IndyCar 2020 calendar revealed, Richmond returns and Pocono dropped – IndyCar

IndyCar’s 2020 calendar includes a return to Richmond for the first time since 2009, replacing Pocono after its seven-year run on the schedule.

Richmond hosted IndyCar racing from 2001 to ’09 but fell off the calendar due to the costs of putting on the event and a lack of sponsorship.

Pocono had come under fire this season after a serious multi-car collision left Felix Rosenqvist briefly hospitalised, one year after Robert Wickens’s serious accident.

IndyCar will now return to the track for an under-the-lights race at the end of June, falling as the 11th of the 17 rounds in 2020.

The 2020 calendar will include seven road courses, five street tracks and five ovals.

IndyCar CEO Mark Miles said: “We are pleased to return to the Mid-Atlantic region, one we know to be full of IndyCar fans.

“We’re also excited to return to historic Richmond Raceway, which was recently reimagined with a $30million (£24.7m) redevelopment project that modernized the infield for the better fan experience.”

Other alterations include Austin moving from the second race of the season to the fourth in what will be its second year of hosting IndyCar.

Mid-Ohio has been pushed back a couple of weeks to the middle of August, leaving a three-week break after Iowa so that broadcaster NBC can focus on the 2020 Olympics.

The gap between Portland and Laguna Seca has been reduced from three weeks to two.

IndyCar 2020 calendar