It’s taken nine years, but Indianapolis Motor Speedway will, once again, host the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) beginning in 2023. IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will “Battle on the Bricks” beginning September 15-17, 2023 as a full weekend of IMSA sports car action makes over the 2.439-mile, 14-corner Brickyard road course.
The two-hour, 40-minute sprint race features live NBC network television coverage as IMSA’s new GTP prototypes take over the iconic, historic race track. “Indianapolis Motor Speedway is hallowed ground in the world of motorsport, and we are honored to bring IMSA and the WeatherTech Championship back to IMS,” said John Doonan, IMSA’s president.
“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,” Doonan explained. “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 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round will take place on Sunday, September 17th, following IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge race on September 16th. That Saturday race will feature a four-hour bumper-to-bumper traffic jam of production-based race cars on Indy’s iconic road course. Added IMSA-sanctioned single-make series will be on the schedule, but details aren’t to ready to be discussed at this time.
IMSA’s Battle on the Bricks weekend is a three-day festival that will showcase the top level of sports car racing in the United States. With 18 different manufacturers currently taking part in IMSA competition and unparalleled fan access to the garage area throughout the weekend, as well as the signature pre-race Fan Walk, fans will be able to get up close with their favorite sports cars, drivers and teams. Camping will be available in the infield for this particular weekend, access that is not normally available during any other race weekend. There will be powered and primitive spaces available for public camping.
While this initial return to IMS is a less-than-three-hours contest in September of 2023, the WeatherTech series expects to conduct longer endurance races in 2024 and 2024. Fans who purchase race tickets or infield camping for next year’s race will have first access to secure those spots for the 2024 IMSA endurance race, the track and series confirmed.
IMSA racing initially came to the Brickyard in 2012 for a three-hour GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series contest won by Starworks Motorsport co-drivers Alex Popow and Sebastien Bourdais. In its most recent competition on the IMS road course, co-drivers Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa won the 2014 Brickyard Grand Prix for Action Express Racing with their No. 5 Corvette Daytona Prototype.
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