Penske Entertainment will make a change that will bring IndyCar closer to Formula 1 and NASCAR.
An important meeting took place in Indianapolis, where Penske Entertainment presented its plans to team representatives. One proposal could radically change the look of the league.
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“At first it was a great meeting.” – she expressed Mark Miles, CEO of Penske Entertainment, expressed his enthusiasm.
“We’ve identified about 15 themes and have been able to back everything up with data on how the league has developed in recent years. Now we have the momentum, our fans have grown, we’ve recouped our investment, and for that we owe thanks to the teams and the pilots as well.”
In Formula 1 and NASCAR, one car participates in all the races and thus fights for the championship. The right to start – in the case of NASCAR, the charter – represents significant value, which can often be changed in the form of a loan or sale, thus protecting existing teams.
In the case of the King class, there is also hype about expanding the field for this reason, but in IndyCar teams come and go, as long as they pay the entry fee, they don’t have to pay extra for it. be able to join the field.
The main reason for this is the Indy 500, where 33 cars start the race instead of the usual 27, so it’s also in the interest of the series to allow smaller teams a chance to prepare. However, these teams are usually relegated and do not increase the quality of the race.
In the case of the big teams, the number of cars is not entirely static either, sometimes they start one less driver, sometimes one more driver compared to the previous year.
Miles stressed that neither the number of teams nor the number of “contracts” nor the year of submission is final, but the field will be evaluated with further discussions in the coming period. He also revealed that particularly large teams were excited about the topic.
the racer According to his information, they will not prevent other teams from participating either.
“You don’t have DRS,” the IndyCar driver asks.
“We also talked about the future. We haven’t presented a plan on charters or something like that, but we’ve assessed the need for certain teams – I’m not going to get into that yet, because we still have to work that out – to keep that kind of value and have a financial stake in its growth.”
Although the top 22 cars are awarded each year under the Leaders Circle programme. Thanks to the series car starts in each race, he will earn close to $1 million, but this contract is not transferable and he could lose the following year. In addition to an important additional limitation, they could only obtain the amount of three cars from the squad at the same time.
“Whatever name people give it, it will be a way to formalize the circle of leaders and also give the teams a financial incentive. We don’t want to take over anyone else’s system, we’re looking at what’s best in the IndyCar system and culture to give the teams something to help the series succeed. “.
It is not yet known whether this right will have to be bought by the current teams or if they will acquire it as a substantive right, but it is also certain that there will be no such system in 2024.
