Indycars Oval Problem

 Indycars 2024 schedule release had great additions but also some unfortunate losses arguably the biggest addition to the schedule is the return of the Milwaukee Mile in a double header weekend with race 1 being on Saturday August 31st and Race 2 on Sunday September 1st. This of course is a very exciting addition to the schedule with most fans pushing for its return of understandably being ecstatic that it is returning in 2024. Unfortunately the addition of Milwaukee was matched by the loss of Texas Motor Speedway. Now Texas was one of the best races if not the best race of 2023 so this loss is a huge one. INDYCAR has always had an identity problem. They advertise the diversity of the schedule being the only racing series that races on road courses, street circuits, and ovals. But they have been moving away from super speedways other than the Indianapolis 500. The ovals that they will now be racing on are The Milwaukee Mile, World Wide Technologies Raceway, Iowa Speedway and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Four ovals with a total of 6 races may seem like a lot but two of the ovals are either a mile or less in length what Indycar needs is a resurgence of super speedways. Indycar needs to either return to faster ovals they used to go to like Pocono, Texas and Fontana. Indycar in my opinion is at its best when it is going FAST. Short tracks lead to great racing and awesome opportunities but there is something about these cars being on the edge of grip at upwards of 200 miles per hour. A part of the reason why the Indy 500 is such a big deal is not only because of the history and the legends that are born but because Indy has also been at the edge of Indycar racing. It is the fastest, most dangerous, most exciting race on the Indycar schedule and while Indycar cannot recreate the Indy 500 at a place like Texas or Pocono they can replicate the speed which we saw at Texas in 2023 where Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden battled so fast and so hard that they lapped every car up to 8th place and were quite simply just in a league of their own. That race showed a lot of Indycar fans who could’ve been either indifferent on ovals or fans who just didn’t like oval racing why oval racing is awesome and how Indycar on ovals is one of the most special parts of racing and it is not because of the history of Indycar at Texas or Pocono like it is at Indianapolis it is simply because of the raw speed that these cars have and ovals like Texas can show off that speed and that ability of the drivers to push these cars to the absolute edge of grip and that speed is what will continue to make people want more Indycar.