IndyCar won’t return to Kentucky Speedway?
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| The racing was great but the sparsely filled grandstands built for NASCAR Sprint Cup size crowds made the series look like a loser on Sunday. It's really too bad that despite fantastic racing IndyCar fans just don't buy tickets to watch most of the oval track events. And the racing was much better than even NASCAR could ever hope for |
“We need to know real soon," Kentucky track general manager Mark Simendinger said Sunday. “It all depends on what we end up with Randy. There’s never a deadline, but the longer it goes, the harder it is. We’re a speedway, we have a long history with the series, and the series has a great product. It’s just a matter of making it work, and a title sponsor would solve a lot of problems."
10/02/11 According to this Speedtv.com article, IndyCar will not be back to Kentucky next year so we are bumping this rumor up to 'strong'.
10/01/11 IndyCar chief executive officer Randy Bernard said this week that he’s scheduled to meet today with Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith.
“To sit down and figure out which tracks he’d like us to finish out our schedule," Bernard said.
Smith has been handling the 2012 sanctioning negotiations relating to Kentucky Speedway, general manager Mark Simendinger said.
“He has been negotiating with both NASCAR and IndyCar," Simendinger said. “Obviously those are decisions that need to be made very soon."
The IndyCar Series has been a staple on Kentucky Speedway’s schedule since the track opened in 2000. Last year, it was paired with a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
NASCAR is expected to announce its Nationwide and Truck Series schedules late next week.