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I'm not a huge fan on media reporting on media, but because Robin Miller the ex-newspaper-guy-turned-TV-analyst has become Robin Miller the brand -- you know, like Danica Patrick -- I thought I'd share some of his comments on the IndyCar schedule.

They come from the cable network Speed. Emphasis is mine and relates to the Wisconsin tracks.

Q: What’s behind IndyCar’s aggressive push towards 2013 scheduling?

Miller: It wasn’t (Randy Bernard’s) fault, but this year’s scheduling was kind of a disaster. They didn’t get the schedule out. It was so late and long after budgets were made. You’re trying to find enough solvent ovals to run on, and go to some places that promoters can actually make some money, or where they want the series back. Baltimore was a hang-up because you didn’t know if you were going to go back there. He didn’t want to put a schedule out with 12 races, so he really kind of had his hands tied. He’s bound and determined that for 2013, he’s going to have the schedule out a month before the last race. The way it’s looking, he may have some pretty tough decisions to make when he thinks about who makes it, and who doesn’t make it. I’m kind of dazzled by all the tracks that are interested right now.

Q: Any tracks in danger at this point?

Miller: I wouldn’t say danger so much. They told Mid-Ohio (Lexington, Ohio) and Sonoma (Infineon Raceway), ‘you need to make some changes to the race track, so we can keep coming back.’ Those tracks were built 60 years ago and are narrow with limited braking zones, and no real straightaways. They both assured IndyCar they would make the changes but if they don’t, then it could be Laguna Seca (Monterey, Calif.) and Portland. Laguna Seca is certainly interested in maybe having a doubleheader someday with ALMS (American Le Mans Series). Milwaukee is a one-year deal. Michael Andretti is trying to save Milwaukee and I think they are going about it the right way as ticket prices are really reasonable – and the people I talk to are responding. Michael’s going to have a good crowd at Milwaukee, and they want to try and keep that going. Fontana (Calif.) is a big question mark. They haven’t been to Fontana in over a decade, but the last time they were there, they had one or two grandstand sections open. It’s a challenge because you have to kind of weigh everything. Do they want us there? Do we want to go back there? Is it profitable for everybody? There are a lot of questions that have to be asked towards a track.

Q: What is Randy’s philosophy in building the schedule?

Miller: I think he started out in the job wanting to keep it balanced between ovals and road courses. Then I think he saw the reality was ovals are really a tough sell. Iowa (Speedway in Newton) by far, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, are pretty much capacity every year. People get there (Iowa) early and stay late. It’s probably the best oval besides Indy. Texas still drew pretty well through the years, as they still had 75,000 on many occasions. Last year it was down a little bit, but it was still a nice crowd. They had 60,000 people or so. You just have to ask if they are going to stay on 1.5-mile ovals built for NASCAR. I think the trend there is, if they can go back to Phoenix, and they can go back to Richmond (Va.), and you’ve got Iowa, Indy and Milwaukee. Maybe you can try Michigan again someday. I think Randy’s whole deal now is that they have to go where it’s viable for IndyCar. It has to work for both people, and you have to go where people want you. As hard as it is for old school people, like me, to only see five ovals out of 16 races, it’s the reality of what’s happening. NASCAR has pretty much taken over all the ovals, so Indy car is battling to keep a half-dozen of the good ones on the schedule.

What tracks or market places that haven’t been discussed would you like to see on the schedule?

Miller: They have to go back to Elkhart Lake (Wis.) (Road America). It’s the best road course in North America. They tried to do something with ALMS this year, but August is the only month, and it’s the month Indy Car is going to China. They just don’t really have any openings. The most important thing is that ALMS and IndyCar have the same audience. When they have a doubleheader, it works. It works at Long Beach, it works at Mid-Ohio. It’s a great crossover crowd. All the cities I mentioned in the story I just wrote for SPEED.com, those are the ones that are in play. If they can somehow pull off a Chicago street race, that would be huge. Let’s face it, the majority of IndyCar fans, are Midwestern fans. They always have been. I would love to see us go back to Cleveland. I think you could run Cleveland and Mid-Ohio together. They used to do it all the time and pack them both. But (race Chairman and CEO) Mike Lanigan, who’s promoting Houston and was the last promoter in Cleveland, said that he would love to go back to Cleveland, but not without a title sponsor. The first title sponsor he got was Shell, and they are going to Houston because that’s their headquarters.