IndyCar discussed changing its championship format similar to NASCAR
IndyCar discussed changing its championship format similar to NASCAR
The NTT IndyCar Series is nearing the start of its 2025 season, and the sport has never been in a better spot. FOX Sports will begin its deal as the sole provider of IndyCar coverage this year and has done an incredible job marketing the upcoming season. However, the new TV deal with FOX Sports reportedly wasn't the only significant change mulled for 2025.
According to IndyStar's Nathan Brown, IndyCar discussed changing its championship format to a similar system used in NASCAR. Scott Borchetta, the former promoter of IndyCar's season finale at Nashville Superspeedway, approached the sport about the idea to ensure the championship was decided in the last event.
IndyCar discussed the idea of a smaller playoff system similar to NASCAR, but Penske Entertainment and its stakeholders determined that change was unnecessary. Brown noted that none of the format changes were given more than an exploratory look. For now, IndyCar will continue with its current full-season format, which has worked for several years with excellent returns.
More: Jimmie Johnson, Tom Brady linked to shocking entry for 2025 Indy 500
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
17 minutes ago
- Associated Press
AUTO RACING: Denny Hamlin earns 57th career win in Michigan and NASCAR heads to Mexico
All Times Eastern NASCAR CUP SERIES Viva Mexico 250 Site: Mexico City. Track: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Race distance: 100 laps, 241 miles. Schedule: Friday, practice, 1:05 p.m., practice, 3 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, noon; Sunday, race, 3 p.m. (Prime Video and MAX). Last year: Inaugural race. Last race: After passing Byron with three to go, Denny Hamlin earned his third series victory alongside his 57th career win in Michigan. Next race: June 22, Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Online: NASCAR XFINITY SERIES The Chilango 150 Site: Mexico City. Track: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Race distance: 65 laps, 157.3 miles. Schedule: Friday, practice, 2:05 p.m., practice, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 10:30 a.m., race, 4:30 p.m. (CW). Last year: The previous race, which was held in 2008 and named the Corona Mexico 200, saw Kyle Busch earn the victory after passing Scott Pruett with 7 laps to go. Last race: Justin Allgaier took the his third series win of the season in Nashville while holding off a late surge from rookie teammate Connor Zilisch. Next race: June 21, Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Online: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES Last race: Stewart Friesen held off Enfinger late to secure the victory in Michigan, breaking a 72-race losing streak and grabbing his first win since 2022. Next race: June 20, Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Online: FORMULA ONE Pirelli Grand Prix du Canada Site: Montreal. Track: Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Race distance: 70 laps, 189.6 miles. Schedule: Friday, practice, 1:25 p.m., practice, 4:55 p.m.; Saturday, practice, 12:25 p.m., qualifying, 3:55 p.m.; Sunday, race, 2 p.m. (ABC). Last year: Verstappen secured his 60th career win, taking the lead after a restart in a thrilling race that saw rain showers and a string of safety car appearances. Last race: Oscar Piastri secured the victory and held off teammate Lando Norris in Spain to take back momentum after Norris's previous win at Monaco. Next race: June 29, Spielberg, Austria. Online: INDYCAR Bommarito Automotive Grand Prix Site: Madison, Illinois. Track: Worldwide Technology Raceway. Race distance: 260 laps, 310.6 miles. Schedule: Saturday, practice, 11:30 a.m., qualifying, 3 p.m. high line & final practice, 5:30 p.m.; Sunday, race, 8 p.m. (FOX). Last year: Josef Newgarden took his fifth win out of nine visits to the Madison track, holding off teammate McLaughlin after a late restart with six laps to go. Last race: Kyle Kirkwood surged ahead on a late restart in Detroit to take his second win of the season. Next race: June 22, Elkhart, Wisconsin. Online: NHRA DRAG RACING Next race: June 22, North Dinwiddie, Virginia. Online: WORLD OF OUTLAWS Premier Chevy Dealers Clash - Night 1 Site: Knoxville, Iowa. Track: Knoxville Raceway. Premier Chevy Dealers Clash - Night 2 Site: Knoxville, Iowa. Track: Knoxville Raceway. Next events: June 18-23, Brandon, South Dakota, Pevely, Missouri, Independence, Iowa. Online: _____ AP auto racing:
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Mexican driver Daniel Suarez has all the pressure heading to home race
NASCAR Cup Series Mexican driver Daniel Suarez has all the pressure heading to home race Published Jun. 10, 2025 11:20 a.m. ET share facebook x reddit link Racing in his home country alone would put pressure on Daniel Suarez. Daniel Suárez waves to the crowd during introductions prior to the running of the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 Entering the NASCAR Cup Series debut in Mexico City sitting 28th in the standings and without a contract for next season just adds to the pressure the Trackhouse driver will face Sunday at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. "It's not the first time that I've been in this position. Definitely the first time with the Mexico race, but it's not the first time that I've been in the position that we have to win or in the position that we have a contract negotiation in the middle [of the season]," Suarez said. "It's definitely a distraction. I won't sit here and tell you that it doesn't really matter. I'm trying to be as smart as possible and to put all this stuff on the side and just do my thing on the track." ADVERTISEMENT The 33-year-old Suarez, who grew up in Monterrey, is the only Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race. He has won two Cup races, three Xfinity races and one truck race. He is the only foreign-born driver to win a NASCAR national series title, which was the Xfinity Series in 2016. Daniel Suarez walks onstage wearing a Lucha Libre mask