Why not Road America for IndyCar?

CART had some great race at Road America, and then Tony George created the IRL and destroyed it all. Click photo to see some of the crowd

A reader writes, Dear Autoracing1.com, After watching this weekend's exciting, edge-of-my-seat ALMS race at Road America, I am left wondering why Indycars don't race there? Why does the IndyCar series waste time racing in either boring circuits (Alabama, Sao Paolo, Edmonton) or venues where fans do not attend (Milwaukee, New Hampshire, Motegi)? Tony, Little Falls, New Jersey

Dear Tony, When in doubt, follow the money. Road America does not want to pay IndyCar the money the series wants as a sanctioning fee. Because the track has no hospitality suites, there is no place to entertain corporate guests, many of whom are not hardcore race fans. So money from corporate sales is minimal. And the track is so far from a big city that unless you have drivers or cars casual fans want to see they are not going to drive an hour to come out to the track and buy a ticket. IndyCar has to grow the popularity of its series before Road America becomes financially feasible for all involved. With that said, Road America is a kick-ass track for IndyCars – not for the current slug, but it was for the Champ Cars and it will be for the new IndyCar.

As for Alabama, Sao Paolo, and Edmonton, they all draw a big enough crowd and have corporate suites such that a race makes more sense than it does at Road America right now. Stick a fork in Milwaukee, it's done (opening the door for nearby Road America), Motegi is done after this year, but New Hampshire actually has some potential if the promoter is willing to work at it. Mark C.