INDYCAR rallies around SPM team member who lost everything in fire - MotorSportsTalk

The INDYCAR family is rallying around Schmidt Peterson Motorsports transporter driver Eric Stewart, who lost everything in a weekend house fire.

Stewart’s Indianapolis-area house and all of its contents was a total loss. All Stewart had left was the clothes on his back, according to a report.

Known throughout the INDYCAR paddock as simply “Stu,” the gregarious Stewart is one of the most well-liked support personnel in the sport.

Firefighters that battled the blaze in Stewart’s house even took to social media to tell the impact he made on them.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports transporter driver Eric Stewart.

A GoFundMe account has been set up in Stewart’s name to help him and his family recover from the devastating fire. Several written tributes to Stewart also appear on the GoFundMe page.

Click here to access the GoFundMe account set up for Stewart and his family.

Contributing: Katie Hargitt, NBC Sports

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The NTT IndyCar Series will be sharing Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the NASCAR Cup Series in a race weekend doubleheader for the second consecutive season, but both series will be on the road course in August 2021.

IMS announced Wednesday that IndyCar will hold an Aug. 14, 2021 race on its 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. It’ll be a day before NASCAR’s premier series runs the same layout for the first time after the Brickyard 400 was contested on the 2.5-mile oval for the first time in 27 years.

This season’s rescheduling of the IndyCar GMR Grand Prix to July 4, 2019 (a day before the Brickyard 400) led to the first NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader weekend. The Xfinity Series also raced on the IMS road course for the first time July 4 after the IndyCar race ended.

INDYCAR AT IMS THIS WEEKEND: Harvest GP schedule, entry lists

IndyCar will be holding its second race weekend this year at the IMS road course Friday and Saturday with the Harvest GP.

“Our first NASCAR-INDYCAR weekend was a big success last July, with positive feedback from
our loyal fans who watched the races on NBC and from the drivers, teams and participants
involved,” IMS president Douglas Boles said in a statement. “The Xfinity Series’ debut on the IMS road course provided exactly the kind of thrilling action from the green to checkered flags that we anticipated, so we know the teams and drivers of the Cup Series will put on a great show as they turn left and right for the first time at IMS.

“We can’t wait to welcome back fans to see NASCAR and INDYCAR together during this
exciting weekend as we add another memorable chapter in the long, storied history of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”

It also will mark the first NASCAR Cup-IndyCar doubleheader with a crowd as fans weren’t permitted at IMS in July because of the novel coronvavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Over the course of Wednesday, NASCAR is releasing its 36-race slate for next season. IndyCar has yet to release its full 2021 schedule.