Penske: No WEC Race at IMS Until 2026 At Earliest

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/Porsche

Indianapolis Motor Speedway will not host a round of the FIA World Endurance Championship until 2026 at the earliest, with track owner Roger Penske suggesting that a “scheduling situation” is the current hold-up in bringing the world championship to The Brickyard.

Penske, who has spoken on multiple occasions of his desire to hold a long-distance WEC race at the home of the Indianapolis 500, indicated that it won’t happen for next year.

This is despite from what Sportscar365 understands is a single-year contract with Circuit of The Americas, which will revive its Lone Star Le Mans event in early September after moving away from Sebring International Raceway.

The COTA deal, however, is believed to include an option for at least one additional year.

“I think at the moment it’s a scheduling situation, really, the biggest thing to try with the track,” Penske said when asked by Sportscar365. “[When] Indy is available plus their (WEC) schedule.

“We’d love to have it come at some point.

“We’ll have an IMSA six-hour race in September this year, which will be good, but there’s a lot of interest in sports car racing now worldwide.

“You can see talking to Pierre [Fillon, ACO President] at Le Mans.

“You look at Imola and these places and the interest when they announce the tickets and where they’re going, they’re seeing some very, very high level of interest.

“That’s what’s good for us and good for Porsche because these are potential customers or customers that want to experience what their brand is.”

Penske added: “Right now, we don’t have anything that I can say we’re ready to do something in the next 24 months. But I would love to something.

“The answer is I’d like to do it but we have nothing on the ground.”

While COTA is understood to be a short-term deal, Penske said he wouldn’t want to take the event away from the home of the U.S. Formula 1 Grand Prix if it turns into a success.

“We have to see there,” he said. “They need to experience that and then we could have some discussion.

“We’re not here to push them out, either. If they have a good race there, they should stay there.”

Penske’s factory Porsche LMDh team scored a 1-2 finish (pictured above) in the return of top-class prototype racing to The Brickyard last year as part of the WeatherTech Championship’s Battle on the Bricks.

That event will expand into a six-hour round of the Michelin Endurance Cup this year, scheduled for Sept. 22.

Head of Porsche Motorsport Thomas Laudenbach, meanwhile, has expressed his personal desire of having the U.S. WEC round at Indianapolis.

“Regardless of the schedule, it would be great to have a ‘home’ race in Indianapolis with WEC,” he said. “Don’t forget we have quite some good memories of the Indy IMSA race last year.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John