during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway The Xfinity Series raced at the Mexico City track but with a different layout from 2005 through 2008. But this will mark the first Cup race in Mexico City and the first Cup points race outside the United States since 1958 when the Cup Series raced in Toronto. Cup held exhibition races in Japan from 1996 through 1998. The Mexican fans obviously have someone to root for in Suarez, who has been to Mexico six times in the last year to promote the race. He went to a premiere of the NASCAR series on Netflix there, and fans who had been following him since he drove in the NASCAR Mexico Series from 2010 through 2014 showed up. Suarez believes those who followed him 15 years ago and those who just will see there is a Mexican driver competing will cheer for him. "There are going to be the new fans, the fans that don't really know me and they just love racing and they know that there is a Mexican driver. They're going to be there with me and there is going to be these fans that they've been supporting me in all my journey," Suarez said. For those who have followed Suarez's career, they have seen him go through the ups and downs of driving for four different Cup teams. He has been at Trackhouse Racing since 2021 and signed a one-year extension last year. The year so far has been disappointing for Suarez, who won the second race of the year in 2024 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. His average finish of 21st is three spots worse than last year. He has averaged 10 top-10 finishes a year the last three years but is on pace for seven this year with three in the first 15 races. Suarez is determined not to let those struggles or wondering where he will race next year ruin the Mexico race experience. "The Mexico race is something that I've been hoping and waiting on for many, many years, and I'm not going to let anything else from outside take that week and that moment from myself," Suarez said. "We have to just continue to put one foot in front of the other and continue to move forward. I think that in Trackhouse, we have found some decent speed in the last few weeks, so that's promising, and hopefully we can continue to move in that direction." In his ninth full-time Cup season, Suarez has 302 career Cup starts, and if he doesn't ink a new deal with Trackhouse, there could be few opportunities for a comparable organization. A win can change everything, and road course races typically are ones where Suarez has shown strength. His first Cup victory came at the road course in Sonoma, and the next five Cup races include road-course races at Mexico City, Sonoma and the Chicago street course. "We just have to execute," Suarez said. "We have to do the little things right, and I believe that we're capable of doing that. ... We win next week, and all these conversations are going to be out of the window." Suarez said he plans to arrive in Mexico on Tuesday, June 10. Then, he'll do many of his public appearances over the next three days. Once cars hit the track on Friday, he needs to focus on trying to do all the little things right. "There is going to be more on my plate [in Mexico] and I have to accept that," Suarez said. "With that being said, I have to protect my space for the competition stuff because if we don't do the competition stuff, everything else, it doesn't really matter. "We have to put a balance on everything. ... [So by] Friday, I can try to focus as much as possible only on racing. I'm going to have still a few things here and there, but for the most part, it is going to be racing." Suarez will have Mexican communication company Telcel on his car. "For many years, I never had a sponsor deal with a company from Mexico because I wasn't racing there," Suarez said. "So right now that we're going to be having an event down there, it opens a whole new world of opportunities and that's great, not just … obviously for me, but for the entire sport." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. share
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing charter in jeopardy after court ruling
A United States appeals court on Thursday vacated a preliminary injunction that allowed Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing and another NASCAR team to be treated as chartered teams, putting the teams' futures in NASCAR in question. 23XI Racing -- whose owners include Jordan and NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin -- and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign a take-it-or-leave-it charter agreement NASCAR presented in September, while the other 13 organizations in the Cup Series proceeded to sign. The two holdouts filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR the following month. In December, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell granted the teams' request for a preliminary injunction to be recognized as chartered teams while their lawsuit was active. NASCAR slammed that decision and brought an appeal to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. On Thursday, a three-judge panel unanimously ruled in NASCAR's favor and vacated the preliminary injunction. "In short, because we have found no support for the proposition that a business entity or person violates the antitrust laws by requiring a prospective participant to give a release for past conduct as a condition for doing business, we cannot conclude that the plaintiffs made a clear showing that they were likely to succeed on the merits of that theory," the decision read in part. "And without satisfaction of the likelihood-of-success element, the plaintiffs were not entitled to a preliminary injunction. ... We therefore conclude that the district court abused its discretion in entering the preliminary injunction that it did." 23XI Racing and Front Row are still allowed to compete in the Cup Series, but having charter status guarantees them automatic spots in races and they would earn more money with a charter than as "open" teams. An open team must qualify their way into each race. They can also file for a petition for rehearing. --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
