INDIANAPOLIS – And now, it’s IndyCar’s turn as the Verizon IndyCar Series Media Day on Tuesday at the snowy and cold Indianapolis Motor Speedway brought out the star drivers of the sport to preview the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Although it’s a smaller version of NASCAR’s Media Day at Daytona that was held on Feb. 12, the premise remains the same for both series as teams, drivers and manufacturers are excited to finally get back to racing.
The big news to come out of IndyCar’s Media Day was Chevrolet unveiling its Aero Kit that will be used on the street and road courses this season. Honda continues to keep its Aero Kit under wraps until testing begins on March 13. The introduction of Aero Kits brings a new dynamic to the series in 2015, as it will greatly differentiate the Chevrolet teams from the Honda teams with an increase in performance on the track.
While that was the big news of the day there were plenty of other important items revealed as IndyCar gears up for its season-opening race – the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 29.
Mark Miles sets the record straight:
The CEO of Hulman & Company is the man charting the course for INDYCAR as its chief executive. He had a few things he wanted to get off his mind including his philosophy in building a schedule and the recent cancelation of the proposed season-opening race at Brasilia, Brazil that was set for March 8 but canceled by the local government because of a “budget crisis.”
“We're not trying to shorten the season,” Miles said emphatically. “We are actually planning to lengthen the season. What we're trying to do is slide the season earlier. We've shared with the drivers, with the team owners, with the promoters, the vision, the plan, which we'll get closer to in 2016, where we hope we begin the weekend after the Super Bowl, early February, and go through Labor Day for the championship. That gets us into eight months, a little over seven months of racing.
“Our objective is about 20 races.
“So, yes, we started by ending earlier. You haven't yet seen us start earlier. But I want you to understand that's where we're going. We want to race in a very full schedule, about 20 races, from the weekend after the Super Bowl in early February through Labor Day. That will feel very different than it did last year and this year. You will see the expansion. Related to that, there's the question of international races. We said we think there's an important market opportunity for us on a limited basis at the very beginning of the championship. The strategy about when we schedule ourselves beginning of February through Labor Day is not dependent upon international races.”
Mark Miles seen in March 2014.
Miles indicated a February race at a former IndyCar Series track such as Phoenix International Raceway is an idea he wants to pursue. But the challenge of finding warm weather venues at that time of year is scarce.
“We're determined to find really vibrant new race opportunities. So we're going to be discerning about that,” Miles said. “We still continue to believe that we're not going to become Formula One. We're not going to be chasing ourselves around the globe week after week after. That is not the strategy. But we can imagine a limited number of international races at the beginning of the calendar in February, then get to the States, North America, stay in North America.
“I would emphasis this is not about shortening the season, and we're not shunning North American opportunities for international ones. This is about lengthening the season, racing a full seven-month schedule, and perhaps having international races on a limited basis at the beginning of that schedule.”
Miles also indicated that a return to Road America in Elkhart Lakes, Wisconsin would be difficult for a variety of reasons including proximity to The Milwaukee Mile and a time of year where there is an opening on the schedule for the race to work. He did not mention the key element and that is Road America doesn’t want to pay the current INDYCAR sanctioning fee.
“We are actively engaged in looking for the best place we can be to finish the championship on the Labor Day weekend,” he said. “For us, the best place we can be ideally would be a major urban market in a time zone that helps us deliver the biggest possible television audience, in a place where we believe we can have a vibrant, successful race.
“If you run a count with me, there are 17, when we find that. That's probably not the right fit for Road America.
“I believe there are some February opportunities. I've talked about that already. We think our growth is to add two or three races in February, the beginning of March. I came from snowmobiling last weekend in northern Wisconsin. I'm not sure we want to race at Road America in February.”
Sage Karam gets a ride, at least for one race:
Sage Karam seen during the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 2014.
Talented American driver Sage Karam has been in line for the No. 8 ride at Chip Ganassi Racing but has been waiting on the team to get sponsorship lined up for a full-season effort. While that continues he will get his shot in the No. 8 Dallara/Chevrolet for the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Florida.
“I am very happy to be making this announcement about Sage,” team owner Chip Ganassi said. “If there ever was a kid that deserved an opportunity in this series it is Sage. He has done everything that we have asked him to do and has turned a lot of heads whether it is driving an Indy car, sports car or simply making appearances. Sage is a class act and we are happy to have him run in St. Petersburg as we continue to work on the rest of the season.”
Even though it’s only one race, Karam see it as the start of something bigger.
“I’m looking forward to getting in the series again -- let's get the series going,” he said. “I'm always in Florida, which is cool. But to be going there to be racing is a cool thing. We're still trying to get the deal 100 percent confirmed for the whole season. To know we'll be on the grid for the first race is a positive.”
Team Penske is a fearsome foursome:
Simon Pagenaud moves to Team Penske for 2015.
Consider that Team Penske has three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, 1999 CART champion, 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner, former Formula One and NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya and the defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion Will Power already in the lineup that’s a pretty potent trio.
Add Simon Pagenaud to the operation as a fourth driver and that’s a “Fearsome Foursome” of talent with each driver easily capable of winning the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series title.
“The whole series is so competitive,” said Power. “You just see that in the last two years, how many different race winners there were, how many different pole sitters there were.
“There's nothing worse in a series where the same people win over and over and over, there's no competition. That's what is cool about IndyCar. You can be 22nd one week, then you can be winning a race a next week. I think that keeps the fans interested. That's how a series should be.”
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Be sure to catch Bruce Martin's Verizon IndyCar Series Report on RACEDAY on FOX Sports Radio every Sunday from 6-8 a.m. ET.
