“It will bring more race fans but we’ll have to compete,” IndyCar boss, Roger Penske “not threatened” by F1’s sudden rise in America
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Roger Penske the Indycar owner has recently given his verdict on the evergrowing popularity of Formula One in the United States and believes there are positives to take from it for IndyCar’s future.
America has a rich heritage when it comes to racing and this year Formula One will be having two races in America and the latest one being slated to take place at the Miami International Autodrome in May.
The newly built circuit will be a 3.36-mile circuit constructed around the Hard Rock Stadium that will feature around 19 corners. Five months later another race is also set to take place in America and that is the usual Circuit of the America’s Grand Prix.
If this was not enough Formula One has recently added a third race to the F1 calendar that will take place in Las Vegas from 2023 onwards.
This sudden influence of a new race series in a market already inundated with different types of racing could make any track or event owner worried.
Rather than be concerned about the competition for fans, Penske is taking all the positives out of F1’s advancement and is looking forward to seeing how he could use it to expand IndyCar’s influence in America.
Roger Penske on Formula One’s sudden rise in America
Roger Penske is only willing to look at the positives that have come from Formula One’s expansion in America.
While talking about it has said, “So I think it will bring more race fans. But we’ll have to compete.”
“We have the diversity in IndyCar. We have high-speed ovals; there’s no Formula 1 race where they qualify at 230 miles an hour for 10 miles as we do at Indianapolis, so that’s point number one.”
“Number two, we’ve got street circuits, we’ve got road courses, and we’ve got short ovals and medium-size ovals. So I think the differentiation, the diversity of IndyCar, is what makes us a different product.”
“They’re looking at trying to have a bigger TV package here, and that’s only good for us. Because if there’s momentum on what the value of the series is, and I look at our TV numbers and their TV numbers are pretty much the same from the standpoint of viewership, I think that’s good for us.”
Spearheaded by Netflix’s F1 series ‘Drive to Survive’, commercial rights holders of Formula 1, Liberty Media, believe that there is a huge commercial market for F1 in America.
This sparked the rumor that they would be looking to buy Indianapolis from Penske in an attempt to grow unhindered in that region. When asked about selling the famous Brickyard, Penske wholeheartedly denied it.
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard,” he said. “Let me tell you this, it doesn’t make any sense to me. You cannot own the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and not have the ability to support IndyCar, or vice versa. IndyCar is nothing without Indianapolis, and we’re all-in.”
“There’s not enough money that would even tempt me to sell it. I don’t need to; I’m not in it for the money. I’m in it because I love the sport, from a competition standpoint, from a marketing standpoint, from a technology standpoint.”
“As a family, we’ve taken on the responsibility to maintain the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway and make it better. So once you take one of those parts off the car, you’re not going to run as well. And let me say this: I’m normally not a guy that sells anything. I’m normally a guy that buys things. Right?“
Given what the Indycar boss has said about Formula One it seems he is very happy with the expansion of Formula One in America and believes its expansion is indirectly going to help the IndyCar in getting more fans for the sport and is willing to do everything in his powers to keep IndyCar alive in America.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)