The 2024 NTT INDYCAR season is officially underway. We are less than a week away from green flag racing at the season opener in the streets of St Pete.
If you’re unfamiliar, INDYCAR is an open-wheel North American spec series that competes on ovals, street and road courses. INDYCAR’s schedule is composed of 17 races across the US and one in Canada. Let’s talk about why tuning into the 101st INDYCAR season is going to bring some excitement to your usual motorsport rotation.
It’s a Spec Series
All of these INDYCARs are the same.
They are given a Dallara Chassis and a Honda or Chevrolet engine. These teams are not building their cars from scratch like F1, but this allows for extremely competitive racing. We do not see as big of a drop-off from the top teams as we see in F1. Now, there are more established teams like Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, but that doesn’t stop incoming teams such as Andretti Global, Arrow McLaren and others from winning races and challenging as title contenders. This is an equal playing field with some of the world’s best drivers. Many drivers in the field have come from F1, F2, and other Formula series. Do you remember the feeling of watching Abu Dhabi 2021?
Imagine that feeling and excitement every season finale. This past year Alex Palou was the 2023 NTT INDYCAR Champion. Palau won the title in the penultimate race at the Portland GP. This was the first time the championship winner was decided before the season finale since 2007. These drivers are the real deal.
Indianapolis 500
The one and only, Greatest Spectacle in Racing. This slogan may have been in a recent F1 promotional video or used in NASCAR announcing, well it’s wrong. The Indy 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway owns “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. The Indy 500 takes place every Sunday on Memorial Day weekend, the same day as the Monaco Grand Prix. This race is also considered to be a part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and The Monaco GP. The Indianapolis 500 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a 2.5-mile oval for 200 laps which equates to 500 miles of racing.
These drivers race for the Borg Warner trophy and immortality. The Indianapolis 500 is history, honour and glory. The drivers that win the 500 get to be defined as some of the best race car drivers to ever do it. It’s safe to say most of the INDYCAR drivers would rather win the Indianapolis 500 than the Championship Title, that’s how big of a deal this race is. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway in regards to capacity, is the largest sporting facility in the world. In addition, the 500 is regarded as the largest single-day sporting event in the world. There is no way to describe the hum of 33 cars on their warm-up lap that turns into a rolling start. Tune in this year a couple of hours after the Monaco GP, you won’t be sorry.
Accessibility and Affordability
Are you tired of the unaffordability of F1? Some GPs have gotten to the point of over a thousand dollars for just a three-day GA pass. Oh, and paddock passes? It’s impossible to afford unless you’re willing to spend upwards of $10,000. INDYCAR on the other hand has extremely affordable tickets. Grandstand seats for the three-day weekend can vary, but they usually fall within $100-$300. Did you want to buy paddock and pit passes? No problem, only an extra $150 for the weekend. Yes, only a couple hundred dollars extra.
The drivers float throughout the paddock writing scooters, hanging out with their team and talking to fans. These drivers are super accessible and always open to photos and autographs. The mechanics are open to chatting and talking about the car, showing their set-up. If paddock passes aren’t in your budget don’t worry, the drivers still come over to the general admission area for photos and autographs usually on Friday.
The support series, IndyNXT and USF Pro 2000’s paddock area is located in the general admission area making future up-and-coming drivers accessible to everyone. Pit passes on Sunday allow for a pitlane walk-through to see the INDYCARs up close and personal before the drivers head out for their warm-up laps. The affordability and accessibility of the drivers and teams are one of my favourite things about the NTT INDYCAR series.
Continuous Growth
INDYCAR is about to blow up. Did you know that the INDYCAR series averaged more viewers than F1? According to a survey conducted by the Sports Business Journal, in 2023, INDYCAR averaged 1.32 million viewers while F1’s viewership was around 1.24 million.
The viewership of INDYCAR is slowly increasing but due to the Red Bull and Max Verstappen dominance, I believe we will see a steady decline of F1 viewership and an increase in INDYCAR attendance and viewership. Years ago, INDYCAR held races outside of the US and Canada. These countries include Australia, Japan and even Brazil. There have been talks of expanding into other countries like Mexico or Argentina.
A Little Bit of Everything
INDYCAR provides a little bit of everything. The ability to race on three different types of tracks throughout the season caters to just about every fan. Throughout the season we have drivers representing 13 different countries. These include the US, Sweden, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Cayman Islands, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Argentina, Britain, Brazil, Japan, and Australia.
In addition to drivers with diverse backgrounds, INDYCAR offers multiple pitstops that include refuelling and a 7-man pit crew, drive-through penalties, rolling starts, halo screens, fuel saving and qualifying laps clocked at 234mph. I promise this series can cater to any motorsport fan.
I truly believe the NTT INDYCAR series is one of the best racing series in the world. As an American, I am lucky enough to be able to attend a couple of races throughout the season. The fan base, the drivers, the teams, everyone shares a passion for competitive and unpredictable racing series. It is impossible to guess who will take home the 2024 NTT INDYCAR Champion trophy, making it exciting.
What if I told you that last year Scott Dixon got into a crash on the first lap of the race and then he ended up winning the race? That is possible in an INDYCAR race due to strategy, cautions, fuel saving and more. It is nearly impossible for that to occur in an F1 race.
If you find yourself bored of watching Max Verstappen run off into the sunset for the next 23 Formula 1 races, tune in to the 2024 NTT INDYCAR season, you will not be disappointed or able to predict who will hold that trophy in the Nashville season finale. Tune in to the season opener in St Petersburg Florida on March 10th.