2016 IndyCar schedule: 5 ovals, 5 street circuits and 5 road courses
2016 Verizon IndyCar Series calendar was revealed today, with 16 races on 15 tracks and the most diverse schedule so far. The new schedule features five ovals, five street circuits and five road courses, of which three events are new compared to this year – Phoenix Raceway, Road America and the streets of Boston. 2016 season will be five weeks longer than 2015 season. The part of the championship will be also 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.
The schedule opens March 13 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, where the Verizon IndyCar Series season has debuted in each of the past five seasons. The battle for the Astor Cup – the trophy presented annually to the series champion – concludes September 18 at Sonoma Raceway, where the season came to a thrilling conclusion this year as Scott Dixon won the race to capture the championship on a tiebreaker.
“The 2016 season is defined by the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500. The historic significance of our season is marked by this legendary event and the return of several storied venues such as Road America and Phoenix. Half the venues on our schedule have hosted 25 or more IndyCar races and further our rich heritage as the premier form of open-wheel racing in the United States,” said Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman &Company, the parent of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix is only doubleheader event in 2016 calendar, so we will have six races on street circuits and five each on road courses and ovals. Such a diverse schedule is a big challenge to drivers, teams and manufacturers Chevrolet and Honda, in a fact that diversity marked IndyCar Series as one of the most demanding racing series in the world.
