The NTT IndyCar Series has canceled three races in September at Portland International Raceway and Weather Tech Raceway at Laguna Seca, announcing Monday the expansion to three race doubleheader weekends to fill the gaps this season.
The first will take place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which will add a race Saturday, Aug. 8 race to precede its previously announced Sunday, Aug. 9 event.
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway also will add a Saturday, Aug. 29 event to pair with its Sunday, Aug. 30 race. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course will play host to an additional race Friday, Oct. 2., adding to its already scheduled Saturday, Oct. 3 event -- which now will mark the last of three races conducted this season on the road course layout that includes part of the famed 2.5-mile oval.
In a format similar to Iowa, World Wide Technology Raceway announced the lineups for both races will be set during an Aug. 29 qualifying session with the first lap determining the starting spot for Saturday’s 200-lap race and the second awarding the starting spot for Sunday’s 200-lap race.
IndyCar recently completed consecutive race weekend doubleheaders at Road America and Iowa Speedway that were well-received by teams.
Oh, a doubleheader @WWTRaceway you say? #LetsGO pic.twitter.com/QbzN2bUrpc
— Conor Daly (@ConorDaly22) July 27, 2020
“Our race fans have loved the exciting doubleheader action of the NTT IndyCar Series this year at Road America and Iowa Speedway,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “We look forward to giving them even more world-class entertainment this season at three of the most exciting racetracks on the NTT IndyCar Series calendar.”
The Grand Prix of Portland on Sept. 13 and the Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca doubleheader Sept. 20-21 have been canceled “by mutual decision between the series and promoters” because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
IndyCar said it plans to return to both tracks next year. Portland had returned to the IndyCar schedule in 2018 after its most recent Champ Car race in 2007. Laguna Seca was the site of last year’s season finale after last playing host to Champ Car in 2004.
Here’s the release announcing IndyCar canceled its Portland and Laguna Seca races:INDIANAPOLIS (July 27, 2020) – The NTT IndyCar Series released an updated 2020 race calendar today featuring several modifications.
Three events already scheduled on the series calendar will now become doubleheader weekends, including IndyCar’s upcoming race weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Prior to the originally scheduled Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Sunday, Aug. 9, the stars of the NTT IndyCar Series will square off in another championship-points paying event Saturday, Aug. 8.
In addition, the race weekends at World Wide Technology Raceway in August and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in October will become doubleheader weekends. WWTR will feature races Saturday, Aug. 29 and Sunday, Aug. 30. IMS will add a road course race Friday, Oct. 2 before the already scheduled event Saturday, Oct. 3.
“Our race fans have loved the exciting doubleheader action of the NTT IndyCar Series this year at Road America and Iowa Speedway,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO Mark Miles said. “We look forward to giving them even more world-class entertainment this season at three of the most exciting racetracks on the NTT IndyCar Series calendar.”
INDYCAR’s race at Portland International Raceway and double-header weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cancellation of both event weekends was a mutual decision between the series and promoters following close consultation and monitoring of the local situation. The series looks forward to returning to both venues in 2021.
The NTT IndyCar Series remains on track to run 14 races in the 2020 season. The full, updated schedule can be found at IndyCar.com/Schedule.