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Preview to 2015 IndyCar Season: The Races

Photo Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar


The start of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar season was delayed three weeks due to the cancellation of the opening round in Brazil. Having planned to run the feature race on March 8th at Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet, the round was withdrawn by promoters. Reportedly, government funding to the race was pulled resulting the IndyCar season having to wait until March 29th's race in St. Petersburg to open the 2015 series.

With 16 points-paying races including 'the month of May' festivities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series tour consists of ten road courses and six ovals.

Big Easy Debut

One new race venue added to the 2015 Verizon IndyCar tour is the series' first-ever stop in the state of Louisiana. To be held on a 13-turn, 2.74-mile course at NOLA Motorsports Park, the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana is taking place at facility opened just four years ago. Located in Avondale, the race track is only 20 minutes away from downtown New Orleans. NOLA Motorsports Park has previously hosted the AMA Pro Superbike Championship and the Cooper Tires Winterfest for USF2000 cars.

Big Moves

A change that will likely lead to some discourse with fans of IndyCar, the Fontana race is not going to be the final race in the season. The high-speed 500-mile event at the two-mile Auto Club Speedway has been moved to June 27th. The series will still end in California though with Sonoma Raceway hosting the 2015 IndyCar finale.

The Pocono Raceway event is the second-to-last race in the season on August 23rd after being held in early July in the two previous years. While Pocono Raceway's date has been moved deeper into the season, the race date for the Honda Indy Toronto has been pressed forward to June 14th. Having been held in July since its inception in 1986, the city street course event has been moved to accommodate the Pan-Am games that will be held in Toronto during July.

Double Dropping of Double Race Format 


One major change coming in 2015 is the massive regression of the double-race weekend. The experiment has been dropped for the Toronto IndyCar event. The Houston race in Reliant Park was also a double-race for 2014 but the venue has been dropped completely from the 2015 calendar after two years.

The only remaining event to function with a double race formula for 2015 will be the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit on the Belle Isle circuit.


2015 IndyCar Series Schedule

Date                Event                                               Location                    Track Length/Layout 

March 29
Streets of St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg, FL
1.8-mile street course
 
April 12
NOLA Motorsports Park
Avondale, LA
2.74-mile road course
 
April 19
Streets of Long Beach
Long Beach, CA
1.968-mile street course
April 26
Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, AL
2.38-mile road course
 
May 9
Grand Prix of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN
2.4346-mile road course
 
May 16-17
Indianapolis 500 Qualifying
Indianapolis, IN        
2.5-mile oval
 
May 22
Carb Day
Indianapolis, IN
2.5-mile oval
 
May 24
Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis, IN        
2.5-mile oval
 
May 30
Raceway at Belle Isle Park
Detroit, MI
2.35-mile street course
 
May 31
Raceway at Belle Isle Park
Detroit, MI
2.35-mile street course
 
June 6
Texas Motor Speedway
Fort Worth, TX
1.5-mile oval
 
June 14
Streets of Toronto
Toronto, Canada
1.75-mile street course
 
June 27
Auto Club Speedway
Fontana, CA
2-mile oval
 
July 12
The Milwaukee Mile
Milwaukee, WI
1-mile oval
 
July 18
Iowa Speedway
Newton, IA
.875-mile oval
 
Aug. 2
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, OH
2.258-mile road course
 
Aug. 23
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, PA
2.5-mile oval
 
Aug. 30
Sonoma Raceway
Sonoma, CA
2.385-mile road course
 

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