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IndyCar
INDYCAR: 2011 Calendar Revealed
A return to a couple of old friends, a retro doubleheader in TX, and a farewell to ISC are some of the storylines of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar schedule.
Robin Miller  |  Posted September 08, 2010  
The return of Milwaukee is hardly a surprise, but it is a popular move, nonetheless. (LAT)
A return to a couple of old friends, a retro doubleheader at Texas, a farewell to International Speedway Corporation and an increased presence with Bruton Smith are the storylines of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar schedule.

The official schedule will be unveiled on Friday during a press conference in Milwaukee.

Of the 18 races at 17 tracks, it features nine ovals, nine street and road courses, one new venue and three places with some Indy car history.
The Milwaukee Mile, which began hosting Indy car races in 1933 and was a staple through 2009, is coming back after being off this year’s schedule.

“That’s the best news of all because Milwaukee is a driver’s track we all love and it’s got so much bleedin’ history,” said Dario Franchitti, who triumphed in the IRL’s first visit to the legendary mile in 2004.

“I know TK (Tony Kanaan), Dixie (Scott Dixon) and I were all hoping we’d get to go back to Milwaukee.”

Another short oval with some character, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, is returning following a 13-year absence. CART ran there from 1992-95 before IRL took over from 1996-98.

Emerson Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy and winner Nigel Mansell staged one of the classic oval-track duels at Loudon in ’93.

“People still come up to me and talk about that race,” said Tracy. “I just remember it was a helluva track with a lot of passing.”

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the other venue IndyCar hopes to revisit in 2011 but hasn’t been officially signed up yet. IRL ran at the 1.5-mile oval from 1996-2000 while Champ Car staged races in 2004 and 2005.

Loudon and Vegas are both owned by Smith, whose IndyCar resume already includes dates at Kentucky, Sonoma and Texas. Smith is now IndyCar’s largest partner – replacing ISC, whose races at Watkins Glen, Kansas City, Chicago and Homestead have been dropped.

Smith’s racing palace in Grapevine, Texas has signed up for a pair of 225 kilometer sprints on the same night. USAC staged popular doubleheaders at Mosport, Indianapolis Raceway Park, St. Jovite and Langhorne in the 1960s and at Michigan and Ontario in the ‘70s.

There is an outside chance that if Vegas cannot find a title sponsor, the season finale would be held at California Speedway in Fontana, which is an ISC track.

Milwaukee drew crowds of 50,000-plus in the ‘90s with CART before attendance lagged last decade as both IRL and Champ staged races for a couple years. Loudon also numbered 50,000 in CART’s final appearance in 1995 but only drew a few thousand in its three-year IRL run.

EXPECTED 2011 IZOD INDYCAR SCHEDULE

MARCH 27 – St. Pete (street circuit)
APRIL 10 – Birmingham, Ala. (road course)
APRIL 17 – Long Beach (street)
MAY 1 – Brazil (street)
MAY 29 – Indianapolis 500
JUNE 12 – Texas doubleheader (oval)
JUNE 19 – Milwaukee (oval)
JUNE 26 – Iowa (oval)
JULY 10 – Toronto (street)
JULY 24 – Edmonton (road course)
AUG. 7 – Mid-Ohio (road course)
AUG. 14 – Loudon (oval)
AUG. 28 – Sonoma (road course)
SEPT. 4 – Baltimore (street)
SEPT. 18 – Motegi, Japan (oval)
OCT. 2 – Kentucky (oval)
OCT. 16 – Las Vegas (oval)







Click here for more 2012 IndyCar chassis and engine news.


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