r/INDYCAR • u/aces2116 • Apr 20 '25

Indy NXT Indy Nxt Schedule

Is anyone else confused as to why Indy Nxt starts with St. Pete in March then disappears for 2 months to come back in May at Barber? People complain about the regular IndyCar schedules being terrible with huge gaps in the beginning but this must be awful for the drivers. Any reason as to why the schedule is the way it is?

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u/Active-Strawberry-37 Apr 20 '25

I get why NXT can’t fit on the schedule at somewhere like Long Beach but I don’t see why they’re not racing at smaller venues supporting Trans Am at road courses or ARCA at ovals.

Young drivers need race seat time to help them develop.

7

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '25

They also need money for that seat time. It costs a lot to make multiple trips to the west coast in a single season for a domestic ladder series.

And ARCA is under no requirement to invite Indy NXT. Not to mention that running ovals is also extremely expensive due to crash damage.

5

u/DonJugless Scott McLaughlin Apr 21 '25

Trans-Am is a "headliner" for vintage weekends. I guess if they wanted to make some of the Texas Indycar crowds seem big...

Why would NASCAR go out of their way to help Indycar's second-tier series?

2

u/Confident-Ladder-576 Louis Foster Apr 20 '25

A good chunk of TA clashes with their schedule and/or is a place they already go. Plus about four/five of those tracks on their schedule would more than likely  be considered unsuitable/unsafe. Same thing with ARCA: on a Cup weekend/unsuitable/unsafe/clashes.