IndyCar Returns to Milwaukee Mile as Part of Loaded 2024 Schedule
Season series will begin in Florida and end on the streets of Nashville
Posted On: September 25, 2023 By :IndyCar has announced a 17-race schedule for the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season, which will be highlighted by a return to the Milwaukee Mile after nearly a decade.
The schedule also features Saturday night races in St. Louis and Iowa, a new made-for-TV exhibition — The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge — and 12 NBC network showcases, including the season finale in Nashville on September 15.
The season opens Sunday, March 10 on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, for the 20th Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The series then heads to Indy for the 108th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 26, before Nashville hosts the championship finale Sunday, September 15.
Long Beach, California, will host street racing on April 21, while WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California — which has traditionally been the final stop in the IndyCar season — moves to June 23 in 2024.
Iowa Speedway in Newton will host a double header July 13–14, including one race under the lights, as will World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis on August 17. The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix — which raises funds for one of the busiest pediatric hospitals in the country — takes place April 28.
“The upward trajectory of the NTT IndyCar Series is reflected through the 2024 schedule,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Miles said. “With stops at premier and global entertainment districts, classic American road courses and thrilling, high-speed ovals, the 2024 season will be exhilarating and highly competitive from beginning to end.”
Milwaukee Mile lands on the IndyCar Series schedule for the first time since 2015, with the return set for Labor Day weekend. A fan favorite, the facility began hosting IndyCar Series racing in 1939 and has featured wins by drivers such as Rodger Ward (seven), Michael Andretti (five), Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Bobby Unser (four each). The 1-mile oval in West Allis, Wisconsin, will host a doubleheader weekend for the first time in the track’s history in 2024, as it provides drivers with a chance to make a late-season move in the standings before Nashville.
The track is located at the Wisconsin State Fair Park and bills itself as the oldest operating motor speedway since it has hosted at least one auto race every year since 1903, aside from World War II. It began as a dirt track before it was paved in 1954. The facility also includes an infield that hosted selected Green Bay Packers home games from 1934-1951. Having the Milwaukee Mile back on the calendar means Wisconsin will host three of the 17 events on IndyCar’s 2024 schedule.
“There is such a great tradition and history of IndyCar racing at the Milwaukee Mile and we are excited to build on that legacy with a Labor Day weekend NTT IndyCar Series doubleheader beginning in 2024,” said Roger Penske, chairman of Penske Corporation. “We appreciate all the loyal and passionate IndyCar fans in Milwaukee and across the state of Wisconsin, and thanks to our partnership with the Wisconsin State Fair Park, we can’t wait to return to the Mile next season.”
Gone is the traditional stop at Texas Motor Speedway — the oval has been on the schedule since IndyCar’s first full season in 1997 — as well as a shared late-summer weekend with NASCAR on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR is expected to return to the oval and IndyCar will race the Indianapolis road course only once — in May ahead of the Indianapolis 500.
The 2023 season proved to be NBC Sports’ most-watched on record, averaging 1.32 million viewers. In a first for the streaming platform, Peacock will be the exclusive home of two races next season — Toronto (July 21) and Milwaukee Race 1 (August 31).
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