New Season Opening, Closing Races Highlight '09 IRL Schedule

IRL Cites Desire For Warm Weather Finale In Moving Homestead-Miami Speedway To Back Of Schedule

The '09 IRL IndyCar Series schedule will open April 5 with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and close October 11 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, "extending the season a month longer than the past two seasons," according to Nate Ryan of USA TODAY. The Homestead race had opened the IndyCar schedule since '02, but IRL Commercial Division President Terry Angstadt said that the series "wanted a warm-weather oval such as Homestead as its finale." The IRL will not return to Nashville Superspeedway or Surfers Paradise, Australia, next season, though Angstadt said "there's a possibility Australia, which will hold a non-points IndyCar race on Oct. 26, could be added in '09." Ryan notes other schedule changes include the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi moving to September after six straight seasons being run in April. The 18-race schedule does not contain races in more than four consecutive weeks, and the addition of the Toronto event brings "a nearly even balance of ovals (10) and street- or road-course races (eight)." Angstadt added that IndyCar "is aiming for a 20-race schedule, possibly by 2011" (USA TODAY, 7/30).

'09 IRL INDYCAR SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE	TRACK
April 5	Streets of St. Petersburg
April 19	Streets of Long Beach
April 26	Kansas Speedway
May 24	Indianapolis Motor Speedway
May 31	The Milwaukee Mile
June 6	Texas Motor Speedway
June 21	Iowa Speedway
June 27	Richmond Int'l Raceway
July 5	Watkins Glen Int'l.
July 12	Streets of Toronto
July 26	Edmonton City Centre Airport
August 1	Kentucky Speedway
August 9	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
August 23	Infineon Raceway
August 29	Chicagoland Speedway
September 6	The Raceway at Belle Isle Park
September 19	Twin Ring Motegi (Japan)
October 11	Homestead-Miami Speedway

LEAVING LAS VEGAS: ESPN.com's Terry Blount reported while IRL officials had last month indicated they were interested in ending the '09 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS), an "agreement couldn't be worked out." The IRL "wanted to use the 1.3-mile road course outside of Turn 1 in the LVMS parking lot" instead of the 1.5-mile oval. However, SMI officials "had no interest in using the road course for the IndyCar event and IRL officials didn't want to use the oval track." Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) President Eddie Gossage was "negotiating a five-race package for SMI," but IRL is using just three SMI tracks -- TMS, Infineon Raceway and Kentucky Speedway. Gossage: "They were not interested in New Hampshire [Motor Speedway] and only wanted to run the club-racing road course at Las Vegas instead of one of the most outstanding oval tracks in the country. We weren't prepared to accept that" (ESPN.com, 7/29).

IRL To Open '09 Season With Race In St. Petersburg

SOAK UP THE SUN: In St. Pete, Brant James reports the choice of St. Petersburg for the season opener "is a function not only of its amenable spring weather, but its profile within the IRL." Andretti Green Promotions VP & GM Tim Ramsberger, whose company promotes the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, said that "he looked forward to trying to keep the opener here long term." For the race, Ramsberger "envisions concerts and beer gardens at Progress Energy Park, which was vacated as a spring training home by the Rays." Meanwhile, the "difficulty of establishing a late-March toehold in the Miami area" prompted IRL to move the season-opener, but the league's "desire to end the season at a domestic destination that could host its year-end gala makes it a logical choice in October" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 7/30).

NAME GAME: Andretti Green Racing Chair Michael Andretti said the organization is "very close to getting something done for a title sponsor" of the Toronto event, adding he hopes to "announce something in a week or two." The GLOBE & MAIL's Jeff Pappone notes Toronto's inclusion on the schedule "became more likely" when AGR "bought the assets of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Toronto in May" (GLOBE & MAIL, 7/30).