Written by Archie O'Reilly
Penske Entertainment President and CEO, Mark Miles, has confirmed that it is unlikely that an exhibition NTT IndyCar Series event in Argentina will be feasible in 2024 amid the country's current unstable political situation.
Speaking in a media conference on Wednesday, Miles told DIVEBOMB: "Observers have noticed that it's difficult to do business right now in Argentina, so I don't see it as a viable option for this year.
"I think everybody understands that Ricardo Juncos has been our strong advocate and prospective promoter if we could do an event in Argentina. He's there now assessing the situation, talking to the elected officials and policymakers. It's an ongoing conversation, but I don't think it's feasible for 2024."
Miles had previously said in September that weekly conversations were ongoing about a race in Argentina and "progress" was being made at the time. At the time, Miles was confident that both parties - IndyCar and the local authorities - were keen for an event to happen.
But government spending cuts have already been a factor in the annual MotoGP event at Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo being cancelled, which Miles acknowledged in the media gathering. Miles said in September that inflation was a stumbling block on his radar.
The decision to put the event on the backburner will be disappointing for fans of Argentinian driver Agustin Canapino, who joined the series last year and brought in a passionate new fanbase to IndyCar after his move from touring cars in his native country.
Miles has, however, not ruled out the possibility of an event in the future.
Speaking on the back of the announcement that IndyCar's 2024 season finale would move from the streets of Nashville to Nashville Superspeedway amid construction work on the Titans Stadium, Miles also weighed in on a challenging off-season for IndyCar.
"It's been a long off-season, and we're excited about getting on the track and racing," he said. "But I think fans, as drivers have, need to keep in mind that this is the way we see it. Every fan metric is up. We're the only motorsports series in the country where television ratings and every other metric has been positive and increased.
"I don't think we get a lot of credit for that, and maybe it should be a higher rate of growth, but it's important, and it matters a lot to us. Attendance at almost every one of our races last year was up. Merch sales were up everywhere. All of our digital metrics are really meaningfully up.
"We launched our '100 Days to Indy' series last year, and we've just announced that Season Two is going to happen and have great distribution for Season One - more on that coming. We think there's a lot of good news."
Miles also believes that, while IndyCar loses out from not being in downtown Nashville, having another oval on the schedule to close out the season is a good alternative. There will still be some events downtown, too.
"I think we're in a good position to make the most of the opportunities in Nashville with the teamwork with Scott Borchetta and his access in the city," Miles said. "I think it's a great way to re-profile ovals for us, to increase the number of ovals in our championship, which a lot of fans are excited about, and yet take advantage of the opportunities to have fun downtown Nashville."
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