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Wednesday, IRL officials, along with various team/event officials and promoters, unveiled the 2009 schedule................


~~Rd. 1--5 April 2009, Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Fla. Street Circuit(1.8 mile street circuit)
~~Rd. 2--19 April 2009, 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Long Beach, Ca. Street Circuit(1.968 mile street circuit)
~~Rd. 3--26 April 2009, RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300, Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Ks.(1.5-mile oval)
~~Rd. 4--24 May 2009, 93rd Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Ind.(2.5-mile oval)
~~Rd. 5--31 May 2009, ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225, The Milwaukee Mile, W.Allis, Wisc.(1.032-mile oval)
~~Rd. 6--6 June 2009, Bombardier LearJet 550k, Texas Motor Speedway, Ft. Worth, Tx.(1.5-mile oval)**
~~Rd. 7--21 June 2009, Iowa Corn Indy 250, Iowa Speedway, Newton, Ia.(.875-mile oval)
~~Rd. 8--27 June 2009, SunTrust Indy Challenge, Richmond International Raceway, Henrico Co., Va.(.75-mile oval)**
~~Rd. 9--5 July 2009, Camping World Indy Grand Prix, Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, NY(3.4-mile road course)
~~Rd. 10--12 July 2009, Toronto Indy Grand Prix, Toronto, Ontario(1.721-mile street circuit)
~~Rd. 11--26 July 2009, Rexall Edmonton Indy, Edmonton City Centre Airport(1.973-mile airport circuit)
~~Rd. 12--1 August 2009, Meijer Indy 300, Kentucky Motor Speedway, Sparta, Ky.(1.5-mile oval)**
~~Rd. 13--9 August 2009, Honda Indy 200 @ Mid-Ohio, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio(2.258 mile road course)
~~Rd. 14--23 August 2009, PEAK Sonoma Indy Grand Prix, Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, Ca.(2.245 mile road course)
~~Rd. 15--29 August 2009, PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300, Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill.(1.5-mile oval)**
~~Rd. 16--6 Sept. 2009, Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix, The Raceway @ Belle Isle, Detroit, Mich.(2.906 mile street circuit)
~~Rd. 17--19 Sept. 2009, Bridgestone Indy Japan 300, Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi, Japan(1.5-mile oval)
~~Rd. 18--11 October 2009, Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Fla.(1.5-mile oval)

**--denotes night race

~~Thoughts on the 2009 Schedule.............
*On balance, this is a good schedule; the championship starts and ends in the United States; the oval/non-oval mix is 10-8, which gives oval-track supporters some satisfaction and gives road-course fans some pleasure in that Long Beach and Toronto are now on the schedule, which means the biggest street circuit event in NA motorsports and a second Canadian event are onboard and that is always a good thing.

**On the other hand......no Surfers Paradise race is listed; granted, this isn't good, but.....since Motegi is now the next-to-last race on the calendar, there are no excuses for the IRL not to have Surfers on the calendar, the best date being the week after Motegi. Time will tell........

***Wasn't it funny to hear Texas Motor Speedway major-domo Eddie Gossage b**** and moan about the proposed 5-race SMI deal w/the IRL going down the drain(the deal included current venues Texas, Infineon and Kentucky + returns to NHMS[New Hampshire Motor Speedway] and Las Vegas). Memo to Eddie........the motorsports world doesn't revolve around you all the time, Eddie!

****With all due respect to TSO(tracksideonline.com), I disagree on their view concerning Surfers Paradise' not being on the schedule. Their argument is that the event promoters on the Aussie Gold Coast are stonewalling TG and Co. My sources on the Gold Coast say the opposite; with a deal(2008-2013) in place for the event venue and that this year's event will be run[albeit as a non-points race], their problem isn't whether the event will be held.....their concern is that the FIA will approve whatever date they want[FIA rules require a 3-6 week period between Formula 1 events and non-F1 events]. Bottom line...I won't be surprised if Surfers is added to the 2009 calendar.

2009 IndyCar Series Television Schedule...............


~~Rd. 1--Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, 5 April 2009(Versus, 2-5pm)
~~Rd. 2--35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, 19 April 2009(Versus, 3:30-6:30pm)
~~Rd. 3--RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300, 26 April 2009(Versus, 4-7pm)
~~Rd. 4--93rd Indianapolis 500, 24 May 2009(ABC Sports, 12-4:30pm)
~~Rd. 5--ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225, 31 May 2009(ABC Sports, 3:30-6pm)
~~Rd. 6--Bombardier LearJet 550k, 6 June 2009(Versus, 9pm-Midnight)
~~Rd. 7--Iowa Corn Indy 250, 21 June 2009(ABC Sports, 1-3:30pm)
~~Rd. 8--SunTrust Indy Challenge, 27 June 2009(Versus, 8-11pm)
~~Rd. 9--Camping World Indy Grand Prix, 5 July 2009(ABC Sports, 1-3:30pm)
~~Rd. 10--Honda Indy Toronto, 12 July 2009(ABC Sports, 1-3:30pm)
~~Rd. 11--Rexall Edmonton Indy, 26 July 2009(Versus, 5-8pm)
~~Rd. 12--Meijer Indy 300, 1 August 2009(Versus, 8-11pm)
~~Rd. 13--Honda Indy 200 @ Mid-Ohio, 9 August 2009(Versus, 1-4pm)
~~Rd. 14--Sonoma Indy Grand Prix, 23 August 2009(Versus, 5-8pm)
~~Rd. 15--PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300, 29 August 2009(Versus, 9pm-Midnight)
~~Rd. 16--Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix, 6 Sept. 2009(Versus, 3-6pm)
~~Rd. 17--Bridgestone Indy Japan 300, 19 Sept. 2009(Versus 18 Sept. 2009, 10:30pm-1:30am)
~~Rd. 18--Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300, 10 October 2009(Versus, 4-7pm)