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The Glen Dropped From 2011 IndyCar Schedule
Sep 9, 2:46 PM (ET)

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) - The IndyCar Series has ended its six-year run at Watkins Glen International, dropping the race from the 2011 schedule.

"We just finished it up. We've been working with them for a long time, but we've moved down the road," WGI president Michael Printup said Thursday. "They're trying to juggle a schedule, we're trying to juggle our schedule, and it was just a matter of trying to put it all together.

"I don't think it was any one thing in particular, it was everything combined," Printup said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't make it all mesh."

The IndyCar Series also dropped Homestead-Miami Speedway from the 2011 schedule, which will be released Friday.

"IndyCar is entering a new exciting era," IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said in an email to The Associated Press. "Fortunately, this brings opportunities with new venues and promoters that are fully aligned with our strategy moving forward. We have chosen to move away from a few venues at this time."
Printup said that when evaluating events there are a variety of factors that must be considered, including cost of competition, paid attendance, both sponsor and market support, and future growth potential.

Both Homestead-Miami and Watkins Glen, along with Chicagoland and Kansas, are owned by NASCAR-affiliated International Speedway Corp. The underlying theme under Bernard has been that the business relationship with ISC wasn't working.

"It'll be played that way, but it is truly a business-to-business representation of what we do at the tracks. It was just a matter of coincidence," Printup said. "The four tracks, we all sat down at the beginning of the year and talked about what we wanted to do. Every business has a model. They have their model, we have ours. We've got to make our decisions."

NASCAR began racing each summer at Watkins Glen in 1986, and its August weekend has regularly attracted crowds estimated at around 100,000.
Before the stock car series took hold, The Glen was a mecca for open-wheel racing. It has hosted Formula One's U.S. Grand Prix from 1961-80 and CART IndyCar events from 1979-81.

That exposure helped give the track a stellar reputation, and drivers in every series that has raced around its high-speed curves have raved about the layout. ISC has spent millions to upgrade the facility in the past decade, and many of those changes were made specifically for the return of major open-wheel racing in 2005. The inaugural IRL Indy Grand Prix was the venerable track's first open-wheel event in 24 years.

Printup said he was hopeful the series might return in the future.
"We're not going to stop. We love the IndyCar Series," Printup said. "They belong at this track. We miss a year? That doesn't mean we're going to be off it (forever)."

One of the most visible upgrades ISC made was the installation of a huge bank of grandstands along the front straightaway. Despite picture-perfect weather, those stands were virtually empty when Will Power cruised to victory in the Camping World Grand Prix on Fourth of July weekend.

At a press conference at the track before the race, Bernard said the open-wheel sport had lost 15 to 20 million fans in the 1990s, and it was his job to find a way to get them back. He also said he had asked for increases in sanctioning agreements.

"Attendance is always an issue, but these have been tough economic times, too," Printup said. "It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that there's been some attendance decline. We spent a lot of effort, time, money, everything into promoting those races and we hope that we can get back to them in 2012 and see if maybe we can fit back on. That's the best we'll be able to do. We'll keep on plugging. Hopefully, we can find some common ground."
The 2005 IndyCar Series race was held in September and then moved to June. It had been run on Fourth of July weekend the past four years, and Printup didn't think that was the best fit.

"It works for you and works against you," said Printup, who prefers an event in late June. "This past year, the forecast was beautiful for 10 days straight, never wavered, and people made plans to be on the beach, be on the lake or in a park somewhere. That had an effect on us."

Road racing in America came of age at Watkins Glen in 1948 when Cameron Argetsinger obtained a sanction from the Sports Car Club of America for a race that was run on a 6.6-mile course in and around the village using mostly paved roads with a short dirt and gravel stretch.

WGI officials never forgot their roots. They honored Argetsinger by making him grand marshal for the 2005 race and named the trophy given to each IndyCar Series race winner in his name.

Argetsinger died two years ago. News of the demise of the race was bittersweet for his family.

"I'm sorry to see it go," Michael Argetsinger said. "My father's memory will be maintained, certainly. I'm glad it was done in his lifetime. Racing, unfortunately, also has to be business. If you still lose money, it's not a good deal.
"My father always said business was business and you have to make a profit, and I think the position that WGI was in, they simply were pushed into a position where they had to lose money on it. That's not a good business model."

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Homestead off 2011 schedule

Associated Press

MIAMI -- Homestead-Miami Speedway is off the 2011 Indy Racing League schedule, a decision that some of the series' top drivers are not thrilled about.

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard confirmed Wednesday that Homestead is not among the venues selected to host a race next year. Homestead was IRL's traditional opening site for much of the past decade, hosted the series championship-deciding finale in 2009 and will be where the final race of this year takes place on Oct. 2.

The IndyCar finale is expected to move to Las Vegas for 2011.

"We want to partner with tracks that are willing to promote and market IndyCar as we grow our sport," Bernard said. "While Homestead has been a good track, currently our objectives are not aligned. IndyCar must do what is in the best of interest of IndyCar going forward, and we are confident the partners and promoters we have will work very hard to help advance the series."

Bernard did not divulge any other schedule details, other than saying "We have chosen to move away from Homestead." IndyCar will release the full 2011 schedule on Friday.

Homestead-Miami officials said they planned to respond after Friday's schedule release.

"I don't know the logistics of what happened so it's hard to criticize one part or another," driver Tony Kanaan told The AP. "To me, it's a shame. It's like losing my home race. It's the race all my friends get to see. It's the only race a lot of people here can afford to go see. It's the only opportunity I have to invite people to watch."

Drivers had heard rumblings for some time that Homestead's spot was in danger, but some were optimistic a deal could be struck. Kanaan, one of 10 IRL drivers with homes in South Florida, said he was aware of the decision before Wednesday.

"It's a shame," Kanaan said. "That's my personal view. It's a shame. ... I go go-karting there twice a week sometimes. Homestead's my home track."

Other drivers, including reigning IRL champion Dario Franchitti and longtime Homestead visitor Scott Dixon, said earlier this week they were hopeful South Florida would remain on the series schedule.

"I'll be sad if we don't come back here," Franchitti said Monday during a visit to Homestead.

Homestead-Miami Speedway President Matt Becherer told the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce at a Wednesday luncheon that the track generates $331 million annually for the South Florida economy, saying $250 million of that came directly from NASCAR's annual championship weekend.

Operated by International Speedway Corporation, Homestead hosts the finales for all three of NASCAR's series, and Becherer said there was a "very real" threat made earlier this year by rival track owner Bruton Smith to lure the Sprint Cup championship to his facility in Las Vegas.

"He wants our race badly. Very badly," Becherer told the Miami chamber. "There's going to come a time where we're going to have to respond to these threats. What's at stake is simply too high."

Becherer did not mention anything about the IRL's plans for 2011 and beyond at Homestead in his 12-minute address Wednesday.

Smith, the chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., said last weekend that Homestead, about a 30-minute drive south of downtown Miami, isn't a worthy site for championship events. He referred to the track's location as "North Cuba" and indicated that he expected the IRL finale to be in Las Vegas for at least 2011.

"I've worked really hard to promote the Homestead race," Kanaan said. "I've seen the growth of the public there. We announced the unification of the series there in 2008. It's part of the new history of the new league and it's a track that I heart a lot. We're not filling the place like the Cup guys do, but it's increasing."

Kanaan is hopeful for a return to Homestead in 2012.

"I will do whatever it takes," Kanaan said. "I work for my team and I work for the league, but if there's something that can be done, I'll be the first one to do it."

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