If you’re a fan of multiple types of racing, the September 17-18, 2016 weekend is going to be absolutely glorious.
And if you’re trying to cover said multiple types of racing, it might become an absolute nightmare.
Consider all four of NBC Sports Group’s motorsports properties all run that weekend - NASCAR, F1, IndyCar, and Red Bull GRC.
Here’s the weekend breakdown for those four:
- NASCAR: Sprint Cup: Chicago, Sept. 18 (Chase opener), Xfinity: Chicago, Sept. 17, Camping World Trucks: Chicago, Sept. 16
- F1: Singapore Grand Prix, Sept. 18
- IndyCar: Sonoma, Sept. 18
- Red Bull GRC: Seattle, Sept. 17
Add in your associated practice and qualifying shows, plus NASCAR AMERICA, beyond the race broadcasts itself and you can already predict an overload of content.
NHRA is racing that weekend too, because of course it is, Sept. 16-18 at Charlotte.
It gets even better... or worse... when you add in the sports car components of that weekend.
The Lone Star Le Mans weekend at Circuit of The Americas, featuring the Six Hours of Circuit of The Americas for the FIA World Endurance Championship (its lone round in the U.S.) just two weeks after Mexico City and the full complement of IMSA series, headlined by the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, races occur Sept. 17.
Pirelli World Challenge is racing too, along with IndyCar for a doubleheader at Sonoma.
And for good measure, why not throw in the Blancpain GT Series as well, with one of their Endurance races at the Nürburgring that weekend.
So here’s these four broken down:
- FIA WEC: COTA, Sept. 17
- IMSA: WeatherTech Championship, COTA, Sept. 17 (plus Continental Tire SC, Lamborghini Blancpain ST)
- PWC: Sonoma, Sept. 17-18
- Blancpain GT: Nürburgring , Sept. 16-18
Here’s the thing: there’s only so many fans to go around, and it’s hard to think at least one if not more of these events won’t be negatively impacted by another event happening on the same weekend.
Or, if you want to go the couch potato route and watch all on your TV, your phone, your laptop or other mobile device, that’s a good option too.
But in terms of motorsports content that weekend, it all happens. And it is going to be mental.