The NTT IndyCar Series and NASCAR Cup Series regularly race on the same day, albeit in different locations. This will happen again in 2025, but championship-winning owner Roger Penske sees a possible future featuring the series working together.
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"I'm not announcing anything, but think about it, (Indianapolis) we ran a doubleheader there with IndyCar and NASCAR," Penske, who owns the IndyCar Series, said ahead of the NASCAR Awards. "You could do that to give a fuller weekend and some diversity there."
The doubleheader weekend is not a foreign concept for NASCAR, IndyCar, and Penske. The two series previously joined forces at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the track that Penske also owns.
The first year of the doubleheader was in 2020. The Xfinity Series and IndyCar Series teams competed on the road course during a doubleheader Saturday. The Cup Series teams competed on the oval in the final Brickyard 400 of the Gen 6 era.
This doubleheader continued in 2021-23 as all three series competed on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Xfinity and IndyCar races took up each Saturday while the Cup race took up each Sunday.
Last season did not feature any crossover. The Xfinity and Cup teams returned to the oval on July 20-21. IndyCar teams were in Toronto, Ontario, that weekend.
Penske noted that he and Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw the success of the doubleheader weekends with the fans in attendance. They also saw the numbers after IndyCar vacated its spot on the Saturday schedule.
Bringing back the doubleheader weekends would help the two series "cross-pollinate" the fanbases while delivering different types of motorsports action.
Of course, there would be other benefits for these racing series that routinely test out new markets.
"We've got assets, and we go to these temporary circuits," Penske said. "To have two racing series that could come in and help pay for those assets, and that build-out will be very important."
To Penske's point, IndyCar teams race on multiple street circuits each year. Last season alone they competed on the streets of St. Petersburg (Florida), Long Beach (California), Detroit (Michigan), and Toronto (Ontario). The finale was set to take place on the streets of Nashville (Tennessee) before it moved to Nashville Superspeedway.
A new street circuit will join the IndyCar Series schedule in 2026. The Penske-owned series will head to Texas for a race on the streets of Arlington's sports and entertainment district.
NASCAR currently only competes on the streets of one city. The Xfinity and Cup Series teams have spent the last two Fourth of July weekends racing on the streets of Chicago. They will do so once again in 2025.
Maybe in 2026, the two series will take on the same street course while fulfilling this dream of another doubleheader weekend.
