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Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles has revealed he held talks with Supercars about the possibility of the series venturing Down Under.
The Adelaide 500’s move from its slot as the Supercars season opener to the season finale in 2022 has opened up the possibility for the street circuit to be considered.
Timezone-wise, a Sunday morning race in Australia would work well for broadcast windows on the east coast of the United States where the program would begin on Saturday night.
“[Supercars] was quite confident that they’d have a huge crowd, and we’d probably outdraw [Supercars],” Miles told Indy Star.
The revelation comes amid tentative plans for IndyCar to run a series of non-points-paying international races after the regular season concludes in September.
IndyCar suffers from a six-month vacuum between September and the start of the next season in March. A run of international races would bridge that void.
However, it could be years before the idea materialises.
“I don’t have a timeframe,” said Miles of when a non-championship swing could be started.
“We’re just trying to understand what’s possible. But I like the concept, and I think we can do a lot of good things with it if we can put it together.”
One thing is clear. Under the leadership of Roger Penske, the IndyCar Series will predominantly remain a North American-based single-seater series for the foreseeable future.
Miles said there is no chance that the series would look at an in-season race Down Under, for example, despite drivers pushing for it.
“We’re not going to do it. What we are going to try and do is have some international events that we can tie together in the offseason,” he said.
“I don’t think (the drivers) are worried about the economics. If someone wants to pay to go to Brazil, the logistical costs are $8 million, and then you either have a track, or you don’t.
“I respect them, and I love their enthusiasm. I very much want (to have international races), but I don’t want to do that by creating Swiss cheese in our North American championship calendar.”
IndyCar under its guise as the Indy Racing League raced wholly on ovals, road courses, and street circuits in the United States.
Its rival, CART, ventured all around the world with races in Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Japan, and Belgium, but was based in the United States.
IndyCar last raced in Australia in 2008 at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit.
Miles said building international interest is a focal point for IndyCar, and the potential for a three- or four-race non-points series could drive growth.
“We don’t want to be F1, where the whole thing is bopping around the world,” Miles explained.
“There’s lots of places that with the economics we probably could go race, but I don’t love the idea that we’d have a non-points race during the championship and take two or three weeks and create a hole.
“We don’t want to be popping around to wherever anyone throws us money. We want to have meaningful events that stand for something and can promote the brand.
“This is primarily to drive international fandom,” he said of the concept.
“That doesn’t mean we think it would be irrelevant to our US fans, but you have to switch the mindset and your priorities.
“[Hypothetically] If we raced in Australia, we’d want the biggest possible national broadcast for that race there.
“In all our (international broadcast rights) agreements, we’ve contracted so that they have the rights to our (regular season), but if we come race there, they don’t (automatically) have those rights.
“In terms of our domestic rights, Fox would have the first look. If they can accommodate it and want to, then great. But if not, it could be a different broadcaster.
“I’d rather not be somewhere where it would be 3 am in the Eastern time zone in the US, but the priority is a powerful race that’s a big deal in that market.”
