Las Vegas's IZOD IndyCar Series race this weekend will not be a one-off, as the series confirmed a second event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2012. The season will once again end on the 1.5-mile oval on Oct. 14, 2012.
“I'm probably the biggest fan of Las Vegas there is,” said IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard. “I've seen the power of what Las Vegas can do for the sport.”
There seems to be a buzz surrounding this year's event as evidenced by a solid turnout populating both sides of Las Vegas Blvd., better known as “the Strip,” for last night's demonstration run of all 34 cars participating in this weekend's event (ABOVE).
However, while it was expected today's press conference would be a full announcement of the 2012 series schedule, that is not the case. Several factors will delay the schedule announcement for at least the next couple weeks.
The number of ovals – projected to be five at Indianapolis, Iowa, Texas, Fontana and Las Vegas – is the main sticking point that Bernard indirectly referred to when discussing why the schedule was not announced in full today.
“The holdup, quite frankly, is we're not satisfied with the schedule,” Bernard said. “We're not giving up. Everyone in this room should know what I'm talking about.
“It's no secret Milwaukee and Loudon didn't do as well as we wanted to. But it's very important for you to know, I love ovals. How can you take it down to ovals? I've been to a lot of dirt tracks – its more than the fans, it's the drivers. We're losing Americans as well. But I can't do bad deals – I have a business to run. It has to make sense financially in the best interest of the sport.”