IndyCar Needs to Evolve in Face of F1’s Exploding Popularity in the US

• It's very clear F1 has made the U.S. its number-one growth and expansion priority.

• IndyCar should be worried, it needs to be worried, given how much of a footprint F1 has made in the U.S.

• IndyCar has to start marketing and promoting itself like there's no tomorrow.

IndyCar is not at war with Formula 1.

That said, F1 is, at the very least, moving in on IndyCar's turf like never before, courting the American open-wheel racing fan and, more importantly, the American racing fan's wallet.

In the past two years, F1 has gone from holding one annual race in the U.S. at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, to two races with last year's addition of the Miami Grand Prix, and a third race to take place this November in Las Vegas. Those three F1 races are already generating more buzz in 2023 than anything on IndyCar's schedule aside from the Indianapolis 500.

It's very clear F1 has made the U.S. its number-one growth and expansion priority.

IndyCar has tried to look the other way, with series officials and even drivers ignoring any potential threat that F1 may pose, some even going so far as to say they welcome F1 into IndyCar's backyard.

It's just a matter of time before F1 announces yet another race in North America. The betting money is it will likely be in Vancouver, British Columbia, rather than a fourth race in the U.S. But even so, think about what we have now: F1 has a record 23 races on the 2023 schedule, with five already in North America—the three in the U.S., plus the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, and the Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City.

It's no secret that F1 hopes to expand its schedule from 23 races to as many as 25 by 2025 or 2026.

Meanwhile, IndyCar sits. It reminds me of the old MAD Magazine character Alfred E. Neuman and his signature tagline, “What, me worry?”

That's IndyCar today.

Yes, IndyCar should be worried, it needs to be worried, given how much of a footprint F1 has made in the U.S., not only at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, but also major markets Miami and Las Vegas. F1 has also made a massive impression upon American racing fans' psyche and memory with the Drive To Survive reality series. IndyCar (which is finally coming out with its own D2S series) is on the verge of being passed by F1 to become the second-most popular racing series in the U.S. behind NASCAR.

Then again, maybe F1 has already passed IndyCar, and we're just admitting it now. After all, Formula 1's three-day race weekend at COTA in 2022 attracted a weekend attendance of 440,000 fans. IndyCar's race at the same venue in 2019 attracted an estimated 30,000 fans on race day.

IndyCar can no longer keep its head buried in the sand. It can no longer allow F1—which is owned by an American company, Liberty Media—to keep growing and taking away fans and dollars from IndyCar.

Here are three things IndyCar must consider to keep F1 at bay. Unfortunately, it might already be too late, and F1 might have already won part of the battle—a battle that IndyCar continues to claim is not a battle.

Here goes:

1. IndyCar Cannot Continue to Compete with just a 17-race Schedule

Sure, it takes money to put on races and well-financed promoters to put on those races. But IndyCar has stubbornly refused—or been unable—to significantly expand its schedule for the last several years, and that shortsightedness has become F1's gain.

Why didn't IndyCar expand several years ago by adding a temporary street-course race in Miami (again) or in Las Vegas?

IndyCar needs to expand its schedule to at least 20 races—22 or 23 would be even better—to stave off any additional F1 expansion. Its current schedule includes just 14 different race venues, as three races are held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and two races are held at Iowa Speedway.

IndyCar historically has had independent, third-party promoters put on races in various venues, with the exception of the Indianapolis 500.

Maybe IndyCar should take on promoting duties and run races in new markets. That would show the series' determination to build its brand in new markets rather than rely on local venues to sell the product.

2. Ditch the Dead Month After the Opener

IndyCar historically plays up its great season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Florida. And for the most part, each year's event on the temporary downtown St. Pete airport runway course is indeed a great season opener.

But therein lies the rub.

IndyCar builds up and counts down to St. Pete for several weeks. But once the checkered flag falls, boom, IndyCar goes back into its winter hibernation, with the second race of the season four weeks later.

Why is it four weeks?

It's not a stretch to think many racing fans invariably forget about IndyCar after St. Pete—and many start thinking more about F1 (whose next race is March 19 in Saudi Arabia)—because IndyCar's next race isn't until April 2 at Texas Motor Speedway.

With the exception of its annual four-week summer break, F1 invariably has a much more compact schedule from late February or early March until the season's conclusion 23 races later in late November.

Meanwhile, IndyCar crams the last nine of its 17 races into a time span of just over two months—from the early part of July until the season-ending race at Laguna Seca on September 10. That's right, the first eight races are spread over nearly four months, including the aforementioned month off between races number one and two.

Surely, IndyCar can do better.

Granted, it's hard to change anything in the month of May due to the tradition of the Indianapolis 500 and its Indy Grand Prix undercard two weeks earlier. But why can't there be two to three races each in March and April (there currently are three), two races in May at Indy, and two races—at least—in each of June, July, August, and September?

Better yet, expand the IndyCar season to 20–22 races, and let the racing continue until mid-October. Sure, IndyCar would be going up against not only F1 but also the NFL (which has historically been one of the reasons why IndyCar's season schedule stops in early September, not to go against the NFL).

If marketed the right way, and if IndyCar can really start building an F1-like buzz here on its own turf, thousands of fans will gladly skip one NFL weekend to watch a race in their own backyard (or, at the very least, on TV) in September or October. F1's 440,000 weekend at COTA came last October—on an NFL weekend in football-crazy Texas.

IndyCar has to start marketing and promoting itself like there's no tomorrow.

If IndyCar does not meet the F1 challenge head-on, the American open-wheel series is going to drop in attention and fan interest, to the point where it could even fall behind the NHRA to the number-four-most popular racing series in the U.S.

3. How About an IndyCar-F1 Doubleheader?

Here's the most radical idea of all—and one quite unlikely to happen, but it does present a unique synergy possibility: Somehow try to convince F1 and the U.S. cities it races in to have a combination weekend that would feature IndyCar racing on a Saturday and the F1 main event on a Sunday.

Yes, it does sound crazy. F1 has nothing to gain by racing with IndyCar. And IndyCar has everything to gain by racing with F1, even if it is as an undercard event. IndyCar already has the Brickyard weekend in Indianapolis, where both IndyCar and NASCAR race on the same weekend at the same place.

Why not lobby F1 to do the same?

If there's any way IndyCar officials can convince their F1 counterparts to host a crossover/hybrid weekend, it could potentially be one of the biggest win-win situations either series has ever seen.

Yes, it is a tremendous long shot that something like this could happen, but both series should overcome their collective shortsightedness and realize the income that could be had for everyone—sort of like a motorsport version of the Super Bowl.

If IndyCar continues to do nothing to build its brand substantially, rather than minimally exponentially, and F1 has another huge year in terms of attracting even more racing fans here in the U.S., F1 will potentially become the second-most popular racing series in the U.S. by 2025, if not sooner.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section below.

Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski