IMSA Announces Return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2023
IMSA President John Doohan (right) and IMS President Doug Boles (right) Photo: Joe Skibinski / Penske Entertainment
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the most storied venues in not just racing, but in all of American sports. For over 80 years, the 2.5-mile speedway solely hosted one event per year, the Indianapolis 500. This tradition ended in 1994 with NASCAR visiting the track for the inaugural Brickyard 400, followed by Formula One in 2000 for the United States Grand Prix. IMSA has announced today that its flagship series, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, will be returning to the Brickyard next season.
IMSA President John Doonan said in a statement:
“There has been mutual interest and many conversations between IMSA and IMS leadership for quite some time to bring our brand of premium endurance sports car racing back to the Speedway and our collective fans. As we launch an exciting new era in 2023 and introduce GTP as our top category of prototypes alongside many of our other successful categories and sanctioned series, the timing is right for a full weekend of IMSA action in Indianapolis and on NBC next fall.”
The IMSA Battle on the Bricks will be a two-hour and forty-minute race on the speedway’s 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course on September 17th, 2023, which will serve as the penultimate event of the 2023 IMSA season. The three-day event will also feature the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge support series in a four-hour race on Saturday that will end in darkness. The sports car racing sanctioning body has also confirmed that the 2024 and 2025 races at the Brickyard will be longer events ending at night, alongside the Rolex 24 at Daytona and other marquee races as an Endurance Cup round.
IMSA had last visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2014 for the Brickyard Grand Prix. However, the weekend’s spectators in 2023 will also be offered the unique opportunity to camp in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield. The famed venue doesn’t allow race attendees to camp in the infield during any other race weekend at the speedway.
