Walker, Texas Director: Changes coming to the IndyCar schedule?

Derrick Walker stopped by the media center at Texas Motor Speedway, and here were some bits and pieces from the conversation he had with some members of the media.

1.) The Verizon IndyCar Series is looking at going to the Middle East in February of next year, with Brazil happening in March. That would mean expanding the schedule to 20 races.

Expanding the schedule to 20 races, in my opinion, is a good thing. The Middle East, however, I’ve got mixed feelings about since the series might be opening up away from the U.S. and that wouldn’t be a smart move. That being said, if the series gets a nice sanctioning fee and can get some money to the teams, then it’s worth their while.

2.) The Houston race was originally intended to be a night race, that’s why it was put in June.

This would make sense, but the promoter alleged that it would cost 20-30 thousand dollars to put lights up around the track. To me, Houston should’ve been a night race from the beginning, and the gamble would most likely have paid off, considering that the crowd more than likely would be bigger since the temperatures would have been cooler at night.

3.) The series is open to going back to Michigan and Phoenix.

Walker basically said that it was up to promoters, but the series is open to going to Phoenix and Michigan. It would be awesome if the series found a way to go back to both venues, and even better if they got a deal for a ticket that allowed spectators to go to Detroit and to MIS.

4.) There was no discussion about a California Cup.

Since the series has three races in California, and each race features the VICS’s three disciplines with road courses, street circuits and ovals, it would make sense to have a promotion where the driver who scored the most points in the three races would get a nice chunk of change.

Wrong. No one ever thought of such a promotion. Someone should get on that, and there’s no shortage of companies in California that they can look to for promotion.

5.) The series has had an exploratory meeting with Nashville Superspeedway.

I like the idea of going back to Nashville, considering that it’s an odd length of 1.333 miles and it’s not exactly a cookie-cutter track. It would provide more of an intermediate layout between Fontana and Iowa.