Besides the Indy 500, next year checks all the boxes for a prime CCWS schedule...

Random international/fly-away race ✅️

Street race in a stadium parking lot ✅️

A few short ovals in the name of "diversity" ✅️

No races in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic ✅️

Portland ✅️

Addition or cancelation to the already announced schedule 🔜

This is still my personal favorite. Unhinged but he had a good point.

I’m not sure how many of you follow hockey, but Calgary Flames (and former Nashville Predators prospect ) goaltender Devin Cooley has become something of a viral sensation over the past week following a remarkably candid postgame interview in which he offered some genuinely fascinating insight into the psychology of his position and how his mind works during a game.

What struck me wasn’t necessarily the substance of his comments, but how refreshing it was to see a professional athlete offer an authentic, thoughtful and somewhat vulnerable response instead of the usual canned platitudes we’ve become accustomed to hearing from NHL players. Rather than retreating into the usual media-trained clichés, Cooley allowed his personality to shine through, and the response has been remarkable. He’s developed something of a cult following almost overnight, attracted attention well beyond traditional hockey circles, and even found himself getting national exposure through SportsCenter and a mention on Joe Rogan.

I bring this up because I think IndyCar and the NHL share a similar problem. Both sports have immensely talented athletes who, for whatever reason, frequently come across as guarded, overly rehearsed or downright uncomfortable in front of a television camera. It’s not that these guys lack personality. Quite the opposite. But somewhere along the way, they’ve been conditioned to believe that the safest interview is one in which they reveal as little of themselves as possible.

The problem is that this creates a barrier between the athletes and the casual viewer. It’s difficult to develop an emotional investment in someone when you know virtually nothing about their personality, motivations, insecurities or what makes them tick. The diehards already know these guys, but we’re not trying to convert diehards into fans. We’re trying to reach people who might stumble across an interview on social media and suddenly find themselves interested in an athlete and, by extension, the sport.

I think IndyCar should be actively encouraging and coaching its drivers to embrace this sort of authenticity. Not by scripting personalities or manufacturing controversy, but by helping drivers become comfortable offering honest, insightful and occasionally vulnerable responses. Let them be funny, introspective, frustrated, eccentric or whatever else comes naturally. Give viewers a reason to care about the person underneath the helmet.

Cooley is a terrific example of how a relatively obscure athlete can generate an extraordinary amount of organic publicity simply by being himself. The exposure he’s received over the past week is the sort of publicity that money can’t easily buy.

For a series like IndyCar, which desperately needs to cultivate personalities capable of transcending its existing audience, I think there’s a pretty valuable lesson here. Sometimes the best marketing strategy is simply getting out of the way and allowing the athletes to be human.

I have added Indy Cars to my Oval game(yes ai has been used to help make a game I've always wanted to create), its totally free to play with ranked matchmaking, private lobbies with friends, career mode and more!

Play now - https://playstockcar.com/

Did anyone catch the Indycar drivers as sports events this week?? Pato was at the Cowboys game, Schumacher at the Jazz game, and JoNew at the Brewers-Rays World Series game tonight! I wonder if Fox is going to have drivers at other sporting events to put them into normal sports fan view in the offseason??

Maybe all those years of trying and failing to secure a race outside North America weren't entirely IndyCar's fault after all!

Maybe...

I have a buddy who is on the board of the NJ motorsports park and he told me indycar reached out for discussing potential 2028 or 2029 race there. Mentioned they discussed even funding track improvements to make it possible.

Video courtesy of Conor Daly

Obviously it’s just testing but Nikita has raced on barber, Dunne has not. Possibly another example of the IndyNXT series not being that great. Also 3.5 tenths is a lot. That’s the difference between Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel on average in qualifying

Why does IndyCar get so much hate from Formula One fans?

Both a premier racing series, both have international driver lineups. There’s just a difference in the formula.

I’ve watched all forms of Motorsport since I was a child, and appreciate all of it. F1 fans just seem to have a chip on their shoulder.

Is it more apparent these days because of Drive to Survive?

Also the current Spanish broadcaster's rights are expired, maybe this will tempt a bigger channel into showing Indycar.