By Mike Knapp
Two of the most iconic acronyms in the country are NFL and IBM.
Of course, while they represent the National Football League and International Business Machines, they also have alternate meanings: NFL also stands for “Not For Long”, because of how things quickly change in the league, and IBM also means “I’ve Been Moved”.
Well, at least it was in the company I worked for in the early 1990s that used IBM equipment, and many of us were relocated at one time or another in our careers.
Those latter meanings also represent IndyCar’s announcement that the 2024 championship event, which was originally scheduled to be run downtown on a new, exciting, altered course, is now being moved to the Nashville Superspeedway.
Of course, the NFL is involved in that decision. (See how I’ve seamlessly woven the NFL all over this post?)
One reason is that the new construction of the Tennessee Titans’ stadium causes some logistical issues, and the other is that the NFL cannot guarantee the Titans will be on the road on what will be race weekend in September.
Whatever the reason, count me as one of the people excited for this move, as it marks the first time in 10 years that the series will decide its champion on an oval. Well, so long as no one goes Alex Palou on the field and has things wrapped up before then.
I’m a fan of Nashville — except for its interstate system…for the love of God, build a bypass(!) — and I am a fan of racing in Nashville, because it’s a great city for fans to spend a weekend.
That said, I’m not a fan of the race deciding the Astor Cup. The championship race shouldn’t be on a track that is hard to pass in a lot of places and involves a lot of broken cars and chaos.
I think an IndyCar championship should be settled on an oval — more on that in a second — but the alternative should only be a natural road course, where there is room to roam and backmarkers aren’t doing stupid things that affect the race.
Yeah, I know, there was a lot of stupidity at Laguna Seca last year, but in the end it didn’t affect the overall race, so I’m good with it.
Street racing has its place on the schedule. I’ve been to both St. Pete and Long Beach, and love them both, but for a championship race? Nope.
Plus, at its core, IndyCar is an oval series. I know that’s a little hard to see some years, but with the addition of this event, there will be seven oval races, six road courses, and four street courses.
That’s the kind of balance I like to see. What’s also going to be crazy about this year’s schedule is that the back end of it will be extremely oval-heavy, with six of the final eight races on the roundies.
I love it, especially because I plan on going to at least five of them.
But here’s the rub: while somehow oval races are wildly popular among IndyCar social media, they aren’t as much in real life. For some reason, going back to ovals is a much-loved idea, but somehow doesn’t result in ticket sales.
Nashville and IndyCar have a challenge on their hands, to promote and sell tickets to a championship race that will be difficult to sell tickets to.
The great thing about street races is that they are all in a downtown area, meaning that when cars aren’t on track, there are plenty of bars, restaurants, and entertainment that help the overall attendance at the race.
With Nashville, add in a lot of great, live music just blocks from the track, and it’s an event people can get excited about.
Now, we’re looking at a racetrack that is more than 30 miles from downtown that has traffic issues.
Not exactly ideal.
This is where I lose a little faith in the process. I think the on-track stuff will be awesome, and outside of last season’s Palou outlier, I predict we are going to see a true oval shootout for a championship, which would be made even more awesome if Josef Newgarden is involved.
Josef gunning for a championship in his hometown? Yes please!
But outside of the on-track product, will it have a championship-race feel? Will there be people in the stands, plenty of media hyping it up, and a big TV audience?
That’s the challenge, and I don’t know if the people involved are up to that task.
But you know what? I studied Communications in college and slept through most of my business classes, so I try not to get involved in the business side of the sport. That said, what have they shown, outside of massive amounts of sponsorship money, that they call pull this off?
That’s the challenge. Given the contracts involved and the length of time of the stadium build, this is the option for the next 2-3 years?
Is everyone up to it? Well, at least the drivers are, which will lead to one hell of a race.
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