Alex Palou gets a home game. An oval disappears. July is half empty.
Those three things stick out to me as IndyCar finally released their 17 race schedule for the 2027 season.
On the plus side the Indianapolis 500 returns to its rightful and proper May 30 date, August has a nice pace with a one-week break between events. I think Markham should return to July, the traditional time for the Canadian race.
I don’t mind an international race or two, but to have just one race which eats three weeks of a peak summer month is a disservice to the sport and its fans. The series should have waited to arrange a second European race the week following Barcelona. The Barcelona race organizers and IndyCar signed a 10-year deal. Ten years in racing is an eternity for a commitment. I am interested to see if it lasts that long. Two overseas races should be the limit for a season.
The season again gets off to a great start with three races in March, followed by just two events in April. The schedule shows a large gap between Barber on April 18 and the Indy GP on May 15. That hole is partially filled with an oval test at IMS on May 4 and 5, which gives the month of May two bonus days. May 1 is open and begs to have an oval race slotted there.
The teams once more have five straight weeks of activity starting May 15 and running through Gateway June 13, with Indy 500 qualifying May 22 and 23 thrown in.
After Mid-Ohio July 4, fans in the United States will have to wait until Portland August1 to attend another IndyCar race.
The biggest omission from the schedule is Nashville. The superspeedway produced great racing, and it gave the series six oval events, which I think is the proper number of ovals in a season. The Nashville organizers are determined to return the event to the streets of downtown, which tells me they are more interested in an event rather than a race.
The 2027 IndyCar calendar is not the best schedule I have ever seen. It lacks at least one oval, and fans on the east coast are once again left without a race in their area. International races need to be placed at either the beginning or end of the season to take advantage of the good weather in the United States from April through September.
International races in October would be on television before the dreaded football monster begins play on Sunday mornings. Many IndyCar fans wake up early to watch F1 races. Surely, they would wake up early for IndyCar as well.
The schedule:
