’s not happening.
Please come back on Wednesday when I may turn a tad bit more cynical.
George Phillips
