‘If anyone can turn IndyCar around, it’s new boss Doug Boles’

From 1911 to 1994, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was pretty much a one-trick pony. The gates opened on May 1, the Indianapolis 500 was contested a few weeks later, and by June 1, the gates were locked again for another 11 months – other than for the golf course that was constructed within and adjacent to the track in 1929 as a revenue generator.

Increasing revenue was the goal in 2013 when the Hulman-George family commissioned the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to produce a now-infamous report that suggested several ways to monetise the Speedway and grow the IndyCar Series. Thankfully, most of the ideas for IndyCar were rejected, including condensing a 15-race championship into 19 weeks (teams are already stretched to the limit with a 26-week campaign). The championship would end with a NASCAR-style three-race ‘playoff’ and the 33-week off-season (!) would be filled with a mini-series of non-championship events run outside the USA.

The study found the Speedway was an easier source for lower-hanging fruit. Hiking ticket prices was a no-brainer; Indy 500 practice days accessible for $5 as recently as 2007 now command $25. Qualification and Carb Day ticket prices have similarly jumped. BCG suggested demanding more for premium Indy 500 seats, while discounting for the track’s less-popular other events like MotoGP (discontinued after 2015) and the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race. That was a 250,000-strong sell-out from when it broke the Indy 500 monopoly in 1994 into the 2000s, but an attendance dud since 2008.

“Only 21 of 132 days the track was used generated significant revenue”

When Doug Boles was named president of IMS in 2013, the Speedway was already much more of a year-round asset than it was 20 years previously. But BCG identified only 21 of 132 days the track was used in 2012 generated significant revenue. That’s been the biggest change at IMS over the last decade, and the infield road course has proven to be the track’s biggest moneymaker. IMS now hosts an IndyCar road race to open the Month of May, along with the Brickyard 400, IMSA and SRO sports car endurance races, Ferrari Challenge, and a major vintage racing event. BMW operates a Performance Driving School out of a base in the infield, and that, along with frequent General Motors corporate events, puts cars on track at IMS approaching 300 days a year.

Boles is an Indianapolis native who was a minority owner in the Panther Racing IRL team that brought racing driver Sam Hornish Jr to prominence. A tireless worker who is beloved by IMS and Indianapolis 500 fans – the best frontman for the Speedway since Tony Hulman died in 1977 – Boles was instrumental in the Speedway’s modern-era growth and expansion. Earlier this year, Penske Entertainment tabbed him to serve as president of IndyCar, in addition to his existing duties with the Speedway. He quickly found there’s a lot less feel-good factor compared to what he’s accustomed to at IMS, but if anybody has the energy and acumen to tackle the problems confronting IndyCar racing, it’s Doug Boles.

When the IndyCar season wrapped up at Nashville Superspeedway on August 31, the 10-race NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs had not yet started. But the on-track competition was far from being NASCAR’s top talking point.

For the last year, NASCAR has been embroiled in an anti-trust lawsuit brought on by Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing, which is co-owned by Cup Series star Denny Hamlin and basketball legend Michael Jordan. As the case lumbers towards a December 1 court date, communications released as evidence in preliminary injunction hearings demonstrate just how much rancour exists between NASCAR and some of its competing teams. In one text chain about team investment strategy, 23XI president Steve Lauletta wrote: “Being in for the long haul and Jim dying is probably the answer.” He was referring to Jim France, NASCAR CEO. Hamlin later responded, “My despise for the France family runs deep.” Jordan called the teams that did not join 23XI and FRM in their opposition to NASCAR’s charter system terms “pussies”.

Hamlin has won 59 Cup races in a career that dates to 2005 and in recent years has grown to relish his villain role as the driver NASCAR fans love to hate. He’s never won a Cup championship in any format, and that’s the other topic dominating the current chatter. Some fans are upset that Joey Logano worked the current Playoff system to steal the 2024 Cup title with an average finish of 17th. The original NASCAR ‘Chase’ that evolved into the Playoffs was conceived because Matt Kenseth won the 2003 Cup crown with a single race win in a year when Ryan Newman won eight times and finished sixth in the standings.

The biggest proponent for NASCAR to return to a simple full-season championship is Mark Martin, who finished second in the Cup standings five times (1990, ’94, ’98, ’02, ’09) but never claimed a title. Martin’s words carry weight, and he’s been joined in his call by several current Cup Series drivers, including Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. Change could be coming, but likely in the form of a multi-race final Playoff round rather than the current winner-takes-all format.

Based in Indianapolis, John Oreovicz has been covering US racing for 30 years. He is author of the 2021 book Indy Split