IndyCar expanding schedule by more than a month

IndyCar released its 2016 event schedule Tuesday, and it is more than a month longer than the past two seasons.

Next season will start and end in familiar places – opening in St. Petersburg, Fla., concluding at Sonoma Raceway in northern California – but the gap between those events will be 36 days longer, a response to criticism that IndyCar wasn't covering enough of the calendar.

This year, 16 events fit in 157 days, which equated to just over five months. Next year, the footprint for the same number of events will be 193 days.

The stretching was done by moving the St. Petersburg race forward two weeks and the Sonoma race back three weeks. In the case of St. Petersburg, Easter fell on the traditional date and the week prior to that was taken by the annual 12-hour sports car race at nearby Sebring International Raceway. Thus the adjustment.

There will a single race in March, three in April, two in May, four in June, three in July, one in August and two in September.

At first glance, the last part of the schedule looks light, but the fluctuation of the world calendar put the race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 31; it traditionally has been the first weekend of August.

August has just one race – a return to Pocono Raceway on Aug. 21 – but the combination of Mid-Ohio, Pocono and Boston gives IndyCar three events in a 50-day stretch. There's a race (Mid-Ohio), two weekends off, the Pocono race, a week off, the Boston race, a weekend off, then the finale at Sonoma.

IndyCar CEO Mark Miles said he "really likes" the pacing.

"I think our teams and fans will, too," he said.

A pair of popular venues – Phoenix International Raceway and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. – are set to return while three others – Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., the Milwaukee Mile and NOLA Motorsports Park outside of New Orleans – will not. IndyCar last raced at Phoenix in 2005, at Road America in '07.

Scheduled in between are, among others, the Indianapolis 500 and a new street race in Boston. They are as noteworthy for different reasons.

The 500 will be held for the 100th time, which is cause for celebration, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials are planning a big one. Details will be confirmed and then released once sponsorship is secured, Miles said.

In Boston, local organizers are trying to derail resistance from residents in the Seaport District along with concerns for the cost of preparing the circuit.

Miles said IndyCar continues to be interested in returning to Gateway Motorsports Park just east of St. Louis, but there won't be a race there next year. IndyCar's last appearance was in 2003. The same is true for a late-February race in Mexico City.

ABC will carry five races, NBCSN 11. ABC's list includes St. Petersburg, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis 500 and both races in Detroit. NBCSN will open its season in Phoenix and air the Long Beach, Barber, Texas, Road America, Iowa, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Pocono, Boston and Sonoma races, plus Carb Day at IMS.

The schedule, with TV air times (ET):

March 13: St. Petersburg, Fla. (street circuit), 12:30 p.m., ABC

April 2: Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz. (oval track), 8 p.m., NBCSN

April 17: Long Beach, Calif. (street circuit), 4 p.m., NBCSN

April 24: Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (road course), 3 p.m., NBCSN

May 14: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course), 3:30 p.m., ABC

May 29: Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (oval track), 11 a.m., ABC

June 4: Detroit, Mich. (street circuit), 3:30 p.m., ABC

June 5: Detroit, Mich. (street circuit), 3:30 p.m., ABC

June 11: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas (oval track), 8 p.m., NBCSN

June 26: Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (road course), 12:30 p.m., NBCSN

July 10: Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa (oval track), 5 p.m., NBCSN

July 17: Toronto, Ontario (street circuit), 3 p.m., Live on CNBC, replay on NBCSN

July 31: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio (road course), 2 p.m., Live on CNBC, replay on NBCSN

Aug. 21: Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pa. (oval track), 3 p.m., NBCSN

Sept. 4: Boston, Mass. (street circuit), 2 p.m., NBCSN

Sept. 18: Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, Calif. (road course), 7 p.m., NBCSN

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