NTT INDYCAR SERIES Announces 17-Race 2023 Schedule
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Posted on 09/27/2022
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Announces 17-Race 2023 Schedule
Highlights Include Exciting Lineup of Fan-Favorite Events Joined by New Site at Detroit, 13 Races on NBC
INDIANAPOLIS (Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022) – INDYCAR has announced a 17-race schedule for the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES as the sport’s brash and bold athletes will be showcased with traditional weekend dates, 13 races on NBC and an exciting, late-summer swing leading to another climactic ending to the 2023 championship.
The 2023 season opens Sunday, March 5 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Thrilling, wheel-to-wheel racing then will take place all spring and summer, including the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 28, before the season ends with a stirring climax Sunday, Sept. 10 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The journey to a championship includes a stretch of eight races in the final nine weeks of the season, giving fans action nearly every weekend.
“The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is on an impactful upward trajectory, making progress at a pace that befits our thrilling style of competition,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “The 2023 season provides an opportunity to further build on this trend, bringing our sport and its stars to more markets and households and reaching new consumers across the globe.”
For just the fourth time in the last 50 years, the INDYCAR SERIES will have 13 or more races on network television in the United States. The total appearances on broadcast television become 15 with the addition of PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying coverage, Saturday and Sunday, May 20-21, ahead of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The first seven events of 2023 will be featured on NBC, including the “500.” The season also finishes with six of the final seven races on network television. The 2023 season will include three races on USA Network and for the second consecutive year one exclusive race on Peacock. Peacock will present live simulstreams of all races on NBC and USA Network, as well as live coverage of all qualifying and practice sessions next season.
In partnership with NBC Sports, the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES was the most-watched season in six years and the most watched across NBC Sports on record. Powered by NBCUniversal’s popular streaming service, Peacock, the 2022 season also was the most- streamed season on record.
Half of the 2022 season’s 16 races on television featured a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of more than 1 million viewers, the highest mark since 2008. Last year’s season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by RP Funding, was the most-watched season opener in 11 years.
“We’re very excited for our 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule and to build on this past season’s viewership milestones,” said NBC Sports, VP, Programming Mike Perman. “In providing comprehensive coverage across NBC, Peacock and USA Network, NBC Sports is once again looking forward to telling the stories of these world-class drivers and this compelling series.”
Traditional Dates, Races Return
The 2023 schedule includes the diversity that has been the hallmark of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the only open-wheel series on Earth that races on ovals, street circuits and permanent road courses. Drivers will compete in seven road course races, five street circuit events and five oval races.
After the 2023 season opens for the 13th time on the palm tree-lined Streets of St. Petersburg, Sunday, March 5, North America’s premier open-wheel racing series returns to Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 2 for the series’ 36th race on the action-packed oval.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach follows with its traditional mid-April date hosting the NTT INDYCAR SERIES on Sunday, April 16. It is the 39th time the INDYCAR SERIES has been featured on the iconic streets of Southern California as the event hosts its 48th edition.
Barber Motorsports Park plays host to its 13th NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, Sunday, April 30 before the series moves into the traditional Month of May cadence at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday, May 13, “500” qualifying weekend, Saturday and Sunday, May 20-21, and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, Sunday, May 28.
To date, tickets for the 107th edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” are moving at a near-record pace, after a near-sellout crowd of more than 300,000 attended the 2022 race.
The traditional early June date for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear returns in 2023, but at a brand-new site. The debut of the Streets of Detroit circuit, a move to the downtown site from its previous location at Belle Isle Park, takes place Sunday, June 4.
The nine-turn, 1.7-mile street circuit will provide unprecedented access with more than half of the event’s footprint open to the public. It is also a homecoming and a connection to the event’s heritage, which began on the downtown streets of the Motor City in 1982.
USA Network will feature the early-summer swing on the classic American road courses of the Sonsio Grand Prix presented by AMR at Road America, Sunday, June 18 and The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, which returns for another Fourth of July weekend celebration, Sunday, July 2. Road America will feature a newly repaved 4.048-mile layout. Mid-Ohio matches Long Beach as it hosts INDYCAR SERIES racing for the 39th year.
Summer Homestretch
The 2023 season hits its stride with eight races in the final nine weeks. Peacock once again will provide an exclusive presentation of the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday, July 16, for the series’ annual appearance in Canada’s largest city.
After that, six of the final seven races will be featured on NBC broadcast television. It begins with two events expected to be even bigger and better than in 2022: the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.
The doubleheader at Iowa Speedway is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, July 22-23. In 2022, with support from Hy-Vee, the wildly popular weekend featured world-class concerts and thrilling wheel-to-wheel action at “The Fastest Short Track on The Planet.”
INDYCAR returns to the unpredictable Streets of Nashville on Sunday, Aug. 6. Last year, the fan-favorite event, marked by concerts and entertainment, featured the closest street circuit finish in INDYCAR SERIES history when six-time series champion Scott Dixon edged Scott McLaughlin by a margin of .1067 of a second.
With the Brickyard Weekend returning to a traditional August date, the NASCAR-INDYCAR tripleheader on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course features the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ Gallagher Grand Prix, Saturday, Aug. 12 on USA Network.
The series finishes the season with three races on three consecutive weekends – all on NBC – beginning with the final oval of the season at World Wide Technology Raceway for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, Sunday, Aug. 27.
From there, it’s the traditional two-race, West Coast swing featuring Portland International Raceway and the newly repaved WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The 29th Grand Prix of Portland is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 3 while the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion will be crowned and receive the Astor Challenge Cup at the 26th Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday, Sept. 10.
“We have worked hard to achieve date and venue equity, which has been an ongoing goal at INDYCAR,” INDYCAR President Jay Frye said. “We are excited to return to downtown Detroit, and the repaves at Road America and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will add new challenges for the drivers and teams. The intensity level will also be at an all-time high as we conclude the season with three weekends in a row.
“As we build off the record-breaking 2022 season, we could not be more enthusiastic to see how 2023 unfolds.”
Start times for the 2023 events will be announced at a later date.
2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Schedule
Source: INDYCAR