Bankrupt races: More evidence Indy Car needs to be sold

IndyCar put on the greatest race in the history of motorsports in Fontana in June, but only 4,000 showed up to see it. Fontana is now on the long list of failed IndyCar races

Welcome to IndyCar inconsistency.

Actually, it's welcome back. This isn't a new phenomenon.

With Friday's confirmation that Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., will not host an IndyCar race in 2016, IndyCar reaffirmed its position as America's most consistent schedule revamper.

Already, the St. Petersburg, Fla., race has been moved up two weeks (to March 13), and the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wis., will be added (that race will be June 26).

A promoter for a possible return to the Milwaukee Mile hasn't been identified. A decision on Pocono (Pa.) Raceway's future won't be made until after next week's race. NOLA Motorsports Park is almost certain to be out after only one year due to financial issues.

And then there's talks with Phoenix International Raceway. Maybe a return to that great facility happens maybe it doesn't. That's par for IndyCar's course.

Fluidity has been the norm for a couple decades now, but the sport was expected to settle down after unification with Champ Car in 2008. It hasn't. Only seven venues have had a spot in all eight seasons.

Take a stab at how many circuits IndyCar has raced on in the years since 2008. Remember, there are only 14 actual venues this year (two races in Indianapolis and Detroit).

Still tabulating?

Done yet?

Try 30, and that doesn't include Road America or Boston for next year. The Phoenix track, which hosted Indy cars from 1964 through 2005, would up the total to 33. The number could have been even higher if this year's race in Brasilia, Brazil, hadn't been canceled and IndyCar not walked away from a race in Qingdao, China – and surely we're forgetting other events promised but not delivered.

Chew on this, too: As it stands for 2016, IndyCar will have its season finale at its sixth different place in the past nine years.

As astounding are the short stays. One year in New Orleans, Las Vegas and at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Two years in Houston.

Others that have came and went: Homestead-Miami Speedway, both tracks at Twin Ring Motegi, Kansas Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Watkins Glen International, Nashville Superspeedway, Edmonton, Kentucky Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Sao Paulo and Baltimore.

A few, like Motegi and Homestead, have been tried in the spring as well as the fall.

Auto Club Speedway's recent run was four years, and it's difficult to lay termination on the locals. For years, they watched IndyCar races in September or October. Last year, with IndyCar seeking to end the season by Labor Day to avoid conflict with the NFL, the Fontana event got pushed up to Aug. 30. This year? June 27. Both of the latter weekends are some of the hottest in the industrial part of Southern California an hour east of Los Angeles.

What do we know about IndyCar's 2016 schedule? There might be an early season race in Mexico City. Maybe Phoenix returns. Other events are changing weekends for one reason or another, and IndyCar has vowed to hold races over a broader span.

With this series, fluidity is constant. Curt Cavin/Indy Star