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Verizon IndyCar Series CEO Mark Miles continues to look for opportunities to start the season in February at destinations outside North America. At least one venue in South America is rumored to be on IndyCar's radar, and numerous tracks in Europe, Asia and Australia have been mentioned as possibilities to host the open-wheel series. The desire to add international events that would be held prior to the start of the regular IndyCar season would add exposure for the series, but more importantly, Miles views the trips abroad as a way to help the cash-strapped teams in the paddock. 'For us, international races at the beginning of the year still matter,' Miles said of the non-championship events.
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'The first thing to know is, we're talking about February, we're talking about a limited number – I think maybe two, someday – and we believe that that market will allow us to pay the teams more.' Miles envisions an increase in IndyCar's Leader Circle payouts to each full-time entry would be made, and with the costs of travel covered to some degree, international races could result in a positive cash flow for team owners. 'We've told the teams, if we get what we're looking for in the marketplace, it'll be $200,000 bucks a car per race. And then subsidized, if not completely, subsidized logistical expense,' Miles added. 'If we got two of those, and you move from an annual Leader Circle payout of a little under $1 million to $1.4 million per car, it's not insignificant for all the teams.
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Especially, two- or three-, or four-car teams.' Depending on the level of travel support, and whether teams would be able to secure sponsors for international events – a problem that became increasingly hard to ignore in the final years of the former street race in Sao Paulo, Brazil ( pictured, top), the concept of new international events could also hold limited appeal for some within the IndyCar paddock. Andretti Herta Autosport co-owner Bryan Herta, whose entry would welcome more funding, sees the pros and cons of going international. 'Personally, I would like to do international races because I love to travel and it's exciting, but it's a lot more work for the teams I do think,' he told RACER.
'As long as we remain a North American championship, there's nothing wrong with doing it if it helps,' 'The value-for-sponsors part can be a thing to think about, but it really depends on the sponsors you already have. I don't know if on our No.
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98 car with NAPA Auto Parts, if international races would help unless they do business in a country we're going to, but it would for one of our other sponsors, Castrol. I think it would be like that for most teams. 'And, can we open an opportunity to sell some new sponsorship to new sponsors in that region of the world? In CART, when we raced in Canada or Mexico, we had great support from sponsors and picked up interesting drivers who came in that broadened our horizon. If we're going to great venues and bringing IndyCar racing to new audiences, I'm all for it.' On the domestic front, IndyCar has 17 races on the calendar this year – an increase from the 16 held in 2016.
Asked if the number of North American races could expand beyond 17 in the near future – separate from any international growth – IndyCar competition president Jay Frye ( pictured, left, with Miles) says it's being considered. 'I think step one was to get to the point where we're at now, where there's consistency the next couple of years where we have the 17 races, we have the calendars pretty set; that part's done,' he said. 'And then geographically, what's important, where are there holes in our current schedule, what is the total amount that we want to go to? 'It appears that 20 races was always the bogey, but this is all very debatable. You wouldn't want to just have 20 races to have 20 races. We've got 16 events with 17 races now, promoters that are great partners and that we're really excited about, so if you added one or two races, they would have to fit in the windows that are open and there would have to be some sort of excitement to the opportunity.'
Frye has been instrumental in bringing tracks that once held open-wheel races back to the schedule, and with the return of Gateway, Phoenix ( pictured), Road America and Watkins Glen, a few regional holes remain. Tracks in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada, places the CART and Champ Car series once visited with great regularity, are among the once-popular stops to be considered if IndyCar moves beyond 17 races. Frye pointed to Phoenix as an example of what could be possible elsewhere. 'We're reintroducing ourselves to this area,' he said of the one-mile Arizona oval. 'This place was built for IndyCar racing in 1964. It was important. It felt great to come back here.
There's Road America, here, Watkins Glen, you look at some of those other areas that we used to go to that were important and impactful. Why couldn't they be again?' Like Frye, Herta believes IndyCar is in the right place to look at growing its footprint. 'We have a stable schedule now – more stability to our ship,' said the two-time Indy 500-winning team owner. 'We're in a better position to ask those questions and consider those possibilities than in the past.'