Additional ovals wanted for IndyCar as Nashville aims to revive street race

Phoenix Raceway in early March. Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late May. World Wide Technology Raceway in early June. The Milwaukee Mile to close August.

That’s sum total of ovals for the IndyCar Series with four venues and five total races thanks to the doubleheader at Milwaukee. The modest tally comes after the loss of Nashville Superspeedway from July as event promoter Scott Borchetta attempts to revive the downtown Nashville Grand Prix street race,

“I think Nashville is an important community for us,” IndyCar Series President Doug Boles said. “It's obviously a very vibrant community, has a lot of activity outside of the racing itself. So getting back to Nashville, particularly getting back to Nashville downtown where we can just create that energy that we felt the first few years we were there, is absolutely a priority for us. And you know, there’s some challenges to get there, but we’ll definitely stay focused on that. The other thing that’s a priority for IndyCar is to continue to make sure that ovals are a huge foundation in our sport.”

Since the Indy Racing League shifted from its all-oval calendar run from 1996-2004 to incorporate road and street racing with its rebranding as the IndyCar Series in 2005, maintaining a firm hold on oval venues has become an ongoing challenge.

Homestead-Miami, Motegi, Fontana, Richmond, Kansas, Michigan, Pikes Peak, Chicagoland, Kentucky, Texas, Iowa, Las Vegas and New Hampshire are among the many ovals that have fallen from IndyCar’s calendar since 2005, which underscores the difficulty faced by the series while its schedule is currently dominated by 12 road and street events.

“Obviously, losing Nashville as an oval is something that none of us want to see, particularly somebody myself who loves ovals so much,” Boles said. “So another big priority for us is to find additional ovals that we can add to our schedule in 2028 and beyond, because that is really the history and foundation of this sport, and it is one of the things that makes that diversity, that makes our sport so special, so fantastic. So not only is getting to Nashville a priority for us, continuing to add ovals to our schedule is a massive priority and is something we'll stay focused on.”