Indianapolis Motor Speedway gearing up for Brickyard Weekend
SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) — Friday marks the start of Brickyard Weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The stars of the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NTT IndyCar Series will take over the IMS road course for three days of racing action, including an IndyCar and NASCAR doubleheader on Saturday.
Doug Boles, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, says the weekend is important for NASCAR and IndyCar.
“This is a really important event for both IndyCar and NASCAR when we get to run them together, same weekend, same racetrack. It happens nowhere else but here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”
Boles says logistics for the weekend present a bit of a challenge.
“Especially when you run the road course, you take a significant portion of the racetrack inside out of play, and when you bring 100-plus race car drivers in here with their motorhomes and transporters and the race cars, it fills up the infield pretty quick. That’s the biggest challenge for the teams, just logistically getting everybody in here ready to go in their garages and then thinking through the timing.”
IndyCar is coming to Indianapolis with a bit of extra media attention because of a contract dispute between Chip Ganassi Racing and defending series champion, Alex Palou.
The ongoing spat is likely creating some excitement in the paddock and, Boles hopes, for ticketholders.
“I can understand why IndyCar doesn’t like to see that kind of stuff. As a promoter who wants to sell tickets…I love the fact that there’s a reason in the paddock for you to love or hate a driver or a team because that’s why you buy tickets. You buy tickets to root for or against somebody. So, the promoter in me says, ‘bring it on.’”
Boles encourages fans to plan ahead and give themselves plenty of time to get into the track.
“We’ll have 45 or 50,000 people here, almost like a small NFL game, that’ll be here Saturday, and a little more than that on Sunday,” Boles said. “So bring the family out and have a great weekend.”
Brickyard Weekend events
Friday
- IndyCar: Practice & Qualifying
- NASCAR Xfinity Series: Practice
Saturday
- IndyCar: Gallagher Grand Prix
- NASCAR Xfinity Series: Qualifying
- NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard
- NASCAR Cup Series: Practice
Sunday
- NASCAR Cup Series: Verizon 200 at the Brickyard
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the IMS website.