Penske said he chose the Aug. 23 date because it gives IndyCar plenty of time to prepareGETTY IMAGES
IndyCar and IMS Owner ROGER PENSKE still "works 12 or more hours a day from his conference room" at his office in Michigan, as he guides the series and track through this "constant flux because of the COVID-19 crisis," according to Jenna Fryer of the AP. Penske, who last Thursday announced the postponement of the Indianapolis 500 to Aug. 23, said he "took the road that gave us the longest distance, five months." He added, "If this thing isn’t over in five months, we've got bigger problems." Penske insisted that his commitment "remains steadfast to the speedway and the IndyCar Series as the world waits for the pandemic to end." On why he chose last Thursday to make the announcement, he said, "If we wait all the way until May to make these decisions, and you make a last-minute decision, now you don't have a television partner." Meanwhile, Penske has put a team of officials "in charge of exploring laws in each state to build a clearinghouse so teams from any series can determine what, if anything, they are eligible for" under the government coronavirus response bill. He also said that full-time IndyCar teams will be "paid as scheduled from the series’ bonus programs." IndyCar had "hoped to open its season with the road course race at Indianapolis on May 9, but that event has been moved to July 4, mere hours after NASCAR’s debut with the Xfinity Series on the same circuit." Penske said he hopes IndyCar can "do something really special" with NASCAR (AP, 3/28).
