WATCH LIVE: IndyCar’s Texas race at 2 p.m. ET on CNBC

By Jun 12, 2016, 1:30 PM EDT
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It’s been a strange weekend for the Verizon IndyCar Series at Texas Motor Speedway, but the Firestone 600 is due to launch shortly after 2 p.m. ET on CNBC.

It is still available at the same live stream link via NBC Sports Live Extra, at indystream.nbcsports.com for participating cable providers.

The race was postponed from last night owing to persistent rain and the 1.5-mile oval not fully drying.

Today’s race has since been rescheduled for 2 p.m. ET, with an estimated 2:06 p.m. ET green flag time (1:06 p.m. CT and local time).

While originally set to air on NBCSN, the race has shifted to CNBC owing to the Orlando shooting tragedy taking precedence on NBC network, which moves the Canadian Grand Prix (which runs concurrently) from NBC to NBCSN.

Carlos Munoz starts from his first career pole position in the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda, ahead of Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Takuma Sato and Josef Newgarden. The grid is here.

Commentators include Brian Till, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy, although Bell – like drivers Dixon, Mikhail Aleshin and Sebastien Bourdais – were due to go to France immediately after Texas for race commitments and scrutineering at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Till fills in for Leigh Diffey, who’s in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix.

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”