INDYCAR 2012 China race cancelled – possible season ending race in Texas

By:
On:
In: Racing News

INDYCAR, the sanctioning body for the IZOD IndyCar Series, announced today its scheduled Aug. 19 race in Qingdao, China, has been cancelled.

“We wanted to give the China race every opportunity to move forward and be successful, but INDYCAR has been notified by the promoter that the event is cancelled for 2012,” said Randy Bernard, CEO, INDYCAR. “We were informed that the promoter was trying to move the event to a different date and location. After ongoing discussions regarding alternative dates, as well as doing our due diligence in exploring alternate venues in China, the promoter cancelled the event. A decision had to be made to allow INDYCAR and its participants to plan accordingly for the second half of the season.”

INDYCAR announced plans for its inaugural race in China on Nov. 10, 2011. Bernard said INDYCAR is “not closing the door” on opportunities for a future race in China.

Bernard added that INDYCAR is investigating a possible replacement event that will keep the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule at 16 races.

“We are working with our promoters that host events in the second half of our calendar to keep them apprised of how the date of a potential new race could impact our current schedule,” he said.

INDYCAR PR

—-

Eddie Gossage President of Texas Motor Speedway comments on possible season ending race

With the announcement Wednesday of the cancellation of the IZOD IndyCar Series race scheduled for Aug. 19 in China, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage confirmed the speculation that INDYCAR officials have approached him about the Fort Worth facility playing host to their 2012 season finale.

“The thought is intriguing to potentially have Texas Motor Speedway once again play host to the INDYCAR season finale, just like we did from 1999 to 2004, in the nation’s fourth-largest media market. However, we did not have the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR triple-header in early November at that time and a September or early October date could pose several obstacles on a variety of fronts that we would have to consider before making a decision. Considering the shrinking window to properly promote the season finale to its fullest, we will have to make a decision fairly quickly.”

Texas Motor Speedway just completed the running of its 23rd IZOD IndyCar Series event, the most of any speedway in the history of the series, with this past Saturday night’s Firestone 550 won by Justin Wilson. The IZOD IndyCar Series has run annually at Texas Motor Speedway since it opened in 1997 and held two races at facility from 1998 to 2004, including the season finale on six occasions (1999-2004).

TMS PR

Speedway Digest Staff
Follow Me
Latest posts by Speedway Digest Staff (see all)
Post Views: 59