Curt Cavin

IndyCar announced Thursday that Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway will host the final race of next season, but don't get too attached to it as a championship-deciding location. The trophy likely will be handed out on the other side of the country in 2016.

IndyCar CEO Mark Miles acknowledged to The Star that officials in Boston are eager to get their arms around a Labor Day weekend event for next year and the years to come.

"They think it will be perfect for them," Miles said on an afternoon conference call with reporters. "We're very, very bullish about being back with the finale in a great market on Labor Day weekend for 2016."

IndyCar chose Sonoma as next year's finale because the track north of San Francisco has date equity -- it has hosted IndyCar annually in that basic time slot since 2005 -- and the wine country around it is attractive for entertaining partners current and future.

Plus, there weren't a lot of other options. Milwaukee wanted a midsummer weekend -- it will have July 12 -- and assorted other oval tracks aren't interested. Auto Club Speedway, a 2-mile oval located in Fontana, Calif., has hosted IndyCar's finale the past three years, but it's moving to June 27 to avoid the summer heat because Miles insists on ending IndyCar's season before footballs start flying.

Being at Sonoma also will help IndyCar with its television ratings as an afternoon race there will translate to a reasonable air time on the East Coast. The past two Auto Club races ended well past midnight in the eastern half of the country, including Indianapolis.

The schedule IndyCar announced Thursday includes 17 races running from the March 8 opener in Brasilia, Brazil -- that's a new event – to Sonoma. There will be six oval tracks and six permanent road courses – Indianapolis Motor Speedway will have one of each in May – and four street circuits. There will be just one doubleheader, May 30-31 in Detroit.

The new Brazil race is the lone foreign event. Miles had hoped to have a February race in the Middle East, but a deal could not be reached. He said three countries – two outside the Middle East – are interested in a 2016 event.

NOLA Motorsports Park (April 12) is also new for IndyCar and like the Brazil track there are questions about the readiness of the facility. Both are undergoing makeovers.

The race at the Milwaukee Mile will move from mid-August, giving it three different times in the summer in as many years. Pocono (Pa.) Raceway faces the same situation, with next year's race Aug. 23.

Miles also announced that IndyCar's new bodywork kits will be on display for the first time March 16-17 at an open test at Barber Motorsports Park. The season will begin March 8 with the current car configurations.

Five of next year's races, plus Indianapolis 500 qualifying will be on ABC; the other 12 projected for NBCSN, although the Aug. 2 race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course could move to CNBC due to a conflict with NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono.

The road race at IMS will be May 9, the Indianapolis 500 on May 24.

Follow Curt Cavin on Twitter: @curtcavin