Is The Indianapolis 8 Hour Race Here For The Long Haul?

The Indianapolis 8 HourPicture courtesy IMS

A World Collection. In July 2019, IMS introduced the addition of the Indianapolis 8 Hour to the Speedway’s 2020 calendar. It was to be the fourth of 5 races spanning 5 continents for the fledgling Intercontinental GT Problem, an upstart sports-car collection based on the concept producers would assist native groups fairly than sending their very own. Makers like BMW, Mercedes, Lamborghini, and Audi have been to fly their drivers throughout the globe as an alternative of delivery automobiles and instruments. However because the championship began to develop, an increasing number of producers began sending the whole lot anyway.

Caught In Impartial. The inaugural October 2020 occasion ended up being one among solely 4 races within the collection due to COVID-19 (the 10-hour race in Suzuka, Japan, was canceled because of heightened restrictions for overseas entry into the nation). The Indy race went on however was additionally impacted by the pandemic. Solely 10,000 followers have been allowed within the stands, and the grid was majority U.S.-based entrants—a change from earlier American races, which have been dominated by Europeans.

Again On Observe. Regardless of the unprecedented circumstances, the first-ever Indy grid featured 22 automobiles—three greater than have been within the 2019 American leg of the collection at Laguna Seca in California. This truth gave promoters optimism for the occasion’s future. The 2021 Indianapolis 8 Hour featured 41 automobiles, once more largely Individuals.

Two For The Highway. The primary 8 Hour was packaged as a doubleheader race weekend with an IndyCar race on the IMS highway course, the Harvest Grand Prix. The title was a throwback to the Harvest Auto Racing Traditional, a 1916 three-race occasion held to maintain the Speedway afloat throughout America’s involvement in World Warfare I that pressured the monitor to shutter for 2 years. It was the final time a race apart from the five hundred was held at IMS till 1994, when NASCAR got here to city for the primary time.

Model Support. That first Brickyard 400 dropped the inexperienced flag on all kinds of year-round occasions on the IMS in an try to herald income and drive the model. Since 1994, the Speedway has hosted Components One, MotoGP bikes, an IndyCar highway race, vintage-car racing, Pink Bull Air Race airplanes, and even autonomous automobiles. All of them besides the hometown IndyCars and the classic automobiles have come and gone.

Pump The Brakes. In 2021, after years of declining attendance, even NASCAR determined to cut back. After 27 years operating inventory automobiles on the hallowed 2.5-mile oval, officers moved to a 14-turn infield highway course. The inaugural Verizon 200 on the Brickyard was marred by curbing points on a chicane in Turns 5 and 6 that resulted in two purple flags and different delays to scrub up particles. However, monitor and collection reps stated they didn’t foresee that race returning to its rounder 400-mile format anytime quickly. And because of that broken curb, the 2021 8 Hour needed to be run with out the chicane, on a course much like the outdated one utilized by Components One.

Roger And Out? Observe proprietor Roger Penske purchased the Speedway about 4 months after the primary 8 Hour was introduced in 2019. Penske has steadily talked about that the deal preceded his tenure when discussing the way forward for the race with media, and he seems to as an alternative have his sights set on an even bigger sports-car collection coming to Indianapolis. “After we consider a sports-car occasion, we might consider a correct IMSA race weekend, with totally different courses such as you’d see at Sebring or Daytona,” Penske advised The Indianapolis Star, referring to the Worldwide Motor Sports activities Affiliation, which runs premier sports-car endurance races just like the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Petit Le Mans. “That’s one thing that will be excessive on our checklist.”