IndyCar has made its third change to the 2021 calendar, delaying the opening round at Barber Motorsports Park by a week until April 18.
It had already shifted the planned second round of the season – the Long Beach Grand Prix – to the season finale slot, then its original series opener at St Petersburg was postponed until April 25 in a pair of changes influenced by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Alabama-based Barber event moving back a week creates a triple-header of weekends opening the year with four races in total, with Barber and St Pete followed by an oval double-header at Texas Motor Speedway before going into the traditional ‘Month of May’ that encompasses the Indianapolis 500.
While the changes affect teams’ planning for the upcoming events and condenses the schedule, Penske Entertainment Corporation president and chief executive officer Mark Miles reckons there’s a positive to the move.
“The schedule changes we’ve had, while partially prompted by ongoing pandemic conditions, give us a powerful start to the 2021 season,” he said.
“With six of our first eight races on network television and all in a more compact timeline, it’s an enormous opportunity to drive even more momentum as we deliver our exciting brand of racing to our fans.”
Barber missed out on a race last year due to the pandemic, but a group of teams did manage to test at the venue before Christmas.
Takuma Sato won the last Barber IndyCar round back in 2019.
LATEST INDYCAR 2021 CALENDAR
April 18 Barber Motorsports Park
April 25 St Petersburg
May 1-2 Texas double-header
May 15 Indianapolis road course
May 30 Indianapolis 500
June 12-13 Detroit double-header
June 20 Road America
July 4 Mid-Ohio
July 11 Toronto
August 8 Nashville
August 14 Indianapolis road course 2
August 21 Gateway
September 12 Portland
September 19 Laguna Seca
September 26 Long Beach
