Hello ladies and gentlemen, it's been a couple of months and 2017 may have snuck up on a few of us...OK, me at least. But, the season looms ahead of us with this year's Monster Showdown to kick it off, so with that please allow me to run through the 2017 Straight Talk IndyCar Series Calendar...as of now, anything is subject to change.
As mentioned, we started with the Monster Showdown and the Shootout. I missed the deadline on those, my profuse apologiese. Testing at Sebring will be next for teams, then on to the season opener.
Round 1 begins point racing for 2017, and takes place this year at the Calder Park Thunderdome, a 1.12 mile quad-oval similar in shape to Charlotte Motor Speedway located outside of Melbourne, Australia, so at least the Aussies retained the opener even if they had to change everything else.
Round 2 was going to be at Mike Pero Motorsports Park, aka Ruapuna, however the Kiwi government pulled support and an alternative had to be found. In turn, the series moves north to the Phillipines to Clark International Speedway. The relatively new circuit is 2.6 miles long, has 18 turns, and already host a number of local events along with FIA Formula 4, so while STICS won't be the venue's first international competition, it will be it's first top-tier event.
Round 3 will se us go to China, specifically Shanghai International Circuit, and due to issues behind the scenes it's now the final STICS event in the Asia-Pacific region. Famous for it's regular inclusion on the F1 calendar, it also has one of the longest straigtaways in racing. The track totals 3.387 miles with two long straightaways and 16 turns, with the straight from turn 13 to turn 14 being 1170 meters (0.727 miles) long by itself. F1 cars go over 180 mph regularly here, it'll be interesting to see how fast an IndyCar can go in relation.
Round 4 sees the series return to US shores, and it's almost a direct flight. From China to Cali, Fontana to be exact, as Auto Club Speedway host it's first of two races in 2017. Auto Club is the IndyCar equivalent of Talladega and NASCAR, possibly even better, and may be a great opportunity to get the fans hyped for the remaining season and championship run.
Race 5 is the one almost everyone, including fans, have circled. STICS returns to the Homestead-Miami Speedway for what we imagine will be an insane race full of speed, passing, and all 33 drivers packed within a second of each other. Racing on the 1.5 mile oval has gotten better with time, and hopefully will continue to do so...I probably should have more to say here, but words can't reflect the expected action.
Race 6 delivers almost the opposite experience. Mid-Ohio didn't get much love in 2016 being one of the least eventful races of the year, but they also didn't botch the race, so as of now they retain a calendar spot. Who knows, maybe this year will be better, one can only hope and be optimistic.
Race 7 is being held at Kentucky Speedway, and it held a race last year. It's also a 1.5 mile track, this one's an irregular D-oval...That's all I've got. I recall more "discussion" about last year's race sponsor than I do details about the race itself...wait, what's this? It looks like it's been designated as a "Crown Jewel" event, so it can't be that bad of a race. Also, in memory of GTPlanet member "Foolkiller" Steve Travis, the American Heart Association has taken over race sponsorship of this 600.
Race 8...IndyCar comes home, and it's gonna be one hell of a homecoming. Anticipated speeds are up from last season, more people will be trying to make it on bump day, then...then there's exorcizing *THAT* demon. Returning to Indy comes with knowing what happened last year, and trying to avoid it happening again. The 500 also becomes a 'Crown Jewel' and is the second of the double points races this season.
Race 9 is the Firestone 600K at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 1.5 mile quad-oval, the model for many tracks over the years, including Calder Park Thunderdome after some reading, it has a kick on the exit of turn 4 that has given drivers hell for years, and I imagine will be a point of discussion when we arrive as well.
Race 10 begins the Candian swing and is hosted by the legendary Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Still a destination when F1 arrives, STICS makes an appearance this year to take on the Wall of Champions and add it's own chapter to the tracks history.
Races 11 and 12...No, not a typo. VRR is attempting the double-header again. It was on the books in 2016 in Cleveland, then they handed it over to Belle Isle, and finally it was split between Belle Isle and Michigan International Speedway. This year, the attempt has been granted to the Streets of Toronto, the 1.755 mile street circuit at Exhibition Place. The 11 turn course looks simple enough, but that mentality has caught out many drivers over the years. I expect at least an interesting race...excuse me, set of races. It'll also be interesting to see how VRR manages the event.
