IndyCar is planning a non-championship 600-mile race in Beijing this October, "some five weeks after the season finale" at Sonoma Raceway, according to David Malsher of MOTORSPORT.com. The event is scheduled for Oct. 22-23 "around a 2.56-mile street course in the city’s Fengtai District." The deal has been "put together by Asia Region Development, whose CEO Joe Chrnelich was behind" a cancelled IndyCar event in Qingdao four years ago. Beijing currently "hosts the season-opening Formula E race, but the proposed IndyCar layout does not use the same streets." Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles "insisted the event has not yet been confirmed, as it is contingent on a number of factors." While Miles said that one of those points was money "being paid to the series upfront, he also stated that the economic question wasn’t the only one that needed answering." Miles: "We cannot have anything left up in the air, or we won’t announce the race and we will not go. The deadline we’ve given is the first week in June. If we cannot confirm by then, it won’t be happening." Miles also said that he "does not envision Beijing moving up the schedule in future years and becoming a points race." He also confirmed that he would "not be seeking to make a Beijing race the season finale" in '17 and beyond (MOTORSPORT.com, 5/9).
