IndyCar has officially cancelled the races at Portland and Laguna Seca as they have added a second race at Mid-Ohio, Gateway and IMS.
For some time, it had seemed that the races remaining on the 2020 IndyCar calendar were safe from nixing. However, it recently became apparent that the schedule would likely undergo yet more drastic changes, beginning with the cancellation of first of three races planned on the westerly seaboard of the USA.
Portland was scheduled to kick off the races on the West Coast, running a race on the September 13. However, it cannot be run this year due – in part – to COVID-19 regulations imposed by local government, though the inability to welcome fans may have soured any chance of the race being run.
To keep the number of races equivalent, though, to what it was prior to Portland’s cancellation, IndyCar will be adding on another race to the upcoming Mid-Ohio weekend, which will now see Grand Prix’s run on both August 8 and 9.
This addition will be welcomed by fans given Mid-Ohio’s history of delivering an exceptional racing product, and spectators will be permitted to view the race from within the premises, albeit in limited numbers as it was the case in Road America.
Other changes to the schedule include the conversion of the race at WWTR (Gateway) to a double-header weekend with races on August 29 and 30 – a move made in response to the cancellation of the Laguna Seca double-header event.
Additionally, IndyCar has also made the road course event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a double-header weekend, with races on October 2 (Friday) and 3 (Saturday) as the 2020 season is still scheduled to close at St. Pete on October 25.
“Our race fans have loved the exciting doubleheader action of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES this year at Road America and Iowa Speedway,” said Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO Mark Miles. “We look forward to giving them even more world-class entertainment this season at three of the most exciting racetracks on the calendar.”
The statements and event details from Mid-Ohio, Gateway and IMS is here: https://www.indycar.com/2020/scheduleupdates
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