Grand-Am date set for Indy? IndyCar instead
NASCAR president Mike Helton had indicated three weeks ago, just after a Grand-Am test around Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Formula One course, that a Cup-Grand-Am double-header at Indy was possible.
Indianapolis spent millions of dollars on that F1 course, but since the F1 contract ran out, that course has only been used for a motorcycle event. So when NASCAR sent a number of Grand-Am cars up to Indianapolis for an early September test, obviously the question was about a possible Grand-Am race there.
Why it didn't come off isn't clear…..to some. What is clear to AR1.com is that someone in the Hulman-George family finally woke up one morning and realized how foolish they would be to run a Grand-AM race at IMS on the road course when in fact a 2nd IndyCar race at IMS (on the road course) makes far more sense. It would be a huge hit and the 2nd biggest IndyCar race on the schedule.
09/09/09 Following the test last week, and according to AutoRacing1.com sources, a tentative agreement is in place for the Grand-Am series to run at the Indy Motor Speedway on the road course each Saturday, the day before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Allstate 400 race, which is run on Sunday. Look for a good number of NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers to participate.
In a related rumor, look for Grand-Am to run at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama next year with the IRL as the France family extends their claws into the Hulman and George business ahead of an eventual rumored buyout in 2013 if the IRL is not profitable by then.