Round Two of the NTT IndyCar Series will take place tomorrow on the road course of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the seventh running of the GMR Grand Prix. Originally scheduled for May 9, this was to be a racing fan’s delight as it was rescheduled for the Fourth of July in conjunction with NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 and the Xfinity Series, which had already planned to run the road course this year.
There has been a lot to discuss off of the track since the NTT IndyCar Series raced at Texas Motor Speedway on June 6. In fact, the off-track topics have overshadowed what many considered to be a less-than-exciting race at Texas. But with five races in a two-week period coming up in July, it’s time to turn the focus on the main thing we follow this sport for – the racing.
In my day job, a big part of my job is to oversee disputes between some of the different departments I work with, and whenever possible – manage compromises. Sometime and somewhere in the early part of my career, someone told me that the definition of a successful compromise is when all parties walk away mad. I’m not sure that I subscribe to that theory, but if that’s the case – the policy for managing attendance for this year’s Indianapolis 500 has been a rousing success.
By Susan Phillips
Note from George: It’s been a while since my wife, Susan, posted anything on here. I mentioned that to her over Father’s Day weekend. Whenever she writes something here I don’t tell her what to say, nor do I make her change anything that I don’t agree with. Today is one of those times when I don’t agree with everything she has written, but I’m happy for the break and she can post whatever she wants. – GP
I know that everyone is looking forward to all of the IndyCar racing that will be coming at us over the next few weekends in July, but no one is as excited about it as I am. It’s not because I’m the biggest race fan out there—but I will enjoy watching them. It’s because George will finally get back to what makes him happy in the summer.
All of us have been lamenting the fact that after a three-month delay to the start of the IndyCar season, there is now another month between the opening race at Texas and the next race on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I think everyone understands that it’s because Richmond was cancelled and Road America took the date previously vacated by Toronto, so that they could make sure fans would be able to attend in July. But that doesn’t make this month of inactivity after the season-opening race any easier to swallow.
I rarely discuss NASCAR here, and when I do – it’s normally not in a very flattering way. This takes me out of my wheelhouse to discuss NASCAR, but it will get back around to the NTT IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 (at least a little bit), so bear with me.
As the country begins to re-open along with sports and sporting events, I am more and more grateful, than I already was, to be a fan of the NTT IndyCar Series. IndyCar was not the first sport back, but they didn’t need to be. That was more due to scheduling issues and logistics, just like this one-month layoff between the first and second races. That is no one’s fault. But with Richmond canceling and Road America wisely taking Toronto’s vacated date created a void after the Texas race.
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