Written by Caitlyn Gordon, Edited by Dan Jones
The 2023 IndyCar season has only just wrapped up in Laguna Seca, California, but already the attention of the IndyCar paddock rolls over to next year and the events which will form the 2024 season calendar. IndyCar wished to release its calendar before the end of the season but due to certain delays, this didn’t happen, leaving fans and teams eagerly awaiting the schedule.
Just before the season ended, it was confirmed by Indy Car that a $1 Million Dollar challenge at Thermal Club with an ‘All-Star’ line-up of drivers, will not have any play in the Championship. This will happen on March 24th, and will fill the frustratingly long gap of over a month between the season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg and Texas.
Talking of Texas, it will not remain on the 2024 calendar. Texas had looked set in stone coming into the season. Texas organisers understandably didn’t want their headline events to be in consecutive weeks, which caused a clash with IndyCar promoters and since hasn’t been resolved.
2024 also has a familiar track coming back to the calendar, the Milwaukee Mile is set to return to IndyCar after leaving the schedule back in 2015, and the long-awaited race weekend finally returns. IndyCar fans have been craving oval action, with only four oval events a year, with the Milwaukee Mile replacing the Autumn Indianapolis Road Course Race, a move that many are a fan of, with the Indy GP remaining two weeks prior to the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
The big news about the schedule which was announced in August is that Nashville will be hosting the season finale instead of Laguna Seca. The layout for this race has also changed and a new 2.17-mile circuit will be established which also has cars speeding across the famous Honky-Tonk Row, as works to the Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans are taking place, which is where the paddock has been located for IndyCar.
Next season sees the usual 17 races which are worth points during the year and kicks off in March with the typical St. Petersburg's opening race. Fans will have to go without IndyCar for a full month before the second race commences at Texas Motor Speedway at the start of April. However, the $1 million dollar challenge at the Thermal Club will be taking place during this gap of the series, so fear not there will still be plenty of racing going on.
A couple of changes to the usual schedule see the Laguna Seca circuit no longer hosting the finale for the first time since 2019 and will take place during June instead. Laguna Seca had previously been criticised for the lack of crowd numbers, creating a smaller buzz for the season finale but with Nashville taking the finale slot next year, it will be one of the most anticipated races of the year.
2023 saw no IndyCar races under the lights, but this will change with World Wide Technology Raceway returning to it’s evening slot as it did in 2021, with it only adding to the spectacle of the event, in another move that has been requested by many IndyCar fans.
The 2024 season looks to be exciting with many new changes to the schedule, the return of the Milwaukee Mile, and another oval event to add to the schedule, IndyCar back under the lights at World Wide Technology Raceway, and the new layout in downtown Nashville to end the 2024 IndyCar season.
FULL CALENDAR:
Date | Venue |
Sunday, March 10 | Streets of St Petersburg |
Sunday, March 24 | The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge (non-championship race) |
Sunday, April 21 | Streets of Long Beach |
Sunday, April 28 | Barber Motorsports Park |
Saturday, May 11 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Road Course) |
Saturday, May 18 | Qualifying - Indianapolis 500 (Day one) |
Sunday, May 19 | Qualifying - Indianapolis 500 (Day two) |
Sunday, May 26 | Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis Motor Speedway, oval) |
Sunday, June 2 | Streets of Detroit |
Sunday, June 9 | Road America |
Sunday, June 23 | WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca |
Sunday, July 7 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course |
Saturday, July 13 | Iowa Speedway - Race One |
Sunday, July 14 | Iowa Speedway - Race Two |
Sunday, July 21 | Streets of Toronto |
Saturday, August 17 | World Wide Technology Raceway |
Sunday, August 25 | Portland International Raceway |
Saturday, August 31 | The Milwaukee Mile - Race One |
Sunday, September 1st | The Milwaukee Mile - Race Two |
Sunday, September 15th | Streets of Nashville |
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