IndyCar set to drop Sebring workaround plan for Texas

The NTT IndyCar Series is expected to scrap its plans to accommodate its drivers who were meant to compete at IMSA’s 12 Hours of Sebring event in Florida.

Having placed an IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway on the same mid-March weekend where Sebring is traditionally held, IndyCar created a special schedule that would have seen its drivers with Sebring obligations practicing at TMS on Friday, leaving for Sebring to race at the 12-hour contest on Saturday, and returning to qualify and race at the Xpel 375 oval event on Sunday.

But after Chip Ganassi Racing opted to cancel its plans for its IndyCar drivers to pull double duty between Sebring and Texas, only Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves and A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Kyle Kirkwood -- two of the 26 full-time drivers in the field -- were left to consider. Lacking a meaningful number of drivers to justify the Sebring-influenced Texas schedule, RACER understands IndyCar is meant to implement a standard schedule for the 1.5-mile oval, which is currently being finalized.

The decision means IMSA and MSR will not have Castroneves, winner of its big season opener at Daytona, on the grid for Round 2 at Sebring, and the Vasser Sullivan Lexus IMSA team will need to find a replacement for Kirkwood.