Source: Brian Cleary / Getty
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — For the first time in a decade, the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship will be returning to the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
This weekend’s “Battle on the Bricks” will feature each series of the IMSA ladder, including the top series which will compete in a 2-hour, 30-minute race on the road course on Sunday.
“IMSA is the foremost sportscar sanctioning body in North America. They were last here in 2014,” said IMS President Doug Boles, who said this continues a busy time for the speedway. “We’ve got this race this weekend, then we go into the BC39 midget race, and then the Indy 8-hour sports car race (in October).”
This weekend’s event will have cars on the road course for pretty much all hours of the weekend beginning Friday and culminating in the IMSA race on Sunday. Saturday will mark the first time that car will compete after darkness at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a four-hour race by the Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
“The Michelin Pilot series, which is a step below the top level of IMSA, they’re going to have a race that starts at 4:30 Saturday and goes until checkered flag at 8:30,” Boles said. “So they will race into the dark for a little bit. They’ll have the headlights on.”
Boles said they had been testing in the month prior to the event with darkness running at speed and he said the track “looks pretty cool” lit up at night with cars on the track.
This weekend’s event will also allow fans to camp on the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time overnight during the four-day stretch.
Finally, Boles said the paddock will also be open so fans can get up close to where the pit crews work on the cars without having to get a pit credential.
On-track activity gets going on Friday with practice and qualifying for the races coming up on Saturday and Sunday.
Listen to the full interview:
