- If the NASCAR/IndyCar crossover weekend ceases to exist at The Brickyard, there are those who believe it should continue at another venue.
- several drivers believe the Cup Series should abandon three straight years on the IMS road course and return to the oval.
- A tire test is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday on the oval with Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, and Ty Gibbs.
For four consecutive years, the NASCAR Cup and NTT IndyCar series have showcased their top drivers on the same weekend at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Many believe the spectacle may end if NASCAR returns its Cup cars to the 2.5-mile Indy oval next year as many expect for the 30th anniversary of when stock car racing’s premier series invaded open wheel’s hallowed ground in August 1994. However, if the crossover weekend ceases to exist at The Brickyard, there are those who believe it should continue at another venue.
“It’s a damn cool thing for motorsports fans,” IndyCar driver Graham Rahal said after finishing second to Scott Dixon in Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix.
The first combination weekend occurred in July 2020. IndyCar and NASCAR’s Xfinity series competed on the IMS road course on Saturday. The following day NASCAR’s Cup Series used the oval for its event. In 2021, the Cup Series moved to the road course, a transition that six-time IndyCar champion Dixon thought was good.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe considers the Saturday ticket—which covers the IndyCar race, NASCAR Cup practice and qualifying, and the Xfinity Series event—as “one of the best in motorsports.”
“It’s getting to see three different disciplines, and three of the highest disciplines in North American motorsports all competing on the same track,” Briscoe says.
However, several drivers believe the Cup Series should abandon three straight years on the road course and return to the oval. A tire test is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday on the oval with Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, and Ty Gibbs.
Jenson Button takes practice laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We’d rather be coming here and racing around the oval with the prestige and the history of what the oval is,” Kyle Busch says. “Even though we’re at Indy, it just doesn’t really feel like it’s the same thing going the wrong way.”
Kevin Harvick’s three Brickyard victories have all been on the oval and he prefers that configuration to the road course, but he understands that there are “many things that probably are ingrained in the background of why we did it.”
Many believe if NASCAR returns to the oval, it will eliminate the NASCAR/IndyCar weekend at IMS. If that occurs, they believe another venue should host a crossover weekend. Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney are advocates for Iowa Speedway. Brad Keselowski thinks the Detroit street course is ideal due to the OEMs location to the Michigan city, describing it as a “huge win for us.”
“I think it makes a lot of sense if this race concept didn’t go away, but just moved to Detroit and then we went back to the oval here (Indy),” Keselowski says.
Busch cited Watkins Glen as an option, noting the Indy Cars could run the boot and the Cup drivers could run their normal course.
“There’s definitely plenty of opportunities to continue the camaraderie between the paddocks and garage area to have an IndyCar/NASCAR double,” Busch says.
Even though Keselowski believes the NASCAR/IndyCar weekend should continue, he thinks a NASCAR/IMSA weekend would be more beneficial for cultivating sponsors.
“IMSA (professional sports car racing) brings an interesting thing to motorsports, which is huge sustainability initiatives that really compliment NASCAR very well,” Keselowski says. “They’re a great one to tandem together, and I would love to see more combo races with them that we could leverage. I think that would move the needle with our partnerships.”
Even though NASCAR and IMSA are separate sanctioning bodies they are both owned by the France family and headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida.
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