Dream IZOD IndyCar Series Schedule (Part Two)

Part Two of my dream23-round IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, without taking into account pesky things like sponsorship issues, political considerations, scheduling commitments and anything else to preclude a race from being held.

To recap Part One:

1. Streets of St Petersburg (1.8-mile temporary street circuit; St Petersburg, Florida)

2. Phoenix International Raceway (1.0-mile short oval; Avondale, Arizona)

3. Grand Prix Of Long Beach (1.968-mile temporary street circuit; Long Beach, California)

4. Iowa Speedway (0.875-mile short oval; Newton, Iowa)

5. Streets of Sao Paulo (2.535-mile temporary street circuit; Sao Paulo, Brazil)

6. Fundidora Park (2.104-mile Permanent Road Course; Monterrey, Mexico)

7. Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile speedway; Fort Worth, Texas)

8. Indianapolis 500 (2.5-mile super speedway; Speedway, Indiana)
9. The Milwaukee Mile (1.0-mile short oval; West Allis, Wisconsin)

10. Belle Isle Park, Detroit (2.346-mile temporary street circuit; Detroit, Michigan)

11. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.4-mile permanent road course; Lexington, Ohio)

12. Road America (4.048-mile permanent road course; Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin)

And on to Part Two:

13. Streets of Toronto (1.755-mile temporary street circuit; Toronto, Ontario): The Exhibition Place streets always seem to be a place where temporary insanity - and exciting racing - break out. Canadian fans come out in droves, to an event with the wonderful backdrop of the Toronto skyline. That first turn is always exciting, especially with the double-file restarts now in vogue. It should be the beginning of a three-week swing through Canada.

14. Edmonton City Centre Airport (2.224-mile temporary airport circuit; Edmonton, Alberta): I love a good airport circuit, and this one has so much going for it, and should be run a week after Toronto. As far as new events go, the Edmonton race has been amongst the very best. It's a temporary circuit that has a lot of permanent road-course attributes and draws a good crowd. Better here than Montreal, for mine.

15. Streets of Vancouver (1.78-mile temporary street circuit; Vancouver, British Columbia): Time to bring back a successful event. It was cancelled ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, and IndyCar lost a fun, challenging track.The perfect final event in a mid-summer Canadian swing.

16. Michigan International Speedway (2.0-mile super speedway; Brooklyn, Michigan): The middle event in the Triple Crown, another traditional venue that's sadly fallen by the wayside recently. Far more suited to IndyCars than the NASCAR circuit, it deserves to come back as a 500-mile race, just like in the sport's glory days.

17. Burke Lakefront Airport (2.106-mile temporary airport circuit; Cleveland, Ohio): The greatest casualty of the much-needed open-wheel reconciliation has been this beauty of a race track on the runways and taxiways of the city's airport. So many passing zones made for wildly entertaining races. Run it at night, green flag just around sunset, on the Fourth of July weekend and watch the crowds pack in. Get the ALMS there, and you've got an event and a half.

18. Portland International Raceway (1.967-mile permanent road course; Portland, Oregon): This Pacific Northwest racetrack always produced good racing back in the day, and the issue of continual first-turn accidents seemed to have been solved by rolling starts in the last days of ChampCar at the venue. IndyCar needs to visit all parts of the country, including the Northwest. It helps that they'll be going to a really racy circuit.

19. Watkins Glen International (3.4-mile permanent road course; Watkins Glen, New York): The full circuit, not the butchered short course, is one of the best permanent circuits in America, especially through the Esses and down through The Boot, it's always been a real driver's circuit, demanding and satisfying. Sadly taken off the schedule recently, a double-header with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series' Six Hours of The Glen would draw even more fans. How about a Sunday event after the Rolex Series enduro on the Saturday?

20. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (2.238-mile permanent road course; Monterrey, California): Famous for the gut-wrenching Corkscrew turn at the circuit's highest point and Alex Zanardi's legendary pass in it's shadows, the northern California facility's always been more interesting - to me, anyway - than Sonoma Raceway, so it should return, despite a narrow, tough-to-overtake layout. Run the ALMS as well.

21. Streets of Surfers Paradise (2.79-mile temporary street circuit; Surfers Paradise, Queensland): Almost as good a street circuit as Long Beach, and a favourite for drivers, not just because it involves a trip to Australia. Brilliant mixture of fast straights and rollicking chicanes, the worst thing the IndyCar Series did was not sort out a date for this once-annual trip. Then the V8 Supercars came in, butchered the layout and wrecked it. Bring back the IndyCars and the old layout, especially while you've got Dixon, Power and Briscoe going so well.

22. Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (2.774-mile permanent road course; Mexico City, Mexico): One of the great racetracks in the world, the Mexico City fans turned out in droves for the ChampCar races there when the circuit was reborn in the early 2000s. Those Mexican Waves the length of the front-straight grandstand were amazing! The layout through the baseball stadium would be preferable, that little section one of the most ingenious on any racetrack anywhere in the world. If you find a half-decent Mexican, they'll pack the place.

23. California Speedway (2.0-mile super speedway; Fontana, California): Final race of the season, the sister of Michigan International was the scene of some great IndyCar moments - as well as, sadly, some of the sport's darkest days - and deserves it's place as the final event of the season. The IndyCar Series champion gets crowned here, as does the Triple Crown winner in a 500-mile event that should be run under lights.

That's it, the 23 racetracks - short ovals, intermediate ovals, super speedways, temporary street circuits, permanent road courses, airport circuits, events in four countries - that would make up the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series calendar if I had my way. Hey, a guy can dream!!