As coronavirus still ravages the United States of America, IndyCar teams are preparing to finish the season without events at Portland International Raceway (13 Sept.) and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (19-20 Sept.).
IndyCar is very motivated to get at least 14 races onto the calendar this season, and with coronavirus issues in California and Oregon, word around the paddock is that this west coast tour could be cancelled.
While nothing is official just yet, RACER.com was able to confirm that IndyCar has a fallback plan.
If the races at Portland and Laguna Seca were to be cancelled, additional events would be added at the next event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (09 August), World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (30 August), and the Harvest Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (03 October), which would keep the calendar at 14 races.
In Oregon there is still a limit on outdoor gatherings, which is limited to 250 people. This poses an issue to IndyCar, a series that travels with a group over double that size.
In California coronavirus cases have been spiking, which only worsens Laguna Seca’s current worries of not having enough volunteer staff to hold an event. The track’s new management team wants to put together a volunteer organization of their own, but it remains unclear as to if that group will be ready to hold an IndyCar grand prix in less than 60 days despite the progress they have made.
We wait to see if IndyCar will make an official statement.
