2018 Calendars: Verizon IndyCar Series

2018 Verizon IndyCar Series

North America’s top open wheel single-seater series and the home of the Indianapolis 500.

Google/iCal Calendar links: ICAL -or- HTML

For more championships click here.

*As at 21 January 2018*

2018 Verizon IndyCar Series

Date	Race	Track	Location
11 Mar	Firestone Grand Prix of St Pete	Albert Whitted Airport	St Petersburg, Florida
7 Apr	Phoenix Grand Prix	ISM Raceway	Avondale, Arizona
15 Apr	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Long Beach	Long Beach, California
22 Apr	Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama	Barber Motorsports Park	Birmingham, Alabama
12 May	INDYCAR Grand Prix	Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Road)	Speedway, Indiana
19 May	Bump Day Qualifying	Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Oval)	Speedway, Indiana
20 May	Pole Day Qualifying	Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Oval)	Speedway, Indiana
27 May	102nd Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Oval)	Speedway, Indiana
2 Jun	Chevrolet Dual in Detroit 1	Belle Isle Park	Detroit, Michigan
3 Jun	Chevrolet Dual in Detroit 2	Belle Isle Park	Detroit, Michigan
9 Jun	Texas Indy 600	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas
24 Jun	KOHLER Grand Prix	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
8 Jul	Iowa Corn 300	Iowa Speedway	Newton, Iowa
15 Jul	Honda Indy Toronto	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
29 Jul	Honda Indy 200	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
19 Aug	ABC Supply 500	Pocono Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania
25 Aug	Bommarito Automotive Group 500	Gateway Motorsports Park	Madison, Illinois
2 Sep	Portland International Raceway	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
16 Sep	Grand Prix of Sonoma	Sonoma Raceway	Sonoma, California

What’s Changed?

In:

Radically different aerodynamic package compared to last year.
Portland makes a return for the first time since 2007.

Out:

Watkins Glen loses out.

The biggest change in the series is the new car. The Honda vs Chevy “aero kit” era is over. Everybody now runs a spec aero kit, just as they did when the DW12 was introduced, the difference now is the design is very different. Clean lines, less over-body downforce, more under-body downforce but generally much less downforce and drag in total.

The cars should be slipperier, faster in a straight line, with longer braking zones. This is exactly what I and others have been calling for in racing for years. I cannot wait to find out how they race – and whether or not we were wrong!

IndyCar in 2018 is going to be a series to watch, now more than ever.

In terms of race dates, there is one change of venue for the year,.Watkins Glen sadly disappears again – a crying shame for one of the best courses in the world let alone the US – but in return we have the reappearance of Portland International Raceway after a decade away.

And it has been 20 years (21 by the time we reach this year’s event) since the closest finish in CART Indycar history at the time, which was at Portland, with Mark Blundell and Gil de Ferran battling for the lead.

There is one other change. Phoenix moves three weeks earlier to become round 2, a week before Long Beach. Logistically this is more sensible – last year they had to go from California to Alabama to Arizona. It makes much more sense to stop in Arizona on the way to California.

If you are familiar with the chopped and changed schedules in IndyCar racing over the last 15 years you’ll know it has been quite an achievement to get date equity for consecutive years!

Support Series – Mazda Road To Indy

There are three series on the Mazda Road to Indy: