With the month of May looming ever closer, the future of the 2020 NTT IndyCar series is beginning to look more and more dire.
To date, only Texas and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway appear as IndyCar’s sole venues that are willing to run a race with zero spectators.
As reported by RACER.com, the reason being is that IndyCar race promoters and circuit directors rely heavily on gate revenue, title sponsors and pit passes as there is a significant lack in television money.
Other than the Indy 500, no IndyCar promoters receive television money from the NBC, meaning title sponsors determine the running costs of races. Though not all races, such as Richmond, have such luxury as having a paying sponsor and will be dependent on the circuit being open to the paying public.
Road America, which is slated to host the third round of a condensed calendar on June 21 after Texas and IMS, has already expressed their reluctance to hold a race if spectators are not allowed to attend as the circuit will struggle to make a profit.
“We rely on our fans, great partners, 60 corporate sponsors and longtime supporters,” Mike Kertscher, Road America General Manager told RACER.com.
“We want to get going again and we’re in constant discussions with county and state government so we’ll look forward to whatever the new normal is, but nobody has the answers right now.
“Right now I’m confident our June date is still intact. IndyCar is only one piece of puzzle, we’ve got a Superbike race, and our August NASCAR show got bumped up because of Olympics.
“We want to survive and prosper, but we also want to do the right thing.”
Whether any more circuits will grasp the nettle and run races without any spectators or opt to pull out of the season remains to be seen and is expected to become clearer across the next month.