If the rumors come true at tomorrow’s announcement of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, race fans will have a lot more on-track action during the 2012 Brickyard 400 weekend.
IMS officials are expected to announce the addition of a Nationwide Series and a Grand-Am Rolex race at the famous Brickyard, beginning next year.
Doug Boles, the public relations director of the 100-year-old facility would not say what will be revealed during Wednesday afternoon’s announcement, but, did talk to ESPN.com previously.
"We are the only event on the series schedule that has one event on a race weekend," Boles said last month. "Friday the Cup cars have two hours on the track. All we get on Saturday is qualifying and the final practice. If you look at the entire on-track schedule, it's just not a lot of content.
"That's the biggest challenge, how do we add value to our fans?"
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has been racing at the Brickyard since 1994 and, lately, attendance has been suffering along with the downturn of the economy.
Speedway officials are seeking to optimize the revenue by opening the gates for what could be called NASCAR’s second biggest weekend.
Previously the NASCAR Nationwide Series ran on Saturday night at the nearby Lucas Oil Raceway and huge traffic jams could be seen heading from IMS to LOR on Saturday afternoon.
The interesting wrinkle would be the addition of the Rolex Grand-Am series on the former Formula One circuit at the Brickyard. The infield road circuit will require shutting down a large portion of the infield and require moving barriers.
The question of the schedule and how to run both a road race and an oval race on the same weekend should be answered tomorrow at the start-finish line.
IMS officials are expected to announce the addition of a Nationwide Series and a Grand-Am Rolex race at the famous Brickyard, beginning next year.
Doug Boles, the public relations director of the 100-year-old facility would not say what will be revealed during Wednesday afternoon’s announcement, but, did talk to ESPN.com previously.
"We are the only event on the series schedule that has one event on a race weekend," Boles said last month. "Friday the Cup cars have two hours on the track. All we get on Saturday is qualifying and the final practice. If you look at the entire on-track schedule, it's just not a lot of content.
"That's the biggest challenge, how do we add value to our fans?"
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has been racing at the Brickyard since 1994 and, lately, attendance has been suffering along with the downturn of the economy.
Speedway officials are seeking to optimize the revenue by opening the gates for what could be called NASCAR’s second biggest weekend.
Previously the NASCAR Nationwide Series ran on Saturday night at the nearby Lucas Oil Raceway and huge traffic jams could be seen heading from IMS to LOR on Saturday afternoon.
The interesting wrinkle would be the addition of the Rolex Grand-Am series on the former Formula One circuit at the Brickyard. The infield road circuit will require shutting down a large portion of the infield and require moving barriers.
The question of the schedule and how to run both a road race and an oval race on the same weekend should be answered tomorrow at the start-finish line.