Round 13 sees a return to the US and Watkins Glen. A track that usually provides a great race no matter what's being raced. 3.4 miles and 11 turns of fast yet technical asphalt in the forest of upstate New York. This would have been The Glen's first appearance had it not been for both Laguna Seca having to give up the road course finale, then Sonoma threw a fit because it wasn't the season finale. It worked out, Watkins Glen stepped in and the race went on to be a game changer for some.
Halfway now. Take a breath...and let's go again.
Round 14 will take place at a short-notice location in the midwest, this time in the form of Kansas Speedway. Yes, another 1.5 mile oval but how many times must it be said just because they look similar doesn't mean they are, and even though it's usually associated with Chicagoland directly and Vegas by it's layout, it is it's own beast and not one that you should let your guard down against.
Round 15 is a return to Michigan International Speedway, the sister track to Auto Club. It's wide, it's fast, it's a 2 mile D-oval, and it's proven to be incredibly chaotic going back to testing before STICS even got going properly. This is the third 'Crown Jewel' race, so expect teams to push for the win.
Round 16 sees the series head back to the east coast to Dover, the concrete 'Monster Mile'. High banks and high speed, and a reasonably high chance someone's gonna make a mistake and go careening up the banking. That's just what happens, that and someone at least flirting with the wall at pit entry.
Round 17 takes us into the mountains to Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Pocono Raceway returns to the calendar, 2.5 miles in lenght, 3 turns, fast, plenty of room to move around, and a lot more technical than you'd think a massive triangle would be. It's also the fourth of five 'Crown Jewel' races, so we may se more chaos than normal races just due to teams taking risks to win it.
Round 18 see's a track promoted to the regular season. Bristol Motor Speedway lost the Shootout, but picked up a points race in it's stead. "The World's Fastest Half-Mile" is the line commonly used to promote the bull ring, but unless someone figured it out don't expect an excess of passing to go with that speed. Should be a solid race though.
Round 19 goes back into the midwest, fields almost everywhere. Iowa Speedway is the stop, 0.875 miles of D-oval designed to be similar to Richmond International. This race is the last US oval for about a month, and that's all I know really.
Round 20 leads us up north again, this time to Road America. 4.05 miles long, 14 turns, and generally a good track for racing, it returns from 2016 and is the last race before the series takes a short break.
Can you tell I'm running out of steam yet? There's an off week here for a closed test at Fontana then the series moves across the Atlantic for a short European swing.
Round 21 starts the Euro trip, and we land in France. Magny-Cours to be exact. One of F1's former tracks, it was as-of-writing the last host of the French GP. 2.741 miles, 17 turns, and the record is held by Michael Schumacher. I've been told this is an underrated venue for racing, and considering I didn't know what it was until...now really, I'd say so. Now it's a question of "Is it any good?" though VRR doesn't enlist tracks that aren't so that's a favorable start.
Round 22 sees us arrive in Germany, at EuroSpeedway Lausitz. This was by the race reports one of the closest races of 2016, though no footage has yet been released for it so we'll take VRRs word. It is a tri-oval, like Pocono is, but unlike Pocono it's shorter, 2.023 miles, and the turns are longer and look to be a bit more open as well.
Round 23 is another returning venue as we move to Brno, Czech Republi and the Masaryk circuit. 2016's race here didn't have a lot of passing, but the racing regardless was pretty good. There was also the drama of drivers slipping off track in various places, hopefully they'll know where those track limits are this year.
Round 24 is our first trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Sarajevo International Circuit, and that's all I know about it proper. Calender wise, this is the last road course of the season and our last stop in Europe.
Round 25 brings us back to the US for the final stretch, the penultimate round being at Phoenix International Raceway. The 1 mile D-oval usually produces good racing, though the dogleg on the backstretch has a habit of throwing a wrench in the works. This will still be an important race, but in the end it's better to think of it as a cleanser for the World Championships.
Round 26. The World Championships at Fontana. This is it for the STICS season, and if you thought the rest of the season was mad enough, you must not have seen last year's race. It made NASCAR at Talladega look relatively tame, and with the tweaks VRR is making for 2017, this year's edition could be a heart-stopper.
So there you have it, the 2017 Straight Talk IndyCar Series Calendar rundown...HOPEFULLY done and dusted before the season begins in earnest because that'd make this look unprofessional and...what's that?...What's it matter, we aren't paid for this? Ed! Get back here!
