IndyCar (kind of) solved a lingering problem for 2025, but only slightly

As a die-hard IndyCar fan with years of racing passion under my belt, I couldn’t be more thrilled about the 2025 season! After enduring those long breaks between races in the previous seasons, it’s like a breath of fresh air to see that the 2025 schedule is back to business without any such hiatus.

From 2018 through 2024, a gap of at least four weeks existed between the initial race and the following event in the IndyCar schedule, with the exception of a six-week intermission scheduled for 2024.

During that period, there was an exhibition race sandwiched between them, but it was the 42-day gap without a points race that was the longest since the start of any season’s first two races.

Given that the entire 17-race series is crammed into approximately six months, it doesn’t seem particularly sensible to kick off the season with one championship event, followed by nearly a month and a half of downtime before the second race.

Fortunately for IndyCar fans, the 2025 season features no such break.

Interestingly enough, even though it may seem otherwise, the initial portion of the 2025 schedule mirrors that of 2024. However, the key distinction lies in the fact that an exhibition race from 2024 will now be a points-scoring event in 2025. This change erases a six-week gap between championship events, thereby enriching the calendar with more racing action.

One modification in the schedule pertains to the location of events: Instead of various venues, The Thermal Club will host a points race three weeks after the season kick-off in St. Petersburg, Florida, and three weeks prior to the prestigious race on the streets of Long Beach, California.

In 2024, one of the two races at the Milwaukee Mile will take over for another race on the schedule. The Milwaukee Mile returned to the calendar in 2015 with a doubleheader planned for 2024. That year’s schedule had the highest number of oval races (seven) since 2011, but for 2025, it’s back to just six.

In a turn of events, Alex Palou from Chip Ganassi Racing clinched his second consecutive title in 2024, even though he placed 19th in the second Milwaukee race. However, at Thermal Club’s exhibition race held in March, he was unstoppable. He triumphed in the heat race and then pulled away from the competition in the main event.

The IndyCar season for 2025 is planned to commence in St. Petersburg on March 2, a Sunday. Coverage will be broadcast live by Fox, following NBC’s coverage of the series which concluded with the 2024 season finale at Nashville Superspeedway last month. It has been scheduled that all 17 races will air live on Fox next year.

2024-10-07 17:02